Saudi Alarabiya TV reports (July 26) exciting news! A study by a “famous American institution”, no less, indicates how popular Saudia Arabia and her regime are around the world, especially the Arab world. Saudi King Abdullah is listed as extremely popular across the Middle East. The King is listed as the most admired Arab leader around the world (perhaps not much of a contest, but highly suspect nevertheless in my humble view). The study purportedly covers 47 countries, including 11 Arab and Islamic countries.

According to the study by Pew Research, 91% of Egyptians are happy with Saudi policy! That must include many who voted, or tried to vote, for the opposition. In Jordan, 90% expressed admiration for Saudi Arabia and her policies. In Kuwait 79%. The real shock, and the clincher, the smoking gun if you will, is that 82% of all Lebanese admire Saudi Arabia, her government and her king!
Imagine, in Lebanon, a country with 35-40% Shi’a (Shi’ite) at least! The study claims that 94% of Lebanse Sunnis admire Saudi policy and government and that the percentage declines to 64% among Shi’as. Imagine, a majority of Hezbollah and Amal-supporting Shi’as love and admire the Saudi system! Why, the king can run and win in Lebanon! No need for Saudi surrogates like Mr. Hariri or Iranian surrogates like Hezbollah.

It gets better: Egypt is the second most admired country- I can see the country being loved and admired, but its somnolent government? not so sure about that.

Now, the question is: did Pew Research really do this survey as Alarabiya claims? If they did, how did they manipulate the data to get the results desired by the Saudi regime? Were they supplied with the samples they used? And how much did they get paid for it, and by whom? I could not find an answer on Pew's web site, and no mention of this particular study. Perhaps it was a privately commissioned study?
Pew does list a recent study that indicates support for suicide bombing in Moslem countries has dropped dramatically in recent years, but it includes no squeals of admiration for Saudi or other Arab and Moslem potentates. Now if only the well of avalable and willing suicide bombers would dry up.

NY Times (July 27) reports that U.S officials are publicly exasperated, finally, with Saudi support for Sunni militias in Iraq. Saudi Arabia is also urging other Persian Gulf states to do likewise and funnel money to Sunni armed groups in Iraq, with the goal of destabilizing the Iraqi government. Saudi Arabia has some experience in financing groups, mainly tribals and jihadists, that would destabilize governments: examples are Yemen in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, Lebanon, and Iraq.

Cheers
Mohammed

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???

Saudi Arabia has an "Authority" on Human Rights. It is a government-sanctioned and funded organizaion. That is why it does not advocate human rights within Saudi Arabia. It busiees itself with the human rights of Saudi outside the country: like those in Guantanamo, and those in prison in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and other countries for involvement or suspicion of terrorism.

Axe kissing journalism:
S. Atallah, a Lebanese pen for hire penned today in the Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat. Saudi media carries a lot of essays and articles about the slef-denial and wisdom of the royals, all 5,000+ of them:

“Before entering the office of Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz, one recalls what a British military expert said that 'Saudi Arabia is fighting the battle against terrorism in the name of the whole world'(which would be fair if true, since the kingdom for decades provided the money, ideology and teachers for the schools that produced the terrorists).. And one remembers what Prince Nayef said two weeks ago about the numbers of suspects and detainees....
"While I listened to Prince Nayef I envisioned an Arab world that King Abdullah has said faces dis-integration......I did not know where to start my questioning (apparently he resolved this thorny issue)….Prince Nayef seems, with the background of domestic security challenges and regional security complexities, of steely nerves and determination.”

A Saga of Arab Corruption and Politics:
"If the master of the house plays the tambourine, it is no wonder that the members of the household will take up belly dancing."

"Itha kana rub al-beite biddafi dhariban, fa ina sheemati ahlul beite heeya al raqsu."

That is one famous and beautiful Arabic saying that is not used often enough these days. It succinctly explains how the culture of corruption has seeped from the top, from the ruling classes, down to the lowest bureaucrats. These days, the Arab region is as awash as ever in scandals- perhaps more than ever because oil prices and revenues are up and hence the stakes are higher. For those non-oil states, foreign aid is also at higher levels than ever, so there is more temptation: note the experience of PLO-Fatah over the past decade.

Corruption, always ubiquitous in the Middle East even when not headlined in public, has been making headlines again in the Arab World-at least in the offfshore media and in the few places where the press are allowed some freedom, and in private conversations.

Some Arab and foreign media are reporting, or alleging, that the new Fatah-appointed Palestinian prime minister Fayyad, himself a former World Bank bureaucrat, has confiscated millions from bank accounts of Fatah security chief Mohammad Dahlan, who is currently in Cairo for knee surgery (how many ordinary Palestinians from Gaza are flown to Cairo for medical treatment?). Dahlan was head of the superior Fatah security forces when they were easily defeated in Gaza by the smaller fundamentalist forces of Hamas.

