Category Archives: Arabian Peninsula

Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US Foreign Policy, Weapons deals

Gulf Arms Race: UAE JDAMS Bunker Busters, Bunkers of Sharjah and Fujairah……

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      BFF

“The U.S. government may soon announce plans for a large sale of precision-guided bombs to the United Arab Emirates, a source familiar with the arms sales plans said late on Thursday, as tensions mounted with Iran over its nuclear program. The Pentagon is considering a significant sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions made by Boeing Co, adding to other recent arms deals with the UAE. These include the sale of 500 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles about which U.S. lawmakers were notified in September. The sale of Boeing-built “bunker-buster” bombs and other munitions to UAE, a key Gulf ally, is part of an ongoing U.S. effort to build a regional coalition to counter Iran. No comment was immediately available from the Pentagon’s press office or the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales. Boeing has sold thousands of JDAM bombs to the United States and its allies in recent months as they have replenished their arsenal of the popular precision-guided bombs……….”

The Unit Arab Emirates claims to have almost 1 million citizens (the rest are temporary foreign laborers, housemaids, gardeners, doctors, bankers, mercenaries, etc). There are opinions that the actual number is much less than one million. The absolute oligarchy of the UAE has been in a tough arms race, no not with Iran, but with the rival absolute tribal princes of Saudi Arabia. For several years they were the second biggest importers of weapons in the whole wide wonderful world. Last year the Saudis moved to number one and the Abu Dhabi potentates were threatened with being relegated to number two (no pun intended here). Now they are trying to catch up with the al-Saud in terms of weapons imports, and coincidentally in terms of bribes commissions that the potentates and their retainers receive.
The UAE already has American F-16 fighters that are capable of carrying JDAMS bunker busters. It is not clear why the shaikhs of the UAE want JDAMS bunker busters, and whose bunkers they might want to bust. Nobody is likely to want to attack them, not even the shaikhs of Bahrain. The Iranians most likely are concerned with bigger fish, like the Americans or the Israelis. Besides, who is going to use all these sophisticated weapons? They can keep borrowing personnel from Pakistan, or maybe even train some humorless Jordanians. Or maybe they can train their new mercenary security legion headed by Blackwater veterans and manned by Colombians, Australians, white South Africans and others.
Either way, it is not clear whose bunkers these Abu Dhabi shaikhs want to bust. Hopefully not the bunkers of Sharjah or Fujairah.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Iran, Religion, Saudi Arabia

Arab Counterrevolution: Stoking Royal Salafi Fires on the Gulf…………..

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      BFF

“The external opposition continues to fudge its stance on external intervention, and with good reason: the internal opposition rejects it. This is the flaw to the model – for the majority in Syria deeply oppose external intervention, fearing civil conflict. Hence Syrians face a long period of externally mounted insurgency, siege and international attrition. Both sides will pay in blood. But the real danger, as Hannah himself noted, is that the Saudis might “once again fire up the old Sunni jihadist network and point it in the general direction of Shiite Iran”, which puts Syria first in line. In fact, that is exactly what is happening, but the west, as before in Afghanistan, prefers not to notice – so long as the drama plays well to western audiences. As Foreign Affairs reported last month, Saudi and its Gulf allies are firing up the radical Salafists (fundamentalist Sunnis), not only to weaken Iran, but to do what they see is necessary to survive – to disrupt and emasculate the awakenings that threaten absolute monarchism. This is happening in Syria, Libya, Egypt…………..”

It is all part of the Saudi-led GCC-funded Arab Counterrevolution. Its only goal is to maintain the status quo on the Gulf , at any price. Status quo means only one thing: keeping the al-Saud dynasty in power, with absolute unquestionable authority. Before the Arab “Spring”, it was aimed at any change in the broader Arab status quo. At the time they used developments in Iraq, post the invasion they had supported and participated in, to stoke sectarian fires. Even old Hosni Mubarak managed, with Saudi help, to ‘discover’ plots by Shi’as to convert his people and take over Egypt. They exaggerated fears of an Iranian threat with the goal of dividing the somnolent and often tame peoples of the GCC states into Sunni and Shi’a factions. It always works on the Gulf: fearful Sunnis seek the protection of the corrupt ruling dynasties, angry Shi’as become more vocal in their demands, which in turn is used by the palace Salafis to further stoke the fires of division.
Amazing how one ancient doubtful Hadith about absolute loyalty to the (Muslim) ruler is being used by Salafi clerics to counter the Arab revolutions, but only in selective countries.
Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy

Starry-Eyed Maureen Dowd of Wry Absolute Arabia: PR and “Keeping America Safe” …………

