Category Archives: Uncategorized

Life is Cheap on the Nile: the Butchery Continues under the New Egyptian Dictatorship………

      


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“A court in southern Egypt on Monday decreed a mass death sentence for nearly 700 people, including the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president. On the same day, another Egyptian court banned the April 6 movement, which was among the primary engines behind the landmark 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt’s sharp turn toward authoritarianism in the nearly 10 months since an interim government took power has provoked expressions of concern from human rights groups and Western governments, but little in the way of meaningful punitive actions against the military-backed regime………………”

The best scenario, an optimistic scenario, in this impending Egyptian butchery is that it is just a political show. They are setting the stage for a great show of mercy by the new dictator. The Kangaroo courts continue their job, preparing the way for a new dictator for life in Cairo. He, Generalisimo Field Marshal Al Sisi will probably show “restraint” and “mercy” after pleas from allies and suppliers in the West. He will likely show calculated moderation by commuting most of these hundreds, thousands by then, of death sentences to life in prison. All these people, including tens of thousands awaiting trial, will end up in prison for life simply because they exercised their right of protest. 

The Western world will be relieved for it, and it will applaud this military justice that it would not accept in the West. But that will be okay: these are only Arabs and in some places life can be cheap and freedom might be overrated.

Cheers

mhg

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Wahhabi Republic? Saudi Aid Postponed Until After Sisi Victory is Assured…….

      


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An Egyptian daily newspaper quotes a high government official that Saudi Arabia has postponed delivery of any new aid to Egypt until after the results of the coming presidential elections are ‘known’. The official is quoted that a ‘huge’ financial aid package will be announced after the victory of Generalisimo Field Marshal Al Sisi is assured (just in case there is any doubt about the kind of election they are staging in Egypt). This new aid is promised to surpass all previous aid packages to Egypt………


The Saudis
are sending a clear message: the princes will put money into Egypt as long as the Egyptian people are obedient and elect the ‘Saudi’ choice for president. This is quite a bold shift: it is a public downgrading of Egypt’s status and a new Wahhabi chain around the Egyptian neck. Gamal Abdel Nasser is probably having another heart attack wherever he is now. Even Anwar Sadat and King Farouk are shaking in the grave. Even under Mr. Mubarak the Saudis did not so openly and boldly interfere in the fake elections he held every few years.

The
official did not explain what guarantees Egyptian voters will have that the Saudi aid will be forthcoming if when Sisi wins. When asked if the Egyptians can dump Sisi if the Saudi money is not up to what was promised the official may have smirked and said: “They can try, but we can’t guarantee anything”.

Sisi, for his part, has been trying on his coming role as president. He is going around wearing a civilian suite and talking to himself in the mirror, repeating “yes we can, yes I can”. Yet what would he do in the improbable and impossible case that he loses and pigs start flying? Will he continue wearing the suit? Will he show up at the barracks wearing military garb and order a new military coup? Will they obey him? The answer is: yes, yes, yes. Which in Spanish would be Si Si Si.

Cheers

mhg

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Chemical Weapons Again: is Al-Assad that Stupid or that Desperate or Both?………

      


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“The world’s chemical weapons watchdog will send a fact-finding mission to Syria to examine claims by the United States and other Western powers that the Syrian government may have used deadly chlorine gas against its own people. Tuesday’s announcement by the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) followed a week of intensive diplomatic efforts by Washington to rally international support for such a mission, which is likely to renew international scrutiny of Syria’s chemical weapons at a time when Damascus was receiving credit for destroying its stockpiles of the lethal toxins.………….”

Here we go again. It has been happening regularly, ever since the tide of the Syrian war seemed to turn against the Wahhabi side. I believe that nobody, not even an Arab political leader, is that stupid. Imagine, every month or so the “activists” or the “opposition” claim that Bashar Al-Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons: Sarin or Chlorine or whatever. It is like clockwork. They always accompany the claim with photos and videos of people choking or dead and canisters clearly marked (in English): Sarin or Chlorine. They do not, however, paste a return address for these canisters at the presidential palace in Damascus. 

Western media and officials, following the usual Saudi and Gulf media, automatically repeat the charges. I suspect it is at least partly a political game. Mr. Assad came close to being bombed by NATO forces last year, he came close to being Ghaddafi-ed by Western forces under the pretext of using WMD. Would he do it again so soon, that is assuming that he is the one who did it the previous times? 

