Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Gulf states

Bahrain Trifecta: American Weapons, Saudi Money, Pakistani Mercenaries………

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“The United States should delay a proposed arms sale to Bahrain until it ends abuses against peaceful critics of the ruling family and takes meaningful steps toward accountability for serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today. The US Defense Department notified Congress on September 14, 2011, of a proposed sale of armored Humvees and missiles to Bahrain worth US$53 million. The sale would appear to be the first since the start of Bahrain’s crackdown on protests earlier this year. “This is exactly the wrong move after Bahrain brutally suppressed protests and is carrying out a relentless campaign of retribution against its critics,” said Maria McFarland, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch………….”

The rulers of Bahrain, the al-Khalifa clan, have perfected their game in their Apartheid country. They get Saudi money and troops to keep their throne in the face of a popular uprising, they get all the Pakistani and Jordanian mercenaries they need to subdue their people (paid for by Saudi money and money from other Persian-American Gulf states), and they can get all the weapons they need from America to help subdue their angry and disenfranchised people (also paid for by Saudi and other Gulf money). It is a nice racket, if they can keep it going. Except that they can’t keep it going for long, not with a mini-war warming up between the rulers and most of their people.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

Gangs of Arabia: Oil Fiefdoms and Turf Wars, Ivanhoe and Isaac of Qatif…………

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The clock is ticking and time is running out for the combatants to position themselves. Here is a summary of the turf wars and how the Saudi pie is being split now among the “next” generation (meaning those in their 70’s and up):

  1. The crown prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz is seriously ill and highly unlikely to become king. He spends his time between an undisclosed location at home and American hospitals and Moroccan recuperation. He has appointed his son Khaled as deputy defense minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry as well as becoming the minister of aviation and inspector general (recalling Danny Kaye now).
  2. Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz is next in line and almost certainly the next king. He is a seriously conservative man and is against any type of elections. He famously said a couple of years ago that “Elections can never produce good people of the quality that we appoint” (and that was long before the Tea Party gained control of the U.S. Congress!). He is the minister of interior, in charge of police and security and secret police and terrorism and arrests and prisons and prisoners without charges and whatever goes in the dark cells. He has appointed his son Mohammed as a deputy minister, meaning he is to inherit the ministry when the father either becomes king or dies, whichever comes first.
  3. Then there is the king himself and he is no slouch when it comes to his interests and the interests of his children. Abdullah was head of the National Guard, a parallel army, since forever. Last year he appointed one of his sons to replace him as head of the Guard. Thus the king has staked the permanent claim of ‘his’ branch of the al-Saud clan.
  4. That leaves the Foreign Ministry, forever headed by Prince Saud al-Faisal. He is reportedly ailing without a clear heir. At one time there were two apparent claimants competing for the ministry, or at least there seemed to be, until King Abdullah appointed his son Abdulaziz as Deputy Foreign Minister, thus staking the claim of his own ‘branch’ of the al-Saud clan. Now Abdulaziz has the inside track as compared to Prince Turki al-Faisal brother of the current minister (and the wittiest prince, at least in public) and Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (of the famous BAE Systems bribery case that Tony Blair covered up). The foreign ministry is interesting because has become an area of unexpected competition and turf war. I had assumed it was the private reserve of the al-Faisal clan until Bandar made his move and then Abdullah appointed his own son. Apparently Bandar is a restless type, for he has reportedly made many moves inside and outside the kingdom and was allegedly involved in some palace plots. Apparently all the BAE Systems bribe money has given him more time and funds to pursue his ‘hobbies’. He was even reported at one time to be active in Iraq (not physically, but financially among the Sunni tribes and others). The foreign ministry truly reflects the current territorial infighting among the al-Saud branches: if Abdullah dies before the minister leaves, his son is not guaranteed the top job.


What is at stake is: (a)the future of the throne, (b)the allocation of the petroleum loot among the hungry numerous princes, and (c)power within the top leadership that control the various ministries/fiefdoms.

