Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, Saudi Arabia

GCC to AGUC: Camel Gives Birth to a Mouse, Arabizing the Leaders……….

 

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تمخض الجمل فولد فأرا

تمخض الجبل فولد فأرا
“The Camel (mountain?) went into labor but gave birth to a mouse” Succinct Arabic saying


“The GCC consultative committee met here yesterday and proposed to change the name of Gulf Cooperation Council to Arab Gulf Union Council. Muhammad Al-Rasheed, chairman of the committee, proposed the new name and hoped the new move would speed up integration of GCC states. He commended Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for making his proposal at the last GCC summit to transform the council into a powerful union to confront growing challenges. The GCC leaders have instructed the consultative committee to study a new strategy for youths, ways to enhance the spirit of citizenship, a strategy for employment in the public and private sectors, formation of a united commission for civil aviation, tackling noncontagious diseases and a GCC confederation. He commended the committee for conducting studies on global warming, climate change, unification of efforts in translation and Arabization, promoting the Arabic language and alternative energy resources. He thanked GCC leaders for appointing him chairman of the committee. He commended the achievements made by the committee in the past, adding that some of its proposals have already been implemented. Al-Rasheed emphasized the need to implement the resolutions taken by the Supreme GCC Council as many of them are still awaiting execution…………”


“Still awaiting execution”: yadda yadda yadda.……..
The Arabic language is one of the most beautiful languages. It has great literature that goes back many centuries: great poetry, great prose, great old films, lousy new films, lousy newspapers, but many great and wise and clever sayings. One of these great Arabic sayings is:“the Camel went into labor but gave birth to a mouse“.
I am not sure what these sub-potentates, the flunkies of the potentates, who met in Riyadh meant by “Arabization and promotion of the Arabic language and alternative energy sources”. This is odd: all GCC citizens speak Arabic, most of them speak it much better than their leaders. The only people who do not speak Arabic are the majority of the population of the GCC who are laborers and housemaids who hail from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, Ethiopia, and other faraway lands. That means only 85%+ of the population of the United Arab Emirates don’t speak Arabic, that only one third of the people in Saudi Arabia don’t speak Arabic, that only……….. etc, etc.  But these expatriate people, the majority, are in the Gulf on a temporary basis.

Which leads to my four unavoidable WTFs:


  • WTF1:     is it possible the Mufti off Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Al Al Al Shaikh, was behind the language?


  • WTF2: what the hell did they mean by alternative energy sources? Could they mean corn ethanol or grain alcohol (100-200 proof)?
  • WTF3: now that they have promised it, how do they presume to tackle the issue of “global warming”? I mean it can’t be handled through more extensive air-conditioning.
  • WTF4: do these council members even know what they are talking about? I mean in a technical sense. I hope so, because I sure don’t. On the other hand, maybe it is better if they have no clue: they can do less damage.

Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Persian-American Gulf, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy, Wahhabi, Yemen

Of Iranian Mullahs, Saudi Princes, the Old Ikhwan, and Walled Cities on the Gulf…..

“For, since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, US and Saudi foreign policy has been almost single-mindedly dedicated to destabilising Iran. Indeed, there is a way to understand the post-1979 political history of the region stretching from Pakistan to the Red Sea as permutations of an ongoing and devastating battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The export of the battle keeps expanding: sectarian violence has become ubiquitous in countries where it had been non-existent. Colonial powers may have engineered sectarian strife into the geography of countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, but what of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and even Bahrain? The expanding battle field tells us something about shifts in Saudi ambitions, and the anxieties that shape them. The Kingdom that exports terrorism is also the Kingdom of the terrified………. Saudi Arabia has never fought a war. In fact, as the embarrassing flight from Al Khafji well ahead of a badly battered Iraqi brigade demonstrated, the Saudi army is not capable of managing even a scrimmage. However, the government has been engaged in proxy wars more or less continuously since 1962……………..”

She says: “US and Saudi foreign policy has been almost single-mindedly dedicated to destabilising Iran….“  Yet that is also what the USA and the Saudi regime accuse Iran of doing around the Middle East. My humble guess: they are both doing it to each other. But the weapon of sectarian divisiveness and hatred is a specialty of the Saudi regime, and they have used it effectively in the Gulf region in the past few years.