They say he is not nearly as desperate now as he was in 2011-12. They say the opposition militias are now the desperate ones who are losing ground seriously as they fracture and new gangs sprout up. So, based on the assumption that the desperate side would resort to the use of chemical weapons or claim the use of chemical weapons……

Like
I said, there is no underestimating (or is it overestimating in this case) the stupidity of an Arab leader: just look at how many hopeless wars Saddam Hussein started or provoked, and he lost all of them.

Some older posts on this:

Cheers

mhg[email protected]

 

Aung San Suu Kyi and the Good Germans: Buddhist Ethnic Cleansing in Burma, Genocide in Myanmar………

      


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“A hospital visit was out of the question; admission for Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted minority, always requires a lengthy approval process — time that the baby, named Parmin, did not have. In desperation, the pharmacy owner sent the family to the rarely staffed Dapaing clinic, the only government emergency health center for the tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims herded into displaced people’s camps. Although it was just 4 p.m., the doors were shuttered. “We became like crazy people, running everywhere,” the child’s grandmother, Daw Mu Mu Lwin, said. With no good choices left, the family returned to the pharmacy, where Parmin died, untreated, three and a half hours later, cradled in her grandmother’s arms. The baby’s death was part of a rapidly expanding death toll and humanitarian crisis among the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that Myanmar’s Buddhist-led government has increasingly deprived of the …………….Some aid workers fear they are being kept away so there are fewer witnesses to rampant mistreatment most basic liberties and aid even as it trumpets its latest democratic reforms and occasional bloodletting ……….”

Which brings me to a curiously silent figure: Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, allegedly acclaimed humanitarian freedom fighter of Burma (Myanmar). The lady has struggled for years for democracy in her country. Yet the lady has been stubbornly and deafeningly silent about the expanding systemic genocide in her country. Like many otherwise ‘good Germans’ of the 20th century, she has been silent on organized ethnic cleansing in her country. Understandably silent because she would have to pay a heavy political price, a price to be exacted not by the military rulers of the country, but by the Buddhist monks and their millions of followers. 

No doubt Aung San Suu Kyi considers the Rohingya minority as ‘not really Burmese’, in the same sense that many Germans, both good and bad, considered the Jewish minority as ‘not Germans’. Hence they turned a blind eye to what was happening in their midst. 

In a country that seeks to be rid of a dictatorship while its putative liberators wish to be left alone to commit genocide against the Muslim minority.

-Other recent posts on this topic:

Burma and its Muslims: Myanmar Takes the Nazi Route
Cheers

mhg

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North to Aleppo? Al Jarba Seeks ‘Long Term’ American Ties and Anti-Aircraft Missile ………

      


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Mr.
Ahmad Al Jarba, the Saudi-appointed current head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) will be in the United States this week, seeking ‘long term’ ties with the United States. Recent Syrian history is certainly against him. It is unlikely that he himself will last ‘long term’ enough, that he will be around much longer than his several predecessors who bit the dust quickly. 

Saudi semi-official Alarabiya Network claims his more immediate main goal in Washington is to obtain antiaircraft missiles, just the thing to sow fear and create havoc in air traffic across the Levant. Al Jarba and his new ‘military commanders’ will meet with the congressional hotheads who are usually eager to intervene in the Middle East.

Meanwhile
Homs is falling to Syrian regime forces, and all indications are the action will move north, that Aleppo will be the next major campaign of the war. Even as Mr. Al Jarba repeats that only a military solution will end the Syrian civil war.

On
the other side, a Syrian court ruled that Bashar Al Assad can run for another term as president of Syria. Surprised? I didn’t think so either.

Cheers

mhg

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The Humorless Jihadi War in Syria: Is It the Location or the Baath or Mitch McConnell?……

      


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“The flow of foreign fighters to Syria to join the war against Bashar Assad’s dictatorship is becoming the largest in the history of the global jihad, and the Syrian battleground is on the way to outstripping the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets as a training ground for Islamic militants. Security services around the world are becoming increasingly alarmed at the implications for the safety of their citizens. American intelligence officials now put the number of foreign fighters who have gone to Syria since the war began in 2011 at between 8,000 and 10,000. Other sources put the total even higher, up to 12,000. The largest contingent is probably Saudis. Saudi sources put the number of their citizens who have gone to wage jihad in Syria at 1,200, of whom 300 are reported to have died on the battlefield. Jordanian sources report about a thousand Jordanians………….”


The
prospects look grim. All forms of Jihad are humorless, but this Syrian Jihad is even more so. I mean with contingents from Saudi Arabia, Gulf Salafis, Chechnya, Bosnia, Libya, Algeria, and Jordan (especially Jordan) who can expect anything else? If there are such things as Algerian and Libyan humor, I have never heard of them. Have you ever heard of Wahhabi humor (there is some but the jokes start like this: these three true Salafi believers dive into a river of wine near a couple of skinny-dipping skinny houris, and………….)?

