Monthly Archives: November 2011

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Hezbollah, Iran, Qatar, Salafi, WTF

Bahrain (& maybe Qatar) Uncover another Stupid Terror Plot, about that Embassy Bombing……….

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“JEDDAH: A terror cell planning attacks against the Saudi Embassy, the King Fahd Causeway and other vital installations in Bahrain has been broken up, a Bahraini Interior Ministry spokesman said Saturday. Four members of the cell were detained in Qatar and turned over to Manama, while a fifth Bahraini was arrested inside the country, said Gen. Tareq Al-Hasan. The alleged targets also included the Bahraini Interior Ministry and other individuals. Al-Hasan said the four arrested in Qatar had been traveling by car from Saudi Arabia. Security officers at a checkpoint seized “documents and a computer containing information of a security nature (and) details on certain vital sites.” They were also carrying US dollars and Iranian rials………..”

If I were an Iranian official plotting terrorism in Bahrain or in Saudi Arabia, I would never hand the terrorists Iranian money, for two reasons: (1) American dollars, or Euro, or Gulf currencies are easier to use, and (2) Iranian money would look suspicious if these men get caught. A smart Iranian “control” would have them carry wads of Israeli NIS.
If I wanted to make sure everyone “knew” the Iranians were behind a plot, I’d give the terrorists some Iranian currency, a lot of it. So, somebody is very stupid: it can be the Iranians, or the Bahrainis, or the Saudis. Who do you think is that stupid? Could it be all of the above? I suspect any of the above have operatives who are stupid enough. The good news (or is it the bad news) is that we have not read anything (yet) linking this “plot” to an Iranian used car dealer in Texas named Arbabsiar. But it is early.

The Bahrain and Saudi media are running away with it. Saudi semi-official network Alarabiya headlines that members of the appointed Bahrain sectarian “parliament” have claimed Iran and Hezbollah were involved (they forgot to add North Korea). Qatari media have not reported on this, yet. Which is also odd, but maybe they are as suspicious of the timing of this as I am.
I think somebody somewhere ought to quit while they are ahead: the question is where is that somebody? Tehran or Manama or Riyadh?
Cheers
mhg


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Espionage, Israel, Palestine

In Old Palestine: British Boys, Jewish Girls, Arab Girls, Zionists, Spies………

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“The Zionist battle to wrest control of the country from the British and establish a Jewish homeland was led politically by the Jewish Agency and militarily by guerrilla organisations such as the Haganah and Irgun. “The Jewish Agency set up special clubs for the purpose of propaganda,” said Motti Golani, a historian of the British Mandate at Haifa University. “There were dancing parties, clubs with lectures, dinners. The Agency pushed young girls, of around 18 or 20, to have relationships with British soldiers. It was a kind of spying.” The Jewish Agency’s message was confusing: on the one hand the relationships were encouraged for political purposes, but they were meant to stop short of becoming sexual or permanent. “It was an indecent thing, for a Jewish girl to have a British boyfriend,” Segev told the Observer. “Not because he was British, but mostly because he wasn’t Jewish. It was something a family would hide.”…..… The British did not confine their romances to Jewish women. The highest-profile relationship of the era was between the commander of the British forces in Palestine, General Evelyn Barker, and Katy Antonius, the socialite wife of a prominent Arab. Barker, who was also married, wrote almost 100 passionate letters to his lover …….The Jewish Agency, he added, “had very good information. There were a lot of spies. There were hardly any real secrets. Both the British and Jewish Agency used code names, but they both knew who the other was talking about……...”

Interesting bit of old history of Palestine under the Mandate. Not clear how much is true and how much gossip. I suspect most of it is true. But you get the flavor of the time.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Revolutions, Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

WTF: Gingrich Foreign Policy, John-Paul II, Pizza Man, Espousing State-sponsored Terrorism……………

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Watched part of the GOP South Carolina foreign policy debate, The highlights, rather the Lowlights:


Q (Major Garrett): “How would you think outside the box in foreign policy…”
Newt Gingrich: “I would explicitly adopt the Reagan John-Paul II agenda…..”

John-Paul II foreign policy? I fully expected Garrett to retort with a resounding: “WTF”? John-Paul II had a military jingoistic foreign policy of bombing Iran and boycotting UNESCO for admitting the Palestinians? One more lie………..

Herman Cain, the Pizza Man, is reported to have said that President Barack Obama’s reaction to the Arab Spring has allowed the movement to go in the wrong direction..….

Little Ricky Santorum, in desperation, essentially endorsed state-sponsored terrorism: “there are scientists turning up dead in Iran. I hope the United States is involved in that….”

I have modified my original suggestion about “some” of these guys (and gal) going for a hike along the Iraq-Iran border. Initially I thought Newt Gingrich needs it the most. Now I think they all ought to go to the Iran-Iraq border, and quickly.
Cheers
mhg


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Israel, Palestine, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Obama, Palestine, Netanyahu Reading a Telephone Book to a Drunk U.S. Congress……….

