Kuwait Protests? about Saudi Protests, Bahrain Protests, Salafi Uprising………….

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Meshal al-Zaidi says he was drawn into Kuwait’s protest movement by political ideals, not the economic grievances that helped spur revolts in poorer Arab countries. “My friend drives a Porsche Cayenne, another a Porsche Panamera, you’ll see the best cars at Kuwaiti protests,” said al-Zaidi, a 25-year-old who runs a public relations firm and attends rallies seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah. “It’s not about money, it’s not about oil, it’s about real democracy.”………Bloomberg News

No, it is not all about real democracy. It is hardly about democracy. God knows there is plenty of corruption and mismanagement in Kuwait, although not nearly as much as in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain. Hell, they even hired Tony Blair as a consultant: now that can’t reflect any true commitment to honesty and clean management, can it? But then all that is really lowering the bar.
Although some, a few, of the protesters want more freedom and accountability, there are many more among them who have no desire for democracy. Just ask almost anyone who shows up at these small events about Saudi Arabia, and they’ll either praise that country’s regime or get evasive. Unfortunately most of the so-called protesters are either of the local Wahhabi faux-liberals or the Islamists (die-hard Salafis) with a few bored-to-death others thrown in. Some may be part (pawns) of an intense power struggle within the ruling elite.
 
The Wahhabi faux-liberals are already tweeting and ‘column-izing’ against the currents protests in Saudi Arabia, labeling them an “Iranian” plot, just as they do in Bahrain. I don’t think they are stupid, nobody can be that stupid (or can they?). The Salafi Islamists among them have no desire to have any form of enhanced democracy, but they are great opportunists. Some of these Islamists seem to be the loudest, more media-grabbing among the “protesters”. They failed to get rid of the current prime minister through a parliamentary vote since most members voted against them (either out of conviction or for self-interest). That is when they tried the street. Many of these same Salafis have pushed for more restrictions on the freedom of expression in the legislature. They mostly look toward Salafi Wahhabi corrupt Saudi Arabia as the “model”, to the extent of pushing for some form of political ‘consolidation’ presumably under some form of Saudi rule (perhaps a satrapy like Bahrain?).
This local columnist
here gives a glimpse into some of the “Saudi” loyalties at work. He is too shy to mention the country’s name directly. He points out that the government is guilty and responsible for past policies that created the current atmosphere of corruption and unrest.
Cheers
mhg



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Former Clinton-istas Lobbying for Gulf Regime of Apartheid ………….

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Sorini, Samet & Associates
“In April, the AFL-CIO filed a complaint with the US Department of Labor calling on it to terminate the Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement in light of the mass sackings of workers in Bahrain following the protests. To formulate the response to this, Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired the services of Sorini, Samet & Associates LLC, a government relations firm specializing in international trade legislation. The point man at the firm is Andrew Samet, who has previously served as Deputy Undersecretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration. The Bahrain government was to pay the firm an hourly fee ranging between $100 and $550 with an initial non-returnable retainer of $25,000. One would imagine these guys helped arrange the July meetings of Bahrain’s ministers of labour and industry with US officials and policy wonks in Washington DC (after Samet visited Bahrain in May)……….”

They all do it: Republican, Democrats, Vegans, Liberals, Conservatives, Vegetarians, Carnivores, etc. Nothing personal against the people or in favor of the repressive regime. As Sal Tessio told Tom Hagen (Godfather I): It was business…….<br>
Cheers
mhg



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Alarabiya: Libya Denies Reopening the Tripoli Synagogue, about the Shari’a and Monarchy…………

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The current differences among the Libyans would not stand in the way of forming the forthcoming government after fully liberating the country, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC) told Al Arabiya. Mustapha Abdul Jalil said that Libya is currently passing through a critical phase on all sides, but once a full control on Sirte is achieved, a series of “drastic changes” will follow. In his special interview with Al Arabiya, Jalil said that sharia (Islamic law) will be the main base of legislation in the new Libya. A balanced Islamic religion, away from extremism, will be applied in the country, he added……….Alarabiya (Saudi)