Not
that Syrian humor was well-known even before the current tragedy started in 2011. Remember, the Baath Party has been in power in Syria since 1963. In Iraq it ruled briefly in 1963, but came back with a vengeance in 1968 to wipe out any Iraqi sense of humor (assuming any existed after four centuries of humorless Turkish rule). The terms “Baath” and “humor” don’t fit well in the same sentence, or in the same paragraph, or in the same chapter. Come to think of it, I can think of many terms that don’t fit anywhere near the word ‘humor’: Salafi, Al Saud, Al Khalifa (well, maybe just LOL), mullah, functionary, bureaucrat, Mitch McConnell, among others. 

I also strongly suspect that Syria’s location has not helped. Any country stuck between Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel is doomed to a history of humorlessness. It is almost like being stuck between Germany and Poland (never the most humorous places in Europe) in 1939 or between Iran and Afghanistan or Pakistan in 2014 or at any other time. Not helpful in that regard. 

Cheers

mhg

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King to his Besotted People: Tweet Me If You Dare, Benghazi and Lollipop………

      


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“Web users in Saudi Arabia can now petition their king directly through a website, it seems. The site, called Tawasol (Communication), was launched on the orders of King Abdullah, who is keen to hear his citizens’ complaints, ideas and suggestions, the Saudi Gazette reports. Every message will be forwarded to the king, the paper adds. Saudis can use the portal to lodge complaints against government departments and send applications for medical assistance, the Arab News says. A statement posted on the website says, “People will be able to inform the king about any shortcomings in the services offered by government agencies, and to take suitable action for the benefit of all citizens.” Saudi Arabia has an uneasy relationship with the internet…………….”

It could be one way to flush out malcontents, reformists, cynics, and even a few potential ‘terrorists’. It all depends on what you write the king about. After all, social media like Twitter and Facebook have opened avenues for protest and political activism, but they have also helped flush out active and silent regime opponents. 

No doubt the sycophants who set it up for his majesty who will sift through it will select what is appropriate. The king will never see any petition asking for free elections. It would be more fun if the king would simply open a Twitter account and have his subjects tweet him. The king can tweet his daily activities, something like:

“Bummer, had to give that pesky Hariri kid $1 billion to save his dumb financial ass. Al Tuwaijri thinks it is necessary”.

“Wrote $25 mil check for new Prez of Lebanon. I hope the greedy dumb mother is worth it. Let’s see the cheap mullahs match that”.

“Bandar seems to behave himself these days. I wonder……..”

“Talked to Sisi by phone. Imagine a king calling a former general. A nobody, yet”

“Was told the dumb Bahraini f–k wants to phone me. Asked Saud to take his call”

“Those !*#$%^#@@$$ Qataris………..”

“Obama sucks, could even be a secret Shi’a. I hope Republicans whip his ass this year and win in 2016”

“Will that Clinton woman win? Women! I can charm her into attacking Iran. Wish I had met her on the rebound from the Monica-and-Bill-in-the-closet lollipop thing”

“Benghazi, Benghazi;  I’ll never stop saying Benghaziiiiiii……………”
Cheers

mhg[email protected]

 

 

Jihadi Fellow Travelers of MENA: Salafis, Bolsheviks, and Pirates……….

      


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“Not only does al Qaeda host Ansar al-Sharia, one of the militias responsible for the Benghazi attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But U.S. intelligence now assesses that leaders from at least three regional al Qaeda affiliates—al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and members of the organization of Al-Mulathameen Brigade loyal to Algerian terrorist, Mokhtar BelMokhtar—have all established havens in the lawless regions of Libya outside the control of the central government. One U.S. military contractor working on counter-terrorism in Africa summed up the situation in Libya today as simply, “Scumbag Woodstock.” The country has attracted that star-studded roster of notorious terrorists and fanatics seeking to wage war on the West. An American counter-terrorism official used a different metaphor to describe the situation. “Libya today plays host to members and associates of several AQ-allied groups, in some ways becoming a jihadist melting pot,”………………”

An excellent description of them: a melting pot. In most Middle East countries, especially Arab ones, tribal and sectarian identities define a person and define political life (in the few places where there is a political life). The order is: Clan, Tribe, Sect, Religion, Country. In that exact order. Sometimes Ruler or King (or Sisi) is inserted before Country, sometimes they add God at the beginning to make it seem kosher and halal

Now the Salafi Jihadis have changed all that. Like the Bolshevik experience of ‘early’ 20th century Europe, and also incidentally like the American experience of the past two centuries. They have created their own melting pots that transcend nationalities (but certainly not sect and probably not tribe: these two have too strong a pull). And they are spreading across the region and all the way south to East Africa and west to the Sahel. The old Afghan war against Soviet occupation and secular government was just a warm-up to what is happening now.