Actually the al-Saud clan and their fanatical Ikhwan Wahhabi tribal troops initially waged wars to expand their domain and bite off big chunks of other countries early in the 20th century. They focused on countries that were not part of the British or other European empires. They preferred to attack and invade neighboring countries that were not under any foreign protection. They tried briefly to conquer one country that was part of the British Empire, Kuwait, but were disabused on the notion quickly. (For a long time the Kuwaitis had to build a wall around the old city for protection).
They conquered and annexed big chunks of Yemen, invaded Hashemite-ruled Hijaz (Mecca and Madinah), and occupied and annexed al-Ahsa’a (now part of the Eastern Province). That was early in the 20th century, before the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” was announced.


But all that was then. The Ikhwan fanatics are long gone, disbanded long ago when their usefulness to king Ibn Saud ended. If they were around, the Ikhwan would be fighting against the princes whose corruption and opulent lifestyles would be abhorrent to them. The regular Saudi army is not a force capable of fighting wars. It is one of the best-armed, or most expensively armed, military forces in the world, but that is all. Advanced weapons alone do not make a capable military force, otherwise the UAE would be a superpower. Two years ago they were soundly defeated by the Huthi tribal clans of northern Yemen.

Cheers
mhg


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Bahrain, Corruption, GCC, Gulf states, Saudi Arabia

Watermelon Country: Kings and Princes and Stolen Lands on the Gulf………

 

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“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has agreed to name Northern Waad Mining City after him, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said yesterday. In his acceptance letter following a proposal made by Al-Naimi, the king expressed hope that the Waad City project would bring about remarkable economic progress to the Northern Border Province…………”

A heart of gold, accepting to bear the heavy burden and awesome responsibilities of yet another city to be named after him. What a nice guy!


In most Gulf states whole new cities are named after the ruling potentates and their many relatives. Most Saudi universities are named after kings and princes as well as many roads and now some towns and cities. But it is mild in Saudi Arabia; the prize goes to the ruling al-Khalifa clan of Bahrain. Every other frigging city, almost every road and highway is named either Hamad or Salman or Issa or Khalifa. 
What is truly offensive on my Gulf, what adds insult to injury is this: Some potentate takes over (steals) public land by claiming ownership, and as usual gets away with it. Eventually he sells the land to the government at a high price. The government parcels the land into a new town and often names it after the potentate who stole the land and sold it. There are whole towns on the Gulf now named after thieves who stole the land on which they are built! Talk about solid foundations.
Saudi Arabia, Weapons deals

Sweden Joins the Gulf GCC Weapons Bandwagon, Secretly………..

 

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“Sweden has in secret been helping Saudi Arabia plan the construction of an arms factory to produce anti-tank missiles, public broadcaster Swedish Radio reported Tuesday. The Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) has helped Saudi Arabia since 2007, though construction on “Project Simoom” has yet to begin, the radio said citing hundreds of classified documents and interviews with key players. Sweden has in the past sold weapons to Saudi Arabia, but classified government documents state that Project Simoom “pushes the boundaries of what is possible for a Swedish authority,” the radio said. “The fact that an authority such as FOI is involved in the planning of a weapons factory for a government in a dictatorship such as Saudi Arabia is quite unique,” the radio said…………”


Maybe the Swedes, like the British and the Americans, are not aware of how repressive the Saudi regime is. Maybe they are not aware that only last year it invaded Bahrain to crush the people’s uprising. At least the Swedes are pretending to be embarrassed and they try doing it secretly. They agonize over it. The Western powers can’t get enough weapons deals out of the Persian Gulf states. If you think this is opportunistic, wait until they discover huge petroleum reserves in North Korea. 

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Libya, Persian-American Gulf, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Libya and the GCC: a Garbled Speech, a King’s Urge to Merge……….

 

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The late Muammar Qaddafi was famous for his ‘urge to merge’ with nations (as well as with women). He tried merging Libya with Egypt, Tunis, Chad, Algeria, Morocco and other assorted African states. Qaddafi became a legendary advocate of Arab mergers, before he gave up on Arabs and faced the rest of Africa. Saudi kings and princes normally have restricted their ‘urge to merge’ to women, multiple wives among others. But nowadays they are getting into the political side of ‘merging’ as well.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in another one of his unintelligible speeches a couple of weeks ago, again brought up the issue of a “confederation” or “union” among the Gulf GCC nations. Hard to believe that Arabic, one of the most beautiful languages, originated from the same place as these barely intelligible princes. Jordan and Morocco have not even joined the GCC yet, at the invitation of Saudi King Abdullah. But the princes are now distracted, they have other plans.
Saudi officials and media of course have started now to echo the king. They are saturating their vast outlets with calls for more “integration”. Their agents and trolls are all over the internet encouraging it. True to form, Wahhabi faux-liberal media and tribal academics in one or two Gulf states, and the Salafi fifth column in one or two Gulf states, have taken their cue and are treating the king’s speech as the equivalent of the Sermon on the Mount. They are pushing for Saudi hegemony over the GCC nations through this half-baked “confederation” idea.
Bad idea. But I shall have more on this, and soon.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab League, GCC, Gulf states, Iraq, Saudi Arabia

Gulf GCC Gemütlichkeit: Expanded Membership and Wahhabi Rah Rah Rah……..

