Category Archives: Arab Revolutions

Africa, Arab Revolutions, Horn of Africa, Human Right

No Business Like Oil Business: Burma as Libya or Sudan, Arabian Jeanne d’Arc, Maid of Hijaz….…….

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                                Neck of the woods

Remember the long ago old days, until a few weeks ago, when Myanmar (actually Burma) was on the “dreaded list”? Not as dreaded as the Cuban or Iranian or the Sudanese list, but dreaded nevertheless. Wait: did I add “Sudan” to the list? Isn’t that the Arab African country whose president has an arrest warrant for him since March 2009? An arrest warrant by the International CourtOfSomethingOrAnother. Yet he is selling oil as freely as, say, Saudi Arabia or Texas or Alaska. I need to research this some more, the legal aspects of it. The sale of oil and the import of weapons. Then the way he travels freely around the Middle East. You’d think Interpol, which is always eager to arrest Saudi dissidents and send them back home to be flogged and beheaded (Kashghari, et al), would act against al-Bashir as soon as his sorry arse lands in Cairo or Tehran or other places.
Back to Burma. Weren’t the ruling military junta accused of smuggling everything under the sun only a few weeks ago? Precious stones, rubies, drugs, possibly people including trafficking in “mothers”? And committing “small” genocides here and there? Doesn’t this sound a little like the Qaddafi deal with the West in Libya a couple of years before the Arab uprising? Would Tony Blair again show up and kiss the cheeks (both cheeks) of the junta leader? One difference: Libya did not have someone like Aung San Suu Kyi. That would be funny: a Libyan or Syrian or Egyptian Aung San Suu Kyi.
If there was some Arab woman like her, she can’t be a Muslim Brother. Would she be a Muslim Sister or a Muslim Mother? Maybe the next time some Saudi woman gets behind the wheels and drives a car the West would declare her an Arabian Jeanne d’Arc, Maid of Hijaz (sorry, Najdis). The Scandinavians would quickly give her a Nobel Prize for driving under duress for fifteen minutes. Some may claim that she would probably deserve it as much as that Yemeni lady, certainly as much as Arafat.
Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC

Regime Change on the Persian Gulf? Repressive Yesterday, More Repressive Today ……..

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                                Neck of the woods

“In the sweltering reaches of the petroleous Persian Gulf, where Britain maintains some of the last outposts of Empire, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser has waged a long, hot campaign of intrigue and propaganda to get the “imperialists” out—and himself in. Last week the British inflicted two significant defeats on their foe. The first setback for Nasser came in Bahrein, a tiny cluster of Persian Gulf islands where Sheik Isa bin Sulman al Khalifa unconditionally reaffirmed all existing agreements under which Whitehall uses his prosperous kingdom as a military and diplomatic pied-a-terre……….. For all his benevolence, however, the plump, diminutive Sheik is an unabashed autocrat …………..Consequently, many Bahreinis listen approvingly to broadcasts from Cairo and Baghdad denouncing Sheik Isa as a feudalist and a British stooge. Their chief source of resentment is the Sheik’s 800-man British-officered police force. When oil workers went on strike last March, the Sheik’s tough cops cracked down hard, killing twelve and wounding 50, repressed Nasser-inspired student riots last month with equal severity. Opponents of Sheik Isa often end up in a mystery-shrouded prison on desolate Jidah Island……………”

That was in 1965. Yet things have not improved in Bahrain in terms of freedom and equality and justice. They have gotten worse in the past decade.


No doubt there is one solution left untried in Bahrain. It is the same that was started in Tunisia and Libya and Egypt. The same solution that will most likely be in place in Syria sometime in the future. The same solution the American Colonists tried when all; else failed so long ago.
It seems that this corrupt regime of this sectarian tribal clan must go if there is to be a reconciliation between the people and the rulers. When a majority of the people can’t get their rights under a system, then it is time for change. When a small ruling elite insists on keeping in place a system of apartheid against the majority, then it is time for the South African solution. Time to depose the apartheid regime, just as it was time to change the other Arab regimes, the other dinosaurs.
(That may require some changes in the Arabian Peninsula itself, to liberate its peoples from their own corrupt repressive ruling tribal clan).

Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Culture, Muslims, US Foreign Policy

Muslim Mobs, Media Savvy Mobs, KFC Mobs, Old Glory Mobs…………

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                                Neck of the woods
Ref my last posting. There is one thing many in these countries, in our countries, have in common when angry, when really angry at outside powers. Or when they are angry at local powers but can’t express it freely. Or when the economy is stagnant. Or when they are repressed and frustrated, politically and otherwise (especially ‘otherwise repressed and frustrated‘ in the fun-deprived Middle East). Or when they are irritated by some silly foreign cartoon or a video clip. Or sometimes even when they are genuinely angry at Uncle Sam for his policies.
There is one thing that unify all our mobs, from North Africa all the way to the outer islands of Indonesia. They all raise the flag of the United States, including the Salafis and other al-Qaeda supporters. They raise Old Glory, then they trample on it, all for the benefit of Western television cameras, then they burn it, all for the benefit of the Western television cameras. Our “rebels” and “protesters” now always carry signs in English rather than Arabic. Our mobs have become quite camera savvy and media savvy. CNN and Fox and Sky and the rest love it, no doubt at least partly wishing and hoping it would go on.
Oh, we have also developed a taste for fast American food. Sometimes our mobs raid a McDonald’s or KFC restaurant, ransack it, before eating all the French fries and all the crispy chicken (original recipe is the favorite). Then they may burn it.
Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Africa, Arab Revolutions, Syria, Turkey

Alawistan and Salafistan: Syrian Flag, Libyan Flag, Dahomey and Burma…………

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                                Neck of the woods

I was watching the “Syrian” flag being pushed and raised by the opposition in Syria. No, not the black al-Qaeda flag some of them are raising, but the black-white-green one. The same thing in Libya: the Qaddafi flag was replaced with the old flag. As soon as some Arabs rebel, they change their flag. WTF with that? This Syrian flag has been around before the Baath Party, before the al-Assad royal family started ruling. Since Syria was merged with Egypt for three and a half years. I read somewhere that the opposition flag dates from French colonial days. Not that it matters.
In some African countries, the rebels and military coup-makers change the name of the whole country. Congo became Zaire before returning to Congo. Dahomey became Benin, Upper Volta became Burkina Faso (Faso???).
Even in Asia: Burma became Myanmar and will no doubt become Burma again. Saigon (what a beautiful name) became Ho Chi Minh City, a very unmusical name no matter what you think of Uncle Ho as a person. For example, I suspect that Newt Gingrich and John Bolton were secret admirers, that explains why they evaded the Vietnam War.
Back to the Levant: Could Syria break up into Alawistan, Salafistan, and Kurdistan? Could Turkey break up into Alawistan (south), Kurdistan (southeast), and Ottomanstan (Anatolia)? Could Iraq break up into Shiastan, Sunnistan, and Kurdistan? Could Lebanon break up into…. wait a minute: it already is, always has been. Then there is Bahrain…………..

Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Syria

A Hybrid Islamist Solution for Syria, Mr. Assad and Mr. Green and the Escort……….

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                              Neck of the woods

My unreliable source reports that Bashar al-Assad, strongman of Syria, may be amenable to a new solution to end the civil strife in his country. He is apparently talking with his closest inner circle, those who are alive, and has mentioned it to the Iranians, Hezbollah, the Russians, and the Chinese. My source tells me that he hesitates to confide his new plan in Lakhdar al-Ibrahimi (Mr. Green) because, as he claims “Lakhdar is a big mouth, can’t keep secrets. I might as well confide an in an escort“.
The plan, allegedly, entails new elections before next summer, to be supervised by Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and Michael Gorbachev (he knows that Deng Xiaoping is dead). In the interim, political activity will be open. Al-Assad has been studying the other Arab uprisings and has learned his lesson. He knows, as they say, which way the stick floats. He sees who has been winning all elections after the overthrow of the dictators. He plans to establish his own political party and, get this: it will be an Islamist Party! He intends to compete fairly with the Free Syrian Salafi Army Party and the Syrian National Council Muslim Brotherhood Party.
He is reported to be optimistic about his chances of winning the presidency again.

Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Apartheid, Arab Revolutions, GCC

King of Hearts, King of Heartless, King of Apartheid in Bahrain………….

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                          
                                Neck of the woods
Maryam Alkhawaja ‏@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: 
Tomorrow zainab alkhawaja will receive a verdict on the charge of ripping a picture of hamad, cud b sentenced up to 3 yrs #Bahrain

Bahrain Human Rights ‏@BahrainRights:  Activist Zainab Alkhawaja @angryarabiya Sentenced to two months in prison #Bahrain for ripping king’s photo.

Bahrain Human Rights ‏@BahrainRights: 
Tomorrow another hearing session in the appeal of imprisoned human rights defender Nabeel Rajab

Nabeel Rajab, is head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He was sentenced to three years in prison for a tweet. Imagine: one tweet criticizing someone (I’m not sure it was the lousy king; I think it was his lousy uncle and prime minister of 42 years). The Alkhawaja family has been targeted for special treatment by the Al-Khalifa regime in its attempts to silence the people. Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was beaten, arrested, and reportedly tortured by the regime and its imported mercenaries last year. He is serving a life prison sentence passed by a military court. One of his daughters is facing sentencing tomorrow for ripping a photo of the shaikh king Saddam Hamad of Bahrain. I believe his son in law is also in prison. One of his daughters is wisely in exile campaigning.
Here are some photos of the king.

      
Dancing…….                                  Man in Red                        His Paliamentary speaker: al-Saidi

            
                                                         Sorry, Joe                      King Tight Pants?
           
Sorry, a nobody, just one of the many victims                     Educating the people

His paid fan club calls him King of Heart. Others call him King of Clubs or King of Spade. Yet others, many of his detractors, a majority of his people would call him other epithets: king of Apartheid, King of Heartless, King Saddam,Tr– d- c–?
God only knows what all his imported foreign mercenaries call him, the ones he imports from Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, New York, London, and a few other places.
Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Bahrain

The West vs. the People of Bahrain: from Hardware to Software to Malware……….

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                         
                          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
[email protected]



Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Libya, Salafi, US Foreign Policy

Back to the Shores of Tripoli: the Salafi Rampage…………….

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                         
                             Neck of the woods

“From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine……..” U.S. Marines Hymn

Egyptian commentators noted that police and security were absent from the US embassy area in Cairo yesterday. Tweeters wrote that the Salafis had an easy job climbing the walls and taking the flag. Theories of conspiracy were all over the place. Overall, the Egyptians have managed to contain the backlash to this “mysterious” film.
Now this has become the most famous film in the world: free publicity by Salafi Wahhabi idiots. Just as the Ayatollah Khomenei gave free publicity to a little-known book by a British author three decades ago: and made it a worldwide best-seller.
The producer of this film wtf it is, couldn’t have paid for better publicity.

As for Libya: it is now becoming a failed state. It is getting the same disease as the Horn of Africa and the Sahel of northwest Africa. A ”potentially” rich failed state. Liberated from the Qaddafi dictatorship by NATO (NOT by the ragtag militias who marched in after the Western planes had done the job. Now it is beset with militia forces not bound to any authority, ideological, various Islamist, and tribal militias. The dictatorial glue that held Libya is coming undone, melted by the fires from NATO bombs last year. Now the marines again storm the shores of Tripoli, well, just to protect the embassy, a task the local “authorities” don’t seem able to do. The embassy killers were not just a “mob”. They were a heavily armed “militia”, not a popular spontaneous mob. Meanwhile, the Salafis, who ironically don’t believe in challenging any authority as long as it is Muslim, are poised to challenge the Arab system. This will not be the last in Libya (or in Egypt).
Salafis thrive on anarchy everywhere. Everywhere except in Saudi Arabia, their ideological mother and the teat that breastfeeds them with ideas and money.
Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Corruption, GCC

Arab Forum on (Selective) Asset Recovery: Gorillas and Chimps and Grand Robberies…………..