They
have left their stamp: from New York and the Eastern Seaboard to Iraq and Syria and Libya and Yemen and East Africa and West Africa. Little melting pots are being created with Jihadis converging from almost everywhere in the world (except maybe Latin America, maybe). From tribes and clans and nationalities they gather in certain regions, what I call “target areas of opportunity”. Libya and Syria are the latest, but they will not be the last. Look for other states of “failed’ Arab uprisings and failed African states to host more of them. An interesting, murderous, and dangerous melting pot. Almost like the pirates of the Caribbean of another era.

Cheers
mhg

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Saudi Freudian Missiles and Nuclear Inadequacy and King of Jordan: Big Hat but no Cattle?……

      


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“Saudi Arabia became the first Middle East nation to publicly exhibit its nuclear-capable missiles. The long-range, liquid propellant DF-3 ballistic missile (NATO designated CSS-2), purchased from China 27 years ago, was displayed for the first time at a Saudi military parade Tuesday, April 29, in the eastern military town of Hafar Al-Batin, at the junction of the Saudi-Kuwaiti-Iraqi borders. The DF-3 has a range of 2,650 km and carries a payload of 2,150 kg. It is equipped with a single nuclear warhead with a 1-3 MT yield. Watched by a wide array of Saudi defense and military dignitaries, headed by Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister Salman bin Abdulaziz, the parade marked the end of the large-scale “Abdullah’s Sword” military war game. Conspicuous on the saluting stand was the Pakistani Chief of Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif alongside eminent visitors, including King Hamad of Bahrain and Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report the event was deliberately loaded with highly-significant messages………….”

I am doubtful about the exact purpose of all this, but why not? Everybody else in the region seems to spend a lot of time and resources doing military exercises and parades. From Iran to North Africa they do it all the time. Even faraway NATO powers do exercises all over the region. Even Al Qaeda terrorist franchises do it, wherever they do these things. So why not the Saudis?

They called it “Abdullah’s Sword” possibly full of Freudian phallic symbolism. Still, isn’t that neighborly and downright sweet to call their war games after the King of Jordan?

Dunno about the “highly-significant messages”, though. Normally countries build their bombs then they focus about delivery (mostly they assume they would never need to deliver or maybe in a few cases they think they can drop them off bombers, a la Enola Gay). The only message I see here is that the Saudis can buy all the missiles they want from around the world, money is no object. But that is no good in a nuclear context: it is like owning a huge store of purchased bullets and lacking a gun to shoot them with. Like owning a wagon but no horses, a big hat but no cattle. You get my drift. 
Cheers

mhg[email protected]

 

Super-Sectarian vs Sectarian: Funny Arab Complains about Imperfect Iraqi Elections……

      


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“And it’s also likely that this year’s results could be ignored by granting the “most politically suitable” party the right to form a government under dirty sectarianism and Iranian orders. Despite all current divisions and upcoming violations, Iraqi elections remain unusual given the standard of regional elections from Iran in the east to Algeria in the west. Political pluralism and the real diversity of the top figures and parties mark the Iraqi elections with a value that is worth appreciating……………”

This one deserves the Joke of the Week Award. He is the current general manager of Saudi semi-official Alarabiya network and former chief editor of Prince Salman’s newspaper (Asharq Alawsat). A propagandist for the absolute tribal super-sectarian Saudi princes complaining about the sectarian Iraqi elections and their imperfect outcome. How they decide the government and how much sectarian influence there is. Sectarianism pervades Iraq but an even more extreme version of it pervades every other Arab country, even those that have only one sect (e.g. Egypt and North Africa). There is a lot of sectarianism in Iraq, unfortunately, but nothing as near as there is in Saudi Arabia and most other Arab countries. The Iraqi elections are imperfect but so have been elections in other countries (some of them downright funny although not humorous). Some might say that having no elections is the ‘optimum’ of political imperfections.

This Saudi complaint is like Kim Jong Un complaining about the imperfections of the U.S. Electoral College system as a democratic institution. It is like having a Mufti or a mullah complain about religious intolerance in some Western countries.

Cheers

mhg

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