Category Archives: Iran

Arab Media, Finance, Iran, Media, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Zeitgeist and Iranian Illuminati: Expanding Media Domination Beyond the Arab World………..

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“THE wealthy Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was mulling acquiring a stake in Twitter. Prince Alwaleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding, reportedly held talks with at least one of Twitter’s co-founders about acquiring part of their shareholding in the microblogging site, Sky News reported overnight, citing sources. If a deal is confirmed, it would add Twitter to the portfolio of companies part-owned by one of the world’s wealthiest investors. A shareholding of between $US200 million and $US300 million was examined by Kingdom Holding, which after Twitter’s recent fundraising drive would equate to about three per cent of the company, according to the report. It was unclear whether Kingdom Holding already acquired Twitter shares or whether it simply was in discussions with Twitter’s co-founders, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. Twitter declined to comment on the matter, the report said. In August, Twitter said it was taking part in a fundraising bid to fuel its global expansion. It reportedly drew in $US800 million from some existing investors, such as the US mutual funds giant T. Rowe Price. Prince Alwaleed already holds a seven per cent stake in News Corporation, the parent company of the publisher of news.com.au, which is a major shareholder in BSkyB – the owner of Sky News – and owns NewsCore. Kingdom is also a big investor in companies such as Apple and Time Warner…………”

Saudi princes and their retainers are grabbing media outlets worldwide with the same hunger as Abu Dhabi potentates grab the world supply of weapons. Theirownership is continuously expanding, and already dominates Arab airwaves. The list is long and growing longer as I write:
Asharq Alawsat (headed by a son of Prince Salman but owned by the father), Al-Hayat (owned by Prince Khaled Bin Sultan), Alarabiya (headed by a son of King Fahd but owned by an in-law), MBC, LBC, Rotana, News Corp which owns Fox News and Sky and others (partly owned by Prince al-Waleed). The latter also owns a hefty share of Times Warner (Time, CNN, etc.). Prince al-Waleed is also starting his own rival news network to Alarabiya and Aljazeera. There are more, many more that I probably can’t even imagine, like the Pyongyang Herald, Qom Tribune, Drudge Report, and Granma. Anything is possible in this age of Saudi zeitgeist.

It is a race against time: can the Saudi princes control all the world’s media before the Iranian mullahs develop their bomb and control all of our planet Earth? Can they both beat the Illuminati? Would Wolf Blitzer show up one afternoon for his News Hour, his white beard trimmed to a Saudi-style goatee and dyed jet black (Kiwi shoe polish)? Would Jack Cafferty show up attired in a thobe and shmagh? Can we expect a Republican or Democratic Presidential Debate on moderated by Tareq al-Humayyed on Alarabiya by 2016. Yes we can, maybe (zeitgeist).
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

SOFA Repossessed: the Illusion of the Iraqi Vacuum………

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“President Barack Obama said on Friday that all U.S. troops would withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011 as scheduled. Washington and Baghdad had been in discussions over whether some U.S. troops would stay on as trainers, but failed to reach a deal over the issue of immunity for American troops…………”

So Mr. Obama announced about one hour ago.


  • The ignorance (and occasionally stupidity) of some analysts, experts, and former high officials and generals (and some reporters) astounds me. The latest news is about SOFA: lack of an agreement on the status of US troops has led to a decision to withdraw from Iraq. This is exactly what President Obama had promised in 2007 and 2008. Yet it is being treated as some kind of ‘quasi-defeat’. Then there is the phony issue of a “vacuum” in Iraq. Iraq is a large country, potentially the richest in the Middle East if it gets its act together. Its population, Shi’a or Sunni or Buddhists, have a strong nationalist streak that goes back to their struggle against the British mandate in the early 1920s. No country in the neighborhood can “control” Iraq: not ancient Iran now under a theocratic regime, not tribal Saudi Arabia under an absolute monarchy, nor former occupier Turkey which has its own border issues. No doubt there will be foreign influences in Iraq: 
  • There will be a strong Iranian influence, mainly in the middle and the south and the Kurdish north. Yet there has always been a strong Iranian influence in Iraq, even under Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist tyranny. It was not overt, as millions of Iraqis were terrified into repeating the Ba’athist mantra.
  • There will be some Saudi (and Jordanian and Syrian) influence but limited to the west (al-Anbar, etc). There have always been tribal connections with these Arab states, especially in the west and parts of the southwest. And there is the Arab money flowing to the tribal leaders, just as Iranian money is reported to flow to some groups.
  • There will be a strong American influence. There will always be some American influence in Iraq, much more than all these “experts” claim. Possibly Iraq may now have the best American-trained armed forces and security forces in the Arab world. Best trained and well-armed, but not necessarily best led. Then there is the fact that most Iraqis, like most Arabs, like even more Iranians, are fascinated by many aspects of American life. Many aspects but not all aspects of American life. Most Arabs, like even more Iranians, would rather live an American life-style than an Iranian or Saudi lifestyle, with some cultural modifications. Most would rather have an American style political system of government than being ruled by mullahs or tribal Arab princes or the usual kleptocrats and despotic dynasties.
  • Iraq is Arab and she will remain an important Arab state.


