Category Archives: Gulf states

Arab Counterrevoltion, GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, Religion, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Urge to Merge the GCC: pan-Tribal pan-Dynastic Union, a Mufti to the Rescue ………..

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                               BFF                                                  Saudi mufti

There is something urgent about this new Saudi search for a GCC merger. This is something that does not fit with the al-Saud history. Throughout the period when pan-Arabism was ascendant during the 1950s through the early 1970s, the Saudi princes spent fortunes to oppose it. Their main nemesis was Gamal Abdel-Nasser of Egypt who actually came so close to toppling their dynasty. Unfortunately for the Arabs, Nasser and the movement he inspired failed, and the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and our region have been paying the price since.
Of course, Nasser did not have the kind of money the al-Saud usually spend on buying people and on subversion: people followed Nasser mostly because he inspired them. The Saudi dynasty does not inspire anyone, anymore than the al-Nahayan or the al-Khalifa dynasties can inspire anyone, anyone with any wits. They buy politicians and journalists with their pocket change (especially many Lebanese ones for some odd reason, and a few on the Gulf). Just like they buy Western lobbyists and former officials.
This spring their king mumbled a proposal for GCC expansion to Jordan and Morocco, and they quickly backtracked on that one. Now they are pushing for a GCC confederation, to the excitement of their Salafi surrogates in the Gulf. There is nothing Nasser-like about this medieval Saudi urge to merge with the other Gulf states. It is not pan-Arab: it is pan-Tribal pan-Dynastic pan-Medieval. There is no pan-Arab motive behind it: it is a pure attempt at hegemony as well as at preserving their dynasty. It is more Qaddafi-like: the late Libyan dictator also sought to merge with various countries, from Egypt to Tunisia to Chad, among others.
All Saudi proposals for integration within the GCC have failed. They failed mainly because people saw them for what they are: raw attempts at asserting the hegemony of their tribal polygamous dynasty. I shall here propose one form of merger that may finally succeed:

It is a feasible proposal: a proposal to unify all the GCC fatwas. Urge their muftis to merge (and no this is not what it sounds like at first reading). Maybe they will propose their own mufti Shaikh Abdulaziz Al Al Al Shaikh (Triple-Al) as the common Wahhabi Mufti who will issue all fatwas on behalf of all GCC states. Somehow I feel that even that modest and useless proposal may also fail, but it is worth a try. It is something, no?

About the Mufti (for new readers): the Al Al  Al-Shaikh (call me Al) are descendants of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdulwahhab, after whom the Wahhabi sect is named. They all hold high positions at the Saudi court and bureaucracy. As I have repeated here, the shaikh is not to be confused with Mohammed Abdelwahab, the late great Egyptian musician, singer, and occasional actor from the golden (pre-Sadat-Mubarak) days of Egyptian art and culture who was no Salafi, Wahhabi, nor any kind of fundamentalist but a bon vivant in his own right).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arabian Peninsula, Economics, Finance, GCC, Gulf states, Jordan, Persian-American Gulf, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Leadership of GCC: Three Major Failures, Three Strikes but not Out, not yet……..

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        BFF        

The GCC summit of the Gulf states this week again proved the failure of the shaky type of leadership the Saudis have tried to impose. This last summit marks three major “projects” that have failed.

  1. The GCC leaders gave the usual lip service to the ‘latest’ Saudi proposal that they should work toward some form of a political union. Gulf Salafis and Saudi media had been calling for a “confederation” since Bahrain joined the Arab revolutions in February. The leaders decided to start discussions and talks about that in the future, which is the usual way to kill any proposal.

  2. With this Saudi suggestion for a confederation dead on arrival (DOA), the leaders turned their attention briefly to killing another earlier strange Saudi proposal. They quickly killed the earlier Saudi proposal to allow Jordan and Morocco to join the GCC. They agreed to allow some form of limited “partnership” for Jordan and Morocco (I hate to say I told you so, but these people don’t listen to me anymore: that is what I predicted here, more than once). The potentates also voted US$ 5 billion in aid for the two countries to ease any disappointment after raising their hopes with the ill-advised Saudi membership proposal that was a product of fear. That will not exactly entertain the notoriously humorless Jordanians but it should keep the scowls moderate. Besides, Bahrain, and probably the UAE, will continue to import security agents and interrogators (know as torturers in less genteel parlance) from Jordan.

