Category Archives: Arab Revolutions

Al-Qaeda, Arab Revolutions, Slavery, Wahhabi

Cherchez L’argent: Financing al-Qaeda from Syria and Iraq to Yemen and Beyond…………

   

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Speaking of this Wahhabi Spring and the resurgence of al-Qaeda (my last post): it takes a lot of money, hundreds of millions to finance these extensive operations. From recruitment and training of the terrorists, then transporting them into target countries (Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, etc), then finding shelter and food and weapons for them, then paying informants, then bribing locals to keep quiet. Then finding and paying for new wives for them in target countries. They can catch and rape local women by justifying it as legal booty of war, war slaves. They can always get one of their clerics, shaikhs, to justify the forced intercourse as legal use of war concubines, or jawari (the men are allowed to have sexual intercourse with their slaves, it is halal and kosher even if not cool).
So where do these hundreds of millions, billions over a few years, come from to finance these groups? Al-Qaeda terrorists don’t go around selling Lottery tickets, it ain’t considered kosher nor halal, and they presumably are not into the drug trade, not outside Afghanistan. Somebody with deep[ pockets can afford to finance them. Now who can that be?
Cherchez de l’argent, stupid.

Cheers
mhg
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Al-Qaeda, Arab Revolutions, Iraq, Syria

The Wahhabi Spring: Al-Qaeda Multitasking in the Levant and Yemen and North Africa and……

   

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“al-Qaeda for the first time came out and openly announced its participation in battles in Syria. They even raised the al-Qaeda flag at the Bab el-Hawa border crossing. A Jordanian security source stated that more than six thousand al-Qaeda fighters have entered Syria in recent months. Most of them are non-Syrian Arabs, according to the al-Sharq Saudi daily. The newspaper reports that two factions of al-Qaeda are competing for supremacy in Syria, one led by Saudi Emir Majid al-Majid and the other led by al-Fatih Abu Mohammed al-Golani………….”

Al-Fatih is the Arabic term for “conqueror”: this al-Golani guy is optimistic. His last name al-Golani, like the rest of his name, is fake (nom de guerre). It implies something about the Golan Heights should al-Qaeda prevail in Syria.
The terrorist group has moved thousands of its fighters into Syria, yet it has enough terrorists left inside Iraq to continue slaughtering civilians in that country. No wonder the Iraqi government refused to support the Arab League call for regime change in Damascus. Considering that the same organization killing Iraqi citizens is now part of the group that the Arab Saudi League wants to take power in Damascus. Not that it matters anymore: no doubt the current regime in Syria is on its way out and it is a matter of when.
Al-Qaeda’s old leadership has been decimated by American firepower in the past few years. Yet al-Qaeda has managed to expand its operations in new parts of the Arab world. It is now more active than ever in Yemen and North Africa and still active in Iraq and making an important grab for a piece of Syria as well as northern Lebanon (thanks to the Hariri alliance). Who would have thunk it, as the funny man in the movies said? The Wahhabi terrorist group has been as much a beneficiary of the so-called Arab Spring as the Saudi and Qatari regimes: both have expanded their influence, and they are ALL three Wahhabis.
The Saudis seem to have maintained their influence in the “New” Egypt and they may be on the verge of expanding their sphere into Syria (replacing Iran and handing it a major diplomatic and logistic defeat). Syrian rebels are often seen raising the photos of Saudi King Abdullah and even the Qatari Shaikh Hamad. Some revolutionaries against despotism, raising photos of the most absolute rulers in the world. But all that is for the short term, of course.
Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, Culture, Syria

Misogyny Emails: from Bashar al-Assad to the Mufti Al………..

   

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“Hundreds of emails purportedly written by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad show he sent several sexist or irreverant messages in the months before the ongoing Syrian uprising began. The French website owni.fr on Thursday published extracts from the latest cache of Syrian documents made avaiable by WikiLeaks, which on July 5 started releasing some 2.5 million emails it said were from Syrian political figures. Of those emails, 538 were supposedly written by Assad himself, sent from the address [email protected] and mostly written before the uprising that has lasted 16 months and so far killed 17,000 people. The emails shed little new information on the deadly crackdown but give a glimpse into Assad’s puerile and slightly misogynistic mindset.
“Wife: I wish I was a newspaper, so I’d be in your hands all day,” begins one of the jokes in an email dated December 23, 2010.
“Husband: I too wish that you were a newspaper, so I could have a new one everyday.”……..”