There will be no vacuum in Iraq. There will, however, be opposing or conflicting influences.
Cheers
mhg


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Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, US Foreign Policy

Kabul: Clinton Talks Taliban Reconciliation, as Ahmadinejad Stalks in a Holding Pattern….

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“US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has encouraged Afghanistan’s wary leadership and civic leaders to keep up Taliban reconciliation efforts and boost counterterrorism co-operation with Pakistan, as the Obama administration presses ahead with troop withdrawal plans. On an unannounced visit to Kabul, Clinton told civic leaders on Thursday that the US would not abandon Afghanistan and pledged that reconciliation would not come at the expense of women’s and minority rights. Clinton, who arrived in the capital on Wednesday, was to see President Hamid Karzai and other top Afghan officials to repeat her message later on Thursday. She assured women’s rights activists, educators and politicians that their concerns “are being heard at the highest levels of the US government”. “These are some of my heroes,” she told reporters before the start of a meeting at the US embassy……. Clinton’s trip comes after Karzai expressed frustration with attempts to woo Taliban fighters away from the fighting amid increasing attacks by the Taliban-allied, Pakistan-based Haqqani network. In her meetings with Afghan officials, Clinton was also to underscore the importance of linking Afghanistan to its neighbours, a consideration for a regional conference in Istanbul, Turkey.………”

Apparently Clinton read Karzai parts of the riot act (long overdue). But keeping minority and women rights, such as they are, will be hard with the Taliban in government. Meanwhile Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has delayed his own approach to Kabul until she leaves. His jet was practically in a holding pattern as he follows her into the Afghan capital.
Come to think of it, Ahmadinejad has away of descending onto Kabul right on the heels of departing American potentates. I recall hims descending into Baghdad right after Dick Cheney had left: the difference was that he entered the city in broad daylight. He did the same in Kabul once: arriving just as Cheney left. Do you suppose he is trying to send a message with his stalking (well, not him, but his mullah bosses)? It is possible he was trying to tell Cheney that Iran will always be lurking across the border: to the northeast of Iraq, to the West of Afghanistan.
They say Hillary is heading to Pakistan. I wonder what Ahmadinejad’s post-Kabul travel plans are.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics

On New Hampshire, Nevada, and Newt Gingrich’s Trek in the Middle East………

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Sad to report that it looks like, as of today, that Newt Gingrich’s proposed (by yours truly) hiking trip to the Iraq-Iran border is on hold, possibly looking remote, and not just in a geographic sense. The campaign is heating up and Newt is making a show of being in the thick of it (he is not, of course).

“On the heels of Jon Huntsman’s threat to boycott the Nevada caucuses because of the calendar move-up, Newt Gingrich makes the same stand-by-the-Granite-State pledge. “As a citizen, I have always supported New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary………”
“Mr. Gingrich unveiled a “21st Century Contract With America” in Iowa, hoping to capture the spirit of the 1994 version, which helped propel Republicans into the majority in Congress……”
 

I think not: he is not going to capture any spirit, unless it come in a bottle. Even if he doesn’t go for his suggested hike (suggested by yours truly) he ain’t never coming back. Even if he goes and evades the Iranian border guards and returns safely (as anybody who is not a Republicans candidate for president hopes). Politically he is toast, won’t get elected for a dog-catcher, not even in Georgia. That’s okay, all this will up his speaking fees, helping people overcome insomnia.
Still, things can change. I‘ll try to post follow ups on this in the coming days.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Iran, North Africa, Religion, Salafi

Tunisian Salafis Attack Persepolis, Television Manager, Free Speech, Imagination……….