The Independent reports Sunday that some British Labor Party politicians want further investigations into the famous BAE-Saudi bribery scandal- the GBP 1 billion (about US$ 2 billion) that was allegedly paid to Prince Bandar Bin Sultan since the 1980s. This comes as finalization of a deal seems to be near for the sale of more warplanes to Saudi Arabia. Saudi media, and most Gulf and Arab media have studiously ignored these reports.

The prize for the most complex, most convoluted web of corruption easily goes to Kuwait, which is the ountry with the most press freedom on either side of the Persian Gulf. The saga there reads like a multi-layered plot worthy of Alexandre Dumas (complete with dishdasha-clad Rocheforts, some elusive Miladys, but alas, no D'Artagnan). It is not clear as yet how much of the saga is the truth and how much fiction, but what is certain is that there is a lot of truth in it. It can only happen in Kuwait with its robust free media, weakened government, and feuding tribal politicians allied with Islamist fundamentalists, and its potentates grasping for power slipping out of their hands. So, fasten your seat belts, and here goes:

In Kuwait, the Minister of Oil Shaikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah was forced to resign last week. There have been allegations that he has tried to cover up corruption by current and past high officials in the Ministry of Oil and its satellite corporations, all arms of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). As an example, the best he could say when he took over about one KPC CEO, a Mr. H. Hussein, who apparently resigned under pressure, was that "there are no suspicions about him". That was a good one as far as endorsements go- I think it will become a classic some day.
Still, there are no suspicions against the minister himself personally- it is a culture of corruption that he inherited and tried to serve.

The minister who preceded him, Shaikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah was also forced to resign from the previous cabinet for the same reasons. But he was kicked up- to Head of National Security, sort of like Condi Rice used to be, or Henry Kissinger (wow! n'est-ce pas?).

But this saga gets mor complex and hence more interesting: Shaikh Ali al-Khalifa al Sabah, Minister of Oil (and for a while of Finance) during the 1980s until 1991, has been ordered apprehended this week because he refused to attend a court-ordered hearing. He claims he is waiting for surgery in the united States scheduled for mid-September- a cute idea but not original. Shaikh Ali owns the conservative daily newspaper al-Watan. He has been accused for years of involvement in scandals in the Ministries of Oil and Finance, in the Kuwait Oil Tankers Company and in Kuwait's foreign investments (KIO) during the period. Some of his alleged co-conspirators, a F. M. al-Sabah, a K. al-Sabah, a F. Jaafar, and an A. F. al-Bader are wanted but refuse to return to the country, reportedly spending their hard-earned money between the Caribbean, Canada, and other desolate places.
Two other royal finance ministers during the 1990s were dumped quickly after clear cases of suspicious financial dealings and gross incompetence.
So what is this obsession with holding the Oil Ministry under 'reliable' people? Is it to cover up past misdeeds? Or do these guys like going to Vienna.....

Now Shaikh Talal M. al-Sabah, the chairman of the state-owned and continually loss-incurring Kuwait Airways is coming under suspicion and questioning for gross financial improprieties in the company. In fairness to the man, corruption in heavily state-subsidized KAC, like in state-owned oil corporations, has been part of the corporate culture long before his arrival. The company has long been a playground and cash cow for unemployed, and otherwise unemployable, sons of influential potentates. I would have thought the KAC scandals would have been investigated long ago, perhaps since the late 1970s when US reports (The Wall Street Journal) published documents about bribery payments by American aircraft producers to the CEO and high KAC officials (all potentates, but not royals at that time). So, corruption has been 'the corporate culture' of the KAC for decades. The current chairman claims that 'all supervisory authorities' agree that the company 'never had any improprieties'- he should be fired for this silly statement alone.

Waiting in the wings, belatedly trying hard to play a statesman, is the Speaker of the legislature Jassim al-Kharafi, a former Minister of Finance during 1985-1990. There are no suspicions of personal corruption about him. But he had the habit of appointing incompetents to high positions in the government and in state-owned corporations, provided they were his cronies or residents of his own district. Apparently he firmly believed in a kind of system of confederation...no, not necessarily a confederation of dunces.

On the other hand, there are some who claim that tribal legislators, clamoring for advantages for their own various tribes, are using scandal-mongering to pressure ministers into hiring thousands of their otherwise unemployable tribesmen. This is only partly true, because where there is smoke, there might be fire. Vive la tribu.

At least the media in Kuwait, unlike the rest of the Persian Gulf states, are allowed to cover these scandals, for now, and some of them do.

Cheers
Mohammed

Also Sprach Feltman?
Arab media gave extensive coverage to a recent interview on a pro-Hariri television station by the U.S ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman. Probably nobody is disliked more by supporters of the opposition in Lebanon than Mr. Feltman. The interview heartened some media in the Persian Gulf states, who would like the United States to be more assertive in Lebanon and in the region as a whole.

