Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Qatar, UAE

On Qaradawi, the UAE, Syrians, and Qatari Border Tribes ……..

 

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“All we needed was for someone like Qaradawi to insult us. Qaradawi has insulted everyone, left no one untouched. He has forgotten when he ran away secretly with a girl, committed terrible foolish acts….. Why didn’t he criticize the Qataris when they took away the citizenship of hundreds of people………He belongs to the Muslim Brothers, some of whom have been caught with prostitutes……….”

This Gulf ranting
 was reported by Al-Watan. It reports on this dispute between Shiakh Yusuf al-Qaradawi of Egypt (now belongs to Qatar) and Dhahi Khalfan, chief of police of Dubai in the UAE. Both men love nothing better than being in front of a television camera, or any other camera, preferably with several microphones to opine through.
Qaradawi has criticized the UAE regime for reportedly arresting many Syrian residents who demonstrated against the al-Assad regime. He also griped that he was banned from the UAE. The Dubai official has now threatened to arrest Qaradawi if he sets foot in his country, adding that he will seek to arrest and extradite anyone who insults the UAE.
 
The reference to the Qataris taking away the citizenship of Qatari citizens refers to the coup that the Saudis tried to engineer against the current Emir, around 1998 or thereabouts. The plot failed and a bunch of high-level Saudi security officials were caught in Doha and imprisoned for about ten years. Some Qatari tribal types whose tribes straddle the Qatari-Saudi border were also involved in the plot and the Qatari rulers canceled their citizenship for alleged disloyalty and sent them packing back to Saudi Arabia. Other Gulf countries also have tribal citizens whose tribes straddle the Saudi border.
(I never knew Qaradawi had run away with some girl. I guess even he was young at one time. Hard to believe.)
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab League, GCC, Gulf states, Iraq, Saudi Arabia

Gulf GCC Gemütlichkeit: Expanded Membership and Wahhabi Rah Rah Rah……..

 

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So what happened to the Saudi plan to have Morocco and Jordan to join the Gulf GCC? I said at the time the invitation was issued last year when the Arab revolts were raging that it won’t get anywhere. It is not getting anywhere. 


The Saudis, in a moment of warmth and gemütlichkeit with the SCAF marshal and his generals, even spread the report that Egypt will also be invited to join the kingdom without magic. At the time I suggested Iraq for membership, since it is more of a Gulf state than any other Arab country. They don’t all have to be Wahhabis to qualify: Bahrainis are not Wahhabi (although their rulers and the small elite may have converted by now or at least going through the motions), nor are the people of the UAE or Oman, nor are MOST Kuwaitis (the Salafis and local Muslim Brothers are definitely Wahhabis as are some among the tribes).

Egyptians may have taken a step closer to Wahhabi conversion by electing Salafis to control at least 25% of their parliament. Tunisian Salafis are agitating with their Ennahda cousins, as are the armed Libyans. The Syrians may become eligible if and when Bashar al-Assad is overthrown and Damascus is taken over by the Islamist militants (whether pro-Saudi or pro-Qatari, or even pro-both). Before you know it, the whole ficking Arab league would be chanting: “Give me a W! Give me an A! Give me an H or two! Give me an A! Give me a B! Give me an I! What do we have? Wahhabi! Wahhabi! We are Wahhabis! Rah rah rah………..”
Cheers
mhg


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AIPAC, Iran, Israel, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

Brainwashing America: the Eternal Bogeyman under the Bed, of AIPAC and 9/11………..

 

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“The United States has been down this squalid road before, in regard to Iraq, and it doesn’t end well for America. Obama was made to trek to AIPAC (which should have to register as the agent of a foreign state) because it is a very effective lobby and raises money for political campaigns, as well as raising money to punish politicians that do not toe its line on knee jerk support of Israeli policy. We saw this with Iraq, and now it is the same with Iran. A weak, ramshackle, ineffectual bogeyman is set up, like Saddam Hussein or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Americans are kept talking about the “threat” emanating from that country. It isn’t a real threat. It is manufactured by the Israeli intelligence agencies and promoted by their cells in the US. With regard to Iraq, we were told that it had among the more powerful armies in the world, that it possessed frightening weapons of mass destruction, that it was a threat to Europe and the United States. None of these things was true………….”