Alarabiya headlined this in its Arabic edition as Abdul Jalil denies he permitted reopening the Jewish Synagogue in Tripoli. And Abdul Jalil says Libya will not be radical in the future. It did not say that Libya will reinstate the monarchy with an imported Saudi prince, possibly Bandar.
Now why is this semi-official Saudi network stressing the “synagogue” issue in the Arabic version? Could it be because there are no synagogues nor any churches nor any temples in Saudi Arabia and they and their Salafi agents want this to be the form? You betcha.
He also said that they will have the “Shari’a” as the main source of law. This means, if they follow the Saudi model, that certain social mores will apply and that they will disregard Islamic rules about corruption and repression. Sort of like Saudi Arabia (and almost all other Islamic countries but to a lesser extent, with or without the Shari’a).

Cheers
mhg



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Is it Possible to Insult the UAE Potentates?…….

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During the 10 month old Arab Spring, the United Arab Emirates expressed its opposition to the trial of Egyptian former president Hosni Mubarak, sent troops, as part of the “Shield of the Arabian Peninsula,” to oppress the Bahraini uprising, and arrested several activists who demanded reform. The arrests started with blogger Ahmed Mansour who was detained, as rumored, while talking in a Friday prayer about supporting the Arab Spring, the Egyptian revolution, and the third Palestine Intifada, which failed to materialise a few months ago. The other four detainees are Nasser Bin Ghaith, Fahad Al-Sihhi, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, and Ahmed Abdulhaleq Ahmed. All five are accused of publicly “insulting” the country’s president and top officials. ………

Insulted the president and top officials? It is not like they told these worthy potentates to go and do something to themselves. They put it more politely than that. They just called for political reform and more freedoms, something that royally pissed off the shaikhs of the Al Nahayan clan of Abu Dhabi.

The rulers of Abu Dhabi did not only object to the trial of Mubarak, they objected to his popular overthrow. They were as pissed as the Al-Saud that the Egyptian people wanted him out. The brilliant Saudi king is on record for having famously said early February that the Egyptian protesters were “foreign infiltrators and agents of foreign powers”. They both thought the U.S.A. could and should keep him in power by force if necessary, sort of like they are doing in Bahrain.
Cheers
mhg



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Joe Trippi Lobbying for Gulf Apartheid Regime? It is the Money, Stupid!………

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Joe Trippi & Associates is a D.C.-based media firm headed by Democratic political strategist Joe Trippi, (@JoeTrippi) who managed Howard Dean’s 2004 U.S. presidential election campaign. He was hired some time before August by Dr. Saqer Al Khalifa, Ph.D. on behalf of Bahrain’s ministry of information. According to the registration documents, Trippi is tasked with providing “strategic counsel” and assisting “with outreach to members of the media and non-governmental organizations.” The documents don’t mention how much the Bahrain government is paying for the services…….

Now Joe Trippi is selling his services to the despotic Apartheid regime of Bahrain. Oddly, his old Democrat boss Howard Dean is also being paid by the secretive and cultist Iranian opposition Mujahideen Khalq (MEK or MKO), a current favorite of the Republican extreme right-wing. Oddly, again, other Democrat luminaries like former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson have also been paid for the same ‘services’, now he is calling for a tougher stance in the Gulf region.
It is the money, stupid!

Cheers
mhg



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Arab Spring Finally Reaches Eastern Arabia? Wahhabi Faux-Liberals of the Gulf………..