Apparently Mr. Feltman stressed certain developments about Lebanon’s internal politics- he went so far as to stress that the leadership of the army will stand by the Saniora government against the opposition (according to the highly unreliable Kuwaiti daily rag al-seyassah). It is not clear if he actually said that about the army, and alseyassah is notorious for distorting news and statements. However, if he did say it, it was a foolish thing. Lebanon's army must stay out of domestic political rivalries, otherwise it will break up into sectarian factions, which would make it a useless tool for either side.

Predictably, Hezbollah TV was quick to headline that: “There was no need for a TV interview to show that Feltman is the true leader of the March 15 forces (the Saniora-Hariri axis), since everybody already knows that he is their leader”.
The interview was probably aimed at reassuring the Hariri-Saniora followers and perhaps sending signals to the opposition, but its overall effect is highly doubtful.

Meanwhile, in a new twist, Lebanese security are reported to have fingered the Fath al-Islam (Sunni Salafi) terrorist group as being behind the killing of former Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel last year. This is the same group that the Lebanese army has failed to defeat in a Palestinian refugee camp. Reports indicate that many among its members are neither Palestinians, Syrians, or Lebanese: but rather many of those killed and captured have been Saudi sympathizers of al-Qaeda.
Cheers
Mohammed

Iraqi Politics: a Flashback
Apparently the Sunni insurgents in Iraq are splitting up. Right now, it looks like some are ending their alliance with al-Qaeda. Soon there will be other break-ups along tribal and clan lines as well- there are already signs of splits even within the parliamentary Tawafuq Sunni group. The Shi'as have their own two major divisions, between the Sadrists and the former SCIRI, the al-Hakeem group. The Da'awa Party of PM al-Maliki was the main target of the Ba'ath regime and the scourge of its royal allies in the Persian Gulf tribal monarchies during the 1980s. But the Da'awa does not have a large popular base now: the Sadrist movement has taken over much of that.

Some news reports now claim that part of a major Sunni insurgent group in Iraq, dubbed the "the 1920 Revolution" has been shifting away from al-Qaeda and may be receiving U.S arms to fight its 'former' allies.

Ironically, the 1920 Revolution, later called al-thawra al-Iraqiyya al-Kubra , was a rebellion against the British occupation after World War I and its plan of creating a mandate in Iraq. It led to some cooperation between the majority Shi'as and the Sunni ulema religious elders against the British. Grand Ayatollah Shirazi issued a fatwa at the time, pointing out that it was against Islamic law for Muslims to countenance being ruled by non-Muslims.

The Sunni elites had in the past supported the Tukish-Ottoman rule, and they saw an opening with the Brits, which they exploited. They quickly became the favorites of the likes of Gertrude Bell and Percy Cox. The Shi'as and the Kurds were vehemently opposed to British rule. Those two groups bore the brunt of British anger and armor, as their villages and towns were bombed and shelled.

In the end the British were forced to form an 'Iraqi' government for the new country, but this government was not totally 'Iraqi': it was mainly a Sunni regime, formed largely of imported former Ottoman lackeys from Syria and Hijaz and local Ottoman lackeys from places like Baghdad and Samarra. In the end the British had their revenge on the rebellious Shi'as: they gave the power in the new Iraqi state to the Sunni minority, who held it with force until 2003. The Kurds, as usual, got the worst deal: they were effectively relegated to third-class citizenship, just behind the Shi'as.
Cheers
Mohammed

Failed States:
Foreign Policy magazine has issued its list of "Failed States" for 2007, for all its worth:

The Arabs win the gold, the silver, and the bronze this time: the top three states, i.e the three most failed states on the list, are members of the Arab League. The Africans are close behind, nipping at their heels.

There are eight Arab states among the top 60. Which means that almost half the League members are defined here as failed states of one degree or another. Many other grossly mismanaged Arab states are probably not defined as such only because of three important letters O-I-L. A steep drop in petroleum prices, although unlikely right now, could easily double the number of failed Arab states: remember, when crude prices were at around than $ 10-15 a barrel, Saudi Arabia was largely considered a near-failed state.

The top eight Arab states include, by improving order (from worst to less bad?): Sudan (1), Iraq (2), Somalia (3), Yemen (24), Lebanon (28), Egypt (36), Syria (40).
There are 20 Moslem states among the top 60, and 7 among the top 20.

The top 20 (the worst 20) are all African, Arab, or Moslem states, with the exception of North Korea and Burma (this dubious company should make Kim Jung Il in his Dear Leader tight khakis really pissed).

Palestinian Divisions:
Arab media report that the Fatah-PLO in the West Bank is threatened with a split of its own. Icons (or relics, depending on your politics) of the Old old guard such as Farouq Kaddoumi and Hani Al-Hassan have raised objections to President Abbas' policies regarding the peace process and disarming some militias.