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“Nor did I find much sympathy for Obama in Israel. The right thinks of him as a naïf who can easily be out-maneuvered, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently done. The left is disappointed in him for the same reason: that Obama let Netanyahu push him around. The spectacle of members of Congress leaping to their feet to clap after almost every sentence of Nethanyahu’s address gave comfort to the right that America could always be manipulated. To the Israeli left it was pathetic. “Netanyahu could have been reading from the telephone book,” said author and journalist, Yuval Elizur……..”

What can I say? Members of Congress were intoxicated by all the bullshit Mr. Netanyahu spread under the some of the Capitol, as he is wont to do wherever he goes. They recognized a sour b.s. disseminator, a right-winger, one of their own. Only better at it.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Israel, Middle East Nuclear, Sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Knesset Bill HR 1905: US Congress Going Rogue on Iran………..

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“The “Iran Threat Reduction Act” HR1905, passed on November 2 by the House Foreign Relations Committee, neither reduces an Iranian threat, nor puts significant pressure on Iran’s leaders to change policies with which the United States disagrees. A corresponding bill has been introduced in the Senate (S1048). If passed, the House bill would, however, make it illegal for any American diplomat to speak to or have any contact with an Iranian official unless the President certifies to Congress that not talking to the Iranian officials “would pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the vital national security interests of the United States” 15 days prior to that contact. Former U.S. Ambassadors William Luers and Thomas Pickering point out that this bill is not only illegal, it places the United States in greater danger in the world…….”

“(c) RESTRICTION ON CONTACT. — No person employed with the United States Government may contact in an official or unofficial capacity any person that — (1) is an agent, instrumentality, or official of, is affiliated with, or is serving as a representative of the Government of Iran; and (2) presents a threat to the United States or is affiliated with terrorist organizations. (d) WAIVER. — The President may waive the requirements of subsection (c) if the President determines and so reports to the appropriate congressional committees 15 days prior to the exercise of waiver authority that failure to exercise such waiver authority would pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the vital national security interests of the United States.”
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Hillary Clinton on Syria, Nasrallah on Syria, Iran on Syria……

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“eAsiaMediaHub US EAP Media Hub: #SecClinton: Assad has lost his legitimacy to rule & he should step down #Syria”

“Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned Israel and the US that a war against Iran and Syria would lead to an all-out regional conflict. “They should understand that a war on Iran and Syria will not remain in Iran and Syrian territory, but it will engulf the whole region and there is no escaping this reality,” Nasrallah said during a televised speech honoring “Martyrs’ Day.”……. “Iran is strong, united and has a one-of-a-kind leader and it will retaliate harshly,” he said in his speech, which was delivered in Beirut’s southern neighborhood ………..”

“Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on the US administration and the Zionist entity to understand very well that a war against Iran and Syria will not stay inside Iran and Syria, but will roll instead and spread out to the entire region.…….. “

Hassan Nasrallah is sticking by the Syrian regime, even as the Iranian patrons are (very) slowly moving away. Perhaps the Iranians can see some writing on the wall, or hedging their bets as all politicians (by definition) do. Clearly one does not expect Nasrallah to see eye to eye with Secretary Clinton on Syria, certainly on Lebanon, but diverging from a possible Iranian view is unusual. Of course he diverges only from the views expressed by President Ahmadinejad, which are not necessarily the views of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not these days.
Meanwhile a consensus is emerging that the Assad dynasty rule is about to expire. Things are getting interesting in Syria, but they will get even more interesting after the fall of the Ba’ath party.
Cheers
mhg


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Ali Khamenei, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Game of Chess: Sanctioning Central Bank of Iran, Sanctioning Grocers of Natanz……………..

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“The legislation requires the US president to impose sanctions on Iran’s central bank if he determines it is facilitating terrorism or the development of nuclear weapons, or supporting Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “I believe the central bank of Iran is not only engaging in those activities; I believe it is the ultimate engine of those activities,” said the author of the central bank provision, Representative Howard Berman, a Democrat. The sanctions would effectively block from the US economy any foreign bank involved in significant transactions with Iran’s central bank. The legislation was approved by the House panel …………..”

There are many institutions and individuals in Iran that contribute to their nuclear program:

  • The Central Bank of Iran, by virtue of operating in Iran, supervising banks and the balance of payments and maintaining the exchange rate and monetary policy in general helps the nuclear program.
  • An Iranian doctor, by virtue of working in Iran helps the nuclear program (he may treat some nuclear scientist or a procurer of ‘yellow cake’ from Niger).
  • A street sweeper in Tehran (there are many of them since Iranians like their cities clean) helps the nuclear program by virtue of improving the quality of life of nuclear scientists and procurer of ‘yellow cake’ from Niger.
  • A grocer in any Iranian city almost certainly feeds some workers on some not-so-secret nuclear plants, let’s call him the green grocer of Natanz.
  • A home vintner in North Tehran, by virtue of supplying some secret party that some nuclear scientist or some clerk at a nuclear plant might attend, is helping the nuclear program.
  • A baby sitter or a housemaid in Tehran, by virtue of……..