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Security forces in eastern Saudi Arabia clashed with armed people provoked by a “foreign country,” the Saudi Press Agency said Tuesday, citing an official source at the Interior Ministry. The incident occurred Monday night in Awamiyya, in the Qatif region of Eastern province, where many Shiites in the predominantly Sunni country live. At least 14 people were wounded. “A group of instigators” congregated in the town’s roundabout and “used motorcycles and Molotov cocktails to undermine security and interfere in national sovereignty,” according to the report…….The ministry said that it “will not tolerate any threat to the security and stability of the homeland and its citizens, and will respond with an iron fist.”………

“Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that clashes on Monday night that injured 14 people including 11 policemen in its oil-rich Eastern province, home to a large Shi’ite population, were the work of an unnamed foreign power, usually code for its rival Iran. Saudi Arabia applies the Wahhabi austere version of Sunni Islam, and minority Shi’ites say that, while their situation has improved slightly under reforms launched by King Abdullah, they still face many restrictions and discrimination. The government denies these charges. Shi’ites have long complained of second class status in the absolute monarchy. They also want the release of Shi’ite prisoners, some of whom were arrested during previous protests. Shi’ites, who make up to 15 percent of the 19 million Saudi population, say they are not represented in the cabinet, they struggle to land senior government and security jobs and are viewed as heretics or even agents of Iran by the Saudi authorities and hardline Sunni clerics. …………”


The fear is also vanishing in Saudi Arabia, just as it did in other places from Tunisia through Libya and Egypt and Syria and Yemen and Bahrain. The fear is gone or going away. Now the “Saudis” even have a Facebook page for what they call their “revolution”. Today it is Qatif, but who knows, maybe tomorrow it will be Riyadh and Jeddah in spite of the many who have vanished, like Khalid al-Jehany and Ashmawi and many others. The regime is already claiming that the protesters are “Iranian” agents, a predictable claim for Gulf absolute polygamous monarchs when they are in trouble. This old tune of the despots has lost its charm. Only the so-called self-styled palace liberals, really Wahhabi faux-liberals, in the media of some GCC Gulf states, including my hometown, pretend to believe this nonsense anymore. The despots can fool their people only so many times with the sectarian card that they and the Bahraini rulers have overused.

The solution can be simple: give people back their full God-given rights, the rights they were born with before you usurped them.
Cheers
mhg



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One Opinion on Saudi “Elections” of Royal Cheerleaders…………

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This experiment is not enough, though, because the citizens only elect half of the members of their local parliament. Furthermore, these bodies are not vested with important powers; they are more like advisory councils without any authority. Their benefit consists for the government and the regime in demonstrating to the West that certain democratic reforms are being carried out in Saudi Arabia, too……………Yes, that is exactly what is happening. They already did so during the first elections of this kind in 2005, and ended up profiting from this tactic. Back then they tried to demonstrate to those forces in the West that are exerting increasing pressure: We are organising a political ballot here and we have begun to lead the country away from dictatorship and toward political participation. But the Saudi people’s thirst for more far-reaching participation, for enforceable political rights and elected representative bodies with genuine powers, can likewise no longer be overlooked. The current local elections may have primarily a decorative character……….…

He says that only half the municipal councils are elected and they are only ‘advisory’. He is the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (none of which exists) in Saudi Arabia (CDHR).
Like I said, when the princes all have to run for elections in order to become rulers of the various Provinces, when they have to be elected as “princes” then those will be real elections. Not for some toothless, non-binding advisory municipal cheerleading councils (okay, they probably don’t chant “rah rah rah, push ’em back, way back” but it is the same).

Cheers
mhg



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WTF: Railway Link to Yemen? From Funny GCC to Asinine GCC…………

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Transport and Communications Undersecretaries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states discussed here Monday the establishment of a railway authority, as well as linking Yemen with the yet-to-be-established GCC railway network. Director General of UAE’s national transport authority, Dr. Nasser Al-Mansouri, in a keynote speech to the meeting, underlined importance of the railroad project that would link the six GCC countries. He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established the federation trains company and issued relevant legislations to pave way for the construction of the UAE’s railroad network. GCC Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs Abdullah Al-Shubaili, in remarks on sidelines of the meeting said the officials discussed feasibility study of the railroad linkage with Yemen, safe regulations of small ships and inspection on vessels…..….”