Frankly I did not read anything misogynic in this piece. There must be more of Assad’s emails to warrant that. BTW: speaking of misogyny, when will they publish the emails of the Saudi king and princes. Oh, and don’t forget the Mufti Al who supports taking child brides so long as the girl can “bear a man’s weight”. It would be fun to read their multiple emails to multiple wives, or maybe just one email and then copies forwarded to the rest. Speaking of misogyny and sexism: these potentates put the ‘sex’ in sexism.
Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, Salafi, Syria

The Sectarian Free Syrian Salafi Army……………

   

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“A Syrian rebel commander on Sunday said that 11 kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims are members of Hezbollah, a claim denied by their families. Abu Omar, commander of the Storm of the North brigade, said the men, who were returning from a religious pilgrimage in Iraq when they were abducted by armed rebels in Syria, were members of the Lebanese Shia resistance group that supports Assad. Omar, who said he was ensuring the men were kept in good conditions, added that they would not be released until President Bashar al-Assad leaves power and a new parliament is elected. “(They) are from Hezbollah, their fate will be decided by the new Syrian parliament, because Hezbollah attacked us and is helping the Syrian regime,” Omar said……..”


The Syrian opposition forces are as thuggish and criminal as the regime forces. They use similar methods against their opponents. One difference is that the opposition are more sectarian than the regime: in fact rabid sectarianism is one of their hallmarks. Even their exile leaders like Ghalioun and Sida now talk like accomplished liars. These kidnapped Lebanese men are old and middle-aged men who were kidnapped by the Free Syrian Salafi Army simply because they are Shi’as. Maybe the goal was to draw Hezbollah and Lebanese Shi’as into the Syrian conflict and speed up Western intervention. They were traveling on pilgrimage with women, hardly the behavior of Hezbollah agents in war. In the past they had promised to release them, then reneged. It is simple Salafi jihadist behavior.
Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, NATO, Syria, Turkey, US Foreign Policy

Tonkin Gulf in Syria and Iran: To Hell with Spain?………….

   

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“Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!” American refrain, circa 1898


“It’s entirely possible that the main mission of the CIA, in this case, is to sort out who’s who among the rebels, since undoubtedly the more level-headed people in Washington are saying to themselves, “Who are these guys?” (I’m wondering that myself.) but it’s equally possible, and more likely, that the CIA is involving itself more deeply in coordinating the weapons flow into Syria. That’s been reported for a while now, and if so it means that the Obama administration is edging closer to an open, armed regime-change strategy aimed at a major Russian and Iranian ally. Meanwhile, even Turkey’s NATO allies seem to be privately ridiculing Turkey’s assertion that its plane was on a training mission. That seems patent nonsense, and much more likely is that Turkey was testing Syria’s air defense and perhaps trying to provoke the creation of a NATO-imposed, Iraq-style no-fly zone in Syria. Had Syrian jets scrambled to protect its air space, by now hawks and quite a few Obama administration officials would be clamoring for a no-fly edict backed by US armed forces. This is dangerous, Tonkin Gulf–style gamesmanship……………”

No doubt the Turkish story about the warplane smells fishy: too many details are left out and no clear explanation given of its mission. Sounds like a classic set-up, an entrapment of the kind Western powers have used in the past for invasion and interference, from Mexico and the Caribbean (USA) to Algeria (France) and Egypt (Britain). Hitler (do I see Netanyahu perk up?) used the tactic against Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland) and Poland (Danzig/Gdansk).
I believe the US Senate has passed several equivalents of the Tonkin Gulf resolution by now against both Syria and Iran. The USA and the European Union have done so. It is now highly unlikely that the US Congress, both houses, will oppose military action against either Syria or Iran. That in itself is quite a reversal of American thinking, even of what prevailed under George W Bush.
This goes beyond Bush’s war of deterrence, or “if you are not with us you are against us”. This is a policy of “if you remain opposed to us we will eventually attack you”. And it is bi-partisan, just like Tonkin. The aftermath of Tonkin Gulf was quite a waste of so much blood and treasure of both Americans and Asians. Unless they think this one will turn out like Havana and the aftermath of “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!“
Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, Syria, Turkey, US Foreign Policy

Syrian Civil War: Turkish Delight or Turkish Dilemma?………..

