Category Archives: Arab Counterrevoltion

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Turkey

Arab World: Ottomans and Persians, Turks and Iranians………….

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“Once friends, Turkey and Iran are finding that their reactions to the Arab Spring revolutions are driving them apart and renewing an old regional rivalry. One sign of the deepening divide was obvious from the attendee list for an international conference on Afghanistan security that opened today in Istanbul. Every primary player is here: 14 regional nations, with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan in attendance, as well as more than a dozen other countries, including the United States. But Iran had planned to send just its low-ranking deputy foreign minister, despite its long border with Afghanistan and claims of being a regional superpower. While Iran relented at the last minute and sent Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, the diplomatic tension indicates how the people-power uprisings have helped transform the Turkey-Iran friendship into an escalating rivalry. So far, analysts say, Turkey appears the winner in pushing for secular, democratic outcomes …………..”

It almost looks like that old rivalry that was fought on territory extending from the Caspian Sea to Mesopotamia. Eventually the Turks ended up with what is now Iraq as well as the rest of the Arab East (it was mainly Iraq they fought over and kept winning and losing to each other).
There is no doubt that the Arab uprisings have enhanced the Turkish role in the Middle East. The Arab uprisings have also sharpened the contrast between the Turkish model and the Iranian one. Many more Arabs now look toward Turkey, a NATO member, as an example. Perhaps it is the comparison between the elected Turkish leaders and their own thuggish Arab dictators and absolute tribal kings. It is also partly the contrast between Turkish leaders and the inarticulate Iranian clergy who come across as repressive (mainly because they are repressive). The Turks have also benefited from moving away from their “former” Israeli friends in recent months. Either way the Turks have benefited from the Arab uprisings, for now.
The Iranians are on the defensive mainly because their system of government is not nearly as free and democratic as the Turkish one. They have also suffered partly as a result of a furious Saudi sectarian media campaign that has continued since the Iraqi elections of 2005. The Saudi dynasty rules Arab airwaves, or most of them. That Saudi campaign has not only been aimed at the Iranian regime: more ominously it has also targeted Arab Shi’as and poisoned relationships within many societies on the Persian-American Gulf.
Cheers
mhg

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

Arab Potentates Gaming the Electoral Systems: Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia…….

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“Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said there would be a vote for an advisory council in 2013, in line with a constitution introduced eight years ago. The decision is another victory, though a small one given the delayed and partial nature of the change, for the Arab Spring which Qatar did so much to foment. The royal family’s failure to introduce any semblance of the democracy it was helping elsewhere to promote, through the Al-Jazeera television channel which it owns, and finance with its large-scale backing for the revolution in Libya, has drawn increasing political attention to itself. “We have always preferred that regimes start changes on their own and lead the movement of transformation, instead of seeing people rise up,” the Emir said in a nod to the contradiction………...”

No doubt the Qatari potentate had to do something. His Aljazeera network could not continue publicizing Arab uprisings against despots in Syria and Libya and other places while his own people had no representation. A two-third elected parliament is better than no parliament, depending on what other actions the government takes to influence the elections. The “devil is in the detail” and all that. It will be better than Bahrain which has nominally a half-elected legislature but it is effectively no more elected than 30% or so. It is even better than the case of Saudi Arabia where no one votes for a legislature or a dog-catcher and the ‘Shoura” council is fully appointed by the royal family. The Saudi “elections” they are talking about are for toothless municipal councils, which will also act as “advisory”, pending the accession to the throne of Prince Nayef (Naif) who will then get rid of them.
Arab potentates on the Gulf are learning how to “game the system”. Just as Mubarak and Saleh did, they can have all the pretensions of popular elections, without the headache and inconvenience of actual accountability. It would also make the Western allies happier, once they learn to turn a blind eye.

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Egypt

Egypt under the SCAF Junta: Alaa Abd El Fattah in Jail, King of Bahrain in Cairo………

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“Alaa Abd El Fattah is in jail. He was arrested on Sunday – accused of inciting violence against the Egyptian military – and on Monday was given 15 days’ detention for refusing to answer questions to a military court. A campaign to secure his release has also got under way with extraordinary rapidity: protests in the streets, a Twitter hashtag (#FreeAlaa) and even graffiti appeared within the first 24 hours or so. That is not especially surprising as Alaa, besides being a pioneer of Egyptian blogging, belongs to one of the most famous families of leftist agitators. By arresting him, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is currently running Egypt (and increasingly being referred to as “the junta”), has picked a fight with the core of the movement that toppled President Mubarak in January……….”

Saudi King Abdullah famously claimed last February that the Egyptians participating in the uprising were “foreign infiltrators and agents”. Maybe it was a fatwa issued by his tame ulema, his Salafi palace clerics. Apparently millions of foreigners, mostly Iranian and Hezbollah agents with a handful of Hamas operatives, had infiltrated Cairo and Alexandria and el-Mahalla el-Kubra and Suez because these are good places to riot. It is possible the ruling military junta (SCAF), known for its tin ears, also believes the same. They have been doing their best to abort the Egyptian uprising, with a lot of help from their friends among absolute tribal Arab potentates.  Maybe the visiting former shaikh of Bahrain (currently king) can advise them on crowd control. Which makes me wonder: wtf is the king of the Saudi province of Bahrain doing in Cairo?
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, GCC, Gulf states, Iran, Iraq, Persian-American Gulf, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

America Abroad: Leaving Iraq, Hunkering Down in the Gulf…….

