McCain’s Folly:
Senator McCain has called for a long-term US presence in Iraq. This is hopefully just a political ploy as the primaries head into the conservative Western states- otherwise it is a recipe for resumed guerrilla/terrorist/insurgent wars long into the future. Surge or no surge, once it becomes clear that the US is there to stay, bombings and roadside explosives will resume in Iraq. The fact is that Iraq cannot be ruled by foreigners, be they Americans, Iranians, or Arabs. It is not like the Philippines, Germany or Japan. It is a country that has deep tribal, ethnic, and sectarian divisions and has always been deeply suspicious of foreign powers. McCain’s cavalier attitude toward a long-term occupation is foolish, for it will surely lead to a re-surgence of the insurgency/terrorism of 2004-2007. The current surge may, just may, calm things in Iraq enough help get him, or another Republican, elected president: I certainly hope the election's outcome will be different. In that case it may also cause his defeat four years later.

Alzawraa Iraqi (Sunni) web site reports that US forces distribute development funds in al-Anbar province only through the local sheikhs who are members of the Awakening Councils. The report claims that millions of dollars are distributed without going through the normal procedures and channels for such development projects.
Come to think of it, the whole being of the Awakening Councils is outside the bounds of normal Iraqi political procedures and channels- so what are a few million dollars to grease the greasy palms of some shaikhs on the payroll? Shaikh Ahmad Abu Risha, whose brother was killed last year, and probably the biggest beneficiary of such money, has denied the allegations, reminding us that there are no alligators in Iraq.

It can kill you: aafaq reports that an Iranian youth aged 22 years has been sentenced to death for drinking alcohol for times. Apparently during the fourth time the man pushed his luck and decided to carry his party outside into the streets. Imbibers are flogged and jailed, but technically a drinker can be sentenced to death if he confesses to having imbibed at least four times. Now the question is: how the hell did they get him to confess? The case is subject to appeal.
Recently tow sisters were sentenced to death in Iran after being convicted of adultery. This intrigues me: what about the men involved? Normally it takes at least two to commit adultery, except maybe in Pakistan.

The Infanticide Law West of Aramco: Speaking of executions, Aalarabiya reports that last July a Saudi teenager aged 15 years was executed by beheading, after being convicted of murdering another teen when he was at the age of 13. There is a dispute about whether international rules that prohibit execution of minors aged 13-15 years apply here. In any case, the boy’s family is suing for $ 2.7 million. Apparently Saudi law does not go by age, but by whether the accused is physically mature- wtf this means.

The family lawyer has stated that until now the boy’s body has not been returned to his family. The family were not told of the execution until they went and tried to visit him. The victim, another boy, was found murdered with signs of sexual assault. The lawyer has said that the convicted boy was beaten up until he ‘confessed’.
Sneaky Saudis, they probably executed the child so fast and so secretly to avoid having to bow to an international uproar.

Gulf Reflections:
You can take the person out of the tribe, but you can’t take the tribe out of the person: I recalled this fact during my trip back to the hometown on the Gulf last month. Societies change, but some things are difficult to shake off. Talking politics with a friend when I was back, and this being the Gulf region, the subject touched on US elections and the role of families in politics. He mentioned Ford, the former US president, and commented on how famous and rich families in the United States as well tend to amass political power. He also mentioned the Kennedys. I tried to correct him, briefly explaining that Gerald Ford was not of the FORD family, Ford as in Edsel, and that in the old days the Irish-Catholic Kennedys were not considered among the ‘in’ families in America. He seemed doubtful: how can the man be named Ford unless he belonged to the Ford family? Which of course made sense, in a Gulf Arab context. I though that it would be too much of a shock for him if I fully explained Mr. Ford’s background.

This was not the first time I had seen this, especially about Ford, because of his famous name. I have read past newspaper columns in the Gulf region mentioning the same point, how powerful business families reach power in America, and using Gerald Ford as an example.

This is a Gulfie phenomenon, where societies are small, and the powerful merchant families are a handful and they tend to jealously guard the influence and political clout their names have bestowed on them so far. While these families tend to intermarry in order to keep the wealth within the families and not dilute the political clout, the world around them is changing rapidly, and the general population, the plebeians, the plebs (I would not say the proletarii), are growing very fast, with all that entails in a shift of political power and new economic demands. This creates much insecurity among the few families that were used to having power and unlimited access to the rulers. This partly explains the clamor for changing electoral districts in order to dilute the “others’” votes, especially the Bedouin desert people who are strongly allied with Sunni Salafi fundamentalist groups. (The Shi’a vote has been taken care of: somehow they never get more than 10% of the legislative seats- it is almost like a quota, but perhaps that is so because they often tend to vote for their own fundamentalist candidates like everyone else..…perhaps).

This obsession with names gets carried to absurd limits sometimes: A few years ago a famous newspaper owner, chief editor, and businessman noted that someone carried the same family name as his but was not related to him. It was someone he apparently thought was not of the right class. So he purchased advertisements in several daily newspapers, bold half-page ads, to the effect that a Mr. So-and-So, who chanced to carry the same last name as the advertiser, was in fact not related to him or anyone of his family. People were amused about the ads, but nobody thought it too odd. Try putting this kind of an ad during Super Bowl: it will handily beat Go-Daddy and Anheuser-Busch ads. Well, maybe not Go-Daddy’s.
Cheers
Mohammed