Monthly Archives: March 2012

Al-Qaeda, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Syria, Terrorism

Terrorism: Ducks of Damascus, Salafis in Syria……….

 

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“Two bombs hit the Syrian capital of Damascus early Saturday morning, killing at least 27 security forces and civilians, according to state-run TV, which broadcast an awful scene of bloody carnage. The blasts reportedly came from car bombs targeting the government’s aviation-intelligence department and criminal-security department buildings. A reporter from the Associated Press said shooting broke out shortly after the blasts—the latest in a string of suicide bombings that have killed dozens of people since late December. As usual, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime said “terrorist forces” behind the yearlong uprising were responsible for the attacks, though the opposition says government forces had strategically set up the bombings to tarnish their reputation………”

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, quacks like a duck, lays eggs like a duck, then voila! It is a duck! This was an act of terrorism. It would have been called “terrorism” in London, in Paris, in Riyadh, and in Oshkosh (WI), so why not in Damascus?
The Syrian regime has nothing to gain by showing the world that Damascus is not secure. Unless they do it to blame the opposition. Yet the cost to the regime may be higher than the benefit. Maybe.
The opposition has much to gain by showing the world that Damascus is not safe. No, I am not saying Burhan Ghalioun was the perpetrator, not even the neo-fascists of the Not Free Syrian Army. But the most likely culprits in this terror bombing are the al-Qaeda or other Salafi terrorists. They have been filtering “back” from Iraq into Syria, bent on indiscriminate murder (in Iraq most of their terror murder was quite “discriminate”).
Cheers
mhg


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France, Islamophobia, Racism

French Elections: Sarkozy Grows a Little Mustache, Halal Meat and Kosher Salt………..

 

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“Much of the press attention here has been focused on Sarkozy’s utterly shameless courtship of France’s xenophobic voters, most of them followers of the far-right National Front. In the debate with Fabius, Sarkozy said that France has too many foreigners, and repeated a proposal he had made to cut the annual number of legal immigrants almost in half. After National Front leader Marine Le Pen made the absurd suggestion that all meat in the Paris region was being slaughtered according to Islamic rules, known as halal, Sarkozy declared, with a straight face, that “the biggest concern of French people is halal meat.”…..…”


Francois Hollande is the Socialist Party candidate for the French presidency. He has been leading Sarkozy (Le Weasel) in most polls until recently. The right-wing are pushing him to make some appropriate anti-immigrant statements.
Nicholas Sarkozy (Le Weasel) has been moving to the right for about two years now. He started early with his own final mini solution for the European gypsies, deporting them en masse. Then he quickly targeted the naturalized French citizens, creating new laws that would punish them in ways different than what other French citizens face. He knows, of course, that most of these would not vote for his right-wing party. Now he is accelerating his shift. His ministers have been making statements about which segment of the population do not represent French ‘culture’, and you don’t have to be Geert Wilders to guess that one.
Now he is rumored by my unreliable source to be planning a printemps surprise on the French electorate: he will show up sporting a new little mustache. A mustache of the kind they haven’t seen in Europe for 67 years.
Cheers
mhg


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Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Syria

Hamas Goes Shopping: from Iran to the GCC and back to Iran (and maybe Syria)……………..

 

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“Most of the missiles are now coming from the Salafi concentrations in the southern part of the enclave –targeting Beersheba and Netivot Thursday morning and as night fell aimed at Ashdod, Ashkelon, Shear Hanegev and the Eshkol region. The firing escalated after Israel laid down its ultimatum. Egypt and Hamas don’t know exactly who is giving Haraka the missiles, except that they are smuggled from Sinai through tunnels managed by Iranian intelligence agents in conjunction with local al Qaeda networks. It is highly unlikely that Hamas will venture to lay hands on these Salafi terrorists at a time when one of its top officials in Gaza, Mahmoud A-Zahar, is visiting Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders who are keen to keep the missile assaults going. His visit marks the Hamas fundamentalists’ return to the Iranian fold – that is if they ever really left it. This, Israeli strategists have chosen to ignore and are treating Hamas as a non-participant in the missile offensive and available to help Cairo bring the terrorists to accept a ceasefire….…….”

Hamas leaders have been touring the region this past month. Ismail Haniyya went to the Gulf states of the GCC before landing in Tehran a couple of weeks ago. No doubt his Muslim Brother brothers in some Gulf states tried to wean him away from the Iranian mullahs. There have been some reports that Hamas may be trying to find new sponsors to replace the Iranians, especially after it distanced itself from the Assad regime in Syria. The reports noted that Hamas leaders are “shopping” for new sources of funds and weapons.
Yet Hamas has not completely broken off with Syria; the Iranians no doubt would have some influence on that. Besides, it may be easy to find new sources of funds among the Gulf potentates, but they will never supply the weapons that Hamas wants. Hamas probably still needs Iranian weapons, and for that they cannot make a complete break with Syria, not yet. Hamas is being especially careful now that the situation on the ground in Syria seems to be shifting against the fractious opposition.
Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Human Right, Racism, Religion, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Hateful Scientific Grand Mufti and Salafis Call for Destruction of All Gulf Churches……….

