Neck of the woods

“The UK firm Gamma Group has created malware that can turn a cell phone into a tracking device. A new report revealed that the Bahraini government used it to spy on dissidents, while the firm says the software was stolen. Husain Abdulla, a naturalized US citizen and director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHR, received an e-mail in May from a Bahraini opposition leader with an attachment entitled “Existence of a new dialogue.” Luckily for him, it wouldn’t open on his BlackBerry. “I couldn’t open the attachment, but took it to one of the people investigating malware,” he told DW. “They said it if you open it, it’s going to be able to spy on any kind of activity you do on your computer or laptop.” Abdulla said he is aware of at least seven people who received the same e-mail – “but I know it’s more than that.” The malware investigators were researchers at the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs’ Citizen Lab, who traced the e-mail to an IP address controlled by the Bahraini government, who, they suspect, intercepted the e-mail and added the attachment………..”

The people of Bahrain have gotten used to it by now. Western powers, and their Muslim allies like Turkey and Jordan and Saudi Arabia (and possibly Islamist Egypt soon enough), are sending all kinds of goodies to their captive island. From goons to interrogators to police chiefs and advisers to weapons to turning a very blind eye to outrages. They have gotten used to having the whole decades-long problems of Bahrain summarized in one word: Iran. From the apartheid policy of discrimination and repression to rampant corruption to absolute tribal sectarian rule, it is all summarized in one alibi, the same alibi used by many Arab despots, especially on the Gulf: Iran.
You’d think if Iran were nuked, the mullahs sent to the nether world, maybe then the besotted people of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and Yemen will become free and equal overnight. Maybe it is worth it if that means the princes and potentates and their retainers will also vanish to WTF they belong.
Did I just make a case for the “liberation” of Iran? I think I may have made the case for the “liberation” of Iran and several other countries.
Cheers
 mhg
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