Meanwhile, the prospect of holding U.N supervised elections in both Gaza and the West Bank is being raised, but it looks like neither side wants the elections on his own territory (where are you Jimmy Carter when they need you?)

Then again, what happens if Hamas wins again, in BOTH territories? This possibility cannot be dismissed if the elections are fair and open- the Fatah has dug a deep hole of corruption for itself since the Oslo agreement. And Palestinian voters are crazy and desperate enough to do it. Perhaps all those Fatah ministers and ex-ministers can be persuaded to give back the money, liquidate assets across Europe and points beyond. Perhaps with a little help from their friends....perhaps a few millions of those famous BAE billions that were received by a certain influential Saudi prince-diplomat-ambassador in Washington, and eluded the British SFO, with the help of Tony Blair?

Which brings me to Mr. Blair, mostly a nice guy, really, in spite of his Alfred E. Newman looks- come to think of it, isn't there another very famous Western leader who also resembles Alfred E. Newman?
But don't hold your breath for yo Blair to achieve a breakthrough in his new job as 'mediator' in the Middle East.

Iranians are getting restive over the government's inept economic policies and its renewed crackdown on reformers and women who show some hair. Last week, gasoline had to be rationed, and this hit people where it really hurts, especially in a country that sits on an ocean of petroleum.
Cheers
Mohammed

The Saudi offshore satellite television station Alarbiya, controlled by a royal prince, has been leading a crusade (no pun here) against what it sees as Shi'a (Shi'ite) expansionism. This started ever since a Shi'a- Kurdish led coalition was elected to run Iraq. But it has escalated since the Israeli-Hezballah war last summer and the increased rivalry between the Shi'a block in Lebanon (Hizballah and Amal) and the Saudi-allied Hariri block and its partners (Mr Saad Hariri is also a Saudi citizen). This trend is evident all across the Saudi press, especially the offshore media like Asharq Alawsat (Middle East), Alhayat, and Alarabiya.

These media outlets often, almost daily, exchange their editorials and opinion columns. Alarabiya periodically reports on 'uncovering' Shi'a 'converts' around the Arab world. It has reported on Algerian security uncovering teachers who had 'converted' to Shi'ism, and has extensively reported on allegations of Egyptian, Sudanese, and especially Palestinian conversions. It never mentions whether these converts hide in dark catacombs, but it does imply that there is something sinister about the whole thing.....it is soooo un-Wahhabi.

Today it headlined with a report of a dangerous new trend: Shi'as in Egypt seeking to establish a house of worship!!! Oy vey, what will they try next? A synagogue in Riyadh?
Cheers
Mohammed

The Queen of England bestowing a knighthood on Salman Rushdie has stirred a lot of controversy in the Middle East. Arabs, Pakistanis and Iranians are pissed about it, to put it mildly. No word from the mellow Turks yet, the Afghans don't count in this case, and the wily Nigerians are trying to figure out a way to use the issue in their national specialty: the world renouned oil and banking charity scams. Soon there will be emails and letters flying from Lagos, Abuja and London offering a part of the Rushdie fortune, a knighthood by the Queen, or perhaps a new lofty title by some Pakistani shaikh.

But the furor is not as would have been expected in the past, say a few years ago. Normally this would be a good sign, except for the factors behind it. Too many issues, or regional disasters, compete with the Old Queen and the irreverent author for the headlines these days: Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Nuclear weapons, sectarian issues, etc. Perhaps if the Queen had waited until Christmas Eve......

A Pakistani organizaton of 'ulema, Islamic religious leaders, has countered the queen's action with one of its own. The Council of Pakistani 'Ulema, with 2,000 clerical members, has awarded Usama (Osama) Bin Laden a new title: Sword of Allah. Now, old Usama can't go around being called Sir Usama, not yet, but he can be called Saif al-Islam, or just plain 'Saif'. Come to think of it, this is the very same title bestowed on Saddam Hussein in the 1980s by some of the elite 'thinkers' (that is what they were called), and elite poets (and very elite poetesses) among his future Arab victims on the Gulf. Except they called him Sword of the Arabs, instead of Sword of Allah. They weren't as ambitious for him as the Pakistanis are for Usama.

As for old Usama (Osama), you infidel kaffirs in the West can call him plain 'Sword' if you wish.
Cheers
Mohammed

Saudi media, mostly owned or controlled by royal princes, has a large supply of mercenary journalists in reserve. These are often non-Saudi Arabs who have seen the light, discovered the joys of an absolute tribal monarchy, and shifted their ideology toward extolling the virtues of said tribal absolute monarchy. They are supposed to lend outside credibility to whatever the newspaper has to say.