 

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So what happened to the Saudi plan to have Morocco and Jordan to join the Gulf GCC? I said at the time the invitation was issued last year when the Arab revolts were raging that it won’t get anywhere. It is not getting anywhere. 


The Saudis, in a moment of warmth and gemütlichkeit with the SCAF marshal and his generals, even spread the report that Egypt will also be invited to join the kingdom without magic. At the time I suggested Iraq for membership, since it is more of a Gulf state than any other Arab country. They don’t all have to be Wahhabis to qualify: Bahrainis are not Wahhabi (although their rulers and the small elite may have converted by now or at least going through the motions), nor are the people of the UAE or Oman, nor are MOST Kuwaitis (the Salafis and local Muslim Brothers are definitely Wahhabis as are some among the tribes).

Egyptians may have taken a step closer to Wahhabi conversion by electing Salafis to control at least 25% of their parliament. Tunisian Salafis are agitating with their Ennahda cousins, as are the armed Libyans. The Syrians may become eligible if and when Bashar al-Assad is overthrown and Damascus is taken over by the Islamist militants (whether pro-Saudi or pro-Qatari, or even pro-both). Before you know it, the whole ficking Arab league would be chanting: “Give me a W! Give me an A! Give me an H or two! Give me an A! Give me a B! Give me an I! What do we have? Wahhabi! Wahhabi! We are Wahhabis! Rah rah rah………..”
Cheers
mhg


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Cairo, Cinema, Egypt, Muslims, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Egypt: a Fateful Salafi Nose Job, Catholic Riyal and Princely Saksooka…………

 

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“Egypt’s Islamist Salafist al- Nour party has dismissed one of its parliament members from its ranks after he received a rhinoplasty surgery he claimed was meant to cover up an operation on his nose. Salafist member of the People’s Assembly Anwar al-Balkimy claimed that he was robbed and beaten on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway and that he sustained injuries and bruises on his face that required an operation. The state-run MENA news agency confirmed that masked gunmen attacked Balkimy on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway and robbed the MP of 100,000 Egyptian pounds. Balkimy told MENA he was surprised when five masked people in a black Jeep stopped his car and stole the money. They wanted him to step out of the car but he resisted, so they beat him, he said………… A doctor in a beauty hospital in Cairo reportedly notified the authorities that after an operation Balkimy insisted to leave the hospital without the hospital’s clearance………..”

That Salafi son of a gun. He probably had matrimonial plans: third or fourth wife or maybe trade in one of the older models. Celebrating his new political fortune. A nose job: that won’t make him look like Joan Rivers. Must have cost a bundle of Saudi Riyals. At least the Saudi princes aren’t into nose jobs, not yet, not from the looks of them hooked Hollywood-style noses; straight out of Central Casting. Not a one of them has a nose like Joan Rivers, not yet. Somehow the hooked nose goes with the jet-black dyed goatee (a k a saksooka).
FYI: did you know that the Riyal (or Rial) comes from the Spanish “real” meaning “royal”? Very Catholic of the Saudis and Qataris and Omanis and Iranians to honor Torquemada in such a fruitful monetary way. Back to the Egyptian Salafi and his nose……
Cheers
mhg


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

A Rhetorical Arab Question: Where is the Oil Money………..