That is on the ministry or ‘functional’ level. Then there is the real estate, the various provinces, each presided over by a senior al-Saud prince. A prince is the absolute ruler of his province even as he claims allegiance to the king in Riyadh. Does it remind you of Europe in the Middle Ages? Yes, I have read Ivanhoe more than once, read it the first time in Arabic when in ninth grade (Isaac of York, the Jew, would probably be some wayfaring Shi’a from the Eastern province).…….
Did I hear you mention something about “the people” of the Arabian Peninsula? OH, yeah, they were once among the freest peoples of the whole world……….
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia

A King’s Speech: about the Ummah and an Ayatollah……….

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“Glad tidings for Muslim Ummah. There was joy and happiness at the news that King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, had left hospital in America after two successful surgeries.
Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh Region, expressed thanks and praise to Allah Almighty Who bestowed good health, recovery and wellness upon King Abdullah
“We are appealing to Allah Almighty for the King’s safe return home to complete the march whose work is devoted entirely to serve his country and people as well as the Islamic and Arab nations,” he said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.
Speaker of Shoura Council Sheikh Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh also expressed, jubilation and happiness, in his own name and on behalf of the Council’s members and staff, after King Abdullah left the hospital after Allah Almighty bestowed upon him good health, recovery and wellness…………….”

I wish the old man good health,
knowing that what comes after him, what is waiting in the wings, is bad
news for all the Saudi people. You know “who” I mean (either one of the
two is bad news but the most likely one is worst).
He said that “Allah Almighty bestowed upon him good health recovery and wellness”, which reminds me of the last Wikileaks stuff about wellness and Viagra, etc. Of course the Speaker of the appointed toothless council Sheikh Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh is a cousin or brother of the Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh. Lots of Aal Al Al-Sheikhs come out of the Saudi woodwork on these occasions. I must have written here at least once that all these Aal Al Sheikhs are descendants of the late Imam Mohammad Bin Abdulwahab, after whom the Wahhabi sect (or is it a cult) was named. He is to be distinguished from the late great Egyptian singer and musician Mohammed Abdelwahab who was no Salafi and totally enjoyed many things the old Imam seriously frowned upon. Abdelwahab had some great songs about Egypt (and one about Venice) that are still popular.
Now, how did the king deliver a speech to his country yesterday while he was leaving a hospital in America? Does he have a double? Did he use Skype or Facetime?

Still, pretending that the “king” is the leader of Islam is a stretch, no more credible than pretending that an Ayatollah (Ali Khamenei) is the leader of Islam. It is a myth spread by the vast semi-official Saudi Media and some palace ‘tribal liberals’ in a couple of Gulf states.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Egypt, Human Right

Egypt’s Revolution Faces an Illegal Abortion: It’s the Toothpaste, Stupid……………

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“Egypt’s state security prosecutor should immediately close “treason” investigations into Egyptian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) accused of receiving foreign funding, Human Rights Watch said today. The Egyptian cabinet announced on September 14, 2011, that a Justice Ministry report had identified more than 30 NGOs that are receiving foreign funding and are not registered with the Social Solidarity Ministry as required by the Associations Law and that it had submitted this information to the prosecutor. The offense is punishable with imprisonment under Egypt’s Associations Law. Restricting foreign funding can effectively deny civil society groups the ability to operate since under former President Hosni Mubarak, local funding sources shied away from funding controversial groups, Human Rights Watch said. “It sends alarming signals about the transitional government’s commitment to human rights that Egyptian authorities have started a criminal investigation with the same methods Hosni Mubarak used to strangle civil society, …………”

The military junta (SCAF) keeps nibbling at the freedoms Egyptians gained with their blood  since last January, even before then. It keeps testing the people’s will, trying to abort the march toward a more just and more free society. But that may be natural: it is unusual to see a non-elected regime encourage free elections and other freedoms. No doubt the junta is being urged by some sisterly and brotherly oligarchies in the neighborhood. But it is impossible to push the toothpaste back into the tube, and the Egyptian toothpaste is definitely out of the tube.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Corruption, Finance, GCC, Middle East, Saudi Arabia

Tony Blair as Scarlett O’Hara: Blair-Gate and the never Ending Saga of International Corruption………..

