Category Archives: GCC

Arabian Peninsula, Economics, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Labor Unrest: An Economic Gulf of Expats?……….

      

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“Two people were killed and 68 others injured in clashes between police and foreign workers following a visa crackdown in Saudi Arabia, the official news agency reported. Police arrested 561 people Saturday in the capital of Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The arrests came after “unidentified” people barricaded themselves in narrow streets, where they threw stones at residents and vandalized shops and cars, according to a police statement posted on the news agency’s website. In the aftermath of Saturday’s clashes, a police spokesman urged workers without proper documents to surrender at a shelter in the capital until they could be deported…………..”

“Nearly 17,000 illegal foreigners, including women and children, have surrendered to Riyadh police until Monday evening………” Arab News

“Thousands of undocumented expatriates are desperately seeking to get arrested and deported, as a last resort to end their plight……….” Arab News

This can be a sign of more ominous events. All the Gulf GCC countries have huge foreign populations of laborers, housemaids, and others. The percentages of foreigners to the population range from about one third in Saudi Arabia to about 85% for the UAE and Qatar. Is this Saudi unrest a prelude to more unrest along the Gulf? It can be. When there is a majority of temporary foreigners leading a precarious life, their livelihood and stay in the country tied to often unstable employers, unrest is quite possible. Many are laid off or quit and are forced into becoming “illegal” and fending for themselves. There are tens of thousands of unemployed (also meaning illegal) expatriate laborers in the Persian Gulf states who earn a living in black markets and legally gray areas of the economy, including illegal activities like petty crimes, prostitution, smuggling, and drugs. What is even more ominous is that much of the domestic GCC economies are tied to temporary expatriate labor. The whole infrastructure and available housing and trade and supply network of the GCC states have been built based on larger populations than the native citizens can ever attain. If ‘enough’ of these expats depart, much of the domestic non-oil economies would collapse. Both the supply and demand for goods and services would implode.
I have suggested in the past, almost seriously, that the name of the Gulf be changed from the Persian-American Gulf to the Gulf of South Asia. Now I amend that to the more appropriate name of “Gulf of Expatriates”. Of course the scowling mullahs across the Gulf might object………..

Cheers
mhg

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GCC, Saudi Arabia

Expats: Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arabia………

      

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“The Saudi authorities arrested a total of 33,353 “illegal expatriates” and deported 14,304 during the first week of the crackdown against migrants which began on November 4, according to the General Directorate of Prisons. In Riyadh, some 17,000 “illegal Ethiopians” have surrendered following the riot on Saturday in which two people died, police spokesman Nasser al-Qahtani said. The number arrested in connection with the riot has now risen to 1,199 – including 119 women and 11 children. In Makkah, about 500 “African illegals” were rounded up on Monday. They had gathered under a bridge with their families and were blocking roads – apparently in protest at delays in their repatriation after failing to regularise their status in the kingdom. There have been similar incidents elsewhere. On Saturday, about 300 Afghans gathered outside their consulate in Jeddah, protesting at delays in completing their deportation arrangements. Arab News says police took them to a detention centre by bus and were trying to “expedite travel procedures”. On Sunday, hundreds of stranded Filipinos, including women and children, assembled in Makkah, causing traffic jams. .…………If the border guards’ figure of 20,000 Yemeni deportations is correct, the nationwide figure of 14,000 deportations given by the General Directorate of Prisons must be wrong (and vice versa). Either way, the scale of the current upheaval in Saudi Arabia is extraordinary though it continues to get scant international coverage… …………”

The way they are rounding them up by the thousands, you’d think this is Arizona and not Saudi Arabia. Unless the Saudis have hired old Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Cheers
mhg

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France, GCC, Iran, Weapons deals

French Fries, Nuclear Fries, Gulf Contract Fries…….

      

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“French or Freedom fries: What’s behind France’s move on Iranian nuclear deal? Far from the political stance that inspired ‘Freedom fries’ 10 years ago, France has aligned itself more with US conservatives in rejecting a ‘sucker’s deal’ on the Iran nuclear issue……………”

The French are always looking for ‘number one’, looking for their own financial interests. The country that devastated parts of the Pacific islands, e.g. Moruroa (Algeria is not in the Pacific) with their nuclear tests until recently have not gone religious. They are  most likely eying their royal Arab allies, the Saudi princes and UAE shaikhs, the ones who bestow fat weapons contracts and other contracts. The French have almost certainly decided to adopt their opposition to a nuclear deal with Iran, to keep that country blockaded and isolated. Look for France to get some new Gulf contracts soon.
They are also probably pissed (in French of course) about the Iranian role in events in Lebanon and Syria, as pissed as their royal Arab partners are.