 

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“But the general trend is toward a hardening of rules. Prince Nayef, the crown prince and power behind the throne, believes this is no time to show weakness. Dissidents are detained or given travel bans, a favourite tactic of the regime in Syria until it started to use harsher methods in the past year. Media rules have also become tighter. No fly appears too small to warrant swatting. Hamza Kashgari, a young blogger, fled to Malaysia after posting provocative comments about the Prophet Muhammad. The government applied all available diplomatic pressure to have him returned. Emboldened senior clerics are asking for Mr Kashgari to be executed for blasphemy. Religion is at the heart of many conflicts. The volatile but oil-rich Eastern Province, home to many of the Sunni kingdom’s sizeable Shia minority, has witnessed frequent bouts of violent unrest in the past year. Two men were killed and several injured when police opened fire on a demonstration in February. In Qatif, the provincial capital, the walls of the main street are covered with graffiti insulting members of the royal family and asking, “Where is the oil money?”…………”


That graffiti question was rhetorical, no doubt. For whoever wrote it on that wall knows as well as I do where most of the oil money goes. The oil comes from the Eastern Province, Qatif and other areas, from the belly of the ancestral land of the same people who are treated like third or fourth class citizens in the Wahhabi ‘kingdom without magic’. But the money goes mostly to Riyadh, to a few thousand princes and their retainers and tribal sycophant. If in doubt as to who gets the oil money, this link here will clarify matter.
Cheers
mhg


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Economics, Iran, Iraq, OPEC, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela

Petroleum Chat: from Tehran through Baghdad to Riyadh and Caracas…………

 

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“The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has announced the discovery of a huge oil field with considerable crude reserves in southern Iran. NIOC’s Director for Exploration Seyyed Mahmoud Mohaddes said Saturday that an exploratory oil well has already been drilled in the area. “The newly-discovered oil field must be considered among the biggest fields ever discovered in Iran,” he said. The Iranian official also added that initial tests have indicated the high quality of the oil in the new field. Mohaddes went on to say that the details about two or three more oil fields will be announced in the near future. A total of 18 heavy and extra heavy oilfields have so far been discovered in Iran, including Ferdowsi oil field in the Persian Gulf, which is one of the country’s biggest heavy oil fields with proven reserves of more than 31 billion barrels. Iran’s total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more than 560 billion barrels with about 140 billion barrels of extractable oil……….”

According to the CIA
 (2011) Iranian reserves were pushed back to the 4th largest in the world, behind Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Canada. Last year, Venezuelan reserves jumped with some OPEC estimates putting them ahead of both Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iranian and Iraqi ‘proven’ reserves have been hampered over the past 30 years by wars, sanctions, and Western economic blockades. It is possible, nay very likely, that one or both of these countries has more reserves than the current leaders. The Iranians note their “in-place” reserves are 560 billion barrels, but that is only ‘potentially’ recoverable oil. As more explorations and studies are done, as well as more investments in technology and machinery, some of this ‘in-place’ oil becomes extractable.
Both Iran and Iraq suffered from lack of serious exploration and investment in new oil fields over the past three decades, and their reserves can only shoot up noticeably in the next few years. On the other hands there are reports that Saudi production capacity is declining as the country has been producing large amounts as a ‘swing’ producer. But Saudi Arabia has a huge land mass: there may be more oil reserves hidden under the sands, and not necessarily in the Eastern Province.

Of course, the expanded reserves do not help the Iranian people in the short term as the Western powers, under Israeli and ‘princely’ pressure, tighten their squeeze on the economy.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, France, Saudi Arabia, Syria

The Frustrated King and the Tragedy of Baba Amr………….

 

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The King of Saudi Arabia is apparently pissed at the Syrian opposition, especially the Free Syrian Army, for evacuating Baba Amr in Homs. The FSA said its withdrawal was “tactical”. Generalissimo Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the ‘hero’ who was trounced by the Huthi tribal militia in Yemen two years ago, snorted that “’Tactical’ my ass. That is what Napoleon said after Moscow. That is what Adolf said after Stalingrad.”


The King is reportedly upset that the FSA could not hold long enough for his own elite National Guard, now preoccupied in Bahrain, to blitz across some border into Syria and relieve the people of Homs. Burhan Ghalioun of the Syrian national Council announced in Paris (possibly from a corner table at Fouquet, corner of Champs–Élysées & George V) the formation of a Supreme Military Council to support the Free Syrian Army (FSA) now that it may be too late. He reportedly offered the job to Marshal Tantawi who declined, adding that he has enough trouble with his own Salafis and Muslim Brothers, and has no intention of taking on the Syrian version (or was it the Saudi and Qatari versions?)


Bashar al-Assad, meanwhile, told anyone who would listen that the fall of Baba Amr and Homs proves that he is still loved by the Syrian people (especially those his security forces have not killed, yet). He added: “They were willing to die for me…….. and for the immortal ideals of the Ba’ath Party, WTF that be“.

His wife, smarter than her husband which is the normal case for Arab leaders, reminded him not to cancel the offer on that old dacha of Brezhnev overlooking the Black Sea.

Cheers
mhg


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