Category Archives: Afghanistan

Afghanistan, Britain, Finance, Iran, Iraq, nuclear Iran, Persian-American Gulf, US Foreign Policy

Breaking News! Tony Blair as Windsor, Solves the Iraq Fiasco and Afghanistan……….

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“Tony Blair calls for regime change in Iran and Syria as he blames Tehran for prolonging the conflict in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. In an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the former prime minister warns that the Middle East would be “very, very badly” destabilised if Iran acquired nuclear weapons. Blair, who is the Middle East peace envoy, tells the Times: “Regime change in Tehran would immediately make me significantly more optimistic about the whole of the region. If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons capability it would destabilise the region very, very badly. “They continue to support groups that are engaged with terrorism and the forces of reaction. In Iraq one of the main problems has been the continued intervention of Iran and likewise in Afghanistan.“…….”

Did I write earlier that Tony Blair may be angling for the Nobel Prize in “WMD”?
I’ve got nothing against regime change in Iran or in ‘most’ of the rest of the Middle East (almost all of it). In fact I could recommend a couple of candidates that would make Mr. Blair faint, and I mean biggies. But these changes should be done by the people, not by bumbling Western leaders playing macho outside their bedrooms.
So, Blair now blames the Iranian regime for the wars he started (with his allies). He blames the mullahs for the fact that the “Mission Was NOT Accomplished”. True, the Iranians have their own interests and machinations and they certainly did not try to make life easier for the Mr. Blair and his partners. But to blame his fiasco on someone else? Now that is leadership, “New Labor” style (pardon my missing “u”).

Mr. Blair can now rest assured that he will be retained as “somebody’s” envoy for the Middle East. He need not worry on becoming another Duke of Windsor, whiling his time in luxury on the Riviera. He can also, coincidentally, be assured of more fat deals and contracts from various potentates and oligarchs in my region.

(Nothing personal against Tony, I could overlook anyone’s shortcomings, especially my own. But I detest anyone who calls for another fucking war in my region, and Tony has been calling for another fucking war in my Gulf for some time now. He is treating the region as if it is still his own fucking backyard).
Cheers
mhg


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Afghanistan, Arab Revolutions, Libya

Has NATO Found its Libyan Karzai?…………

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I am beginning to get a funny feeling about the leading figure of the Libyan opposition in Benghazi, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. I am beginning to get that odd déjà vu (all over again) feeling; that I have seen this film, or just another version of it, before. Look at the picture: His hat is red not green, and his attire is more red and grey than green. Yet, I am getting this persistent feeling that this western border of the Middle East is looking so much like that other eastern border of the Middle East. The difference is that this one is Arab (and Amazigh) and has a lot of petroleum that the West needs. That other border, the one on the other side is mostly Pashtun, Hazara, Uzbek, etc, and instead of petroleum it has something else many in the West want: opium. Many in the West also apparently want this product as well, and as badly.

I can be wrong, I have my moments: this Libyan man looks older and somehow less manipulative than that other Pashtun guy with the green robe (the one I once imprudently called the grasshopper). Yet back in 2002 Mr. Karzai also looked benign and harmless and incorruptible. I hope my odd feelings are wrong, but i sure would like to know how many relatives does he have waiting in the wings to take advantage.



Cheers
mhg


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Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Terrorism

Mullah Omar and Bob Dylan on SNL………

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“Afghanistan on Tuesday said it has received reports of reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar being killed, but they have not been confirmed. “As spokesperson of our security office announced, we received that kind of reports but they are not confirmed,” Afghanistan’s Minister for Information and Culture Sayeed Makhdoom Raheem on Tuesday said. The Afghan intelligence agency had on Monday said that Omar disappeared from a suspected hideout in Pakistan and has been out of contact with his commanders for days…..….”

The Taliban have denied that their leader, Mullah Omar is dead. I suspect that they are right. A death requires certain ceremonies and procedures that can’t be hidden except maybe in North Korea. If Mullah Omar is dead, and not in North Korea, we will know. But there is speculation about his fate, as there has been in past years, especially in late 2001. I suggest that Mullah Omar, if he is alive, end all this speculation at once by appearing on Oprah or The View. If these venues are considered unmanly chick shows (they are), then he can go on Piers Morgan to prove that he is alive. If he objects to Piers Morgan, then maybe he can do an SNL skit (Sarah Palin did). It would be sad if his death is confirmed on Bob Dylan’s birthday. Although I doubt that he ever was a fan.
Now if he had a Twitter account……
Cheers
mhg


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Afghanistan, Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Religion, Saudi Arabia

American-Saudi Ties: Poisoning the Gulf, Trapping Washington………..

     
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“Saudi Arabia is pursuing a combination of domestic and regional policies that risk destabilizing
the Persian Gulf and that risk undermining the United States interests there. Amid calls for political change, Saudi Arabia is failing to address pressing concerns about its political system and the need for political reform. Instead of responding favorably to calls for more political openness, the Kingdom is pursuing a risky domestic agenda, which ignores the social, economic, and political grievances that might fuel popular mobilization. Saudi Arabia’s military intervention into Bahrain has escalated sectarian tensions in the Gulf. The crackdown in Bahrain is not only provoking Iran and creating the conditions for a regional crisis, but it is also creating new opportunities for Iran to expand its sphere of influence. The United States has reasons to maintain a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia. It also has the leverage to encourage the Kingdom to refrain from escalating tensions in the Gulf and further inflaming sectarian anxieties………” USIP

It is true: the al-Saud brothers, like the al-Khalifa clan, have used sectarian divisions effectively. They have created a poisonous atmosphere of divisions on the Gulf unseen in modern times. In that task they have had help from their Salafi followers. That is how despots and absolute tribal Arab monarchs stay in power, by dividing the people: Sunni vs. Shi’a, Muslim vs. Christian (not many Jews left in the region). They have even managed to carry their sectarian poison to Lebanon where there are actually Salafis allied with their man Saad Hariri around Tripoli. They are still trying disruptions in Iraq.
They are also trapping the United States into an odd position: there are many people now in the Gulf region who believe that the U.S government is behind the divisive sectarian campaign of the al-Saud and al-Khalifa.
Cheers
mhg

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