Category Archives: Arab Revolutions

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Egypt, Gulf states, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Possibly a New Egypt, Same Old Saudi Arabia……………….

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“In fact, it is not implausible that post-Mubarak governments will advocate causes and goals that undermine Saudi Arabia’s interests. For instance, a democratising Egypt could seek to promote freedom and liberty in the region, which is undoubtedly antithetical to Saudi interests. And down the road, a more nationalistic Egypt very well could try to challenge Saudi Arabia as the vanguard of Sunni dominance in the region. Some of this is conjecture, to be sure. But do not think Saudi rulers are unaware of these possibilities. And here is one more challenge in Saudi-Egyptian relations: Egypt’s revolutionaries and political activists, as well as various Shia and Copts, believe that Saudi Arabia is funding extremist political groups (specifically, the Salafis) so as to undermine the revolution. That is to say, in their eyes, Saudi Arabia is meddling in their country and in bed with, if not actually leading, the counter-revolutionaries. Not surprisingly, there have been protests at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo. Arguably, the more troubling part of this is that the accusations give the Saudis another reason to dislike the revolutionaries ……….”

Last January, an angry King Abdullah famously called the protesting people of Egypt “foreign infiltrators”. Egypt under Mr. Mubarak was a unique animal: a country that normally leads the Arab world was a sidekick for the Saudis for thirty years. That will probably never happen again, unless the Mubarak-appointed Field Marshal Tantawi and his generals keep control. Egypt is too large, has too much history and culture: it automatically poses a challenge to the al-Saud leadership (it always did until Hosni Mubarak took over). It is the same with Iraq: too rich (potentially has more petroleum than Saudi Arabia) with too much history and culture to play second fiddle to the al-Saud (even under someone like Allawi). Even in the so-called “moderate” camp, Egypt poses a challenge for the Saudi regime. In their hearts, the al-Saud would rather have Egypt, and Iraq, away from their sphere of influence around the Gulf and in Jordan.
(I have no doubt that the Saudis are financing the Salafis of Egypt, just as they are financing the Salafi groups and politicians of the Gulf region. These Salafis are their fifth column, their not very sleepy sleeping cells in the Arab states. But that is okay: every regime looks for its own interest).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Corruption, Economics, ethnic cleansing, GCC

On the Gulf : Robbers of Land, Thieves of Freedom…………

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“Built by Gulf Finance House, a listed investment company run by Bahraini businessman Esam Janahi, the towers have also come to embody the ruling al-Khalifa family’s fight to preserve its power and protect the vast wealth of the country’s economic elite. Land in the Gulf Arab region is largely controlled by a small number of ruling families who use it as a kind of currency, doling out plots to favored families and developers to forge political relationships and make money. For it to work, the system depends on businessmen like Janahi, merchants who ostensibly operate independently from the state but whose success rests, at least in part, on political connections………. Documents obtained by Reuters show that GFH, which has teetered on the brink of collapse for several months, also sometimes shifted investor money from one project to plug holes in another…….. In Bahrain, where the ruling family has been involved in several property developments over the past decade, it’s become a symbol to ordinary people — especially the poor Shiite majority — angry about a system that shuts them out and widens already gaping inequalities….…..”

Bahrain is just one example: it is the same story all along the shores of my Gulf. They steal the land, especially the choice beachfront property and convert it from public to their own private property. The ruling clans and their retainers and minions. The al-Saud do it, as do the Emirati rulers, and others, in the GCC. They add insult to injury by selling public tracts of land back to the public sector, then they add more insult by establishing new townships named after the robber princes. Even the streets are named after them. It is like the rest of the people are just tenants on the land, with the potentates being the landlords.
If I were rude and crude, I would re-interpret the GCC as the Gulf C——–n Council. But I am neither rude or crude, so I won’t say it.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Jordan, Torture, WTF

Bahrain and Jordan: Brothers in Repression and Other Things………

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The Bahrain Ministry of Interior (in charge of police, foreign mercenaries, baltagiya, security, prisons, torture, sexual assault, etc etc) reports that:

“His Excellency Minister of Interior Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa received on Thursday Jordanian Director of Public Security Lt-General Hussain Haza Al Majali with the presence of Chief of Public Security Major-General Tariq Mubarak Bin Diana. HE Minister hailed the strong and brotherly ties between Bahrain and Jordan that were strengthen during the ruling of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his brother His Majesty King Abdullah the Second. Security cooperation ties between the two countries were discussed, in which HE Minister highlighted the importance of such visit to expand cooperation……..”

