Notice how the term ‘International Community” (IC) is being bandied about in recent years? I mean how it is most likely being abused by everyone? Every side in a conflict seeks to claim that the IC supports it, even if it is not true. Both sides can’t be correct on this one, or maybe they can? Which means in most (but not all) cases it is ‘in the eye of the beholder’. Here are two examples:

“Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Egypt’s first freely elected leader, declared his candidacy on Wednesday for a presidential election he is expected to easily win. Sisi toppled Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule and has emerged as the most influential figure in an interim administration that has governed since then. “I am here before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt,” Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. “Only your support will grant me this great honor.” A Sisi presidency would mark a return to the days when Egypt was led by men from the military, a pattern briefly interrupted by Mursi’s one year in office after his 2012 victory in Egypt’s first democratic presidential election……………”

The Generalisimo Field Marshal Al Sisi, having declared his candidacy, is now leader of Egypt in name as well as in fact. I know he has not been elected yet. Is there any doubt that he will be named the ‘elected’ president of Egypt after coming sham elections in which only the ‘faithful’, the terrified, and the sycophant will get to speak and vote?

Unlike Nasser or even Sadat or even the somnolent Mubarak (most Arabs called him La Vache Qui Rite), he is coming to power in style, with a real loud blood-soaked bang. His apparent example seems to be someone between Augusto Pinochet of Chile (later pal of Margaret Thatcher) and the generals who overthrew Isabel Peron in Argentina in the 1970s. He is veering more toward Pinochet right now, with all the killings on the streets and in the execution rooms. Not to mention those who die of natural causes in custody. Many will also start disappearing now that the old apparatus of State Security is back in force.

He is also very likely condemning his country to a perpetual state of  civil war, a state of political terrorism that matches the state terrorism he has imposed since July 3, 2012, when he overthrew the incompetent and (also) reactionary but freely elected Morsi. (It is true that Morsi was a schmuck, but he was an elected schmuck).

But he has promises of money and investments and even weapons from the Arab Counter-Revolutionary Counter-Democracy camp. You know where that camp is, and if you don’t know then explain where you have been for the past few years.

Cheers
mhg

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“Egypt’s army is taking charge of billions of dollars of development aid from the United Arab Emirates, an army official said, raising further doubts over the narrow separation of powers with the military backed administration in place since July. One of several Gulf states to shower Egypt with cash and petroleum products after the army ousted elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Mursi, the UAE also looked ahead, seeking to bolster a system that could keep Islamists it sees as an existential threat from running the most populous Arab state. Alongside money to build clinics, schools and housing units, it offered to fund a project in Egypt’s strategic wheat sector–the construction of 25 wheat silos that could help the world’s biggest importer of the commodity lower its huge food bill. Bread is a politically-explosive issue in Egypt …………….”

At some point in ancient history Egypt was a breadbasket for Europe, it supplied grain and other foods to the Roman Empire. The Romans from Caesar to Anthony to Augustus coveted it for what it produced, not because they liked to visit the pyramids. As earlier did the Hyksos then the Persians then the Greeks (and Macedonians). Egypt continued to be a food-rich land for many centuries after that. Not anymore, not with the population explosion of the past few decades.

Bread (food in general) has been a politically-explosive issue in Egypt for thousands of years. The Ptolemies (Ptolemy I to Cleopatra) in Alexandria faced occasional bread riots. Probably the Pharaohs did as well. Egyptian rioters were polite (someone rude might say ‘stupid’) even in those old days: they usually made the mistake of overthrowing one Ptolemy in favor of another Ptolemy. No real change was sought: sounds familiar?

No wonder they have had only one elected leader in thousands of years, and he was overthrown in 2013 in favor of the old regime that was overthrown in 2011. Go figure.

Cheers

mhg

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“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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