 

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“The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region,” following Kuwait’s moves to ban their construction. Speaking to a delegation in Kuwait, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, stressed that since the tiny Gulf state was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was necessary to destroy all of the churches in the country, Arabic media have reported. Saudi Arabia’s top cleric made the comment in view of an age-old rule that only Islam can be practiced in the region. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is the highest official of religious law in the Sunni Muslim kingdom. He is also the head of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas……….”

At least their hateful muftis do ‘scientific research’, but perhaps not the kind that deals with quantum physics or astronomy. These gentlemen deal in more useful types of research. Now the Grand Mufti (I can’t help it: this “Grand” always remind me of a piano, something His Muftiness hates) is close to the royal family. His Muftiness is appointed by the king and he issues fatwas that support the al-Saud policies at home and in the rest of the world.
About
this call for tearing down the churches: again this does not fit well with the narrative of the offshore “dialog of faiths” that the Saudis publicize in the West. Not when they and their Salafi agents around the Gulf are calling for such intolerance even as they invite millions of non-Muslims to come toil for them, to come and “defend” them. Then people like Geert Wilders, Pam Geller, Liz Cheney, and others will say: aha, we were right!

FYI

for my new readers only: His Muftiness Shaikh Abdulaziz Al Al Shaikh is a relative of that other Shaikh Al Al Al Shaikh who heads the Saudi Commission for the Propagation of Vice (religious police). They are both relative of that other Shaikh Al AL Al Shaikh who used to be the Saudi Minister of Justice, among others. All these Al Al Shaiks are descendants of Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab of Nejd, after who the Wahhabi sect is named. They have been close allies of the al-Saud clan, sometimes more than just allies if you get my drift. Mr. Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab should not be confused with the late great Egyptian musician and singer Mohammed Abdelwahhab, who was no Salafi, not even a Wahhbai, was not a “bin” but an Egyptian-style bon vivant.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

Arabian Peninsula: in a Remote Gulag in the Desert………

 

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“At a small oasis far out in the desert, Abdulkarim al Khadr, a dismissed Professor of Theology, elucidates texts for his student Yusuf. He speaks the clear and ornate high Arabic of Islamic scholarship and cites the Koran and Sayings of Mohammed. The Prophet himself said that the struggle against vice in one’s own country is of greater merit than fighting against the unbelievers abroad. He says that it is the royal family that constantly speaks of bloody Jihad in order to discredit the justified demands for reform within the kingdom. The dissident and chairman of the unauthorized “Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association” demands reforms, yet he does not mean an opening of Saudi society. The uncompromising Islamist wants a transformation of the political system. He says that it is the royal family that constantly speaks of bloody Jihad in order to discredit the justified demands for reform within the kingdom. The dissident and chairman of the unauthorized “Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association” demands reforms, yet he does not mean an opening of Saudi society. The uncompromising Islamist wants a transformation of the political system. Most theologians in Saudi Arabia keep far removed from politics and follow the royal family like lambs, he says mockingly. They soil the memory of the most respected Companions of the Prophet by demanding blind obedience to the ruler, while at the same time ignoring the lack of rights for all citizens. He does not wish to talk of regime change, and even less so of terrorism. He thereby remains a troublesome adversary for the government. There are currently more than 5000 political prisoners from the Qassim Province alone. Most of them were jailed without due trial, claims the dismissed professor and he energetically rejects the assertion that these are Al-Qaida terrorists. His 17-year-old son has been sitting for two years in prison in order to silence Abdulkarim al Khadr. He nonetheless refuses to keep silent. His Internet site is regularly blocked and then quickly reopened under a new name..………”
Cheers
mhg


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CIA, Drones, GCC, Iran, Israel, U.S. Congress, US Foreign Policy

New International Band: “Barack Obama and the Drones”………….

