A Crime in Manhattan: Plaza Hotel, Saudi Oger, and Lebanese Rumors……..

   

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Yet the prince’s name was uttered during the trial only once, and only in part, by his butler. His full name is Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd. He is the youngest and assumed favorite son of King Fahd, who died in 2005 after 23 years leading Saudi Arabia. The prince’s wealth is thought to be in the billions. He has few, if any, official responsibilities and appears to focus mostly on bouncing around the globe with his large entourage, said Simon Henderson, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has written about the royal family……… “We’re not talking about the top 1 percent,” Aaron Mysliwiec, a defense lawyer, said. “We’re talking about Michael Bloomberg kind of wealth.” One of the Plaza’s owners is Prince Walid bin Talal, Prince Abdul Aziz’s more famous cousin, who is among the largest single shareholders in Citigroup and in News Corporation, the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch……… Testimony revealed that some part of that entourage was supplied by the “V.I.P.” unit of Saudi Oger, a large construction and telecommunications company. The unit exists to travel with the prince and cater to his desires, the head of the unit testified………… The ties between Saudi Oger and Prince Abdul Aziz are well known in Saudi Arabia. The company was founded by Rafiq Hariri, who built Saudi Oger into a large company by winning the trust and business of King Fahd………

I wrote here that Lebanese media reported a couple of weeks ago that the Saudi king gifted, “gave”, Saad Hariri US$2 billion, just like that. Maybe a gift for Valentine’s Day. Hariri denied it, but in Lebanon, a secret doesn’t last long. Like this old saying that I just made up: A secret doesn’t remain a secret in two places, one of them is Lebanon. You can try and guess what the other place is but then someone, possibly your spouse, might ask How did you know?


Hariri was reportedly unwelcome in his hometown of Riyadh for some time. He had angered the Saudi princes by describing Prince Nayef (Interior Minister and now Crown Prince) as a “bloodthirsty butcher” behind his back. That was during a meeting with some European bureaucrat related to the STL Hariri tribunal. Unfortunately for him, that meeting was recorded and televised by al-Jadeed TV last year.
As for the allegations of rape, I have no idea.
FYI: Saudi Oger is pronounced like “O Jay” not like “Ogre”.

Cheers
mhg



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Hillary Clinton and Democracy Hypocrisy: Yemen and Syria and Iran……

 

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Syria’s authoritarian regime held a referendum on a new constitution Sunday, a gesture by embattled President Bashar Assad to placate those seeking his ouster. But the opposition deemed it an empty gesture and the West immediately dismissed the vote as a “sham.”…..” AP

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday hailed the presidential election in Yemen, offering continuous support to the Arab nation as it confronts challenges ahead. …..

Only one candidate allowed in Yemen and he “won” 99.8% of the vote, and there were many dead. Clinton must think Arabs are stupid.
Here are my rantings on Yemen yesterday.

On June 14, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement on repression in Iran and Syria to mark the second anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran….
Ahmadinejad had three candidates running against him, he claimed less than 60% of the vote, I think about 58%. Arab SpringMuch more democratic than the travesty in Yemen, wouldn’t you say? The difference is that he was not sponsored by the Saudi king and the absolute potentates of the GCC and the Western powers.

So, the new definition of democratic elections is simple: they are the elections that are approved by the absolute tribal polygamous Saudi king and the absolute shaikhs of Qatar and UAE and Bahrain. And they are hailed by Western media (CNN, Fox) as true elections. Cute.
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mhg



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Adonis of Syria: Secular Reactionaries and Islamo-Fascist Revolutionaries……

 

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The renowned Syrian poet Adonis (nom de plume) opines that he understands why many Arab ‘progressives’ are against the Arab revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. He said that some may be right in warning that these uprisings are creating Islamic Fascist states (Islamo-Fascist sounds like the favorite term of the American Republican extreme right wing for Muslims).
Adonis told an Austrian newspaper that the recent movements are now being led by Islamist fundamentalists and fascists and represent a move back toward the Middle Ages. He said that as an example, Tunisia had a secular system established by Habib Bourguiba but that Tunisia now has an Islamic regime. He added that the ‘opposition’ in his country, Syria, wants to change the regime form a military dictatorship to a religious dictatorship. He said that Arab elections now lead to Islamist rule and that even Hitler came to power at first as a result of elections.

