“Bahrain set a two-week ultimatum Thursday for the return of citizens fighting as jihadists abroad, saying they will be charged under the Gulf kingdom’s anti-terror laws if they do not. An interior ministry statement said Bahrainis “currently in conflict zones… on the pretext of jihad” must “return to the country within two weeks”. Those who do not come back “will be pursued under the law pertaining to the protection of society from terrorist acts”, it said. Among the penalties that could be imposed would be loss of nationality. At the end of February, the ministry warned that the law currently providing up to five years in prison for its citizens fighting abroad, including in Syria, would be toughened. It said it would pursue those Bahrainis fighting abroad…………”

Bahraini Jihadists? And in Syria? Who would have thunk it! Why not stay home and liberate their island instead? If ‘liberation’ is what they seek. Unless they think the situation at home is well under control.

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“The president should confront Saudi leaders over the ludicrous fatwa against ‘The 99,’ a ground-breaking Muslim superhero comic. President Obama did not go to Saudi Arabia this Friday to talk about comic books, but he should, because a new fatwa against them—specifically those showing right-thinking Muslim superheroes—underscores just how hard it is to sustain a positive relationship with Riyadh. Obama himself once singled out the remarkable comic book series in question, called The 99, for special praise. The superheroes have the attributes associated with the 99 names of Allah—words like “strength” and “light” and “wisdom”—and these characters team up to fight evil…………………………”

That is because these cartoon characters are not Wahhabis. They are just plain vanilla Muslims and that is frowned upon in the Kingdom without Humor (and Magic of course). They are preferred in the kingdom to be Wahhabis rather than plain vanilla Muslims, preferably princes or someone they approve of. Otherwise how can a mere commoner who is neither a royal nor a klepotocrat be considered a hero? That is like calling for a revolt, as the Mufti Shaikh Al Al Shaikh would dutifully say.

Rumors spread on the Internet this past week of Saudi King Abdullah abdicating in favor of Crown Prince Salman. The king is around 90 years old, give or take a few years. That would make Prince Muqrin the next CP. Muqrin was appointed recently as a Crown Prince to the Crown Prince, wtf that be. That move rankled Prince Talal, the father of prince-about-town Al-Waleed. Talal has been out of the loop for decades, ever since he flew to Cairo with bunch of others and joined Nasser’s call for revolution. Eventually he came back home, although not fully trusted. He has about as much hope of becoming King of Saudi Arabia as Saad Hariri has. Which is a much better chance than I have of ruling Saudi Arabia and renaming it the Confederation of the Arabian Peninsula. Now, a confederation of Najed and Hijaz and Al-Ahsaa and Assir and a few other forcibly-annexed places sounds reasonable, given the recent Wahhabi calls for some confederation, any confederation, with anyone willing to confederate. Even a Confederation of Dunces.

Rumors also that the king wants to make sure his own son, Met’eb, will be in the direct line for succession after Muqrin. That would mean a clash between Met’eb and Mohammed Bin Nayef, the man in charge of police, security, religious police, arrests, prisons, and most violations of human rights. Arab rumor has it that the Americans (the government not the people) prefer Mohammed Bin Nayef as the future king, although it is not clear why. Mohammed has visited Washington DC quite a few times, so maybe he and his camp are spreading the rumor. Apparently Met’eb will need all the help his dad can give before he dies.

I’m beginning to suspect that this rumor was a lead up to April Fools Day.

Cheers

mhg

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“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me– and there was no one left to speak for me….” Martin Niemöller (German Pastor)

“The overthrow of Mohamed Morsi last year did little to help Egypt’s economy. But for the butchers and pig breeders of the slums around Cairo, it has been an unexpected fillip.
Five months ago, pork was so scarce in Cairo that a butcher like Bishoy Samir sold pig meat just twice a month. Now Samir reckons he sells an entire pig’s worth of pork every day.
Five years ago, the Egyptian government culled most of Egypt’s pig population, leaving Samir’s family with nothing to serve. “It was very rare to find something to cook,” Samir says. “We used to work one week on, one week off.” But five months ago things started to pick up, and “now we’re preparing one pig a day – and others are doing two or three.” Pork’s comeback began slowly after the 2011 revolution…………”

We all know that former President Mubarak started a war on the pigs of Egypt in 2009. His goal was to liquidate all the country’s four-legged swine, using the Swine flu scare (H1N1) as an excuse. Reports indicated that the War on Pigs was a great victory and that all of Egypt’s native swine were dead. I always had my doubts, and I wrote so in a few posts here. Now I feel at least partly vindicated.

Which makes me wonder: Hitler thought he had liquidated Germany’s Communists, but they came back to rule half his country for 45 years; Mubarak thought he had liquidated all Egypt’s four-legged pigs, but they are now making a comeback. Now this Al Sisi dude thinks he is on his way to liquidating the Muslim Brotherhood, yet even Nasser who was hugely and genuinely popular could not do it. I say: if the German communists survived, if the Egyptian pigs survived, if the Mubarak cronies survived and have now regained power quickly, then there is some hope for the Muslim Brotherhood, a k a MB. After all, they (the MB not the pigs) had survived at least one earlier attempt to eradicate them. 