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     BFF

”I asked if he thought he was targeted because of his tough position on Iran, underscored in a 2008 diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks quoting him reiterating that King Abdullah wanted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake.” “You should ask the perpetrators, not me,” he said wryly. “We do what we have to do, and we can’t let issues like this deter us.”……… Some worry that America spends too much time hoping Iran will become more reasonable when, in reality, it’s trying to get nuclear weapons so it can become less reasonable. News of the plot, denounced by the kingdom as “sinful and abhorrent,” has made Saudi Arabia more sympathetic in an enemy-of-my-enemy sort of way…………” Maureen Dowd (allegedly in the New York Times)

Not one of her best columns; Maureen Dowd is too starry-eyed here toward an absolute tribal monarchy where sorcerers and witches and Asian housemaids are beheaded almost every week. Not her usual witty style, it reads more like something from Liz Cheney’s “Keep America Safe”, but almost a wittier style. Not that Liz Cheney ever seems starry-eyed about anything (not even about the dangers of building more mosques). This also reads suspiciously more like something another lobbyist or Public Relations person would write, as part of a PR campaign.
“He was targeted because of his tough position on Iran” yet he was “reiterating that King Abdullah wanted the United States to……..” So whose position is it that was the “tough” one, urging war: his or the absolute king’s (and the thousands of princes who loot the Arabian Peninsula each and every day)?
(At least now we learn from Dowd that the ambassador does not frequent Georgetown fast food joints like Cafe Milano as Peter Bergen had claimed. Bergen also dined with Bin Laden once, but most likely outside Georgetown).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia

The Coming Wars of Saudi Succession?………

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     BFF
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz died Friday at an age of between 86-90. That leaves Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz as the next in line for the throne, if he makes it (he is up there in the 80s). Probably Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Prince of Mecca and owner of the daily Asharq Alawsat newspaper, will be next in line. I have written a few times here on the issue of Saudi succession, especially last July when the king put one of his sons in position to inherit the foreign ministry:

“…….. All this is
part of maneuverings by various branches of the vast Al-Saud clan to
position themselves for the coming death of the sons of old king
Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud). Besides the various ministries, the senior princes
have also staked out the various provinces as their personal fiefdoms.
This province system also creates the potential for an eventual “soft”
division of the country among the various branches (fukhooth “legs” and butoon
“bellies”) of the al-Saud clan. Even the armed forces, the
traditionally unified force within the Arab states, are divided into
spheres of princely influence. The Saudi system of power transfer is
inherently unstable, and is likely to become more so. The “commission of
allegiance” (Bay’a) that was supposed to select the rulers
reflects the rivalries within the family, which means it is as unstable
as the family relations and rivalries. Once the last of the Ibn Saud
sons passes away, there will be a political bloodbath (not necessarily a
real red bloodbath) over control of the Kingdom without magic and its
resources. The country may resemble China in the era of the warlords
more than a hundred years ago: it certainly has the potential for such a political fragmentation.………“

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arabian Peninsula, Religion, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Kitchen Clergy: Senior Saudi Cleric Pissed about Promise of Women Vote…….

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      BFF

“Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, one of Saudi Arabia’s most senior clerics, said he was not consulted about King Abdullah’s decision to grant women more political rights, one of the first signs of discontent from powerful conservatives since the reform was announced. In a speech last week the Saudi monarch announced that women would vote and run in future municipal council elections and serve in the appointed Shura Council which advises the king on policy. King Abdullah said his decision was made after consultation with the country’s most senior clerics, who have extensive political and social influence……..”

Apparently the absolute king has his own “kitchen clergy” also called “palace clergy” that he consults. This old chap is clearly not part of it. I suspect that the various princely factions may have their own “ulema” or cleric factions. Imagine, each senior prince has his own kitchen full of pliant clerics; it is possible. Yet this Salafi cleric also knows that 1915 is a long way off, depending on one’s age. It may be a race with time between this cleric and the absolute king. Besides it is a meaningless vote for “advisory” municipal councils.
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, GCC, Human Right, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Politics of Apartheid in the Persian-American Gulf…….

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“When King Hamad came to power in 1999, he initially sought to put an end to the violence and sectarian tension that had characterized much of the 1990s by releasing political prisoners, expanding freedoms for the press and civil society, abolishing the most repressive aspects of the security apparatus, and encouraging dialogue with the opposition to help draft a new constitution that would devolve authority to an elected parliament. These efforts gained overwhelming support from most Bahrainis who yearned for more political and civil liberties, and particularly from Shi’a who faced systemic discrimination in the political, economic, and social spheres. Despite initial expectations, however, the resulting 2002 constitution failed to deliver on the King’s promises, dashing hopes and creating deep mistrust between the ruling family and the political opposition. Tensions were exacerbated when an alleged government report was leaked in 2006 detailing a plan to weaken the Shi’a community politically and alter the country’s demographics through the systematic naturalization of Sunni expatriate workers…………..”