What is this? A club of torturers are us? Bahrain is known to import security agents and interrogators and torturers from Jordan (as do the UAE and Saudi Arabia and possibly others).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Iraq, Mercenaries

GCC Expansion: Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Malaysia……….

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“Pakistan today stressed the importance of re-enforcing trade and defense relations with Bahrain, as well as in labor and work fields. The Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari held talks with the commander of the national guard in Bahrain Shaikh Mohammed Bin Issa Bin Salman Al Khalifa in which they discussed regional developments and cooperation in defense and regional matters…….…”

Pakistan is effectively a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC. The Pakistani military, retired or on active duty, have for years operated the armed forces of some Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Pakistani military and police personnel have been important in the repression of the people of Bahrain. Bahraini officials fly regularly to Pakistan to hire more ‘security’ agents even as they deny security jobs to most Bahraini citizens. Top Saudi princes like Bandar Bin Sultan Bin al-Yamama Bin BAE Systems Bin Commission is reported to have flown to Pakistan to make deals on stationing or preparing Pakistani forces to defend the regime if and when needed. Reports also indicate the same can be said of Malaysia: its government officials recently expressed willingness to send forces to defend the regime in Bahrain.
Now on the Arab side, the GCC has sought to form alliances with the monarchies of Jordan and Morocco. The last GCC summit made a surprise announcement of welcoming membership for Jordan and Morocco. Now we have the nucleus of a new group of states: the GCC, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, and Pakistan. That means the rich GCC states and three or four poor relations that are far away enough (Morocco, Malaysia, Pakistan) or small enough (Jordan) to be manageable. Clearly the potentates of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and others, are looking for cheap bodies, impoverished mercenaries willing to do what it takes. The UAE is ahead of the game: the al-Nahayan are forming foreign legion of Latin Americans, Australians, disgruntled white Africans and others to keep the people at bay.
I was going to suggest that the GCC look at closer countries, like Iraq which is a Gulf country, and perhaps Yemen which is close enough ad has had deeper cultural, ethnic, and other ties (as does Iraq). Then there are Turkey and Iran, both closer than Malaysia and Pakistan and Burma or WTF. What about Egypt? Then I remembered: with none of these excluded countries can the al-Saud rule the roost. They would be dominated rather than dominate.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia

A Country of Princes on Wheelchairs, Corrupt Men in Suvs, Scurrying Faceless Women……

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“But not Saudi Arabia, or so it seems. And not Riyadh. As ever, Saudi men sit in their large SUVs, stuck in traffic between the steel-blue facades of office buildings, and the wives of these men are still having their drivers drop them off in front of the shopping malls in downtown Riyadh, where they scurry from Prada to Ralph Lauren and then disappear into Starbucks for a latte — in the “family department,” a room on the side kept separate from the world of men. The boulevards and promenades of the Saudi capital look as though they had been swept clean, as if some mysterious force had extinguished all public life. Riyadh has nothing like Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis or Tahrir Square in Cairo. In fact, there is no sign in Saudi Arabia of a public political discourse that could be compared with the debates, held in secret at first and then more and more in the open, with which the unrest began in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. Almost every political discussion seems to end with the same words: Long live the king! Saudi Arabia feels like a realm that has come to a standstill in a rapidly changing world. Its leaders, most notably the 86-year-old King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, are pinning their hopes on the old principle of stability………….”

