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09/16/2004: "Better late than never"

The State Department is slowly catching up with reality:

The State Department yesterday put Saudi Arabia on its blacklist of severe violators of religious freedom for the first time, opening the door to U.S. sanctions.

U.S. officials, however, said penalties against the desert kingdom are not likely to follow.

Vietnam and Eritrea were also added to the list, which includes China, Sudan, Iran, Burma and North Korea.

I'm glad that they've finally taken this action, but it begs the question: given that the three countries added to the list have been among the more notorious deniers of religious freedom for years, why is the State Department acting now? Are things really any worse in Wahhabi Central now than, say, five years ago?