I have selected an article from the Saudi newspaper Asharq Alawsat, one of several candidates for what I have in mind, written by someone named Ghassan al-Imam. Here is an abridged example of such groveling huat journalisme: (the italics in parentheses are my own comments):

“I have always said that the Moslem Brotherhood (such as Hamas) are not qualified to build a democratic and cooperative relationship (such as exists in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states?) with other political forces, once they have taken political control (surprise, surprise). I want to continue talking of the Arabhood of Saudi Arabia (another surprise, give the word ‘Arabia’ in the name), and the necessity of facing up to the fierce foreign and alien (referring to both the USA and Iran) assault on the Arab nation, whether in the call for jihad or in the name of American calls for democratic reform….

“I am not presenting here some propaganda for the Saudi policy, but I am presenting an explanatory vision of the history of the Saudi state through three centuries (try seventy five years). My vision differs from the traditional visions, with the goal of correcting deliberate distortions that are done to a historic Arab state. These are also done from outside by groups that take sanctuary overseas (could they do that in Riyadh, par exemple, without getting their heads chopped off?)

“Several years ago, I explained the history of the Saudi State in a series of articles, on these very same pages. I was shocked to discover that Arabs, and many Saudis, do not know this epic, struggling history (he uses the term ni’dhali, which implies fighting for freedom and justice, or perhaps the right to strike). However, an individual effort is not adequate. We need for historians, academicians, and thinkers (but no booty kissers?) to present a modern vision of the ‘Saudi Project’ to future generations (and how do you present a modern vision of a tribal absolute monarchy-theocracy?).

“The Saudi state had the aim of unification from the outset…...the Saudi family used its alliance with the faith deliberately to promote unity among the tribes….as a precursor to modernizing them (what a sneaky thing to do)…..

“The nineteenth century was a fierce fiery Saudi struggle for liberation, and some Saudi rulers paid a high price for it (so, we do have a Nelson Mandela al-Saud somewhere).

“King Abdulaziz was a visionary, who bided his time wisely for thirty years, before declaring his unified state (of course first he had to defeat and take over such autonomous regions as the birthplace of Islam Hijaz and oil-rich al-A’hsaa, but these are mere details) , and when he did declare his project o Arab unity, he gave the country the name of Arabia (very decent of him, and I thought that has been its name since before Islam, as in Arabia Deserta. He also gave the country his own family name).

“King Abdulaziz’ vision was even socialist, as when he established a cooperative farm (was this on the model of a Soviet Kolkhuz, or an early Zionist Kibbutz? Was the King inspired by Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Jabotinsky, or Ben Gurion? Alas, the writer does not say.) ……”
Such groveling nonsense has been a hallmark of a lot of the media in the Gulf, particularly the Saudi media.
Cheers
Mohammed

Panmunjom of Palestine, Arab Political ED and the Blue Pill
Interesting, Mr. Bush mentioned a possible Korean style situation for Iraq- he meant a South Korean style US presence. Now we might have a different Korean style situation for the Palestinians: a North Korea-South Korea style of division, something like a Gaza- West Bank division. Ironically, that would make Israel the Panmunjom, the truce village, of the divided Palestinian areas.

Speaking of hypocrisy: The US government and other allies are resuming aid to the Palestinian government, now that President Abbas has dissolved the popularly elected Hamas government and installed a pro-PLO unelected cabinet- for the West Bank only, of course.

An Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo stressed the importance of supporting ‘legality’ in both Lebanon and Palestine. Typically, they did not specify who was legal and who was not in these two cases, although it is understood by all what they meant. Normally whoever is in power is considered legal, no matter how they got there.

Who is right and who is not? The constitutionally elected president of Lebanon along with its constitutionally elected Speaker of Parliament (one side of the current Lebanese divide), or the constitutionally elected Prime Minister and his remaining ministers (the other side of the divide)? About one third of the Arab countries boycotted that Cairo meeting: what is the point if the whole system suffers from a severe case of ED? ED here could mean Electoral Dysfunction, but then again, it could also mean something more personal and therefore more serious, as in maybe 'they won't be ready when the moment is right'- quel embarassment!

I suppose in Arab terms an unelected regime in the West Bank is more legal than an elected and nutty one in, say, Gaza. And if there is a way to make it a hereditary regime, as in a hand-me-down, father-to-son regime, then it would be even more legitimate.

An embarrassment: the Lebanese army has been fighting for many weeks to root out the Fath al-Islam terrorist group in the Nahr–el-Barid refugee camp, and it has the support of all major political factions in Lebanon. If there are only about 200 or so armed men, then how come it is taking so long?

I read a comment on the Aalarbiya website about the differences between Lebanon to Syria, in terms of culture and democratic values. A Saudi commentator said that when he crossed from Syria to Lebanon, it was like moving from the 15th century to the 21st century. He did not say how it felt when he got to Lebanon from his own country.
Cheers
Mohammed

Saudi Arabia does not have a good record of successful mediation among warring Arab or Moslem factions. Not even the holy city of Mecca could make warring and feuding factions abide by the accords they sign within her. It is almost worse than during the Jahiliyya (that is the ancient days of paganism to you kaffirs) when accords among Arab tribes were respected, up to a point of course.