You get the drift. It could be a virtual declaration of war, to which the Iranians will most likely only respond in kind, with virtual retaliation. That is how the Iranians, including the dogmatic mullahs, operate in the game of chess their ancestors invented. That is why the alleged Saudi ambassador plot sounds so ridiculous, regardless of all the “weighty” Western leaders who endorsed its veracity. It does not fit the pattern of a game of chess.
(one good thing is that the bill leaves it up to POTUS to decide if the Central Bank is engaged in such activities, The bad news is also that it leaves it to POTUS).

Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Finance, GCC, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Innovative Drug Dealers of Riyadh, American Bankers………

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Saudi media report of two enterprising drug dealers, Yemeni expatriates, who were busted this week in Riyadh. Apparently they sold their dope (including hashish) on easy installments, like many other things on the Gulf. The report says they even sold dope to kids on installment. It also says they lived in luxurious hotels in order to avoid raising suspicion. They did basically what banks in the USA have been doing to kids: sending credit card enticements to students, with easy installments for the rest of their lives. What most people don’t realize is that most Gulf citizens need these “easy installment” deals and that is how they purchase almost all their needs, apparently including drugs. The Gulf potentates and retainers are the exception; they probably buy everything, including their drugs, with cash. These tow dealers did not even charge interest. In that, they were probably more Islamist than Islamic banks that charge interest without calling it so.
Cheers
mhg


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Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

America in Iraq: Missions (Not Yet) Accomplished from Bush to Obama………..

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“On the eve of what is likely to be a nearly complete withdrawal of United States forces from Iraq, one of the great questions is what Mr. Sadr is going to do…..” N YTimes

Iraq has had a way of making American presidents look and sound foolish, mainly because they misread it. George W Bush fell into that trap when he parachuted in front of a huge banner reading “Mission Accomplished”. Little did he know that the bloody party was just beginning in Iraq.
 
Now there are reports in the media that the United States will keep several thousand troops in Iraq after they all withdraw from Iraq. An Orwellian touch I could not help noticing, although most people are probably still digesting the administration’s last “announced” position, that ALL U.S. forces will leave Iraq next month.
Even the supremely opportunistic Republican candidates were quick to slam the withdrawal plan, even if most, almost all, Iraqis insist on it. Now all GOP candidates have to amend their statements to insist that there is a need for more than, say, 5 thousand troops.
So, Mr. Obama announced that he is keeping his promise to completely withdraw from Iraq, before he decided to break that promise and keep forces in Iraq (I wonder what Senator John Kerry is up to these days). Would be interesting if they will actually remain and if they will remain under the laws of an independent Iraqi state or under a colonial rule that exempts them from Iraqi laws. That should boost the political fortunes of an already politically extremely fortunate Muqtada al-Sadr.
Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US Foreign Policy, Weapons deals

Gulf Arms Race: UAE JDAMS Bunker Busters, Bunkers of Sharjah and Fujairah……

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“The U.S. government may soon announce plans for a large sale of precision-guided bombs to the United Arab Emirates, a source familiar with the arms sales plans said late on Thursday, as tensions mounted with Iran over its nuclear program. The Pentagon is considering a significant sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions made by Boeing Co, adding to other recent arms deals with the UAE. These include the sale of 500 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles about which U.S. lawmakers were notified in September. The sale of Boeing-built “bunker-buster” bombs and other munitions to UAE, a key Gulf ally, is part of an ongoing U.S. effort to build a regional coalition to counter Iran. No comment was immediately available from the Pentagon’s press office or the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales. Boeing has sold thousands of JDAM bombs to the United States and its allies in recent months as they have replenished their arsenal of the popular precision-guided bombs……….”

The Unit Arab Emirates claims to have almost 1 million citizens (the rest are temporary foreign laborers, housemaids, gardeners, doctors, bankers, mercenaries, etc). There are opinions that the actual number is much less than one million. The absolute oligarchy of the UAE has been in a tough arms race, no not with Iran, but with the rival absolute tribal princes of Saudi Arabia. For several years they were the second biggest importers of weapons in the whole wide wonderful world. Last year the Saudis moved to number one and the Abu Dhabi potentates were threatened with being relegated to number two (no pun intended here). Now they are trying to catch up with the al-Saud in terms of weapons imports, and coincidentally in terms of bribes commissions that the potentates and their retainers receive.
The UAE already has American F-16 fighters that are capable of carrying JDAMS bunker busters. It is not clear why the shaikhs of the UAE want JDAMS bunker busters, and whose bunkers they might want to bust. Nobody is likely to want to attack them, not even the shaikhs of Bahrain. The Iranians most likely are concerned with bigger fish, like the Americans or the Israelis. Besides, who is going to use all these sophisticated weapons? They can keep borrowing personnel from Pakistan, or maybe even train some humorless Jordanians. Or maybe they can train their new mercenary security legion headed by Blackwater veterans and manned by Colombians, Australians, white South Africans and others.
Either way, it is not clear whose bunkers these Abu Dhabi shaikhs want to bust. Hopefully not the bunkers of Sharjah or Fujairah.
Cheers
mhg


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