Here are a few earlier posts on these epic battles of the war on swine (the very last link at the bottom of the list also has links to most of my earlier posts on the Egyptian War on Pigs):

Saint Francis of Al SiSi: Egyptian Military Invents New Cures, Killing Pigs and Spaniards

Of Pigs and Middle Eastern Politics. Of Swine and American Health Care Politics

Battlefield Report: Egypt’s War on Pigs Falters. Of Wahhabi Shaikh Adle, Shi’as, Closet Christians, and Swine

Egypt’s War on Pigs Returns, Economic Great Leap Backward and Exodus

Cheers

mhg

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Rumors spread on the Internet this past week of Saudi King Abdullah abdicating in favor of Crown Prince Salman. The king is about 90 years old, give or take a few years. That would make Prince Muqrin the next Crown Prince. Muqrin was appointed recently as a Crown Prince to the Crown Prince, wtf that be.

That move rankled Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, the father of prince-about-town I-am-richer-than Forbes-claims Al-Waleed. Talal is easily rankled because he is not influential in these decisions and is never picked for promotion. He has been out of the loop for decades, ever since he flew to Cairo with bunch of others and joined Nasser’s call for revolution. Eventually he came back home, although not fully trusted. He has about as much hope of becoming King of Saudi Arabia as Saad Hariri has. Which is a much better chance than I have of ruling Saudi Arabia.

Rumors and speculation have been around for some time that the king wants to make sure his own son, Met’eb, will be in the direct line for succession after Muqrin. That would mean a clash between Met’eb and Mohammed Bin Nayef, the man in charge of police, security, religious police, arrests, prisons, and most violations of human rights. Arab media rumor has it that the Americans (the government not the people) prefer Mohammed Bin Nayef as the future king, although it is not clear why. Mohammed has been visiting Washington DC quite a few times, so maybe he and his camp are spreading the rumor. Apparently Met’eb is not a regular visitor of Washington. Met’eb will need all the help his dad can give before he dies.

I’m beginning to suspect that this abdication rumor was a lead up to April Fools Day.

Cheers

mhg

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“The rebel leader touted as the West’s last hope to stem the tide of extreme jihadist groups in Syria has said he will not fight against al-Qa’ida, and openly admits to battling alongside them. Speaking from a safe house on the outskirts of the Turkish town of Antakya, Jamal Maarouf, the leader of the Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF) told The Independent that the fight against al-Qa’ida was “not our problem” and admitted his fighters conduct joint operations with Jabhat al-Nusra – the official al-Qa’ida branch in Syria……………..”

This sad love story is three years old. This cliché-ridden civil war is three years old. It has been like a roller-coaster ride, which civil wars usually are:

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Listened to a tape of a rant by a claimed leader of ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Sham). His nom de guerre (and nom de polygamie) Shaikh Abu Muhammad al-’Adnani as-Shami. The added last name , Al-Shami, is supposed to indicate he is from Syria (smaller Syria but also greater Syria). But I doubt that. One thing is almost certain: he is not Syrian. His recorded Arabic is generic classical, but his accent (how letters are pronounced) is NOT Syrian. Almost certainly not Iraqi, something about the inflection of his speech, but I can be wrong on rare occasions. He sounds much more Saudi, or another GCC Gulfie, or maybe Yemeni. Not Syrian.

In addition to the rant, I found out that a ‘knight of Islam’, Shaikh Leader Feuhrer Doko Omarov Abu Othman, from the Islamic Emirate of Caucasus (WTF that be) has died. He is expected to go to Paradise, according to the ISIS leader. (You can count on one thing about Salafis: they claim they are Muslims, and they always tell the truth about one thing and only one thing. They would not lie about death: never deny a death nor claim a death that did not happen. Which is about their only true concession to Islam and the truth).

Cheers

mhg

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“A social media campaign to prevent a “genocide of Armenians!” in the scenic Syrian mountain resort town of Kasab exploded recently, in the latest example of how 21st century communications technology can spread as much disinformation as it does information. The Armenian diaspora community was shaken late last month when the town of Kasab and surrounding areas fell quickly out of the regime’s control, as part of the “Al-Anfal” coastal campaign launched by rebels and jihadists………….”

Distinguishing rebels and Jihadists is just pure wishful thinking on the part of Western governments, an idea aided and abetted by tribal absolute family rulers in the Arabian Peninsula. There is no operational difference, and if there is any, it is in that the fighting is mostly done by the Jihadists.

What is ominous about this new front at Kessab is that they named it Al-Anfal, a Sura or chapter of the Holy Quran related to “Spoils or Booty of War”. It is also the name that Saddam Hussein gave his genocidal campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s. That was when he used chemical weapons supplied by European companies with Saudi and Arab money. That was when many Kurds perished, especially at Halabja. That was when most, nay almost all, Arab regimes and media either ignored or denied the genocide.

