Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Saudi Human Rights ‘Authority’ is a government organization, as its name implies. It is run by state-paid bureaucrats, headed by an Arabian uber-shaikh or a red-checkered commissar. It is not concerned with human rights within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, no there is no such thing: its main concern is to look after Saudi detainees outside the country. Like those incarcerated at Club Guantanamo, and those many being held in Iraq for terrorism, and those being held in Syria for trying to sneak into Iraq, and those being held in Lebanon for leading the Fath al-Islam Salafi jihadist group in the ongoing battle against the Lebanese army.

Saudi media, owned or controlled by the ruling family and its retainers, are claiming that Saudis are being tricked into going to fight in Iraq and Lebanon. Reports indicate that perhaps almost 50% of the bombers in Iraq are Saudi Jihadists, and recent reports claim the the leader of Fath al-Islam is a Saudi.
Mosque imams and shaikhs regularly call for jihad to overthrow the Shi’a-dominated government in Iraq, and apparently there are some who listen and others who are willing to finance them. The kingdom is a tight police state, and it is highly unlikely that so many jihadists can cross its borders without being detected by security agents: they certainly have no difficulty catching in-filtrators, so why not catch the ex-filtrators as well?

Saudi Arabia has a clear interest in a chaotic Iraq right now, because that may be the only way to change the regime and perhaps even push the United States toward a confrontation with Iran, and give the amenable Sunni tribal shaikhs of the western regions a chance to ‘look good’ by opposing their former, and perhaps future, al-Qaeda allies.

Speaking of democracy: Prince Nayef, the powerful Saudi Minister of Interior (the man in charge of police, security, and controlling the borders) provided an interesting, and typical, insight the other day. He said that when he looks at the faces in the Shaura Council (the appointed and powerless consultative council) he sees good and wise faces. He said that is what matters, the presence of good and wise men on the council, regardless of how they got there. That is the message for his people who are not dim-witted and can take a hint: it does not matter if these men were appointed by the king rather than elected, as long as they are the right men. Oh, the oratory, the logic; eat your heart out, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Meanwhile, al-Jazeera TV reports (7/21) that Saudi police arrested several ‘reform’ activists and that there were two women among them: the women were arrested because they publicly protested the arrest of their husbands. Police have claimed that the women had arms hidden in one of their homes, but al-Jazeera quotes Amnesty International that the weapons were put in place by the police.

Speaking of Amnesty International: it is mounting a campaign to save an Iranian woman from execution by stoning for adultery. Amnesty reports that her co-defendant/lover was stoned to death earlier this month. The couple were arrested eleven years ago, but now the woman’s execution has been postponed due to international pressure. Looks like the Iranian mullahs are picking up the slack after the Taliban left the scene, perhaps temporarily, in 2001.

Al-Jazeera also quotes U.S ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker that Iran continues to arm militias in Iraq. Meanwhile, part of the new U.S policy is to arm Sunni militants who have been shooting at and blowing up American soldiers and Iraqis. Now we have a continued vicious circle in Iraq: oil money from the Gulf for years helped arm Sunni jihadists and terrorists many of whom came from the Gulf- Iran helped arm Shi’a (Shii’ite) groups- now the United States is arming Sunni militias while it complains about Iran arming Shi’as- then Iran will continue arming Shi’as- Iraqi officials are blaming Saudi sources for funding the terrorists- Saudis and their allies are blaming Iran for the situation in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon- and perhaps Darfur, the Congo and global warming as well for good measure- with the enthusiastic agreement of the Bush administration………ad nauseaum.

One odd question: when U.S troops kill an odd Lebanese Shi’a, or arrest four or five Iranians in Iraq, both rare events that occurred only once, the incidents are touted in the media as evidence of Iranian interference, and perhaps they are. However, when Saudis and others are arrested and killed in the hundreds in Iraq, clearly al-Qaeda jihadists, there is no official comment. Now, if one Lebanese killed in Iraq indicates Hezbollah interference, then tell me s’il vous plait: the many hundreds of Saudis killed and arrested in Iraq indicates…….what???

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People should read this.

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