Not only did the al-Khalifa fail to fulfill their contract with the people of Bahrain, the one agreed at independence. (Their failure to democtratize as promised did not much bother the elite who were not victimized and it certainly was welcomed by the other oligarchies of the Gulf states). It was, it is, the apartheid system that they and their retainers of the elite have insisted on keeping in place. Of course getting rid of the apartheid system would mean a more open political system and more freedoms. More important, it would mean the election of an effective legislature and accountability for corruption by the ruling dynasty. That is why the rulers of Bahrain and their masters and protectors in Saudi Arabia, the absolute tribal princes, insist on keeping the discriminatory system in place. That is why they have resorted to fanning the flames of sectarian fears and passions among the people of Bahrain and the people of the Gulf GCC region. That is why they are willing to foot the bill for the importation of foreign mercenary thugs and torturers by the regime.
What they don’t understand is that the people of Bahrain (and one or two other Gulf states) are not like the people of Saudi Arabia who have been trained and terrified over several generations to silently bow and accept the writ of the princes. Even the people of the Arabian Peninsula are stirring now against the restrictions imposed by the potentates and their Salafi lackeys among the clergy.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

Gangs of Arabia: Oil Fiefdoms and Turf Wars, Ivanhoe and Isaac of Qatif…………

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      BFF

The clock is ticking and time is running out for the combatants to position themselves. Here is a summary of the turf wars and how the Saudi pie is being split now among the “next” generation (meaning those in their 70’s and up):

  1. The crown prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz is seriously ill and highly unlikely to become king. He spends his time between an undisclosed location at home and American hospitals and Moroccan recuperation. He has appointed his son Khaled as deputy defense minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry as well as becoming the minister of aviation and inspector general (recalling Danny Kaye now).
  2. Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz is next in line and almost certainly the next king. He is a seriously conservative man and is against any type of elections. He famously said a couple of years ago that “Elections can never produce good people of the quality that we appoint” (and that was long before the Tea Party gained control of the U.S. Congress!). He is the minister of interior, in charge of police and security and secret police and terrorism and arrests and prisons and prisoners without charges and whatever goes in the dark cells. He has appointed his son Mohammed as a deputy minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry when the father either becomes king or dies, whichever comes first.
  3. Then there is the king himself and he is no slouch when it comes to his interests and the interests of his children. Abdullah was head of the National Guard, a parallel army, since forever. Last year he appointed one of his sons to replace him as head of the Guard. Thus the king has staked the permanent claim of ‘his’ branch of the al-Saud clan.
  4. That leaves the Foreign Ministry, forever headed by Prince Saud al-Faisal. He is reportedly ailing without a clear heir. At one time there were two apparent claimants competing for the ministry, or at least there seemed to be, until King Abdullah appointed his son Abdulaziz as Deputy Foreign Minister, thus staking the claim of his own ‘branch’ of the al-Saud clan. Now Abdulaziz has the inside track as compared to Prince Turki al-Faisal brother of the current minister (and the wittiest prince, at least in public) and Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (of the famous BAE Systems bribery case that Tony Blair covered up). The foreign ministry is interesting because has become an area of unexpected competition and turf war. I had assumed it was the private reserve of the al-Faisal clan until Bandar made his move and then Abdullah appointed his own son. Apparently Bandar is a restless type, for he has reportedly made many moves inside and outside the kingdom and was allegedly involved in some palace plots. Apparently all the BAE Systems bribe money has given him more time and funds to pursue his ‘hobbies’. He was even reported at one time to be active in Iraq (not physically, but financially among the Sunni tribes and others). The foreign ministry truly reflects the current territorial infighting among the al-Saud branches: if Abdullah dies before the minister leaves, his son is not guaranteed the top job.


What is at stake is: (a)the future of the throne, (b)the allocation of the petroleum loot among the hungry numerous princes, and (c)power within the top leadership that control the various ministries/fiefdoms.

That is on the ministry or ‘functional’ level. Then there is the real estate, the various provinces, each presided over by a senior al-Saud prince. A prince is the absolute ruler of his province even as he claims allegiance to the king in Riyadh. Does it remind you of Europe in the Middle Ages? Yes, I have read Ivanhoe more than once, read it the first time in Arabic when in ninth grade (Isaac of York, the Jew, would probably be some wayfaring Shi’a from the Eastern province).…….
Did I hear you mention something about “the people” of the Arabian Peninsula? OH, yeah, they were once among the freest peoples of the whole world……….
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia

A King’s Speech: about the Ummah and an Ayatollah……….