I can’t believe these F-heads seriously talked about a rail extension into Yemen. Yemen is having a popular rebellion, nay multiple rebellions, against their favorite dictator. Yemen is experiencing several civil wars on several fronts. Yemen has a serious al-Qaeda presence. Yemen faces American drone bombings from bases most likely in Saudi Arabia. Yemen will be unstable for years to come mainly because of the dictatorship. It is absurd enough that they want to invite Morocco and Jordan and Monaco and Brunei and Zimbabwe and Colombia to join. And now this. What is the matter with these watermelon dignitaries of the GCC?
Cheers
mhg



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Saudi Religious Police Get Tech, Hit the Road, Target Women and Sorcery and Pussycats……

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Alarabiya network
reports that the powerful Committee for the Propagation of Vice (religious police, the Wahhabi inquisition) has started a new campaign to get its message, wtf that be, across the country and eradicate certain types of behavior. The shaggy denizens of the Committee are now using large trailers equipped with latest technology in terms of multimedia to travel around the provinces and save souls. They trailers will be also chasing holiday crowds, meaning that wherever there are public festivities in that distinctly non-festive kingdom, the religious police will show up to make things even less festive (if at all possible).

The report
says they will focus on things like prayers and sorcery (magic, witchcraft) and women. Not necessarily but most likely in that order, since sorcery and magic are usually attached to women in Saudi Arabia these days (sounds familiar huh? But almost four centuries later). 
This is odd, since from my travels I know that the ones whose souls really need ‘saving’ are the Saudi men, just ask any hotel manager in Beirut, Bahrain, Cairo, Dubai, Bangkok, Manila, etc, etc.
A few years
ago the Committee surprised everyone by banning the acquisition of dogs and pussy (as in cats) in Saudi Arabia. They allegedly also toyed with the idea of  banning women anywhere outside the bedroom but changed their minds for some reason.
Cheers
mhg



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Sectarian Wahhabi Logic of a Saudi Mouthpiece………….

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These words mean that the al-Assad regime is trying to win over the minorities by scaring them of the dangers posed by the majority. Yet the real problem here is not the al-Assad regime, but rather what the minorities themselves have done in our region; the Christians in Lebanon and Iraq, even the Shiites in Iraq and Bahrain, who are committing a grave mistake by sliding into the quagmire of supporting dictatorships, under the pretext that they will be protected against the majority. It is important here to repeat what I heard from a rational, liberal friend, who is far removed from sectarian views, about his reaction to the actions of minorities these days in our region. My friend’s opinion reflects the view of a substantial portion of the rational liberals in our region……….This is the mistake which befell the Shiites in Bahrain, and although they are not a minority in their own country, they are amongst their Arab surroundings. The same thing happened with the Shiites in Lebanon, given their surroundings, especially because they believe that there are embers [of an uprising] under the ashes in Iran….. Asharq Alawsat (Saudi daily)

This from one of the chief editors of the semi-official Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat. His masters’ voice. He is blaming the people of Iraq for again not letting the remnants of the Ba’ath regime, those who would not even defend Baghdad against the invaders, maintain power. He is blaming the people of Bahrain for resisting the Wahhabi-inspired policy of discrimination and Apartheid applied by the Al Khalifa rulers. He is drumming up that old sectarian and racist nonsense that his Saudi masters and their paid Salafi agents and fifth columnists have used effectively around the Gulf. He is urging the oppressed people of Bahrain to co-exist with others, meaning that they should accept second class status under an unelected minority regime (he might add: worse than the one in Syria which is repressive and dictatorial but does not apply a policy of Apartheid).
He is also taking a swipe at Christians and a few other minorities in the Arab world, perhaps because they are not allied enough with his Wahhabi masters.

Cheers
mhg



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Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..