(This entry is from my other web site)

Le Mufti





Mr. Bush and oil prices:
Mr. Bush is heading to the Middle East again! Which means, if past history of such visits is any indication, that oil prices will start rising. Over the past two yeas at least, every time Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney visited the region oil prices moved up at the end of their visit. This time oil prices spiked up before the visit, as soon as it was announced. The visit was partially discounted by the market. Today it moved up and I expect a brief pullback while he is enroute or on the first day of the trip, perhaps tomorrow or the day after. After that, some time over the next week, look out, it will rise again! The veto-proof Congressional vote today about replenishing the Strategic Reserve may help.

A Mufti has an epiphany, squeals:
In the Arab countries, in fact in almost all Moslem countries, there is someone called a Mufti. he issues religious edict that get a lot of publicity. A Mufti, however, is in fact no more than a religious bureaucrat appointed by the ruler (king, emir, president-for-life, etc.). He always issues edicts that agree with whatever the current ruler's policies are. I do not recall a mufti ever issuing an edict criticizing the government, or disagreeing with its policies. A mufti's job is to support and justify the ruler's actions.

Today the Mufti of Saudi Arabia (the dapper bearded gentleman in the photo above) issued a fatwa, a religious edict during a lecture that Hizbullah does not belong to Islam. He did not explain how he came upon such information, or when he had the epiphany. (In fact the mufti never believed that Shi'as of any stripe belong to Islam).

He said that Hizbullah cooperates with the "Jews", and that it prepares the ground for the entry of Jews and other heathens into the land of Islam.

The Mufti is Shaikh Abdulaziz al-Shaikh, his last name indicating that he is a descendant of Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab the founder of the Wahhabism, the very same ideology that has given us the Salafis, al-Qaeda, Taliban, al-Zarqawi and UBL. He is not to be confused with the great Mohammed Abdelwahab, the late great Egyptian composer and singer who was not a Wahhabi and had nothing with such fundamentalist ideology, as far as I know.

Comments on Lebanon:
My version: The Lebanese are probably the biggest idiots in the Arab world, no mean feat. Every generation or so their warlords start another civil war for which they invariably blame outsiders. They may be right this time: part of the blame lies with the regional and foreign backers of BOTH sides.

Elaph (Saudi) agonizes over "How the Hariri militias collapsed within hours?". It headlines that "fighters assert their leaders betrayed them." It quotes the LA Times that Mr. Hariri depended on hired mercenaries from a specialized company to fight his battles for him. It notes that they surrendered quickly to Hizbullah fighters who truned them over to the Lebanese army. So much for motivation.

Others note that the cabinet will agree to a deal whereby it rescinds its decision about the airport security chief and Hizbullah cimmunications, and the Hizbullah will end the civil disobedience. Probably a non-starter. Most likely Hariri and Co. will agree with the army and rescind the cabinet decisions unilaterally.

Asharq alawsat (Saudi) agonizes over the neutrality of the Lebanese Army: "What a starnge Army!" an article headlines (To which I say: relax, it is only a typical Arab army). Except that the Lebanese Army must remain neutral, otherwise it won't be a "Lebanese army", it would break up into its factions and sects. Maybe this is what they want for it.

The Saudi al-watan editorial warns that "Time is not on our side. It is on the side of al-Qaeda and Hizbullah." Except that al-Qaeda is not related to Hizbullah: it is closer to the editor and his bosses than to Hizbullah.

Mamoun Fandy, who is close to the Saudis and is with one of the "think" tanks in Washington, writes in a Kuwaiti daily (aljareeda) warning against an "Iranian Lobby" in Egypt. Now I have heard everything: an Iranian lobby in Egypt! This is like warning of an Obama lobby in West Virginia. He reminds me of the man at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft years ago: he carried a sign that said "The End is Near".

A Jordanian writer who lives in the US has a cute take on events: the battles and the defeat of the Saniora-Hariri were part of a trap set for Hiizbullah, and it fell for it! De Nial is a river in Egypt!

Both Mr. Bush and the Lebanese leaders get some severe criticism. There are hints in the media of the moderate New Middle East (with all the birth pangs) that the rump-cabinet was betrayed by its foreign (and Arab?) friends. That they were encouraged to challenge Hizbullah and were not supported when it foolishly did so.
Cheers
Mohammed