  3. Long before all that, before the Arab uprisings, the GCC quietly shelved the unified currency proposal, although they keep pretending they are still working on it.This is something they have been working on for almost three decades. I knew it would fail simply because they had not done the necessary preliminary work for it. And they do not need it: they tried it at the whim of some ignoramus potentate (you know who I mean).

  • That is three strikes for the Saudis, or three downs and short of a first down (three failures in American-ese).
  • Let’s see what other gems of proposals they will come up with next. Maybe the Saudis’ next proposal should be more modest, something within the capabilities of their bureaucrats. I shall post more on this sometime later.

  • I strongly suspect that any Saudi proposal about anything would not succeed unless they throw a lot of money at it.  Even then the money is no guarantee of success. They are trying feat, but I doubt it will succeed. Fear of Saudi domination, close up and right next door, may be stronger than fear of the Iranian mullahs who are far across the Persian-American Gulf and beyond the American navy.


Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, GCC, Gulf states, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Funny GCC Confederation : a Salafi Fifth Column, Princes Playing Saddam……..

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“King Abdullah said on Monday the security of Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbors was being targeted, in an apparent reference to regional rival Iran, and he called for Gulf Arab states to close ranks in a “single entity.” “No doubt you all know that we are targeted in our safety and security. That is why we have to take responsibility,” he said, addressing the opening session of a meeting of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Saudi capital Riyadh………… A Saudi official confirmed to Reuters that the idea of moving the six-nation GCC towards a sort of confederacy had been discussed given its concerns about the regional situation, but only informally, and said that it was an idea for the future. “It is possible,” said Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi newspaper editor with strong connections to the royal family. “Each country has a different system and it would require political will,” he added, suggesting that a possible model was the United Arab Emirates, a GCC member and confederacy where seven sheikhdoms maintain their own internal political systems but have a joint foreign and economic policy……….”

Saudi fifth columnists in some of the Gulf media, especially the Salafis and some of the local Ikhwan, have been calling for a confederation of the GCC for some time. They mean a Saudi takeover of the smaller Gulf states. Something Saddam wanted to do even before 1990. The parts of the Arabian Peninsula that old King Ibn Saud could not conquer in the last century for fear of the British are now being tempted by his weaker corrupt sons; tempted with fear of some “Iranian threat”. The Saudis already have Bahrain in their grasp. As soon as the Saudi king’s usually garbled speech came out, the Salafi fifth column in my hometown were out supporting it in statements.
It will not work, of course. Other rulers don’t want to give up their power to the fellow kelptocrats of the al-Saud princes (the al-Khalifa of Bahrain may be the only exception). The peoples of the other countries certainly don’t want to be ruled by these decrepit regressive princes or their Wahhabi palace shaikhs. With the exception of the Salafis who often act as Saudi agents and some of the local Ikhwan Muslim Brothers.
Ain’t gonna happen. The Kingdom without Magic is not exactly France or Germany or Holland. Its neighbors realize, silently, that its rulers are probably more dangerous than the Iranian mullahs are supposed to be.
Cheers
mhg


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Egypt, GCC, Gulf states, Qatar, Religion, Salafi

Shaikh Abdulwahhab of Nejd, Bon Vivant Abdelwahab of Cairo, Shaikh of Qatar, Sectarian Princes…………..

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His Highness Emir of Qatar has opined that the Islamic umma (nation) needs to be inspired by the Wahhabi message. Most likely a message of ‘reconciliation’ to his scowling next-door neighbor. Apparently more than two hundred years have not been enough for the Wahhabi message from Nejd to inspire the ‘umma’.

  • Apparently the inspiration had to wait for the petro-money flowing to places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq (with terror bombs), Egypt, Indonesia, Somalia, and many other places that have been blessed with the Wahhabi touch. A magic touch from the Kingdom without Magic.
  • Apparently the inspiration had to wait for the princes to assume control of Arab media and airwaves, something they have achieved with the likes of Alarabiya (son of King Fahd). Asharq Alawsat (Prince Salman and his son). al-Hayat (Prince Khaled bin Sultan), LBC, MBC, and many others (but not aljazeera, not yet). Oh, I forgot the Fox News partnership with Prince al-Waleed.
  • Apparently the inspiration had to wait for a further intensification of the barrage of fierce poisonous divisive sectarian ill-winds that have been blowing for some years now from the Kingdom of Wahhabism, with some help from satellites on the Persian-American Gulf, notably the now totally poisoned well of occupied Bahrain and its truly Goebbels-ian media.