ALL
Arab states that had successful uprisings are becoming fundamentalist; that is a fact. But then most Arab states that have had no successful uprisings are fundamentalist anyway. Unless you think that Saudi Arabia is a secular democratic kingdom.

(Adonis. I wonder, when he was young, if he was what some American females woiuld call a hunk.)

Cheers
mhg



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Pakistan Army Demolishes the Alamo of al-Qaeda, Gulf Jakhoor Outside the Soor………

 

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Pakistani authorities have begun to demolish the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that Osama Bin Laden used as a hideout until he was killed in a raid by U.S. forces in May 2011. “The action was taken to keep the compound from ever becoming a shrine for Bin Laden’s followers,” a Pakistani military official told CNN. “It’s a message that Pakistan doesn’t want to keep anything connected with this terrorist.” CNN affiliate GEO-TV showed video of dust flying into the air from the compound as troops stood and watched from outside……….”



Santa Ana of Mexico never thought of destroying the Alamo after he subdued Texas (briefly). Maybe Sam Houston didn’t give him enough time. It survives in San Antonio de Béxar (now shortened by illegal Anglo immigrants to San Antonio).
The Islamic
world has a knack for destroying monuments, especially the parts of the Islamic world that are Salafi Wahhabi or are influenced by that barbaric ideology. From Mecca and Madina to Bamiyan to Abbottabad, monuments to the Prophet and to ancient leaders and to modern terrorist leaders are destroyed. If the Pyramids were in Saudi Arabia, they’d be torn down by the greedy princes to make room for luxury hotels. If they were in Afghanistan or Pakistan, they’d be torn down to make room for a goat herd. If they were in a certain place on my Gulf, they’d be torn down to make room for some jakhoor (look it up or ask some schmuck from the outskirts of my hometown, but it is related to goats and such things).

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mhg



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Saudi Arabian Women: Renting IOC and Owning FIFA…………

   

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When Women’s World Cup soccer fever can overwhelm Twitter, it may be hard for Americans to imagine a place where women are banned from all playing fields. That is Saudi Arabia today. In Saudi, women do not get to compete in elite sport—let alone exercise, play, or even participate in physical education. They can’t even watch a sports match. “No women allowed” is what life is like for girls and women in Saudi Arabia who aspire to run, throw a ball, swim, or ride a bike. In six months, the London Summer Olympics will open with fireworks and fanfare. Teams from every country will parade proudly at the Opening Ceremony. One team, Saudi Arabia, plans to send only men. The International Olympic Committee is the keeper of the Olympic flame, and has immense power over national Olympic committees. In the same way we demand that athletes play by the rules, Saudi Arabia should not be allowed to violate the Olympic Charter’s ban on “discrimination of any kind.”………….

Okay, we can add IOC and FIFA to Formula One and Interpol and Malaysia and Bahrain and Waziristan and the Salafi groups to the list of organizations (and countries) that the Saudi princes own.  Now that impressive Saudi portfolio has expanded to include the League of Arab States, the GCC, the Organization of Islamic Countries, the Taliban, Fox News (partly), among others. Even the mighty U.S. government can’t claim anything like that. Hell, even the Koch Brothers can’t came close.
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mhg



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Khamenei on Nuclear Sinning in Iran and other Places……….

 

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As U.S. and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: U.S. intelligence agencies don’t believe Iran is actively trying to build an atomic bomb. A highly classified U.S. intelligence assessment circulated to policymakers early last year largely affirms that view, originally made in 2007. Both reports, known as national intelligence estimates, conclude that Tehran halted efforts to develop and build a nuclear warhead in 2003. The most recent report, which represents the consensus of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, indicates that Iran is pursuing research that could put it in a position to build a weapon, but that it has not sought to do so………. An IAEA report in November cited “serious concerns” about “possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program,” but did not reach hard conclusions. Another IAEA report is imminent. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted Wednesday that Tehran had no intention of producing nuclear weapons. In remarks broadcast on state television, he said that “owning a nuclear weapon is a big sin.”……….”