Accords signed in Mecca, Riyadh, or Taif to stop bloodshed in areas as diverse as Kuwait (July 1990) Afghanistan (1990s), Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine have been broken as soon as the parties returned home. In fairness to the Saudis, hardly any accord signed to settle an Arab or Moslem dispute has been respected, no matter where it was signed.

Famously, a few months ago the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah were brought to Mecca, and they agreed to sign a peace accord and agreed to share power. It was an untenable accord between the utterly corrupt (PLO-Fatah) and the hopelessly fundamentalist (Hamas). It also became untenable because some Arab media, especially in the Persian Gulf monarchies, gloatingly pronounced Hamas, until recently the favored recipient of their aid and support, as good as dead. The kleptocracy of Fatah and the PLO were pronounced preferable to the extremist and absurdly anti-peace Hamas- never mind that it was the kleptocratic nature of Fatah leaders, as well as Gulf money, that lead to the growth of Hamas.
Now all the wisdom of King Abdullah, Big Abdullah of Saudi Arabia not Little Abdullah de Jourdanie, and perhaps the huge sums of money disbursed, have been wasted.

Money is made to waste in the Arab World- easy come, easy go: just ask BAE and the now-muzzled British SFO investigators. But wisdom? Now that is a scarce resource in the region (psssst to the Salafis of Arabia, I have heard from several reliable and unimpeachable sources that Solomon was Jewish, but don’t swallow you ghutra in despair. That was a long time ago- he would probably convert to Salafism if he were around these days).

Unfortunately it begins to increasingly look like wisdom is also in short supply in Washington as well. The popularly elected Hamas should have been engaged rather than cornered and starved. Also, the Fatah-PLO boys should learn to play their cards closer to their chests- premature gloating is NOT a good strategy in a poker game where the winner takes all.

Increasingly, the choices facing other Arabs as well are being restricted to traditional despotic kleptocracy or despotic fundamentalism. It pays for Arab regimes to restrict their opposition to the fundies and jihadists (unless they are allied with them): nothing would insure Washington’s support more than waving the fundamentalist threat. Almost like the good old days of the Cold War.
Cheers
Mohammed

A Shift in Iraq Policy? Who Invented Corruption?

The United States has been pressing the Iraqis to disarm the troublesome (Shi'a) militias. The Arab regimes and their owned and paid-for media have been quite noisy about disarming the militias, as well as installing a quasi-military dictatorship. Now the US military is arming new (Sunni) militias, who just happen to be the ones that were busy killing American soldiers and Iraqis over the past four years. They probably also just happen to be the Ba'athist officers who gassed Kurds, massacred Shi'as and pillaged Kuwait.
So what is the policy now: disarm and disband the militias, or arm them??

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, reported this past week by the British press (The Guardian, etc.)to have received paybacks (a.k.a bribes) worth 1 billion pounds (about $ 2 billion) for an arms sales by BAE deal to Saudi Arabia while he was in Washington, was quoted in the media as having said in an interview that "Saudi Arabia did not invent corruption". Ok, true, but then neither did Hitler invent aggressive wars and genocide- he just perfected them.

Some media in the Gulf are debating whether to blame the last hurricane Guno that devastated the southern Gulf on Iranian mullahs, Syrian Ba'athists, or sneaky Zionists. The fundie Salafis tend to take it as a sign of God's wrath for even thinking of allowing women to drive.
Cheers
Mohammed

Attorney-general knew of BAE and the £1bn. Then concealed it


Goldsmith hid secret money transfers from international anti-corruption organisation

David Leigh and Rob Evans
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian


British investigators were ordered by the attorney-general Lord Goldsmith to conceal from international anti-bribery watchdogs the existence of payments totalling more than £1bn to a Saudi prince, the Guardian can disclose.
The money was paid into bank accounts controlled by Prince Bandar for his role in setting up BAE Systems with Britain's biggest ever arms deal. Details of the transfers to accounts in the US were discovered by officers from the Serious Fraud Office during its long-running investigation into BAE. But its inquiry was halted suddenly last December.


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The Guardian has established that the attorney-general warned colleagues last year that "government complicity" in the payment of the sums was in danger of being revealed if the SFO probe was allowed to continue.
The abandonment of the inquiry caused an outcry which provoked the world's anti-corruption watchdog, the OECD, to launch its own investigation into the circumstances behind the decision.

But when OECD representatives sought to learn more about the background to the move at private meetings in January and March they were not given full disclosure by British officials, according to sources.

One insider with knowledge of the discussions said :"When the British officials gave their briefing they gave some details of the allegations, but it now transpires, not all of them."