   

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“Everything I do seems to make me think of you.
Why I dream of you every night,
Why I seem to like you,
I will never know.
All I really know is that you are a bit strange at times.
Other times you are nice.
You are my turkish delight……..” Turkish Delight (Linger City)

“When the Bush administration sought permission to transit its Iraq invasion troops through Turkish territory in early 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara’s soon-to-be installed prime minister and his Justice and Development party (AKP) bluntly refused. Their bold defiance of America’s will won plaudits around the Arab world, not least from Syria……….. with the prospect of a bilateral or regional conflict inching closer following Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish military plane, Erdogan has swiftly changed his tune. Unwilling to take on Assad by himself, Erdogan turned to the US and Nato for support this week. So much for Turkey’s much discussed “strategic realignment”…….. But Erdogan’s vow to target Syrian military formations should they approach their shared border, support opposition forces “at any cost”, and do all he can to bring down the Assad dynasty, barely disguises the weakness of Turkey’s position. Ankara’s twin priorities are both domestic in nature: modernisation and economic growth. Turkey does not want, and cannot afford, a war along its southern border that would jeopardise these aims, further destabilise the Kurdish regions, and seriously compromise its broader regional interests……………”


Whatever happens in Syria now, the Kurds are winners. The Kurds have already won concessions from both the repressive chauvinistic Baathist regime and from the ‘opposition’. The Baath has been forced to recognize the long-denied Kurdish basic rights: both Iraqi and Syrian branches of the Baath Party have been historically chauvinistic, probably influenced by the Nazism and Fascism of Europe where Aflaq and Bitar studied. The opposition has chosen a Kurd as the new head of the Syrian National Council.  He is now the most prominent Kurd since Khaled Bikdash led the Communist Party, but this does not disprove that he is a figurehead. A Kurd is much more reassuring to the outside world and to Syria’s worried minorities than some wild Salafi or suspected Muslim brother.

A Kurd is also problematic for Turkey. The Turks prefer calling their own Kurds “Mountain Turks”. Cute, but not convincing, least of all for the Kurds. They also restricted the use of the Kurdish language in education (and in official media). The Turks have long faced a rebellion in their Kurdish region, and their rapprochement with the Iraqi Kurds will not solve that: the solution has to be inside Turkey.


Cheers
mhg
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Al-Qaeda, Arab Revolutions, Syria, Terrorism

Third Saudi Emir of Syria: Torn between Arabs and Turks and Umayyads………

   

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“Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool
Loving both of you is breaking all the rules
Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool
Loving you both is breaking all the rules…….”  Mary MacGregor

“Radical Islamist groups are evolving in Syria. An audio recording has been released by Saudi Majed al-Majed, emir of al-Qaeda’s Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who left Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon over a month ago. The latest statement from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which was released as an audio recording, does not resemble the organization’s other statements in terms of tone, form, or content. The introductory section declared allegiance to Saudi Majed Muhammad al-Majed (b. 1973) as the emir of the organization in the Levant. Al-Majed, who is one of the most wanted men in Lebanon, left Ain el-Helweh refugee camp last month, heading for the battlefields of Syria. Declaring a Saudi from the Arabian Peninsula as the emir of the Levant is an unusual move for al-Qaeda, which is known to pick leaders according to their respective nationalities………..”