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“Tony Blair is facing calls for greater transparency in his role as Middle East peace envoy after it emerged that he visited Muammar Gaddafi in 2009 while JP Morgan, the investment bank that employs Blair as a £2m-a-year adviser, sought to negotiate a multibillion-pound loan from Libya. Blair also championed two large business deals in the West Bank and Gaza involving telecoms and gas extraction which stood to benefit corporate clients of JP Morgan, according to a Dispatches investigation to be broadcast on Monday night…………In Palestine while working as the quartet envoy, Blair persuaded the Israeli government to open radio frequencies so mobile phone company Wataniya could operate in the West Bank. The company’s owner, Qtel, a Qatari telecoms company, is a client of JP Morgan and its deal to buy Wataniya was funded with a $2bn loan that JP Morgan helped arrange..……..”

And the beat goes on: in terms of corruption, the life of Tony Blair is a gift that keeps on giving. A veritable Blair-Gate. It started with his killing of the investigation of the British Serious Frauds Office (SFO) of BAE Systems bribes to Saudi prince Bandar Bin Sultan. Tony has never looked back. From oil potentates to international bankers to the most despotic dictators and absolute tribal kings, Blair seems to be their man. Along the way he also went to war. He is also at the forefront of the right-wingers who are calling for yet another bloody war in my Gulf, no doubt he is getting some benefit from the potentates as well for that effort.
Tony Blair, the ‘former’ Laborite, now reminds me of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind. When Scarlett rises from the dirt and promises “I’ll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again”.
Scarlett kept her promise, but she was much more discriminating and more gracious than Mr. Blair about how she did it.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Animal Farm: King Welcomes Some Foreign Intervention in All Arab States……….

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Arab media report the King of Saudi Arabia said in a speech that he was happy about the return to “normality and peace” in Bahrain. The low level sectarian civil war now going on in Bahrain is considered a “return to normality and peace”, although I am certain the king has never read 1984 (Orwell), never even heard of it. He forgot to add that he was also happy about the return to peace in Afghanistan and Waziristan and Libya and Gaza. The report did not specify what the King and his speechwriters had been smoking before his speech.
(Actually some ‘tribal liberals’ on my Gulf had declared the situation in Bahrain to be “back to normal” from the day Saudi troops invaded in March: apparently the situation is still quite normal and getting even more normal by the day).

The report also said that that Saudi Arabia announced its complete rejection of any “foreign interference” in the internal affairs of Bahrain. They said it is okay for foreigners to interfere in Libya and Yemen and Syria and Egypt and Tunisia and Iraq and even in Saudi Arabia. But not in Bahrain, unless the foreign intervention is in the form of Saudi forces shoring up the regime and its imported mercenaries against the people. Which brings up that other Orwell book, Animal Farm.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Culture, Human Right, Saudi Arabia, Women 100

PR Nation: Women to Vote? But for What? About Driving………..

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Saudi king Abdullah announced that Saudi women will be able to vote in 2015. That is interesting because I am not sure the king will be around at that time to see it happen, IF it happens. Even if he is still “there”, he may not be “there” altogether, if you get my drift. Nevertheless, ‘tribal liberals’ on my Gulf are cautiously hailing this “bestowal” as a sure sign of reform and progress.
He was talking about the toothless municipal councils not about any true elections. What this tells me is that the Saudis have changed their PR strategy. They have decided to follow the old Arab oligarch policy of pretending they are holding elections so that there will be less pressure on them from the outside. Potentates like Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, Bin Ali, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Omar al-Bashir, among others have tried that, as have the potentates of Bahrain and even the UAE (to a more limited extent). Like I said before, even dog-catchers are appointed.
Of course, women will still not be able to drive cars in 2015.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, US Foreign Policy