Ayatollah Khamenei just called nuclear countries sinners. Which confirms what I have been writing here, and what others have written: that they may acquire the technology but they will not actually produce a nuclear bomb. The mullahs don’t like sinning, I think. That is not to say there are no sections of the diverse Iranian regime that would like to sin, to develop nuclear weapons. In the end it is Ali Khamenei who is supposed to have the final say, provided that he knows exactly what is going on. I mean he can be calling nuclear weapons a sin, but some branch of his government may be tempted to try a bit of sinning (the flesh is weak after all). All this is contrary to all the whining by Israeli officials and Saudi princes, egging the United States toward another futile war in our region.

(The Israelis don’t really want a war, they just want to divert attention away from the West bank and their expanding settlements. The Saudi princes and their Salafi proxies, on the other hand, would love a war fought by Americans, or any other ‘heathens’, on their behalf).
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mhg



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Friends of Syria Meet in Tunisia, Decline to “Liberate” Syria…….

   

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The Saudi delegation withdrew from the “Friends of the Syrian People” meeting in Tunis over what it saw as the gathering’s “inactivity”, Al Arabiya reported. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal left the meeting after saying in a speech that focusing on humanitarian aid to Syria was “not enough.” “There is no other means but transferring power either voluntarily or by force. Is it justice to offer aid and leave the Syrians to the killing machine? ” he said. Faisal said that the Syrian regime has lost legitimacy and turned into an occupation-like authority. “My country will not take part in an action that will not lead to the quick protection of the Syrians,” he said………

The Saudi prince also added that if the Assad regime does not fall soon, his king will order the National Guard, commanded by his son Met’eb, to cross the border with heavy armor in support of the Syrian people. Just like they helped the Bahraini people last year, he added. King Abdullah of Jordan, on hearing of this, immediately texted the prince “Which border are you talking about? Last time you guys crossed our border, you never left the Hijaz, annexed Mecca and Madina and then your king stole our custodial job.”
On an almost more serious note: I can’t wait to see Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the losing hero of the battle for Yemen, defeated by the ‘primitive’ Huthis, lead a blitzkrieg across the Syrian border. Only which border would he cross? The Jordanian or the Iraqi or the Israeli? Either one it should be fun, especially without American forces to back him up (the French and British don’t count without support from American forces, if you remember history).

Cheers
mhg



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Syria and Yemen and the Lions: the 100% Solution, the 99.8% Solution……..

 

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No doubt President Assad will not last in Syria, not if the alleged 6,000 killings are true. His father is reported to have killed many more in Hama, but we are not sure how many. Those were days of no internet (not outside the U.S defense establishment) and no cell phones with cameras. The opposition was not as media-savvy and opportunistic as it is now. Besides, most governments, including all Arab governments that now condemn Bashar, colluded with the father in covering up the alleged massacre. The father survived, nay thrived, after Hama because the rest of the world allowed him to.
This is unlikely to happen with Bashar. Not only there are television videos, no doubt some of them are fake or modified for international audiences, but there are other factors. Under Hafiz al-Assad (Arabic for the Lion Keeper) the political atmosphere in the region was quite different. Under Bashar al-Assad (Arabic for Bearer of Good News to the Lion) too many regional and international powers want a piece of Syria. The Iranians and Russians want to keep Assad in power because he is their ally. The Saudis and Gulf potentates want Assad replaced with someone who would be their ally against Iran. The West wants someone in Syria who would kick the Iranians out and switch their support in Lebanon from Hezbollah to the Hariri and the Falange militias. The West, and the Israelis, dream of 1982, when the Lebanese right-wing made an impossible short-lived deal with Israel and Reagan stupidly sent in the Marines, thinking Lebanon was like Grenada. They believed the right-wing Arab propaganda that the Lebanese people welcomed them (most did not, even more would not now).