Syria has had its share of “foreign” masters since the Romans left involuntarily about fourteen centuries ago. The final chapter was supposed to have been written after World War I when the British appointed Faisal Ibn Al Hussein of Hijaz as King of Syria, after they had “liberated” the Levant form Turkish occupation. He was the second Hijazi to start a new dynasty in Syria. Fourteen centuries before him the Hijazi Mu’awiya Ibn Abu Sufyan (an opportunistic Umayyad and most of his life a tough pagan enemy of Islam) declared himself Caliph after the death of Imam Ali, the fourth rightful Caliph in Kufa (Iraq). His power base and capital was Damascus and his dynasty lasted a little more than one century.
Faisal did not last long in Syria: France invaded and kicked him out (the British gave him Iraq as a consolation prize). There was no Saudi Arabia at the time: the al-Saud were cornered in their own homeland of Nejd in those days, having barely defeated Ibn Rasheed (al-Rasheed). Still this new al-Majed clown of al-Qaeda comes from the Arabian Peninsula, like the earlier ones, and he is Saudi.
Does this mean that when and if the al-Assad regime is finished the Saudis will control Syria? If and when the Baathists fall I suspect there will be competition between the al-Saud, the Qatari al-Thani, and the Turks over running Syria. The first two have a lot of money to spend in Syria (actually only the al-Thani Qataris can afford that, the Saudis have so many princes who grab the money that they can’t afford to spend so much). The Turks have the advantage of proximity and the muscle and, more important, a seeming workable political and economic system. But this Arab competition we are talking about here will be through the Muslim Brothers and the more pro-Saudi Salafis rather than al-Qaeda as we know it. The Saudis probably now think they will be happy just to see the Iranian influence in Syria ended (as do all Western powers), but they will then face an even more powerful Turkey which used to rule Syria (as well as parts of what is now Saudi Arabia). Turkey will provide an even more compelling example of a democratic (sort of) Islamic state than either theocratic Iran or Kleptocratic Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Of course the Wahhabi jihadists like al-Qaeda are getting stronger in Syria, being fed Arab volunteers and money and arms. They are very likely to hang around there for a long time, just as they are in Iraq.

Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, Jordan, Syria

Jordan: a Favorite Destination of Arab Refugees………

    

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“The number of Syrians in Jordan has passed 140,000, according to relief agencies, as officials scramble to expand overcrowded transit facilities. According to interior ministry statistics quoted by the UN, over 140,000 Syrians have crossed into Jordan legally and illegally since Damascus’ launch of a military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March 2011, a number the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says is rising by some 300 per day. Of the total, some 26,000 have registered as refugees — a number expected to hit 30,000 by the end of the month — in yet another sign that displaced Syrians are preparing for an extended stay in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the influx of Syrian refugees has pushed so-called transit facilities “beyond capacity”, local relief agencies say, prompting authorities to establish the fourth holding centre in less than six months…….”

When Iraq was going through its min civil war, only Jordan and Syria opened their doors to the inevitable refugees. Other countries: Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, talked loudly about the plight of Iraqis but they did not open their doors. Syria and Jordan did: this almost makes up for these two countries’ lack of a sense of humor, almost. Now Syria is in turmoil, and it is Jordan as the only Arab country that is receiving most of the refugees. The other Arabs claim support for the Syrian people, but they don’t want them anywhere nearby. (The one odd exception may be a twist in Bahrain: the regime is importing many Syrians with experience in crowd control, interrogation, and torture to help it crush the uprising of the Bahrain people).
This Jordanian stand deserves some praise, given the country’s limited resources. It should shame countries like Saudi Arabia that is the loudest in support of the opposition and provides arms and volunteers but would not allow refugees. Assuming Syrian refugees want to go to the grim Wahhabi kingdom. It goes to show you: humor is not everything during a period of turmoil.
Cheers
mhg
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Arab Revolutions, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Fate of the Arabs: Former Masters and Joe Lieberman as Liberators …….