A source close to the OECD added: "We suspected that the British were holding some secret back."

Sources close to the US justice department, whose members help to police the international anti-corruption treaty to which Britain is a signatory, confirmed that UK officials had not disclosed to the group that huge payments had gone to the prince in connection with the al-Yamamah arms deal.

In those confidential briefings at the OECD headquarters in Paris earlier this year, the UK said "national security" reasons were behind the decision to halt the SFO investigation into the case.

They claimed the SFO probe focused largely on old allegations of a slush fund operated by the BAE to provide treats for junior Saudi officials. Last night, a spokesman for Lord Goldsmith said full evidence had not been given to international panel members of the OECD anti-bribery working party at their meetings in order to protect "national security". He said: "The risk of causing such damage to national security had a bearing on the information voluntarily provided to the OECD".

He added: "We have not revealed information which could itself jeopardise our national security. For these purposes the OECD was effectively a public forum, as is illustrated by the fact that you claim to know what [the government] told them."

The Guardian's disclosure of British government complicity in the alleged payment of £1bn to Prince Bandar caused international concern yesterday, with Tony Blair taking a bullish position when questioned at the G8.

Standing beside George Bush, a close family friend of former US ambassador Prince Bandar, Mr Blair said it would have "wrecked" the relationship with Saudi Arabia if he had allowed investigations to go on. "This investigation, if it had gone ahead, would have involved the most serious allegations and investigation being made of the Saudi royal family," he said.

"My job is to give advice as to whether that is a sensible thing in circumstances where I don't believe the investigation would have led to anywhere except to the complete wreckage of a vital interest to our country."

Neither Mr Blair nor the Ministry of Defence made any attempt to deny the allegations revealed by the Guardian.

Prince Bandar last night issued a statement through his lawyers categorically denying that payments made to Riggs Bank in Washington "represented improper secret commissions or 'backhanders'".

He said the payments were made to Saudi ministry of defence and aviation (MODA) accounts of which he was a signatory. "Any monies paid out of those accounts were exclusively for purposes approved by MODA."

He said the accounts were regularly audited by the Saudi ministry of finance and BAE payments were "pursuant to the al-Yamamah contracts". He added: "At no stage have MODA or the Saudi Arabian ministry of finance identified any irregularities in the conduct of the accounts."

BAE last night issued a statement claiming there was full government complicity in any payments it had made with regard to the al-Yamamah deal, which was signed in 1985. The company said transactions were made with the "express approval" of the British government.

"All such payments made under those agreements were made with the express approval of both the Saudi and UK governments".

The fallout from yesterday's allegations may affect BAE's planned expansion in the US.

According to a source in Washington, BAE's $4.1bn (£2bn) proposed takeover of a major US defence company could be in jeopardy because of the disclosures.

The source, assessing the damage yesterday, predicted it will also be harder for BAE to pursue other plans for moves into the US defence market.

BAE could come under scrutiny from a number of US investigatory bodies, including the treasury, the justice department and congressional committees.

Ghosts of Defeats Past:
This day brings out a lot of "soul-searching" in the Arab World- mostly in the media, and perhaps among some "baby boomer" Arabs. Baby boomer here means the generation that was born between 1940 and late 1950s, almost the same American definition, but it has nothing to do with World War II soldiers coming home eager to procreate and do a lot of begetting. Every Arab generation is a baby boomer because there is always a lot of procreating and begetting: what we lack in quality, we try to make up in quantity.As for Arab governments: there is no soul-searching there, because there are no souls there.

A lot of the soul-searching this year is done through official, semi-official, and quasi-official media- is there any other kind in the Arab World? Even the now ubiquitous satellite television stations and offfshore newspapers are official-friendly, at least- often they are owned by the same princes and potentates who rule. So, they are being used to fight old battles and settle old scores. It is interesting how the petro-media that dominates these days uses evasive tactics to kick the dead secular, leftist, pan-Arabist horse. In the case of Egypt under Nasser, the big loser of June 5th 1967, for example, the petro-media takes this opportunity each year to attack everyone who was close to Nasser...except Nasser himself. This is a blatant and repeated case of moral cowardice. It is partly psychological, of course.

To this day, Nasser, with all his shortcomings and defeats, oddly represents a period of hope and healthy anger. Nasser was oppressive, but then which Arab ruler today is less oppressive and less intrusive than he ever was? He still has some hold on the Arab baby-boomers born anywhere between 1940 and the mid-1950s. This is more a judgment on the current trough of Arab political life than anything else.