Cheers
mhg

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Blockade of Iran, GCC, Iran, US Foreign Policy

On the Gulf: Princely Bluster and the Alternative to Diplomacy……

      

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“U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, are also all warily watching the unfolding agreement in Geneva. The U.S. has forged close alliances with these countries over the past three decades in an effort to create a bulwark against Iran in the Middle East. Washington has showered billions of dollars of sophisticated weapons on the Gulf nations and stationed key U.S. naval and air assets there. Bahrain, Qatar, and the U.A.E. have also developed successful financial and trade centers in the Gulf, fueled, in part, by Iran’s isolation from international economy. A detente between Washington and Iran could significantly shake up Washington’s security calculations in the Mideast and challenge these countries’ long-term interests, according to regional diplomats. This, in part, explains these Gulf Arab states’ strong pushback against the Obama administration’s diplomacy………………….”

Strong pushback against the Obama administration’s “diplomacy”. Which means some of these Gulf princes in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the lesser potentates in Bahrain were hoping for the alternative to diplomacy. And what is the alternative to diplomacy but war? These absolute tribal oligarchs are getting bold: they must feel entitled to American wars in support of their sectarian agenda. They, and their Wahhabi and Salafi allies, were counting on yet another American war, this time against the mullahs. A war they are incapable of waging themselves, even with the most expensive most-advanced weapons that money and commissions and bribes can buy. Their secret last white hope used to be hitched to the warlike bluster and bluff of Netanyahu, but by now they probably realize that without an American commitment to war it is just that: bluff and bluster.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, GCC, Syria

‘Political’ Legitimacy in the Arab World………

      

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“Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have also strongly criticized the U.S. backing away from expected military strikes in August against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Arab diplomats believed such strikes could have helped topple Mr. Assad, Iran’s closest ally in the region. Instead, the U.S. and Russia forged a deal with the Syrian government to dismantle its chemical-weapons program, which the Saudis and Emiratis now fear is providing Mr. Assad with new legitimacy………………”

Oh boy. The democratically-elected princes and potentates of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi worry about the legitimacy of Bashar Al-Assad.
FYI: most Arab leaders are illegitimate. I probably mean that only in political terms of governing. After all, when were the last elections, free or otherwise, held in Saudi Arabia and a few other places?

Cheers
mhg

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Bahrain, GCC, Iran

Nuclear Adultery in the Persian Gulf ?………

      

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“”A deal with Iran would be like discovering your partner of many years is cheating on you with someone he or she claims they hate,” said a senior Arab official from a U.S. ally in the region..………..”
Now, why do I think the idiotic foreign minister of Bahrain, Al-Khalifa, is the most likely potentate to have made that stupid comment? Of course, we have no shortage of other idiotic potentates in the region……..

Cheers
mhg

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Arab League, Arab Politics, GCC, Saudi Arabia, United Nations International Organizations, US Foreign Policy

Syrian Fallout: Saudi Tantrum over the Security Council………

      

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“Saudi Arabia on Friday rejected its freshly-acquired seat on the U.N. Security Council, saying the 15-member body is incapable of resolving world conflicts such as the Syrian civil war. The move came just hours after the kingdom was elected as one of the Council’s 10 nonpermanent members. In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, the Foreign Ministry said the Council has failed in its duties toward Syria. This, the ministry said, enabled Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to perpetrate the killings of its people, including with chemical weapons, without facing any punishment. The kingdom, which has backed the Syrian rebels in their struggle to topple Assad, has in the past criticized the international community for failing to halt the civil war in Syria…………..”

This is a surprising and uncharacteristic public royal tantrum. Something has pissed off the Saudi princes. Or maybe now Prince Bandar has unbridled control over foreign policy. Earlier, they canceled their annual speech at the UN General Assembly meeting, not that anybody actually listens to it beside the flunkies. Now they refuse to take a seat at the Security Council.
It could be the frustration from the setbacks to their allies and proxies in Syria and Lebanon. It certainly can’t be the Security Council’s failure to react to their own invasion and continuing repression of Bahrain. It could be the failure of Mr. Obama to wage war in Syria and possibly Iran (all options still being on the table and all that). It could be the prospect of resolving the Iranian nuclear “issue” peacefully.
There is another possible angle here. A Security Council member will have to vote on issues, or abstain. Even abstention is a form of voting. Maybe the Saudis are going back to their old foreign policy mode of avoiding confrontation on sensitive issues.
The Saudis want no part of the Security Council until it is reformed to their liking. Which reminds me of the League of Arab States (Arab League), apparently now under Saudi financial control and quite reformed, thank you very much……….
And no, I would not be so crass as to suggest it is a form of royal PMS……….

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Human Right

New ABS Strategy for Bahrain: Regime to Naturalize Tear Gas Canisters………..

      

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“[Manama] Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior is planning to import 1.6 million tear gas canisters and 90,000 tear gas grenades, according to a leaked document, published today by research and advocacy group Bahrain Watch. The document — apparently a tender issued by the Ministry of Interior’s Purchasing Directorate — shows that Bahrain’s security forces are stockpiling massive amounts of tear gas, despite serious concerns of international NGOs and the United Nations Human Rights Council. These groups have called Bahrain’s use of tear gas “unnecessary and indiscriminate”, and “lethal”. This planned new shipment will supply Bahrain with more tear gas canisters than the entire population of the country. The document, signed by “Assistant Undersecretary Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa”, calls for all proposals to be submitted “not later than 16th July 2013”. Ministry of Interior tenders are typically not available on the Government’s Tender Board website. This is the first time that an apparent tender for tear gas has been made public. The tender calls for arms companies to supply Bahrain with the following items:……… Bahrain Watch understands that no shipment related to this tender has yet been made, however, such a shipment could begin at any time………………..”