The Communist bogeyman may have been real, but he wasn’t under every American bed, certainly not under Joe McCarthy’s bed, nor under J. Edgar Hoover’s allegedly mysterious bed.
The Ba’athist Iraqi bogeyman was an ally of the Reagan administration and a bosom buddy of his eventual victims on the Persian-American Gulf. He wouldn’t have survived the war with Iran without GCC money and Western weapons, including the WMD which he used liberally against the Iraqi Kurds and the Iranians. Saddam turned from Western ally into Western bogeyman as soon as his war with Iran was over, as soon as his usefulness expired late in 1988. With the amiable Mr. Gorbachev in the Kremlin, it was time for Saddam to resume his natural role of the favorite bogeyman.
In recent decades America has always ‘needed’ a foreign bogeyman during elections cycles. The problem is that election cycles never end these days. The next American election cycle starts as soon as those elected are sworn in. This election cycle we are seeing now started in January 2009 and continued right through 2010. It will probably pause briefly between next November and January. So there is a perpetual need for a permanent supply of national bogeymen.
It is the turn of the Iranians again, highly and insistently recommended by the unregistered Israeli government lobbyists of AIPAC. They get some help from the neighborhood; the medieval tribal Saudi despots have made a tacit common cause with the Israelis and their allies.
Yesterday on CNN Rep. Peter King of New York (Gauleiter of hearings on local Islamic terrorism last year) kept mentioning that Obama should coordinate with and or talk to the Israelis and the Saudis. Now when was the last time you heard a New York congressman mention the Saudi princes both favorably and in the same breath as Israel?
Now, back to September 11: I wonder when will they finally tie the Iranians to that terrorist act. Miracles do happen when people go stupid: they tied Saddam to it in the minds of millions, didn’t they? Like I said, miracles do happen when people……..
Cheers
mhg


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Cairo, Cinema, Egypt, Muslims, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Egypt: a Fateful Salafi Nose Job, Catholic Riyal and Princely Saksooka…………

 

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“Egypt’s Islamist Salafist al- Nour party has dismissed one of its parliament members from its ranks after he received a rhinoplasty surgery he claimed was meant to cover up an operation on his nose. Salafist member of the People’s Assembly Anwar al-Balkimy claimed that he was robbed and beaten on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway and that he sustained injuries and bruises on his face that required an operation. The state-run MENA news agency confirmed that masked gunmen attacked Balkimy on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway and robbed the MP of 100,000 Egyptian pounds. Balkimy told MENA he was surprised when five masked people in a black Jeep stopped his car and stole the money. They wanted him to step out of the car but he resisted, so they beat him, he said………… A doctor in a beauty hospital in Cairo reportedly notified the authorities that after an operation Balkimy insisted to leave the hospital without the hospital’s clearance………..”

That Salafi son of a gun. He probably had matrimonial plans: third or fourth wife or maybe trade in one of the older models. Celebrating his new political fortune. A nose job: that won’t make him look like Joan Rivers. Must have cost a bundle of Saudi Riyals. At least the Saudi princes aren’t into nose jobs, not yet, not from the looks of them hooked Hollywood-style noses; straight out of Central Casting. Not a one of them has a nose like Joan Rivers, not yet. Somehow the hooked nose goes with the jet-black dyed goatee (a k a saksooka).
FYI: did you know that the Riyal (or Rial) comes from the Spanish “real” meaning “royal”? Very Catholic of the Saudis and Qataris and Omanis and Iranians to honor Torquemada in such a fruitful monetary way. Back to the Egyptian Salafi and his nose……
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Israel, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

Cocky Mr. Netanyahu Goes to Washington, Blackmails Mr. Obama…………

 

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“Two years ago, Barack Obama reportedly left Benjamin Netanyahu to kick his heels in a White House anteroom, a snub delivered to show the president’s irritation over Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank. In May, the Israeli prime minister struck back, publicly scolding his purse-lipped host for the borders he proposed of a future Palestinian state. When the two men meet in Washington on Monday, Mr Obama will find his guest once more at his most combative. But this time, perhaps as never before, it is the Israeli who has the upper hand. Exuding confidence, Mr Netanyahu effectively brings with him an ultimatum, demanding that unless the president makes a firm pledge to use US military force to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb, Israel may well take matters into its own hands within months. The threat is not an idle one. According to sources close to the Israeli security establishment, military planners have concluded that never before has the timing for a unilateral military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities been so auspicious………….”

“Obama has been too harsh with Netanyahu…. He has hurt Netanyahu’s feelings…… Obama has done to Netanyahu what……….. “ Rep. Peter King (GOP Gauleiter -New York)

“Obama has disrespected Netanyahu………“ Mitt Romney, on the verge of tears.