So, what to do with Syria? The Yemen solution where the “new” president reverted to the true Arab election style by winning 99.8%? Or the Tunisian solution which is more democratic (so far)? Or the Egyptian solution that is not clear yet?
Syria will have to be different if a civil war is to be averted: it will probably have to be a consensus solution that gives everyone something to take home. Nobody loses too much: not sure about the Syrian people. The Iranians and Russians want the regime to remain; they don’t want to lose out. The Saudis want the regime to go and they prefer a new fundamentalist regime that is close to them: the princes can dangle the promise of a lot of money even their own people face tough conditions at home.
No doubt the next regime will be some sort of fundamentalist Islamic concoction that reflects the “current” mood of many, if not all, Syrians. It will be a Sunni regime, which will probably be hostile to both Iran and Israel, at least on paper. Until the Saudi (and maybe the Qatari) oligarchs present them with the political bill for “liberation”.
Well: you live and you learn.
Cheers
mhg



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Electoral Democratic Joke: Yemen’s 99.8% Landslide, a F–king Big Deal………………

   

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The election results were typically Arab: the vice president of Ali Saleh, the man supported by the Saudis and the potentates of the GCC and the democratic Western powers won. He won with a modest 99.8% of the vote. He was the only candidate. Even Ahmadinejad won less than 60% in that disputed 2009 election in Iran (but Ahmadcinejad was not appointed by the Saudis and the West). It was like electing the King of Saudi Arabia or the ruler of Bahrain or Abu Dhabi. Now that is, to quote Joe Biden, a fucking big deal!

Here is what I posted about it before the vote results:
Yemenis, including Tawakkol Karman, winner of the 2011 Nobel peace prize, go to the polls. Tuesday’s election is the fruit of a US-backed deal that eased President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in exchange for immunity from prosecution over the alleged killing of hundreds of protesters. Saleh’s deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is the only candidate………..

Tawakkol Karman: “This is a day of holy joy!
This is a Nobel Laureate speaking.

Is the lady out of her blinking fundamentalist mind? Had she been chewing qat? A day of ”holy joy”? So they were forced by the neighboring potentates to vote for one man, maintaining the power of the old regime.

The GCC, with Western support, have saddled the Yemeni people with a continuation of the dictatorship. Of course the potentates of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oligarchies would not want free choice for Yemen. So they have an election with one candidate! One candidate! Did anyone expect the Saudi princes to deliver democracy and freedom to the Yemeni people? When they refuse any mention of it to their own people? When you can vanish if you so much as mention freedom in Riyadh? And they call that travesty freedom? No wonder the Huthis and the Southerners are ready to resume their battle for whatever the hell it is they are seeking.
The Saudis, led by Field Marshal Khaled bin Sultan bin Technocrat bin Rommel were defeated militarily in Yemen. Their most expensively armed military was defeated by a ragtag tribal group armed with WWI and WWII weapons. Now they are trying to win their counter-revolution by diplomacy. It won’t work.
Cheers
mhg



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Libya at a Crossroad………

    

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The parade continues in Omar Mukhtar Street a few hundred metres away; there’s a toy shop in the street, and a family is hunting for something suitable for their child in among the pink tricycles and the shiny scooters, without even noticing the parade of weapons going by – that’s daily life in Tripoli. The ruling transitional council has banned firing into the air, but nobody takes any notice of that. They’re firing out of all barrels, with their Kalashnikovs, even with the anti-aircraft guns. It’s a clear message for the transitional council: many of the rebels don’t come from Tripoli, but from Zintan or Misrata. They’re showing their military muscle, to underline the fact that the country’s new rulers will have to take their interests into account as well.. The balance of power in Libya is fragile, and it’s partly based on who has the most firepower. Power in Libya these days is a limited commodity………..”

At least now a plurality of political opinions can be expressed in Libya, something unthinkable under Qaddafi. But they also have a plurality of armed groups with ‘shadowy’ loyalties. Now, can they switch from the guns to the ballot box? I have some doubts about that; the central government doesn’t look very ‘central’. I also suspect that many exiled Libyans who can help rebuild are remaining in exile; that tells me something.
Cheers
mhg



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