The Longest Hike: Club Tehran, Club Med…………

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“For the first time the two were able to give the details of the isolation in which they lived and the conditions in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where they spent 781 days. “In all the time we spent in detention, we had a total of 15 minutes of telephone calls with our families and one, short visit from our mothers. We had to go on hunger strike repeatedly just to receive letters from our loved ones,” Fattal told reporters. “Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them,” he said, “Solitary confinement was the worst experience of our lives. “It was clear to us from the very beginning that we were hostages,”…………..”

I read recently about talk by some Iranian officials about encouraging tourism in Iran. What do you think (rhetorical)?
Cheers
mhg


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Corruption, Culture, Death Penalty, Human Right, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

They Are Losing their Heads: another Sorcerer Beheaded in Saudi………

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“A Saudi Arabian ministry statement carried by the state news agency, SPA, stated that Abdul Hamid al-Fakki “practiced witchcraft and sorcery,” which are illegal under Saudi Arabia’s Islamic sharia law. Al-Fakki was beheaded in the western city of Medina on Monday, the interior ministry announced. In October last year, Amnesty International said it had appealed to King Abdullah in a letter to commute Fakki’s death sentence. His execution brings to 42 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports…………”

Saudi reforms continue unhindered, according to tribal liberals on my Gulf. As if to prove it, another “sorcerer” was beheaded last week in a Saudi public square (this is only the last of many). He was a poor foreigner from Sudan this time. He was beheaded by the regime for allegedly practicing “sorcery and witchcraft”. Magic is seriously frowned upon in the Kingdom without Magic. I wonder if the Lebanese TV magician Ali Sabat who performed magic on “Lebanese” TV. I believe he is still in prison awaiting something (he was supposed to be beheaded but the princes decided to keep him around for a while after an international campaign).
Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, the usual Western glitterati are not out in force showing their outrage, condemning this most recent execution. Nor is Bernard-Henri Lévy.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, Muslims, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Counterrevolution: the Hadith Loophole, the Salafi Alibi………

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“The Saudis are afraid of the Arab spring, because they don’t want anti-Saudi forces, including such enemies as Iran and Al Qaeda, to increase their influence in the Middle East, and they believe the revolutions in the region might have just this effect. Some of the older Saudi leaders have seen this movie before. The nationalist revolutions of the 1950’s and 1960’s, inspired and galvanized by Gamel Nasser’s Egypt, nearly toppled the House of Saud. Nonetheless, today’s Saudi princes appear to recognize that something has genuinely changed in the Middle East: The younger generation of Arabs is no longer prepared to accept unaccountable, corrupt, and brutal governments. Saudi Arabia, a self-proclaimed bulwark of Islamic conservatism, where popular democracy has never been considered a legitimate form of rule, has been more aggressive in some arenas than in others. Domestically, the royal family struck quickly, adopting a ban on public demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience. The Kingdom’s traditional interpretation of Islam construes political legitimacy in terms of a ruler’s proper application of Islamic law. In return, his subjects owe him obedience within the constraints of Sharia religious law…………..”

There is a Hadith that purports to indicate that Prophet Mohammed urged Muslims to obey their “Muslim” rulers as long as they allowed and facilitated the practice of Islam, no matter how lousy the rulers are. This Hadith has been at the center of Salafi alliances with despotic Arab rulers. It has supplied the rulers with a “loophole” to get away with all kinds of corruption and injustice. It is used by absolute Arab monarchs as an alibi, with the Salafis as allies.  Of course there are other Hadiths against corruption and thievery by rulers, and against despotism, but these are ignored.
I have never believed in the veracity of that Hadith, not even as a kid. Needless to say, I still have strong doubts about its veracity. For 1400 years this particular Hadith has been just too convenient, too useful for ruling tyrants of our region.
Cheers
mhg


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