The Jihadists have a track record of genocide, not just in Syria and Iraq but across the world. Their raison d’etre is to kill off ‘the others’.

Cheers

mhg

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“France has taken the first steps toward proposing a Security Council resolution that would refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for the prosecution of war crimes, diplomats said Friday, an action long sought by rights advocates. Although Russia might well veto such a resolution, the diplomats said, it could still embarrass the Kremlin, the Syrian government’s most important foreign supporter, at a time when the Russians already face isolation over the crisis in Ukraine. The diplomats also cautioned that such a resolution risked alienating the Russians, whose cooperation in pressuring the Syrian government is considered vital. The diplomats spoke on the condition of anonymity because a draft of the resolution is still under negotiation……………”

It doesn’t matter. It will not pass, and everybody knows it. But the French socialists are moving in the direction they have promised in their Saudi deal. They will have made their point to their Al Saud partners and bankrollers. That was the recent deal between the French ‘socialists’ and the repressive absolute princes: money and trade in exchange for a more robust French stance on Syria and Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. Politically robust, not militarily robust.

For the latter, for military robustness, they need to talk Obama into starting another war, since the Europeans are not willing to spend their own blood and treasure in Middle East wars. They are smarter than the US Congress (both houses, both parties): the Europeans know they need the money to build and maintain their infrastructure. So, let the Americans do it all: they have been doing it since 1942.

American politicians have let the infrastructure at home age and go unrepaired while loading up on weapons and deployment across the globe. Bad roads, old modes of transportation, and risky bridges and schools and other buildings become more costly with time, and harder to repair. They also pause a greater future danger to the American home front than any bunch of Wahhabi Jihadists.

Cheers
mhg

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Hassan Nasrallah of Lebanese Hezbollah (to distinguish it from all the alleged Hezbollahs of Texas, Bahrain, Egypt, Finland, and others) is one Arab leader who shows supreme confidence in what he says. Possibly the only one: it comes from both his enunciation and his body language. He makes almost all other Arab leaders look like sweaty-palmed snake-oil salesmen (most of them are). That is undeniable, whatever you think of his ‘politics’. I have opined in the past that the Israeli Mossad probably regrets having assassinated the Hezbollah leader who preceded him, thus allowing him to move up the leadership ladder.

What he says now in an interview in the daily As-Safir is that: (1) the danger of Salafi terrorist bombings in Lebanon has abated because of ‘certain measures’ along the border in both Lebanon and Syria. Meaning that the continued Jihadist defeats in the southern front of the Syrian war have reduced the flow and the risks; (2) more important, he assures his audience that the “danger” of the Syrian regime falling has ended. He also added that the danger of a division of Syria has also been “overcome”.

He has also opined that both Northern and Southern fronts in Syria are improving. But he added what most people now expect: that the Russian position of support for the Syrian regime will solidify in the coming weeks. Probably a reference to the post-Ukraine relations with the West.

Essentially he is claiming that the Syrian civil war has been won by one side, the side he supports. All this is no doubt based on the outcome of the battles of the past twelve years. Yet predicting the outcome of a civil war is risky: this may come back to bite Nasrallah. Civil wars have a way of seesawing and surprising: remember when almost everybody claimed that the days of Bashar Al Assad were numbered? That was three years ago.

Cheers
mhg

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“Gambia’s president Yahya Jammeh has said he will soon discontinue the use of English as his country’s official language, describing it as “colonial legacy”. The plan appears to be to make a local language the country’s official one, but reports have also emerged suggesting Arabic will replace English. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the country’s newly appointed Chief Justice, Jammeh — known for his anti-western rhetoric and policies — said for the next “one billion years”, the British have “no moral platform to talk about human rights anywhere in the world”. Gambia gained its independence from the UK 49 year ago, and the president stated that the only British remnant is the English language……………..”

“A former Gambian Chief Justice who was sacked by President Yahya Jammeh for allegedly taking orders from an embassy of a ‘hostile’ country has gone into hiding. Mrs Mable Ayemang, fled her government allocated abode in Fajara hours after her services with the Government of President Yahya were terminated on 4th February 2014. The Ghanaian born judge who was appointed to the top job in July 2013 has not been seen in public and is unable to hand over matters of the judiciary to her successor…………..”

This is a throwback to the 1960s. When some African absolute leader screwed up real good, he would blast the former colonial masters. Some of the ‘blasting’ was well-deserved, as in the case of Lumumba and the Congo, and many others. Europeans, especially outside the British Empire, did little to get their captive peoples ready for independence. Some of it was just scapegoating the old European imperial goats. Often it was a combination of both. But that is an old argument of another era.
I remember Gambia mainly as the ancestral home of Kunta Kinte and Alex Haley. Yahya ought to apply to the Arab League of Dunces, they would welcome him. Better yet, he should be told that the Saudi king has been looking for new members of the Gulf GCC, new blood, fresh meat, so to speak. The old king teased humorless Jordan and faraway Morocco for three years before finally breaking it off, old teaser that he is.