His excellency the Bahrain shaikh who controls these imports claims that the tear gas canisters will be used in case Bahrain is invaded by Iranians or Qataris or Klingons, or anyone else who is not part of the Saudi military and security services.
Bahrain’s ruling family and their tribal allies have been notorious for trying to alter the demographics of the country by recruiting and naturalizing mercenaries with military, security, and interrogatory and torture experience. The mercenaries come from select Arab countries and select South Asian countries, and the key criterion is called ABS (Anybody But a Shi’a).
Bahrain has limited resources and mercenaries and their families are a costly drain, even if they come from very poor countries, even with all the money other GCC potentates send over to prop up the ruling family. Now they may have found a solution: millions of tear gas canisters. They can naturalize tear gas canisters at hardly any cost. They can even get them to vote in the strange elections they occasionally have in Bahrain. And the best part is: nobody inside or outside Bahrain can tell the difference between these canisters and the current members of the funny legislature, mostly appointed and selected by the rulers. Come to think of it, nobody inside or outside Bahrain should be able to tell the difference between these canisters and the Bahrain Council of Ministers. As we say on the Gulf: one goo’ti looks like just another goo’ti.
Not a bad idea, huh? And they did not need to pay Tony Blair millions of dollars in consulting fees for the idea. Or maybe they did.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Counterrevoltion, Bahrain, Egypt, GCC

Cairo: President Zombie and King Honey Boo Boo Hold a Tiny Summit of sorts………….

      

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“His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, following meeting with Egyptian President Adli Mahmoud Mansour, delivered a press statement, in which expressed delight in the continuation of the course of relations and coordination between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Egypt that asserts the strength of relations between Egypt and the GCC countries and the issues of common concern, and expressed appreciation for the Egyptian stance and its people towards the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people………… HM the King underlined Bahrain’s role as President of the current session of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in supporting the solid relations between Egypt and GCC countries to achieve the common goal of Arab countries…………….”

It is fun to read these inane stupid almost-always meaningless communiques that come out after two impotent Arab potentates meet. And there are no Arab leaders who are more impotent than those two, both sidekicks of someone else.
Mr. Adly Mansour bin Zombie Al Mubarak, is the Mubarak-appointed judicial bureaucrat who was appointed interim president by General Al Sisi. He met with the self-promoted King Honey Boo Boo in Cairo in a mini-summit to exchange pleasantries and look important and relevant. Yet they did not fool anyone except their tame and controlled media. Neither one of them is relevant to anything that happens in the wider Arab world or Middle East. Neither is relevant to what happens in their own respective countries that are saddled with them.
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Corruption, GCC

The Fire in Bahrain: Futile Dialog and Dirty Compromise and an Extended Pogrom………

      

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The People of Bahrain will gather for huge protests on Wednesday August 14. The people of Bahrain, most of them, have been in a state of rebellion since February 14, 2011. The ruling family is determined to thwart them by imposing a lock-down across the country, especially the capital Manama. Barbed wire and tear gas and contingents of foreign mercenaries are being used to keep the people out of the capital. Much of uncooperative foreign media is being kept out.
The ruling Al Khalifa clan of Bahrain have been whittling away the basic freedoms that were guaranteed under the covenant they made with the people who voted for independence and a constitutional monarchy some 42 years ago. Repression and corruption have become a hallmark of Bahrain, as the rulers and their tribal and foreign allies painted a phony picture to the outside world, focused on the capital Manama, of a peaceful progressive financial center and tourist destination. As the people protested, the rulers took a page form the Saudi book of repression and ended the experiment in parliamentary politics for a generation. Which gave them the chance to establish one of the most corrupt systems, of its size, for looting the potential wealth of any Arab country.
When they finally agreed under pressure to restore some form of electoral politics, they had by that time unilaterally changed the constitution to make the elected legislature only partly elected, then they made it toothless. When the people protested, the rulers responded with an extended island-wide pogrom that has lasted since February 2011 and continues today.
The politics itself angered the people of Bahrain, people of all sects, but what made this an even more serious matter was the regime policy of discrimination, in effect a form of Gulf apartheid, against a majority of the population. There can always be room for compromise over politics, but there can be no compromise over the basic human rights, especially equality. That is why all the attempts at a “dialog” have been and will continue to be fruitless. When the basic right of equality is at stake, words like “dialog” and “compromise” sound like dirty words, at least they do to me. And in the context of the basic right of equality words like “dialog” and “compromise” are in fact dirty words that lead nowhere, except maybe to more “dialog” and compromise”.

Cheers
mhg

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