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“About a hundred men, some of whom threw Molotov cocktails, lay siege to the home of Nabil Karoui, the head of the private television station Nessma late on Friday, the station reported in its evening news bulletin. Karoui’s family had only just escaped, the news presenter said…….About 20 of the protesters had managed to get inside. This was the most serious incident yet in an escalating series of protests against the station’s broadcast of “Persepolis” on October 7. The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran’s 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam. Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas at some demonstrators as some of the protests against the station degenerated. The main demonstration began peacefully at a central Tunis mosque after Friday prayers, with men and women chanting slogans against Nessma. Thousands of people, many of them Salafist Muslims, were present……………..”

One unfortunate result of the Arab uprisings is that the Salafi Wahhabis, who mostly remained on the sideline at the beginning, are taking some advantage. They are trying to impose their fundamentalist ideology on others. In Egypt they had alreday gained much influence under the Mubarak-Saudi alliance, even gained influence over al-Azhar. Now they are trying to impose their will on Tunisia, possibly one of the most secular of Arab states.

Cheers
mhg


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Hezbollah, Iran, Media, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy

Unreliable Sources: on Ignatius, Saudi Intelligence, Pakistani ISI, Arab Spring……….

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Update on the David Ignatius-Saudi Intelligence-Pakistani ISI joint effort which I posted on here. Looks like quite a racket going on between Ignatius and the Saudi officials and media. He quotes an anonymous “Saudi official” about the Washington plot and ties it to the Bahrain uprising and Hezbollah and the drug trade and global warming and Fukushima. The Saudi media in turn publicizes his column with fanfare, quoting him in turn, claiming the Washington Post has reported that all these are connected. Of course, the Saudis do not say that they were the original source of the Ignatius allegations (along with some Pakistani ISI person). Not bad, but not new or original either. CNN and others reported on this without noting the Saudi-Pakistani source.
Cheers
mhg


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Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism

David Ignatius Joins Saudi Intelligence, or is it Bahrain News Agency…………

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“But a Saudi official said Thursday that his country and the United States agree that Iran’s Quds Force was involved in the Karachi killing. That allegation, if true, adds important new detail to the portrait of an Iranian covert-action service that has been escalating its attacks against Saudi targets. The Saudi official, reached by telephone, said that Pakistani intelligence had identified the killer as a member of a Shiite dissident group known as Sapih Mohammed, which has connections with the Quds Force. The Saudi official said this conclusion, that the group had links with Tehran, was based on messages between Iranian officials in Islamabad and members of the dissident group. The Saudi official noted additional examples of Iran’s campaign against Riyadh and its allies. He cited the 2005 killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri. A U.N. Special Tribunal charged this year that the murder was plotted by four officials of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia in Lebanon. …………. According to the Saudi official, Shakuri was among the Iranians who met Hasan Mushaima, a radical Bahraini Shiite cleric, during a stopover in Beirut last February, when Mushaima was on his way back home to lead protests in Bahrain. A cautionary note: These are all just allegations, and raw intelligence sometimes leads to hasty conclusions, but………..”

“But” indeed. “But a Saudi official said…… The Saudi official said……… The Saudi official noted……. According to the Saudi official……….” Has Ignatius joined Saudi intelligence? If he has, then maybe he can find out from their officials the fate of so many Saudis who have disappeared in their own country: no trials, to charges, no news, and from all over the country. At least CNN bought this tale, according to Wolf Blitzer. This writer is building an all powerful worldwide network around the allegations of a Saudi intelligence official. Apparently, according to Saudi intelligence (and no doubt their Bahrain sidekicks) the uprising in Bahrain was orchestrated by Iran through their Hezbollah proxies. According to the Saudi official the whole thing is tied to the assassination of Hariri. Maybe with some help from Oliver Stone. Now if the Egyptian uprising had gone in a different direction, it still may, the writer would have tied that to the omnipotent mullahs in Iran.
No doubt those Iranian scientists who get murdered by “terrorists” in the streets of Tehran and get kidnapped in Mecca and Istanbul and Europe are not targeted by a network similar to the Karachi network.

(About the Hariri assassination: no doubt Mr. Ignatius, as other Western media, was also convinced two or three years ago that the Syrians had killed Hariri, and most likely wrote something about it. But that was before Hezbollah replaced Syria as the ‘target’ du jour).
Cheers
mhg


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Finance, Iran, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism

Cole on the Wackiest Master Terrorist, about that Money Transfer……………

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Juan Cole’s excellent summary analysis of the Iranian-Texan-Mexican Arbabsiar Bond:

“Here are the top 10 reasons that he cannot be Iran’s answer to 007:
10. Arbabsiar was known in Corpus Christi, Texas, “for being almost comically absent-minded”
9. Possibly as a result of a knife attack in 1982, he suffered from bad short-term memory
8. He was always losing his cell phone
7. He was always misplacing his keys
6. He was always forgetting his briefcase and documents in stores
5. He “was just not organized,” a former business partner remarked
4. As part owner of a used car dealership, he was always losing title deeds to the vehicles
3. Arbabsiar, far from a fundamentalist Shiite Muslim, may have been an alcoholic; his nickname is “Jack” because of his fondness for Jack Daniels whiskey
2. Arbabsiar used to not only drink to excess, but also used pot and went with prostitutes. He once talked loudly in a restaurant about going back to Iran, where he could have an Iranian girl for only $50. He was rude and was thrown out of some establishments.
1. All of his businesses failed one after another
I hypothesized yesterday that Arbabsiar and his cousin Gholam Shakuri might have been part of an Iranian drug gang. But after these details have emerged about the former, I don’t think he could even have done that. Indeed, I have now come to view the entire story as a fantasy…………..”

Then there is the money. Where did the money come from? Where was it wired from and from what account? How can the US authorities not know the source of a US$ 1.5 million into a US bank? In this day and age of the ‘war on terror’.
Cheers
mhg


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GCC, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy

Reactions: Middle East Region, Saudi Region, Georgetown Think-Tank Region, Cafe Milano Region………….

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“Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said on Tuesday that such ‘ludicrous’ claims hinged on the hostile joint stances adopted by the US and Israel against the country. “These threadbare attitudes, which are based on the age-old and hostile American-Zionist policies, are a ridiculous show in line with certain [instances of] scenario fabrication of divisive ends on the part of the enemies of Islam and the region,” Mehmanparast said. He also condemned all acts of terrorism, adding that Washington was employing the legerdemain to divert attention from the growing domestic protests it was facing. The Iranian official asserted, “Plotters of such manufactured scenarios seek to sow division and help the Zionist regime [of Israel] out of its current isolation.” He emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran was an establishment founded on Islamic ethics and values and that the country had always warned that the enemies of the region were plotting against it……….”

He gave the usual boring expected Iranian litany of explanation. But his claim that it is a fabrication is a point to consider: it will resonate strongly in most of the Arab world, except for the Saudi part on the Gulf. I expect that most Arabs tend to think it is either a fabrication produced in Washington (and/or Riyadh) or grossly exaggerated. Contrary to what we see on CNN from Middle East “experts” opining that it will help discredit the Iranian regime in the region. They must mean the “Georgetown think-tank region”.
At least he did not blame Israel directly: that is so old and uncool these days. He did however say that it was aimed to help Israel. It no doubt does, but only in Saudi Arabia and the “Saudi part” of the Gulf GCC. A Saudi man-about-town related to the royal family (Turki al-Sudairy) wrote a column yesterday saying that Iran was enemy number one and Israel enemy number two. He did got some strong critical reaction from Saudi dissidents on the Internet. He also mentioned some nonsense about the Iranian “prime minister”. Iran has no prime minister, but our Gulf palace faux-liberals don’t read enough to know that.
Cheers
mhg


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Algeria civil war, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Quoting Frank Sinatra: Was the Iranian ‘Plotter’ Entrapped?………….

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“And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot that’s just a dot on the map
And then you wonder how it all came about
It’s too late now there’s no gettin’ out
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap…………..” Frank Sinatra (The Tender Trap)

“The question now is: Can the claim possibly be true? Before addressing the question, let me first emphasize that there is almost nothing that the Tehran hardliners might do that could surprise me………… Having said that, however, I must state that at this point, I am highly skeptical about the entire episode. In fact, the more I learn about the claim and the indictment, the more I think this may be a classic case of entrapment on the part of the FBI/DEA agents, of the kind that has happened too many times in the past in the United States to be ignored. But let us analyze the claim carefully to see whether it is plausible at all. Hence, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the claim is true. The question is, What would the hardliners have gained, had they succeeded? As I see it, nothing but more trouble and intense international pressure, not to mention the further wrath of the United States and Saudi Arabia………One may argue that the targets of the operation were Saudi Arabia and Israel. But this seems even more absurd. If the IRI really intends to harm Saudi Arabia, due to the increasing tension with the Riyadh government, why should it try to do it here in the United States and in Washington?……….. As for attacking the Israeli Embassy in Washington, that appears even more absurd…………Thus, at this point, I find the claim that the IRI was involved in the plot highly unlikely. The more information that becomes available, the more it appears like a frame-up of Manssor Arbabsiar, a classic case of entrapment………….”
Cheers
mhg


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