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“The New York Times newspaper reports the United States is
negotiating with Kuwait to allow American combat troops to be based in
the Persian Gulf area after completing the announced withdrawal from
Iraq by the end of this year. The Times says the United States is also considering sending more warships through international waters in the region. The size of the potential standby force has not been determined.
There was no immediate confirmation of the Times report, which was based on interviews with unnamed military officials and diplomats.
U.S. military plans in the region have been under discussion for months, but the Times said the talks became more urgent when President Barack Obama announced that the last American troops would leave Iraq by the end of December……….“

Several of the GCC states will no doubt be happy to host more U.S. forces. Kuwait especially was traumatized by the Iraqi invasion under the Ba’athist regime and feels more secure with American forces nearby.
Yet it is not clear why the huge new buildup in the Persian-American Gulf. It is highly unlikely, with American and other Western fleets congesting the Gulf, that any “foreign” forces will invade. The only candidate, Iran, has never invaded its neighbors in modern times, but was invaded by Iraq (1980) and by the Soviet-British forces during World War II. Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain last March by invitation from its ruling elites.
 
What many Arabs, outside the pro-Saudi Wahhabi GCC faux-liberals of my Gulf and their Salafi allies, speculate is that the West is preparing a military attack against Iran. The pro-Saudi Wahhabi faux-liberals of my Gulf and their Salafi allies hope fervently that this is true, that the West plans to start yet another war in our region. If the mullahs refuse to come to war, then by golly the West shall bring the war to the mullahs.

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Healthcare, Iraq, Persian-American Gulf

Gulf Soccer Tournament Moved from Iraq to Repressive Bahrain…….

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Sports potentates of the Persian-American Gulf, including the GCC states and Yemen (which is not a Gulf state) and Iraq but minus Iran, met Monday and made a sudden decision to move the upcoming Gulf Cup games from Iraq to Bahrain. They cited instability in Iraq as a reason for the move, adding that it was not a political move and that the next round, the 2013 tournament, will be in Iraq. The move was from the frying pan of Iraq to the fires of rebellious occupied Bahrain.

Of course the move was all political. Moving the games from terrorist-threatened Iraq to a Bahrain where the people are in revolt against the regime. It was also a way for the GCC potentates to needle Iraq, insult it by forcing it to attend in occupied Bahrain or, possibly better yet, forcing it to withdraw from the event. No doubt the Saudis and their al-Khalifa toadies were behind the move, hoping the Iraqis will decide to quit. Of course the al-Saud may have to send in more tanks and soldiers into Bahrain for the games, and they may have to ban a majority of Bahrain’s people from attending the games. I suspect most of the people may boycott the games anyway.
 
One thing is almost certain: whoever wins the Gulf trophy can attribute the victory, as usual, to the ruling potentates; whoever loses will blame the mullahs in Iran.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Corruption, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Defining an Arab Kleptocracy: “Sultan’s Fortune is Estimated at $270 Billion”………

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“Sultan’s fortune is estimated at $270 billion, which he distributed between his sons prior to his death in order to shore up their political position in the competitive princely arena. The reality is that every senior prince has placed his favorite sons in important positions in the Kingdom .…….. The Al Saud resembles a family business, established in 1932. Ibn Saud managed to conquer and unite the vast territory of the Arabian Peninsula, give it his family name, and alienate, divide, and control his cousins and brothers in order to establish a clear and undisputed line of succession through his sons. After Ibn Saud’s death, his sons, though never entirely united, maintained enough coherence to keep the store running. That is no longer true of the thousands of princes that they produced. As the older generation dies off, the new generation has fallen to fighting in front of the customers. Indeed, with the ratio of royals to commoners now at one to a thousand (compared to one to five million in the United Kingdom), the challenge of managing princely privileges, salaries, and demand for jobs has never been more intense. Royal perks include lifetime sinecures and domination of the civil service, which enable the princes to award contracts and receive commissions on top of their salaries. So the Saudi regime is divided, its legitimacy is questioned …….….”

This lady knows her country, but she won’t travel home anytime soon.

The amount mentioned is staggering, nay mind boggling. No wonder the Saudi semi-official media (alarabiya, Asharq Alawsat) call him Sultan of Plenty. If true, he had to earn, loot, and steal plenty to get to the $ 270 billion. Yet million of people of the Arabian Peninsula struggle to find jobs, housing, and the basic necessities of life. The unemployment rate is in double digits (over 30% for young people), millions are out of work and more live under poverty than we’ll ever read about in Saudi media or Western media like the Washington Post. He does not appear on the annual Forbes list of richest people; that covers only normal mortals not princes and shaikhs. His nephew al-Waleed Bin Talal is listed, along with the information claiming that his fortune is ‘self-made’. The folks at Forbes editorial must think al-Waleed started flipping burgers at the Dairy Queen in Riyadh and moved up from there. Just like Steve Forbes. It can’t be stupidity, can it?