It says: “Never before has the timing for a unilateral military strike been so auspicious.”
I say: “Auspicious my eye.”
The Likud and its right-wing surrogates are worried that Obama will get re-elected next November and that he will rightly forget the nonsense about a “military option”. They know now is their best chance to get him entangled in a war against Iran, a war that probably has little to do with nuclear weapons but has much to do with two things: (1) eliminating the only regional power that can compete with Israel. Most Arabs also see it as an attempt to deal with the last Middle East country that is not toeing the Western line; (2) Pushing the Palestinian issue way back the list of priorities, as has happened, while expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu’s hand is now strong because of the election cycle in the United States. The Republican Party has effectively become a local branch of the worst elements of the Likud coalition and it is keeping Obama in line. 

Watch the body language today when they appear together on television, and see who is in “control”.

Cheers
mhg


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Hezbollah, Israel, Palestine

Jerusalem: Hezbollah Makes an Improbable Prediction……..

 

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Iran’s Fars News headlines that “Hezbollah Leader Optimistic about Imminent Liberation of Occupied Quds. Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement Seyed Hassan Nasrallah voiced optimism about the liberation of the Holy Quds specially after the recent developments in the regional and Muslim states. “The regional developments are happening in a way that makes us feel that the liberation of Quds is close to us more than ever,” Nasrallah said Sunday, addressing a forum titled “Declaration of Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine, the Arabs and Muslims” in Beirut……”

Imminent (al-Quds means Holy City: Jerusalem)? To which I would respond, politely, “Imminent, my eye”. The Arabs have been repeating this mantra since before 1948. Almost any Arab army, take any one of the lot, and you’ll agree with my assessment that its commanders can’t organize a piss-up in a brewery let alone a military campaign (as I have noted here in the past). As for Hezbollah: it does a good job in defending its own land, in keeping Israelis out of Lebanon. It has not been defeated; it has inflicted several defeats on the IDF. It will do an even better job in kicking the Saudi Wehrmacht out should the princes revisit their old plan of intervention (Wikileaks). But Hezbollah’s ability at offensive military campaigns is nothing to take seriously. It is about the same as the rest of the Arab armies, the same “piss-up in a brewery” rule applies.
Cheers
mhg


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Bahrain, Culture and Sports

Gulf and FIFA: A Strange Soccer Game, an Odd Football Game……

 

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“A former England caretaker manager was at the centre of extraordinary events on the final day of preliminary qualifying in Asia for the 2014 World Cup. Peter Taylor’s Bahrain, needing a nine-goal turnaround to progress to the next stage, beat Indonesia 10-0 in a fixture that may yet attract closer investigation from Fifa, but were denied a place in the next round by Qatar’s 86th-minute equaliser against Iran. Indonesia had their goalkeeper sent off after two minutes. The replacement let in a potentially pivotal ninth goal eight minutes from the end. Included in the final tally were two penalties. The referee for the game, Andre El Haddad of Lebanon, has been involved in controversy before. Last year, he took charge of a qualifier between China and Singapore that saw him make several hotly contested decisions. China won 2-1. Taylor, who took charge of England for one game in 2000, was criticised for taking the job in Bahrain, where the pro-democracy movement has been brutally suppressed……….”

Odd: 10-0, especially when the best players of Bahrain are banned by the ruling al-Khalifa clan from playing for joining the protests. I know countries like Indonesia and India are lousy in football/soccer (they are even worse in the real NFL Football). But that is unusual. I am not saying they paid off the Lebanese referee, or that they paid off the Indonesian players and coaches, or that paid off everybody; not even with Saudi money flowing to the potentates in Manama. This is worse than when Saudi Arabia lost 0-6 a few years ago to, I forgot, was it Germany or Argentina or Fujaira or Vanuatum, or was it Fiji?

(FYI: the Turks are in the middle of an investigation of ‘game fixing’ scandal).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Saudi Arabia

A Rhetorical Arab Question: Where is the Oil Money………..

 

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“But the general trend is toward a hardening of rules. Prince Nayef, the crown prince and power behind the throne, believes this is no time to show weakness. Dissidents are detained or given travel bans, a favourite tactic of the regime in Syria until it started to use harsher methods in the past year. Media rules have also become tighter. No fly appears too small to warrant swatting. Hamza Kashgari, a young blogger, fled to Malaysia after posting provocative comments about the Prophet Muhammad. The government applied all available diplomatic pressure to have him returned. Emboldened senior clerics are asking for Mr Kashgari to be executed for blasphemy. Religion is at the heart of many conflicts. The volatile but oil-rich Eastern Province, home to many of the Sunni kingdom’s sizeable Shia minority, has witnessed frequent bouts of violent unrest in the past year. Two men were killed and several injured when police opened fire on a demonstration in February. In Qatif, the provincial capital, the walls of the main street are covered with graffiti insulting members of the royal family and asking, “Where is the oil money?”…………”


That graffiti question was rhetorical, no doubt. For whoever wrote it on that wall knows as well as I do where most of the oil money goes. The oil comes from the Eastern Province, Qatif and other areas, from the belly of the ancestral land of the same people who are treated like third or fourth class citizens in the Wahhabi ‘kingdom without magic’. But the money goes mostly to Riyadh, to a few thousand princes and their retainers and tribal sycophant. If in doubt as to who gets the oil money, this link here will clarify matter.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Politics, Racism, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Arab Voters vs. the American Political Class: Deep Mutual Contempt…….

