Iran Faces Operation Sting, Saudis Seek a Cup

(This item was originally posted on my website)
Iranian Sting:
Arab media are buzzing with excitement, widely quoting a Russian press report that the United States has set April 6th as the date to attack Iranian installations. In the past, media expectations have ranged from merely surgical attacks on suspected nuclear sites to WWII-style carpet bombing of the infra-structure. The farther one gets from the Persian Gulf, the more limited the operation gets according to local media, perhaps reflecting reduced tensions and other baggage. Most Gulf media have fully expected an armageddon-style assault that will put an end to the mullah theocracy...but that is clearly a severe case of wishful thinking. Lately, though, some hawkish newspapers have been playing a dirge, lamenting the possibility of an unlikely Iranian-American detente that could divide up the area into spheres of influence, save lives, as well as, oy vey (that would mean heaven forbid in this context), cement the structural changes in Iraqi politics. On va voir.

The reports claim the raids will last from dawn until dusk (and it ain't even Ramadan yet), and that they will target at least 20 'secret' Iranian nuclear and military sites, using missiles and bombers. The operation is supposed to delay Iran's nuclear program by 5 to 7 years. Called 'The Sting', the operation will not be a scam-within-a-scam, and will not star Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or Robert Shaw. It will, however, be in the thick of Prohibition, so to speak. Hopefuly, this time the operation will be based on more than offshore intelligence from some Iranian exiles. And no spectacular 'slam dunk' this time, eh?
Whatever happened to the genteel old days, with their genteel and discreet good old ways.....as in 'Operation Ajax' of 1953? Imagine the insult of those genteel methods, using a Greek name for a Tehran operation. Unless it was innocently named for a cleanser. But then, hey, either way it worked...for a quarter of a century exactly.

Sadr City:
While American officials hint at, and the media stress, that the operation in Sadr City is friendlier than previously thought, Muqtada al-Sadr is grumbling about American occupation again. He has complaind of a campaign of lies and rumors spread by the occupation. Perhaps he wants to stay in practice....he needs his own unpredictable and violent Cato, like a chubby young Clauseau in Mesopotamia. Or perhaps he is content to see American armor pummel the Sunni Jihadists on the outskirts of Baghdad and beyond, but still needs to keep al-Maliki on his toes.

Saudi Arabia and the Cup:
The Saudi Soccer Federation has done it again. They just fired their Brazilian coach, and hired another Brazilian coach. The Suadis have been hiring and firing foreign football (soccer) coaches at an amazing rate over the past two decades. The average tenure for a coach for the past decade has been about one year or less: that is not long enough for him to know every player's name, let alone convert from Catholicism. With all that oil money, you'd think they would be able to buy a cup....a World Cup, an Asian Cup, a Gulf Cup.....a Starbucks latte...any cup. But they are not alone- the older Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lost ground in sports for ten years now. Newcomers like UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain are the leaders- perhaps because their sports bureaucracies have not had time to become as corrupt, not yet. Perhaps it is time to fire the royal princes who always run the sports federations in these states like feudal fiefdoms, and keep the Brazilian coaches??
Cheers
Mohammed