The Qatari jefe said opined on the occasion of naming the main state mosque after Shaikh Mohammed Bin Abdulewahhab of Nejd, a close ideological and tribal and, yes, carnal (by marriages) ally to the al-Saud clan. Many of the Al Al-Shaikh (call me Al) descendants hold high positions at the Saudi court and bureaucracy. As I have repeated here, the shaikh is not to be confused with the late great Egyptian musician, singer, and occasional actor from the golden (pre-Sadat-Mubarak) days of Egyptian art and culture Mohammed Abdelwahab who was no Salafi, nor Wahhabi, nor any kind of fundamentalist but an avid bon vivant in his own right.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, GCC, Gulf states, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, Saudi Arabia

Riyadh Gathering of Flunkies: no Iranians, but a Turki and a Gargasha from UAE, Mutual “Satisfaction”……..

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““Iran is escalating tension in the region and the world at large,” said Prince Saud Al-Faisal, minister of foreign affairs, in a speech read out by Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer, deputy minister for multilateral relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…….. The remarks by Prince Saud came as another blow to the Iranian policy after Europe ramped up pressure on Tehran following attacks on the British Embassy in Tehran last week………. Speaking on the role of GCC states in changing the international landscape, Anwar Mohammad Gargash, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, expressed his concerns on the Iranian nuclear program. He, however, said that the GCC had emerged as a strong bloc with unified approach and with capacity to solve issues confronting the region. “This is evident from our support to Bahrain, where troops from the GCC Peninsula Shield were sent to protect vital installations,” added Gargash…………..”

The dour mullahs or their representatives were not invited, which led me to call it a GWTW without Rhett or Scarlett. So these third and fourth tier GCC flunkies met in Riyadh, all appropriately scowling in the style of flunkies on my Gulf to show some missing gravitas. Presumably with a select gaggle of invited foreigners, to discuss Gulf security. They read speeches written for the potentates, who did not attend, from Prince Saud al-Faisal to prince Muqrin.
Instead of security, the focused on bashing Iran and its ruling mullahs. Not much of a conference, if that is what it was. Not sure what the point of the thing was. A bunch of Saudi and UAE and Bahrain and other retainers meeting in Riyadh and exchanging the very same opinion with each other, extolling the Saudi invasion to crush the Bahrain uprising. Nothing new added, no value added. Just repeating the same usual shared mantra, sort of like mutual masturbation (wtf that be).
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, UAE

Offshore Country on my Gulf: UAE Minority Culture, Bollywood Hits…………..

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“Young Emirati filmmaker and American University of Sharjah student Sarah Alagroobi introduces herself to the regional film scene with an enticing short movie that is sure to make an impression. The Forbidden Fruit, which cleverly studies the undertones and conflicting values of modern Emirati society, will make its premier at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival in the Muhr Emirati section. Alagroobi, who directed, wrote, produced, edited and did everything short of putting herself in the film, said of the experience, “I’ve always been fascinated with the ‘inside scoop’ on what’s happening behind closed doors in Emirati society. My mother always said ‘what’s kept in the dark will always come to light’.” And that’s what this film is about, bringing a delicate topic to light. The Forbidden Fruit is unlike other Emirati films in that it exposes an aspect of a culture so remarkably polished that people might never see it for themselves. The film is based around two young Emirati adults, Alia and Rashed, who live in a modernized society that is still very much absorbed in its traditions and cultures. Viewers follow Alia and Rashed as they go about their lives carelessly partying, drinking and having a good time……………”

This is a good effort but it is funny, or would be if it weren’t so sad and serious. Talking about UAE films and UAE culture: they mean the film and culture of a ”minority” in an “offshore country”. The UAE has a population that is overwhelmingly Asian (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, etc). Most are Indians, with some Arabs and Iranians and Africans, then a few thousand Westerners. At least 85%, possibly more, are non-citizen expatriate laborers who are in the country temporarily. This is a truly “offshore country”, as I called it a year or so ago. The ruling potentates can’t even police the country, they rely on foreigners. For protection, they have formed a special mercenary force led by former Blackwater leaders, composed of Colombians, Australians, white South Africans, and possibly Mexican drug cartel veterans.