    

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“Is it the fate of Arabs to keep getting liberated by their former masters?” Nobody else

“The Guardian witnessed the transfer of weapons in early June near the Turkish frontier. Five men dressed in the style of Gulf Arabs arrived in a police station in the border village of Altima in Syria and finalised a transfer from the Turkish town of Reyhanli of around 50 boxes of rifles and ammunition, as well as a large shipment of medicines. The men were treated with deference by local FSA leaders and were carrying large bundles of cash. They also received two prisoners held by rebels, who were allegedly members of the pro-regime militia, the Shabiha. The influx of weapons has reinvigorated the insurrection in northern Syria, which less than six weeks ago was on the verge of being crushed. The move to pay the guerrilla forces’ salaries is seen as a chance to capitalise on the sense of renewed confidence, as well as provide a strong incentive for soldiers and officers to defect. The value of the Syrian pound has fallen sharply in value since the anti-regime revolt started 16 months ago, leading to a dramatic fall in purchasing power. The plan centres on paying the FSA in either US dollars or euros, meaning their salaries would be restored to their pre-revolution levels, or possibly increased. The US senator Joe Lieberman, who is actively supporting the Syrian opposition, discussed the issue of FSA salaries during a recent trip to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia…………..”

Qatari money is buying chunks of France England already. It may soon own a chunk of the “new” Egypt, (including Islamic shaikhs, generals, and politicians) the chunk that is not owned by the al-Saud princes. Qatari and Saudi money are certainly aiming at buying Syria, with a down-payment paid now to the Free Syrian Army until the Baathist al-Assad regime falls. Once the regime falls, Qatari money and Saudi money will be fighting it out for the soul of the “new” Syria as well. Neither of them will win.
Which brings me to Joe Lieberman. Joe has two major issues that are close to his heart. The first one is the interests of the giant insurance corporations who contributed money to his past campaigns and are certain to offer him a lucrative salary when his term expires next year. The second one is the interests of Israel, as he perceives them. Joe doesn’t care about the Syrian people, any more than he cares about the Iranian or Saudi or Egyptian peoples. In fact, Joe probably doesn’t give a fig about any of these people. The main Middle East variable, the only “dependent variable” or “target variable” in the regional equation is Israel. In fairness to Joe Lieberman: do you think he is any different from many Arab leaders in not giving a fig about the Arab peoples?
Is it the fate of some Arabs to keep getting liberated by their former masters? By the West and now Turkey?
Cheers
mhg
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Al-Qaeda, Arab Revolutions, Libya, Syria

The Second Civil War of Libya: Allah Akbar en Français………

    

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“Allah Akbar. Voilà, the truth has emerged and the untruth has perished” Nobody else

The situation in Libya is deteriorating rapidly. Early on after the fall and death of Muammar Qaddafi last year, there were signs of division and turf-building among opposition armed groups across the country. Now this has worsened to almost continuous multiparty battles across the country: in cities and in rural areas. The conflicts are inter-tribal, inter-ethnic (Arab and Berber or Amazigh) as well as inter-religious and ideological, among others. Inserted into this mix are some groups that are apparently still loyal to the deposed Qaddafi regime. There have also been notable assassinations of senior figures of the new order (often they also served the old regime).
Another disturbing early post-Qaddafi development is that Libya seems to be following Qaddafi policies on several fronts. Maybe that is so because most its current elites were Qaddafi bureaucrats and thugs in the past. That is not just in terms of human rights violations and abuse of prisoners. Libya is reported to have been shipping weapons and fighters to Syria for some time now. According to media reports a good portion of imported Arab fighters in Syria are Libyans. Libya also has a strong strain of Salafi Jihadists who are making life hard for others. A portion of al-Qaeda personnel are now also Libyans (al-Libi or El-Libi who was or was not killed two weeks ago by a U.S. drone is obviously one of them). No doubt there is some intersection between these two facts in Syria.

French pop-philosopher Bernard–Henri Lévy, when asked his advise as a former liberator of Libya, merely shrugged in a Gallic way and said: “Let’s invade and liberate Syria, before worrying about Iran”. Salafis and Muslim Brothers around the region, especially on the Gulf, cheered him heartily with loud chants of: “Allahu Akbar. Voilà, the truth has emerged and the untruth has perished”.
Cheers
mhg
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