“Not only does al Qaeda host Ansar al-Sharia, one of the militias responsible for the Benghazi attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But U.S. intelligence now assesses that leaders from at least three regional al Qaeda affiliates—al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and members of the organization of Al-Mulathameen Brigade loyal to Algerian terrorist, Mokhtar BelMokhtar—have all established havens in the lawless regions of Libya outside the control of the central government. One U.S. military contractor working on counter-terrorism in Africa summed up the situation in Libya today as simply, “Scumbag Woodstock.” The country has attracted that star-studded roster of notorious terrorists and fanatics seeking to wage war on the West. An American counter-terrorism official used a different metaphor to describe the situation. “Libya today plays host to members and associates of several AQ-allied groups, in some ways becoming a jihadist melting pot,”………………”

An excellent description of them: a melting pot. In most Middle East countries, especially Arab ones, tribal and sectarian identities define a person and define political life (in the few places where there is a political life). The order is: Clan, Tribe, Sect, Religion, Country. In that exact order. Sometimes Ruler or King (or Sisi) is inserted before Country, sometimes they add God at the beginning to make it seem kosher and halal. 

Cheers
mhg

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I am doubtful about the exact purpose of all this, but why not? Everybody else in the region seems to spend a lot of time and resources doing military exercises and parades. From Iran to North Africa they do it all the time. Even faraway NATO powers do exercises all over the region. Even Al Qaeda terrorist franchises do it, wherever they do these things. So why not the Saudis?

“And it’s also likely that this year’s results could be ignored by granting the “most politically suitable” party the right to form a government under dirty sectarianism and Iranian orders. Despite all current divisions and upcoming violations, Iraqi elections remain unusual given the standard of regional elections from Iran in the east to Algeria in the west. Political pluralism and the real diversity of the top figures and parties mark the Iraqi elections with a value that is worth appreciating……………”

This one deserves the Joke of the Week Award. He is the current general manager of Saudi semi-official Alarabiya network and former chief editor of Prince Salman’s newspaper (Asharq Alawsat). A propagandist for the absolute tribal super-sectarian Saudi princes complaining about the sectarian Iraqi elections and their imperfect outcome. How they decide the government and how much sectarian influence there is. Sectarianism pervades Iraq but an even more extreme version of it pervades every other Arab country, even those that have only one sect (e.g. Egypt and North Africa). There is a lot of sectarianism in Iraq, unfortunately, but nothing as near as there is in Saudi Arabia and most other Arab countries. The Iraqi elections are imperfect but so have been elections in other countries (some of them downright funny although not humorous). Some might say that having no elections is the ‘optimum’ of political imperfections.

Ahmad Al Jarba is the Saudi-appointed leader of the Syrian Coalition of Something Opposition (the damn name keep changing every few months just as the leaders change, so I have lost track of the latest model). He was in Washington this past week, making what he has been told are the ‘right noises’, like opining that: “we seek to establish a civil democratic heterogeneous state in Syria………..”. Even as his Jihadi militia allies take hostages, chop heads, and kill, all based on identity.

Meanwhile there were some gruesome news from Saudi Arabia, the country whose princes appointed Mr. Al Jarba to lead an alternative to the Al Assad regime. Raef Badawi, the young man who started the Saudi Liberal Network had his original sentence increased to 10 years (from 7 years) in prison plus 1000 lashes (one thousand instead of 600) and a fine of one million shekels riyals. He had been was convicted of “opposing mainstream values”, meaning being a non-conformist, as well as mocking theologian symbols. Ten years and a heavy session with the official torturer for a thousand lashes for being a “non-conformist”. The Wahhabi court also recommended that he be tried for apostasy (changing his religion from Wahhabism) which carries a sentence of death.

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“An insider in Israel’s nuclear program believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is employing needless fearmongering when it comes to Iran’s atomic aspirations, in order to further his own political aims. Brigadier General (res.) Uzi Eilam, who for a decade headed the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, does not believe that Tehran is even close to having a bomb, if that is even what it really aspires to. “The Iranian nuclear program will only be operational in another 10 years,” declares Eilam, a senior official in Israel’s atomic program. “Even so, I am not sure that Iran wants the bomb.”………… “

“”Has the world learned a lesson from the mistakes of the past? Today we are again faced with clear facts and before a real danger. Iran calls for our destruction, it develops nuclear weapons.” The stated links between the Holocaust and Iran showed how more than six decades later, the mass murder of Jews during World War II is still a central part of Israel’s psyche……………”

So it seems that former senior Israeli professionals who know a few things tend to discount the nuclear fear being pushed by Mr. Netanyahu. These would be retired chiefs of Mossad, AEC, Defense, etc. 

“BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa extended on behalf of all BDF personnel heartfelt congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the election of Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hakim Al-Shenou as President of the International Military Sports Council (IMSC)…………..”

“His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has sent a cable of congratulations to Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hakim Al-Shenou on his election as President of the International Military Sports Council (CISM)….….”

“President of the General Organisation for Youth and Sport (GOYS) Hesham Mohammed Al-Jowdar has extended congratulations to the Kingdom’s leaders on the successive achievements by the Bahraini sports, which, he said, is the fruitful result of the outstanding conditions provided in the country. He lauded the election of Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hakim Al-Shenou as President of the International Military Sports Council (MISC)……….”

GOYS? CISM? IMSC? MISC? WTF?

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“In addition to those conventional threats is the threat of cyberwarfare. Thus, the Saudi military exercises, dubbed the “Sword of Abdullah,” included training on electronic warfare, which is no less dangerous than conventional threats. Cyberattacks could target banks, desalination plants and airports, especially since Saudi Arabia’s cyberinfrastructure is still weak and considered high risk. The cyberattack on Aramco petroleum company in 2012 has shown that anyone can access one of the most important sites of the Saudi economy. According to former US officials, Iran may have been behind the attack, which targeted 30,000 computers and caused significant losses for Aramco. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the Shamoon virus, which targeted Aramco, as the most destructive attack so far. Iran’s capabilities in electronic warfare are a challenge for the Gulf states, whose electronic infrastructure is weak. A report released in April by the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel (INSS) showed that Iran has cyberwarfare capabilities that make it one of the most active players on the international scene. Last February, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranian students to prepare for cyberwarfare…………….”

I was uncharacteristically flippant when I commented last week that “They called it “Abdullah’s Sword” possibly full of Freudian phallic symbolism. Still, isn’t that neighborly and downright sweet to call their war games after the King of Jordan?”

Since we are in the territory of suggestive macho names, let us do some comparisons.This is equivalent of the Russians calling their war games Putin’s Bare Chest (just keeping it appropriate for family news shows). Or the Americans calling theirs the Paws of Bo Obama (still beats Doo Doo of Bo Obama). Or Egyptians calling theirs suggestively Gun in the Pocket of Sisi.
Some older posts with more links on this:

“Last week, 128 clerics and Islamists formed the Syrian Islamic Council (SIC) in Istanbul with a stated mission to serve as a religious authority for all Sunnis in Syria. Unlike previous Islamic councils in the country, the SIC has combined three otherwise irreconcilable Islamic currents under one canopy: Sufis, Muslim Brotherhood and Sururis. This latter component deserves a closer look. They are a hybrid movement that blends Salafism with Muslim Brotherhood ideology, while not agreeing with either. The movement incorporates Wahhabi teachings, mainly those of the “father of Salafism” Ibn Taymiyya, with the Brotherhood’s teachings, including those of Sayyid Qutb, the “father of modern fundamentalism”. Sheikh Mohammed Surur Zain Al Abedine, a former member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, founded the movement in the 1970s in Saudi Arabia……………..”

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“Head of the Syrian opposition bloc Ahmad al-Jarba failed to radically change the American stance, and Washington still rejects providing the militant groups in Syria with air defense systems, fearing the possibility that the migh fall into terrorists’ hands. Syrian opposition can only expect raising its political representation in Washington and London as well as sending weaponry batches that will not change the battlefield situation, yet aim at reaching a minimum level of the balance which would impose on the Syrian government a political process. American officials also told al-Jarba that the regular armies in the Middle East has become a strategic American necessity in the context of the anti-terror war………….”

Also sprach Al-Manar network of Hezbollah in Lebanon, almost gleefully. No sources quoted directly or cited, just out of the blue. Maybe, but apparently the French have not heard of this new policy: they just accused the Damascus regime of using chemical weapons, for the tenth or fifteenth time.