Yet they talk of an exclusive “Emirati” society as if it represents the “country”. I beg to differ. I would assert here and now that these millions of Indians and other Asians represent the true UAE society. They are a huge majority of millions among a few hundred thousand original citizens. If you want to see a film about the “real” UAE, especially Abu Dhabi and Dubai, go see an Indian film (or a Bengali or Philippine film). Hell, yeah, go see a Bollywood hit (it would be a bit more ‘native’ if it starred the Bin Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahayan brothers).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Egypt, GCC, Gulf states

The Other New Masters of Egypt and the Guardians of the Constitution…………………

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“He backs “resistance” against the “occupiers” in the Middle East – America and Israel. In his ideal Egypt, the sale of alcohol would be banned, beaches would be segregated and thieves would have their hands cut off – though, he says “it would not happen because no-one would steal”. Until last week Islamists like him were at the radical fringe, but the first results from last week’s election have shown a staggering success for Islamist parties like Mr Zumour’s…….. What has been counted so far amounts to a crushing blow for the middle-class revolutionaries, both Christians and Muslims, who filled Tahir Square in January and February to force former president Hosni Mubarak from power. They wanted more freedom, yet are now faced with the prospect of newly-confident Islamist parliamentarians determined to enforce Sharia, ban alcohol, and banish many of the rights Egyptian women take for granted. The cause of their fear is men like Mr Zumour, no longer just another militant but one of a string of Islamist radicals once banned and jailed who have thrown themselves into electoral politics……….. Gamaa Islamiya’s allied party Nour, representing Salafis who follow the puritan Saudi-style version of Sunni Islam, won more than 20 per cent of the vote. It was not clear how much of the vote Gamaa Islamiya had won last night but it appeared to be on course to win several seats. Together the hardline parties beat the liberal Egyptian Bloc into third place, a result profoundly depressing to secular and Christian Egyptians……….”

These election results will give everyone pause. The military junta, SCAF, now knows that its “popularity” will now improve among a certain segment of Egyptians. They can play the “guardians” of the constitution. The secular and liberal young, who started the revolt against the dictator back in January, in fact before that, now face a majority of Islamists, possibly controlling at least two thirds of the new legislature. 
A big majority of seats for the Muslim brotherhood and the Salafis and the smaller Islamic Jihad (Ayman al-Zawahiri’s old pals). The military probably think their lot has improved, that they will now be courted by others, of both sides. We shall see.
This is also good news for the Arab oligarchies in the Gulf region, especially Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, etc. They have always felt more comfortable with the Islamists, especially the Salafis, than with secularists. The potentates have a bitter history of struggle with the secularists, from the early days of Arab socialism under Nasser. The potentates know that the young secularists would push them on issues of accountability and freedoms. The Salafi and some Muslim Brother Islamists usually oppose freedoms, and would normally turn a blind eye to corruption as long as they share in the spoils (the examples of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are good ones).
Cheers
mhg


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Egypt, GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, UAE, Yemen

Abu Dhabi: Adventures of Shaikh Shakhbut with Nasser of Egypt and the Saudi Bins………

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“Yemen has become a microcosm of the whole Middle East struggle between Socialist and Conservative forces—a struggle that is not going at all well for Nasser. The latest blow was Saudi Arabia’s scheme for an anti-Nasser Islamic Alliance, which has rallied open support from Jordan, Tunisia and Iran, and tacit backing from Kuwait and Morocco. Nasser is also locked in a struggle with the Red Chinese, who are sharply extending their influence in Republican Yemen. Already Peking has reportedly sent some $45 million in aid, put 3,300 Chinese technicians to work for the Republican government, and is designing a technical training center that will accommodate 800 students. Meantime, Yemen’s Royalist forces are just as determined. They recruit retired officers from France, Belgium, Britain, Pakistan, Iran and Jordan, receive arms and financial help from Saudi Arabia, Britain and Iran. Even the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdoms are unstinting. Recently, a Royalist Yemen emissary visited Sheik Shakhbut, ruler of Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf, and asked for a contribution of 5,000 pounds sterling. He walked away with £100,000. “You are all astonished?” the sheik shrugged to his advisers. “Do you know how many cases of ammunition £100,000 will buy, and how long they can keep Nasser from me?……….”