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab League, GCC, Iran, Libya, NATO

Ahamadinejad Opines on the Buried Secrets of Qaddafi and NATO………..

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Al-Quds al-Arabi from London quotes Iranian president Ahmadinejad that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was killed in order to keep many secrets he could have exposed, secret. He said among the secrets were the amounts of money Qaddafi paid to European leaders especially for their election campaigns. He also said the Western powers seek to appoint their own ‘friends’ in power inn Libya.
Now, I am not usually a believer in conspiracies, and I am not sure I buy the idea that NATO somehow got the GCC and other Arabs to ask it for intervention. But when I saw Qaddafi wounded but quite alive and then I saw him dead, I suspected something. Qaddafi, like every leader, carries many secrets. Some of them are secrets about Western leaders. I would have loved to hear of the role of the British government, British businesses, and American banks and Tony Blair, in the release of al-Migrahi (Clinton now claims she wants him re-arrested). His take on the “non raunchy” photos of Condi Rice would have been interesting. I would also be interested in what he had to say about some leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC). Many of them were his minions. Mustafa AbdulJalil was his minister of “justice”. Some of them are as responsible for the excesses of the regime as Qaddafi’s sons were.

It would have been a positive point for the “new” Libya if he had been tried, with lawyers, just as Saddam was tried for three years. Before being hanged. Then maybe some of these hypocritical Arab media would have slammed his executioners, just as they did the executioners of Saddam.
Cheers
mhg


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Algeria civil war, Arab Counterrevoltion, Gulf states, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Media Mourn Prince Sultan: Prince of Plenty………..

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Writers in Saudi media have gone over the top in accolades to the late Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud:
 
“Sultan of Generosity and Plenty has departed….” Chief Editor of Asharq Alawsat (Prince Salman)

“An Arab knight has dismounted. ALL Saudis called his Sultan of Generosity and Plenty….” Mamoun Fandy (Egyptian). No doubt his sons called him that, especially Prince Bandar who got “plenty” in bribes from BAE Systems.

“Sultan the Insan (Sultan the Human)……” M. al-Rumaihi

“When Iraq occupied Kuwait, Saudi Arabia confronted Iraq initially (alone) and later formed an alliance with 33 other countries…..” Sameer Atallah (Lebanese): of course this man lies. Saudi media did not even mention that Iraq had occupied Kuwait until days later. The princes were literally shitting in their thobes until US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney got there.

I hear tell that Saudi television networks, offshore and onshore, are extensively covering the funeral, not a common thing among Salafi Wahhabis.
They are all princes of “plenty”. They have all looted “plenty” of the resources of the people of the Arabian Peninsula. They all have plenty of progeny who continue to take and loot plenty.
Still, may he rest in peace.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Britain, Libya, Salafi, US Foreign Policy

Libya and MI6, the Rendition of Tony Blair to Pyongyang………….

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“The papers, discovered in the British ambassador’s abandoned residence in Tripoli, raise new and damaging questions over Britain’s role in the seizure and torture of key opponents of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Britain is already facing legal actions over its involvement in the plot to seize Abdul Hakim Belhaj, leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who is now the military commander in Tripoli, and his deputy, Sami al-Saadi. Both men say they were tortured and jailed after being handed over to Gaddafi………. The cache of confidential documents – which included private letters to Gaddafi from Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and key Downing Street aides – was abandoned when the three-story residence was attacked by Gaddafi loyalists in April. ……… London only designated the LIFG a terrorist organisation after Libya said it was abandoning its weapons of mass destruction programme in 2003. The move is understood to have been agreed as part of the negotiations with Gaddafi’s regime that paved the way to the controversial Blair deal……….”

I have no doubt now: Tony Blair has been behind some of the most corrupt deals made by, for, or, in Britain in the past fifteen years. I think he ought t be renditioned somewhere, I am not sure where. Maybe North Korea, where hopefully we will never hear from him or of him again. But then again, he may cut a deal with Kin Jong-Il to become some kind of PR consultant or lobbyist.

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Libya, NATO, Salafi, Torture

Graphic New Libya: Sodomizing a Dying Old Dictator………

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 Sodomizing Qaddafi before Death: Frames of video

“An analysis of video obtained by GlobalPost from a rebel fighter who recorded the moment when Col. Muammar Gaddafi was first captured confirms that another rebel fighter, whose identity is unknown, sodomized the former leader as he was being dragged from the drainpipe where he had taken cover. A frame by frame analysis of this exclusive GlobalPost video clearly shows the rebel trying to insert some kind of stick or knife into Gaddafi’s rear end. GlobalPost correspondent Tracey Shelton said there is some question as to whether the instrument was a knife from the end of a gun, which Libyans call a Bicketti, or a utilitiy tool known as a Becker Knife and Tool, which is popularly known as a BKT. This latest video discovery comes as international and human rights groups call for a formal investigation into how the former Libyan leader was killed…………..”

Another unpromising sign of a new Libya.
Cheers
mhg


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