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                         
                                Neck of the woods

“Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman and Attorney General Eric Holder will lead a high level delegation consisting of officials from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the National Security Staff to Doha, Qatar from September 11-13, for the inaugural Arab Forum on Asset Recovery. The United States is co-organizing the Forum with the government of the State of Qatar………. Corruption has been a core public grievance in the region, and the United States has worked closely with the new governments and citizens of Arab countries in transition as they fight corruption and seek justice by recovering stolen assets….…………..”

“The inaugural meeting of the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery will be hosted in Doha, Qatar on September 11 to 13, 2012. The meeting is co-organized by Qatar and the United States presidency of the G8, with technical support from the StAR initiative. The Forum will bring together the G8, Deauville Partners and Regional countries for a multi-faceted effort that raises awareness of effective measures for asset recovery, provides a forum for regional training and discussion of best practices on cases, and identifies country-specific capacity building needs………. The primary objective of the Forum is to start a process of collaboration on the issue of asset recovery in the region, through periodic meetings and other activities……….. provide regional training to practitioners engaged in tracing, freezing, and
recovering the proceeds of corruption.……………..”


Are they serious? Is the purpose to help recovery of stolen assets or is the purpose to teach the attending regimes and rulers how to better hide the assets they have stolen, are still stealing, from their peoples? They invite regimes from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Russia, Lebanon and others to discuss recovery of assets stolen by other despots and oligarchs.
What about billions stolen by absolute tribal ruling clans and their retainers in the Gulf GCC countries? Por ejemplo, just one example, the (very) late Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud left a fortune reported (check my past postings for sources, and also here earlier) at around US $ 220-230 billion (BILLION), give or take a few billions. Forbes Magazine would call it “self-made”: as if he made that fortune from his piggy bank change or from flipping falafel in Riyadh? How about recovering the many other billions stashed by the princes, potentates, and shaikhs?

Are these people out of their collectivefuckingminds? Meeting with the biggest Arab thieves to discuss recovery of money stolen by the smaller Arab thieves of poorer places like Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Libya? The international bureaucrats and Western governments (including the European Union, Canada, and the USA) can sit with straight faces with the grandest thieves of history in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian-American Gulf and discuss recovery of a few millions or maybe a billion stolen elsewhere. What about right there within a short distance from their forum where the potentates of the UAE and the shaikhs of Qatar and other states continue to usurp the people’s wealth? That, the robbery of the peoples of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula by their rulers, is almost certainly the grandest robbery in history.

Yet these organizations and governments ignore the huge smelly gorillas sitting with them in the same room and search for the little chimpanzees and their peanut stash. In that they, the Western powers and the international financial organizations they control, are accomplices in the grandest of robberies.
Maybe it is true: it takes a (big) thief to catch a (smaller) thief.
Cheers
mhg
[email protected]


Arab Revolutions, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Some Garbage Analysis of the Middle East and U.S. Policy……………

   

    Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter                         
                              Neck of the woods

“Yet there are elements of the man’s personality, nature and mentality that would certainly affect the political outlook on Russia, for example, or on Iran, or on the role played by the United States in places like Syria. Here, differences emerge in the stances of the two candidates for the US Presidency– and the primary point of disagreement lies in the fierceness of the electoral battle over the role of the United States at this stage of history…………. The battle is coming, from the point of view – or according to the wishes – of some, after the presidential elections, in the form of an American-Iranian confrontation in the Syrian context…………………”

Some Garbage Analysis of the Middle East and U.S. Policy in the region (Saudi-centric). Fact is, this is the least important issue for American voters this year.

Cheers
mhg
[email protected]