 

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“All I want you to do (Ooh) for me
Is give it to me when you get home (Re, re, re ,re)
Yeah baby (Re, re, re ,re)
Whip it to me (Respect, just a little bit)
When you get home, now (Just a little bit)
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T……..” Aretha Franklin (Respect)

Alajazeera reports on a poll of Arab “voters”, even in countries where they are not allowed to vote. The results indicate that Arabs mostly trust their armed forces (probably not for winning victories). It also shows that Arabs overwhelmingly consider the United States and Israel the biggest threats to the security of the Arab world. The survey, done by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, shows that 77% of respondents trust their armed forces but that only about half trust their police forces and 57% trust the courts.
About 73% of Arabs consider the United States and Israel the biggest threats to the security of the Arab world but only 5% believe that Iran is a threat.
 

This 5% for Iran is interesting and represents an Arab dichotomy. It shows that in most of the vast Arab world, especially in countries where the mass of the Arab populations are concentrated, Iran is not seen as a threat. On the other hand, media of the Gulf GCC states are full of warnings of an Iranian or Shi’a “threat”. This indicates the degree of success of Saudi and Salafi sectarian propaganda in the tribal societies of the Persian Gulf states. Meanwhile, the bulk of the Arab world, in terms of area and population, has quite different views on this point. This is partly because the non-Gulf Arabs are not as swayed to Saudi propaganda as so many are in the Gulf and partly because of the absence of sectarian and tribal allegiances outside the Gulf region.

I still wonder about the unexpectedly (to me) high negative percentage for the United States; how accurate it is. It is possible that the negative view of America has shot up in recent months due to public statements of U.S. congressmen and senators and other candidates against Muslims and Arabs and the loud war threats being issued almost daily. These war threats are mostly aimed at Americans voters, but they are heard in the Middle East where they give the impression of an aggressive and contemptuous American political class in the mold of the old European imperialists. You can say that there is deep mutual contempt between most Arabs and the American political class. This also means that the views of the average Arab toward the American political class do not differ much from the views of the average American citizen toward the U.S. Congress. It can be summarized in “C-O-N-T-E-M-P-T”, and Aretha Franklin never sang that one.
Cheers
mhg


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Ali Khamenei, Iran, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

Iranian Elections, Ahmadinejad’s Loss, Western Blockade…….

 

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“Pro-reform political activist Elahe Rastgou told the Mehr News Agency on Saturday that former president Mohammad Khatami voted in the March 2 parliamentary election to tell the foreign-based opposition that the pro-reform camp will continue its political activities within the framework of the Islamic system. Rastgou said, “With participation in the election, we wanted to prove to everyone that the reformist current is still alive and is doing political activities within the framework of the system of the Islamic Republic.”………..” Mehr News (Iran)

Many reformers in Iran were disappointed that former reformist president Khatami voted in these elections. The opposition, the true reformists in Iran, had been squeezed and demoralized since 2009. Many of their candidates, had they decided to try running, would probably have been disqualified by the regime. Their supporters saw no reason to vote, nobody acceptable, from their point of view, to vote for. This showed in the turnout in the large cities, especially Tehran, where early voter turnout was reportedly about 52%.

It was a battle between the partisans of the president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They have different visions of the future of Iran, although both seem uncompromising vis-a-vis the West on the nuclear issue, as is the real opposition inside Iran. The more conservative party, the Khamenei side, seems to have one against the less conservative party, the Ahmadinejad side. Even the president’s sister lost her election bid. Ahmadinejad will most likely be replaced by someone more conservative after his term expires in 2013. But it is not a foregone conclusion: Iranian politics, even now, are quite complex. In the elections of 2005 the favorite candidate of the clergy lost to Ahmadinejad. In 2009 Ahmadinejad was widely reported to be the favorite candidate of Khamenei, yet within months there was a power struggle between the two sides.
The tighter Western blockade are as likely to weaken the opposition further as they are to weaken the regime. But the blockade will be tightened because the Obama administration is squeezed between the Israeli regime and their American extreme right wing lobbyists. Between them, they’ve got the Obama administration in a tight vise by the cojones.
Cheers
mhg


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Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..