They call it stability, others call it stagnation. That same argument was used in the swamp that was Egypt under Mubarak for thirty years: they said it was ‘stability’, I called it a swamp. There is not much virtue in stable misery and repression and powerlessness and corruption. Once the fear is gone, the ‘stability’ card is not compelling.
(And then there was/is Khaled al-Jehany, a brave young man, the only one in the city, who stood in a Riyadh street and said that the whole country is a big prison, He was whisked away and his fate is still unknown).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, GCC, UAE

Peninsula Mercenaries, Peninsula Foreign Legion, UAE……..

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I have been wondering, nay worrying, what is behind this large mercenary force being gathered in the UAE? The al-Nahayan autocrats surely don’t expect these Colombians, South Africans, Europeans, Americans, Israelis (possibly) and others to just sit in the desert. They must have a goal for them. Is it as reported to keep the peace by putting down popular uprisings in the UAE and possibly other Gulf areas? Then what is the Peninsula Shield doing in Bahrain (actually it is the Saudis doing it all in Bahrain)?

I suspect that the reason for gathering this mercenary force in the UAE has to do with Saudi Arabia. The al-Nahayan have at best cool relations with their fellow despots in Riyadh. There have been cases of friction in the past few years, and there are still pending border territorial issues that their media tries not to report. The UAE has sparse native population, and has to import foreign labor for almost everything that needs to be done. About 85% or so of the people are temporary imported foreigners (mostly housemaids and laborers, but professionals as well). They can’t form any substantial military force out of that. Even the natives eschew military service in the harsh climate in favor of government jobs. Hence the idea of forming a Foreign-Legion style mercenary force. That would save the al-Nahayan from having to depend on the al-Saud. Apparently (at least to me) they do not like what they have seen in Bahrain and have concluded that if anyone will have to commit atrocities in their country it better be a force under their own command. Hence this large mercenary force.
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Gulf states

Gulf: Shield from Revolution? Shield of Autocracy? STD Shield?………..

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“The GCC said bolstering the ranks of this shared army would help the countries that belong to it — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar —defend themselves from “external” threats. Like what? Terrorists. Pirates, maybe? How about its own people? Will a larger shared military be used to more effectively douse popular uprisings like the one that took place in Bahrain in March? Just as a protest movement In Bahrain was gaining the kind of momentum that toppled Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak the month before, the Gulf Cooperation Council issued a mandate to send almost 2,000 troops into the tiny little country to protect institutions belonging to Bahrain’s government. It was a show of force that made its point clearly — The Bahraini people marching in the streets were up against something much larger than its own government……..”

The Bahraini, al-Khalifa-connected, secretary general of the GCC opined that “The GCC has also made much progress in giving better life to their nationals compared to other countries”. That “better life” does not cover a majority of Bahrainis, who had face a policy of Apartheid for decades, and now face ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the regime and its Saudi protectors.
I shouldn’t say it, but this ‘shield’ idea reminds me of certain brand names: Trojan, Durex, Naturalamb They are all ‘shields’. But perhaps this one is not as effective as its STD namesakes.
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Economics, ethnic cleansing, GCC

The Power of Boycott: Business Facing a Dark Future in Bahrain ………

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Economic boycotts are becoming part of the Bahrain revolutionary scene. This is how they started:


  • Some regime     partisans in Bahrain pushed many Sunnis to start the boycott frenzy by advertizing a boycott of some prominent Shi’a businesses that supported the protests (e.g. Jawad Enterprises). Naturally Sunnis have much more buying power per person, but their numbers are small. They may get others to join, like Pakistanis, Saudis, Syrians, Jordanians (basically some of the imported mercenaries). Some of the targeted businesses were also trashed. Yet that was a big mistake as my next paragraph explains.




  • Shi’as, taking a page form their Sunni neighbors, started thinking of boycotts. They have suddenly realized the true power they have: just like American blacks in Alabama did in the 1950s, and others did in India so long ago. They are now advertizing to boycott businesses that support the repression (usually Sunni or some foreign businesses). Many of these businesses went along with the regime and fired many of their Shi’a employees (there are reports that they are hiring in the Indian Subcontinent to replace the fired natives). The firings have added the effect of reduced purchasing power to the anger the Shi’as already felt toward them. Shi’as are a big majority in Bahrain: al-Wefaq, the main Shi’a opposition group won about 64% of the popular vote in the last election. That is not counting other parties and those who boycotted (like al-Haq). They can really harm some major businesses if they boycott them. It looks like they will. Many businesses and shopping malls are owned by al-Khalifa clan members, partnerships, and their retainers and henchmen.