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“Glad tidings for Muslim Ummah. There was joy and happiness at the news that King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, had left hospital in America after two successful surgeries.
Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh Region, expressed thanks and praise to Allah Almighty Who bestowed good health, recovery and wellness upon King Abdullah
“We are appealing to Allah Almighty for the King’s safe return home to complete the march whose work is devoted entirely to serve his country and people as well as the Islamic and Arab nations,” he said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.
Speaker of Shoura Council Sheikh Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh also expressed, jubilation and happiness, in his own name and on behalf of the Council’s members and staff, after King Abdullah left the hospital after Allah Almighty bestowed upon him good health, recovery and wellness…………….”

I wish the old man good health,
knowing that what comes after him, what is waiting in the wings, is bad
news for all the Saudi people. You know “who” I mean (either one of the
two is bad news but the most likely one is worst).
He said that “Allah Almighty bestowed upon him good health recovery and wellness”, which reminds me of the last Wikileaks stuff about wellness and Viagra, etc. Of course the Speaker of the appointed toothless council Sheikh Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh is a cousin or brother of the Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh. Lots of Aal Al Al-Sheikhs come out of the Saudi woodwork on these occasions. I must have written here at least once that all these Aal Al Sheikhs are descendants of the late Imam Mohammad Bin Abdulwahab, after whom the Wahhabi sect (or is it a cult) was named. He is to be distinguished from the late great Egyptian singer and musician Mohammed Abdelwahab who was no Salafi and totally enjoyed many things the old Imam seriously frowned upon. Abdelwahab had some great songs about Egypt (and one about Venice) that are still popular.
Now, how did the king deliver a speech to his country yesterday while he was leaving a hospital in America? Does he have a double? Did he use Skype or Facetime?

Still, pretending that the “king” is the leader of Islam is a stretch, no more credible than pretending that an Ayatollah (Ali Khamenei) is the leader of Islam. It is a myth spread by the vast semi-official Saudi Media and some palace ‘tribal liberals’ in a couple of Gulf states.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Animal Farm: King Welcomes Some Foreign Intervention in All Arab States……….

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Arab media report the King of Saudi Arabia said in a speech that he was happy about the return to “normality and peace” in Bahrain. The low level sectarian civil war now going on in Bahrain is considered a “return to normality and peace”, although I am certain the king has never read 1984 (Orwell), never even heard of it. He forgot to add that he was also happy about the return to peace in Afghanistan and Waziristan and Libya and Gaza. The report did not specify what the King and his speechwriters had been smoking before his speech.
(Actually some ‘tribal liberals’ on my Gulf had declared the situation in Bahrain to be “back to normal” from the day Saudi troops invaded in March: apparently the situation is still quite normal and getting even more normal by the day).

The report also said that that Saudi Arabia announced its complete rejection of any “foreign interference” in the internal affairs of Bahrain. They said it is okay for foreigners to interfere in Libya and Yemen and Syria and Egypt and Tunisia and Iraq and even in Saudi Arabia. But not in Bahrain, unless the foreign intervention is in the form of Saudi forces shoring up the regime and its imported mercenaries against the people. Which brings up that other Orwell book, Animal Farm.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, Muslims, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Counterrevolution: the Hadith Loophole, the Salafi Alibi………

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“The Saudis are afraid of the Arab spring, because they don’t want anti-Saudi forces, including such enemies as Iran and Al Qaeda, to increase their influence in the Middle East, and they believe the revolutions in the region might have just this effect. Some of the older Saudi leaders have seen this movie before. The nationalist revolutions of the 1950’s and 1960’s, inspired and galvanized by Gamel Nasser’s Egypt, nearly toppled the House of Saud. Nonetheless, today’s Saudi princes appear to recognize that something has genuinely changed in the Middle East: The younger generation of Arabs is no longer prepared to accept unaccountable, corrupt, and brutal governments. Saudi Arabia, a self-proclaimed bulwark of Islamic conservatism, where popular democracy has never been considered a legitimate form of rule, has been more aggressive in some arenas than in others. Domestically, the royal family struck quickly, adopting a ban on public demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience. The Kingdom’s traditional interpretation of Islam construes political legitimacy in terms of a ruler’s proper application of Islamic law. In return, his subjects owe him obedience within the constraints of Sharia religious law…………..”

There is a Hadith that purports to indicate that Prophet Mohammed urged Muslims to obey their “Muslim” rulers as long as they allowed and facilitated the practice of Islam, no matter how lousy the rulers are. This Hadith has been at the center of Salafi alliances with despotic Arab rulers. It has supplied the rulers with a “loophole” to get away with all kinds of corruption and injustice. It is used by absolute Arab monarchs as an alibi, with the Salafis as allies.  Of course there are other Hadiths against corruption and thievery by rulers, and against despotism, but these are ignored.
I have never believed in the veracity of that Hadith, not even as a kid. Needless to say, I still have strong doubts about its veracity. For 1400 years this particular Hadith has been just too convenient, too useful for ruling tyrants of our region.
Cheers
mhg


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