 

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“Deep inside these burning buildings
Voices die to be heard
Years we spent teaching a lesson
We ourselves had never learned
And if strength is borne from heartbreak
Many mountains I could move
And if walls could speak I’d pray
That they would tell me what to do
The drones will slave away, they’re working overtime,
They serve a faceless queen, they never question why.….” Drones (by Back Against)

“Given these views, experts fear that Holder’s argument in support of the war on terror could also serve as a rationale for possible future military strikes ordered by Obama. Claus Kress, a Cologne-based professor of international law and an internationally renowned expert on the US’s stance on the laws of war, believes that it is “not inconceivable” that, in justifying the drone war, Obama’s top lawyers may have already set their sights on an altogether different target: Iran. Legally speaking, a military strike against the mullahs’ nuclear program — which Obama believes is conceivable should it become verifiably clear that there is no other way to stop Iran from building a bomb — would only be possible with the permission of the United Nations Security Council. But the Russians and the Chinese would probably veto any such consent. As a result, the United States would have to invoke its “inherent” right of self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. Still, this requires that Iran has essentially raised its weapon against Israel or the United States………”

As the old song says: “birds do it, bees do it….”
Everybody is doing it these days, or soon will be. China is building drones. Israel is using drones. Iran is building and using drones. Before you know it, we’ll have most nations building their own drones. Then we’d have various sects in each country building their own drones: we’d have Shi’a drones, Salafi drones, Ikhwan drones, and Sufi drones. Then there will be Coptic drones and Maronite drones and Orthodox drones. Then we’d have tribal drones around the Gulf: Shemmar drones (more than one type), Ajmi drones, Mutairi drones, Comanche drones, Arapaho drones, etc. Then there will be neighborhood drones…….
In the United States, if things go along the current trajectory, there may be Republican drones and Democrat drones. In fact there already are some primitive prototypes: they call them senators and representatives.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Politics, Iran, Syria, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy, Weapons deals, Yemen

Iran in Yemen and Syria: Quds Force vs. Qat Force, Plot in DC with Mexicans and Islamic Heritage Revival Society……

 

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““Iran is really trying to play a big role in Yemen now,” the Yemeni official said from his office in Sana, the country’s capital. American officials say the Iranian aid to Yemen — a relatively small but steady stream of automatic rifles, grenade launchers, bomb-making material and several million dollars in cash — mirrors the kind of weapons and training the Quds Force is providing the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. It also reflects a broader campaign that includes what American officials say was a failed plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in October, and what appears to have been a coordinated effort by Iran to attack Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia earlier this year. Iran has denied any role in the attacks. “They’re fighting basically a shadow war every day,” Gen. James N. Mattis, the head of the military’s Central Command, told a Senate hearing last week. “They are working earnestly to keep Assad in power,” he said, explaining that in addition to arms and scores of Quds Force trainers and Iranian intelligence agents, Iran is providing the Syrian security services with electronic eavesdropping equipment “to try and pick up where the opposition networks are.”………..”

Fine and dandy, the mullahs are probably supplying some arms to a Yemeni faction. Yet I don’t buy the bit about supplying weapons to Syria. Not because they would not be happy to keep Bashar al-Assad in power; no doubt the Iranians are doing their best to keep the Baath regime in control. There is no need for Iranian arms. The Russians have a naval base in Syria, and the Black Sea is nearby, and the Russians make much better weapons than the Iranians, and the Russians have always supplied Syria and still do. So why would Bashar need mediocre Iranian weapons when he has access to better Russian ones? Ditto for the spying and communications equipment. (Unless there is a money/payment angle). The New York Times needs to make a better case for this.
As for the rehash of the so-called plot to blow Adle al-Jubair the Saudi ambassador to smithereens in an overpriced but mediocre Georgetown restaurant: I thought we had gone over that one and refuted the allegation. I recall even refuting any involvement of the Mexican drug cartels, drunk Texan used-car dealers named Jack, Colombian FARC rebels, Hezbollah, Society of Islamic Heritage Revival, the Nabati Poets Diwaniya, and Mitt Romney. This just makes no sense. The Saudi ambassador al-Jubair is not an important person, he makes no decisions or policies except when to have lunch or get a haircut. It is all decided by the princes.
As for the ‘Qat‘, it just popped up…….
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Middle East Nuclear, United Nations International Organizations, War on Iran

Building the Case for War: One More Questionable Brick………….

 

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“A U.S. non-proliferation expert said on Tuesday he has identified a building at the Parchin military site in Iran suspected of containing, currently or previously, a high-explosive test chamber the U.N. nuclear watchdog wants to visit. David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, said he studied commercial satellite imagery and found a building located on a relatively small and isolated compound at Parchin that fit a description in the November 2011 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. The building has its own perimeter security wall or fencing and there is a berm between the building and a neighboring building, Albright said in a report. The compound is located more than four kilometers away from high-explosive related facilities at Parchin which the IAEA visited in 2005, Albright’s report said………..”
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Media, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia, Syria

About that Arab Water: al-Assad Longevity, Saudi Longevity, Prince Forever……..

 

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Syria’s official Tishreen newspaper has launched an attack against the Saudi clan. It is actually a counterattack, since the Saudis have been attacking the Syrian regime for some time now, especially this past year. Their target is life-long foreign minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal.