Shakhbut did not have to worry about Gamal Abdel Nasser for long. He had more vicious enemies closer to home. His own brother, Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, soon overthrew him and became the rules of Abu Dhabi. As promised, his brother did not murder him, possibly because of British influence. But Shakhbut and his sons vanished into thin air.

The Saudis were intriguing even then, even long before then, against anyone who threatened their feudal kingdom of absolute tribal Wahhabi polygamy. That has not changed: the princes are more corrupt than ever: there are more of them and there is more of the people’s money to steal.
It is unfortunate that Nasser did not manage to sweep all these ‘Bins” into the dustbin of history.
Cheers
mhg


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GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, UAE

Gulf History: Shakhbut, Shaikh Jackpot of Abu Dhabi…………..

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“Five times a day for the past 30 years, thin, threadbare Sheik Shakhbut bin Sultan faced west, bowed low, and prayed for an oil strike. His realm of Abu Dhabi was desperately in need of some good luck. Up and down the Persian Gulf……….This has all been rather unsettling to Abu Dhabi, whose 15,000 Bedouins have got along for centuries on piracy, pearl fishing and intertribal raids. In the 19th century, the swift pirate dhows were swept from the gulf by Britain, which established “a perpetual maritime truce”hence the name Trucial States, given to Abu Dhabi and six other sheikdoms. Pearl fishing became unprofitable when the Japanese cleverly introduced cultured pearls to the world. There was nothing left to Abu Dhabi but intrigue: of the twelve predecessors of the present sheik, only three died peacefully in their palace beds. The rest were either murdered or violently deposed, usually by close relatives. Sheik Shakhbut took over in 1928 when his uncle was assassinated, after having earlier killed Shakhbut’s father who, in turn, had come to power by killing his older brother. Shakhbut is said to have ruled so long and safely only because his own two brothers swore a solemn oath on the Koran not to murder him…….. He installed an air conditioner in his bedroom but seldom used it because he disliked the noise. He also put in a flush toilet………….”

Little did Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultan al-Nahayan know that he will soon meet a similar fate as his predecessors. His brother Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan was biding his time.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, GCC, Gulf states, Iran, Iraq, Persian-American Gulf, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

America Abroad: Leaving Iraq, Hunkering Down in the Gulf…….

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“The New York Times newspaper reports the United States is
negotiating with Kuwait to allow American combat troops to be based in
the Persian Gulf area after completing the announced withdrawal from
Iraq by the end of this year. The Times says the United States is also considering sending more warships through international waters in the region. The size of the potential standby force has not been determined.
There was no immediate confirmation of the Times report, which was based on interviews with unnamed military officials and diplomats.
U.S. military plans in the region have been under discussion for months, but the Times said the talks became more urgent when President Barack Obama announced that the last American troops would leave Iraq by the end of December……….“

Several of the GCC states will no doubt be happy to host more U.S. forces. Kuwait especially was traumatized by the Iraqi invasion under the Ba’athist regime and feels more secure with American forces nearby.
Yet it is not clear why the huge new buildup in the Persian-American Gulf. It is highly unlikely, with American and other Western fleets congesting the Gulf, that any “foreign” forces will invade. The only candidate, Iran, has never invaded its neighbors in modern times, but was invaded by Iraq (1980) and by the Soviet-British forces during World War II. Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain last March by invitation from its ruling elites.
 
What many Arabs, outside the pro-Saudi Wahhabi GCC faux-liberals of my Gulf and their Salafi allies, speculate is that the West is preparing a military attack against Iran. The pro-Saudi Wahhabi faux-liberals of my Gulf and their Salafi allies hope fervently that this is true, that the West plans to start yet another war in our region. If the mullahs refuse to come to war, then by golly the West shall bring the war to the mullahs.

Cheers
mhg


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