  • Bahrain businesses, through the chamber of commerce, have now frozen relations with businesses organizations in, and now talk of boycotting: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon (all three states have a majority or plurality of Shi’as, like Bahrain). Typical of the al-Khalifa clan to try to extend their own domestic policy of sectarian Apartheid and ethnic cleansing to the region in order to get out of the mess they created. They want everyone to join in their sectarian game, but that will not solve the serious problem many Bahraini businesses will now face because most of the people will boycott them.


The business outlook in Bahrain looks bleak, much bleaker than the al-Khalifa clan had anticipated.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Culture, Human Right, UAE

United Arab Emirates, NYU , University of Sorbonne, Louvre, Guggenheim, Money, Lots of it…………

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“Numerous death threats, his employer’s demand to transfer out of the country and a middle-of-the-night visit from state security forces were not enough to intimidate the prominent Emirati rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, who recently called for political reforms. Security forces managed to silence him only by whisking him away from his family during a raid on his house on April 8…… Six weeks later, leading international institutions with major stakes in the United Arab Emirates, like New York University, University of Paris-Sorbonne, and the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, remain silent over the detention of Mansoor, a member of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa advisory committee. They have looked the other way as the government widened its crackdown on civil society by arresting four other activists and purging the elected boards of two prominent civil society organizations. By refusing to condemn this repression despite their prominent presence in the UAE, these public institutions are complicit in the abuses of their partner — the UAE government — and do a disservice to their mission of serving the enlightenment of humanity. …………..” Also sprach a good young man.
Samer Muscati apparently doesn’t understand the different missions of these great institutions of learning and museums. NYU, Sorbonne, the Louvre, and the Guggenheim have dual missions.  (1) Their mission at home in Europe and the USA is to educate, enlighten, and improve human conditions. But that is in places like Paris and New York. (2) In other places, in my Gulf region, especially in a place like Abu Dhabi, their role can be put succinctly in one five-letter word: M-O-N-E-Y. In French it is a six-letter word: A-R-G-E-N-T. As for those of us, like Mr. Muscati, myself and many others, who expect more and better from such lofty institutions, their leaders have one word for us: it is a FOUR-letter word. They are too genteel to say it, but we all know what it means.
(Remember, we should try to understand how they see things: what the hell do we, in our region, know about humanity and self determination and freedom? Not enough to offset the good money).
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Occupied Bahrain, US Foreign Policy

Bahrain Website Reports on American-Khalifa Contacts………..

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A new Bahrain news site (Miraat al-Bahrain) reports from diplomatic sources that the Bahraini government knew two days in advance what President Obama was going to say about Bahrain. It reports that the US State Department notified the al-Khalifa regime of the contents. The report says the delegation led by Deputy Sec of State James Steinberg reached four points of agreement, and four points of disagreement, with Bahrain. It says the points of agreement included the right of the regime to enforce “stability” and to call in Saudi forces, and to agree that Iran has a hand in the unrest. That means the US administration summarized the demands of Bahrainis largely into an Iranian plot.
The main point of disagreement was about who are the opposition. The US saw the opposition as all the various political parties and civil organizations, many of whose members are in prison. The al-Khalifa regime saw the “opposition” as its own toadies (Salafis, Muslim Brothers, and others) who are now left as the only members of the ‘parliament’. The regime now defines its own supporters as the opposition. The regime wants negotiations done inside and through its own parliament while the US wants negotiations done on a round table. There was also disagreement on why all those (Shi’a) mosques were vandalized and destroyed.
I did speculate here last week that the American visit just two days before the speech was to reassure the al-Khalifa regime. I also speculated that Mr. Jeffrey Feltman has been in Manama so often that he may qualify to form his own pro-regime mercenary militia. I was barely kidding.
Cheers
mhg


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