For some years, Saudi official and semi-official media and their Gulf surrogates have been attacking the Syrian regime, mostly for being an ally of Iran and aiding Hezbollah. That has shifted in past few months, the vast Saudi media have been attacking the Syrian regime for various things, one of them for being undemocratic and oppressive and repressive. They have also started to use the favorite weapon of the Saudi regime: sectarianism. Nobody in the Arab world, Islamic world, or the whole wide world can use the poison of sectarian divisiveness better than the al-Saud and their huge media and their Salafi surrogates. The Syrians have mostly held their fire, for some odd reasons, maybe hoping for another reconciliation, for future financial reasons. Now, with the regime in deeper trouble, and the Saudi regime calling for Western intervention in Syria, the gloves are off, sort of. Here are excerpts of what Tishreen said today:

“Prince Saud al-Faisal, nicknamed the forever foreign minister has been in office since 1975, like a life sentence. We call it 35 autumns since there is nothing that has to do with a “spring” in his ministry”.

“Now, in the autumn of his years, he has decided for his ministry to ride the wave of Arab Spring, but only in Syria…..”

“Saud al-Faisal has a face that does not inspire trust or safety. His looks are not easy to understand, until he starts talking in heavy Arabic that is not understood until his ministry issues its explanatory statements…” This one is below the royal belt, and childish; worse than some of the stuff I blog here.

“Saud al-Faisal, who lived for years with a sectarian face toward some regional neighbors as well as some regions in Saudi Arabia, has suddenly remembered his Arab nationalism and only in our country. He forgot it when his troops where shooting and killing Saudis in the Eastern Province, he forgot his nationalism when his country sent forces to suppress an uprising calling for justice and freedom in Bahrain……. “

All this is still mild compared to the nasty job Saudi media is doing on Bashar al-Assad. They have their many palace shaikhs issuing fatwas every week sending Bashar al-Assad (and Asma al-Assad) to hell; you’d think the late King Fahd is the doorman, admissions officer, to heaven these days.
 
Also, in fairness: when they talk about longevity in office, the Syrians forget that the late Hafiz al-Assad ruled for nearly thirty years, as long as the Saudi kings. Or that Bashar never had any intention of leaving office voluntarily, just like any Saudi prince. It must be something in the Arab water that makes potentates and bureaucrats and minions cling to power. Till death do them part.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria

Year of the Baathists: Iraq and Syria, Nasser and the Kings………….

 

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“On the surface, in fact, the Syrian affair was much milder and less bloody than most Arab revolts. In the past 15 years, the Middle East has been continually shaken like a kaleidoscope, constantly falling into new patterns. There have been two sizable wars and fully two dozen armed uprisings and rebellions………  It was quite clear last week that the latest shake of the kaleidoscope resulted in new patterns and alignments overwhelmingly favorable to Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Syrian revolution was the third in six months by rebels pledged to make common cause with Egypt. Flights of new leaders poured into Cairo for tear-stained embraces with Nasser and nightlong conferences on the future course of that misty concept called Arab unity. Nasser stands at the pinnacle of prestige, if not of power, and the shadow he casts has never been longer. Today, it falls over the entire Arab world from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean………….For the first time in 500 years, the three key Arab states of Egypt, Iraq and Syria have a similar political posture and are on close and friendly terms……….  The monarchies of Saudi Arabia and Jordan—close friends of the West but hated enemies of the Arab nationalists—face the threat of uprisings at the hands of powerful local friends of the man in Cairo…………”


The Iraqi Ba’athists had a taste of power for the first time that year, but it did not last. They were kicked out of the government by their allies, the  Aref brothers who established their own dynasty. The Arefs had been pardoned by leader of the 1958 revolution, Za’eem (General) Abdel Karim Qassim after they had tried to overthrow him. He saved their lives from the executioner, but they went on plotting against him in freedom. He was overthrown by a Ba’athist and Aref alliance that initiated its own bloodbath in Iraq. Aref did not return the favor to Qassim but had him machine-gunned without a trial. Soon he managed to get rid of the Ba’ath, and when he died in a helicopter crash (a favorite way for Iraqi potentates to die) his brother took over until 1968. The second Aref was overthrown by the Ba’athists who killed off almost anybody who could challenge them and they ruled until April 2003.
The Syrian Ba’athists never lost power after March 1963. They had several strongmen who led the Party that ruled Syria. Bashar al-Assad’s father was the last one and the strongest of them, and he arranged for his son to take over when he died. What will happen to Bashar? We shall see: the consensus in the West and among many Arabs was that he was a gonner, but that was last month. The outlook may have changed these past two weeks. The era of the absolute Arab dictator is finished, soon to be followed by the end of the absolute tribal monarch (do you hear me, your majesties?.
Cheers
mhg


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