Perhaps one reason is that the current Arab regimes have led their nations to an even more ignominious defeat than the Israelis ever inflicted on Nasser. They seem to have lost the will and the ability to shape events in their own region. Nasser died of a heart attack when he discovered that he could no longer dominate and shape events- a sort of an involuntary version of the defeated Roman falling on his own sword. While nowadays the kings, emirs, and presidents-for-life strut around their summits for the benefit of their media, the fate of the region is shaped by decidedly non-Arab forces. This is the case wherever one looks, from the Persian-American Gulf (this is a good realistic compromise name) all the way to North Africa. Unfortunately, unlike Nasser, current Arab leaders are too thick-skinned and shameless to even suffer heart attacks. As for falling on their own swords, forget about it: they have no swords and hardly any "intestines".

Al Qaeda in Iraq:
I watched a tape on the internet of the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq. One thing is certain to me: the man is not an Iraqi. Although he used classical Arabic, which is the same all over, one can always tell by the way certain words are pronounced. The man is definitly not Iraqi or Syrian. His pronounciation of classical Arabic indicates that he is someone from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, or Yemen.
Cheers
Mohammed

Some Arab media, particularly those owned by Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf monarchies are complaining that elections in Syria are not fair or real. That is true, elections in Syria are rigged so that the regime will stay in power- after all, this is still an Arab country. But then again, elections in Saudi Arabia do not even exist. In almost all Arab countries that have elections, they are either rigged or limited to bodies with hardly any powers.

Saudi media quote officials that at least four of the Fath al-Islam jihadists who were killed in the battles with the Lebanoese army were Saudis. Others are listed as from several other Arab countries. Some in th media wonder why, if only about 200 armed fundies are in the camp near Tripoli, does the Lebanese army need eight huge transport plane shipments of U.S weapons? The Lebanese army is based on a balance among the various sectors, Shi'a-Sunni-Christian, and any attempt to involve it in internal political disputes will lead to its break-up along sectarian lines. It must be kept out of inter-Lebanese conflicts, otherwise it will break up.

Interesting article by Frank Rich in today's NYT, about how the administration is scapegoating the Iraqi government for its own monumental failures in Iraq.

In Algeria, President Abdulaziz Bouteflika is going to 'allow' a constitutional change that would keep him president beyond his two terms. He wil become anothet Arab despot for life, instead of a despot for two terms only. Bouteflika's party, the FLN or NLF (but never the NFL) really screwed up Algeria's economy and politics for four decades, with the eager participation of little Abdul Bouteflika himself. He broke away for a while, went into blissful French exile, but the military summoned him to power and intends, in true FLN and military fashion, hang onto it for life. Just like everyone else in the Arab World, with the possible exception of Iraq and perhaps one or two other states.

Cheers
Mohammed

Apparently the fighting in Lebanon continues. The Lebanese army death toll now is put at 22, at least. How many of the jihadists have been killed? It looks like some Lebanese politicians, in their zeal to counter Hezbollah, have financed and encouraged Sunni extremist groups with al Qaeda Wahhabi affiliations. These groups are not fighting Hezbollah now.
In the past Arab regimes, and some Western powers, in their doubtful farsight, financed Islamists as a counter force to the demanding secular opposition (democrats, leftists, pan-Arabists, etc). That gave us al Qaeda, the Salafis, Hamas, and now their Iraqi and Lebanese offspring.
Cheers
Mohammed

Lebanon's Jihadists, Jordan's Gestapo

So, it is happening in Lebanon as well. Some time ago this site warned that a lot of money was going to Sunni Jihadist groups in Lebanon without regard to their real affiliations. Both Lebanese money and Persian Gulf oil money (in some notable cases they are one and the same in Lebanon) was directed toward groups that might weaken the Shi'a Hezbollah or offset its influence, and we warned that some of that money was going to al Qaeda allies, especially around the northern city of Tripoli (the other Tripoli, not the Tripoli of the shores in the song).
Lebanon reports today that 13 of its army soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in ongoing clashes with Fath el-Islam, a Sunni extremist group. Even Hezbollah has not killed Lebanese soldiers, at least not in recent decades and not in these numbers. And this is only one group of potentially dangerous Jihadists in the country.
Meanwhile, Lebanese security authorities are apparently trying to decide whether to blame the group's new strength and cockiness on Syria, Iran, or both. In the past Israel was blamed for any such inexplicable and embarrassing developments in an Arab country.

Egypt's Al-akhbar (May 19) reports that Jordanian Mukhabarat (their own Gestapo) has established a new "Division for Combatting Shi'ism". Viva moderation in the new Middle East.

New Saudi currency will bear the picture of King Abdullah, complete with the dyed jet-black beard and moustache. The one riyal note will bear a picture of the "first" Islamic dinar issued centuries ago, but not a picture of the original Roman Dinarius coins issued much earlier, perhaps 2200 years ago.
Cheers
Mohammed

Hamas, Fatah, and the Arab-Israeli Civil War

A war rages in the Palestinian territory. It is a civil war with regional parties involved, reflecting a new realignment in the Middle East. On one side is Fatah, Yasir Arafat's organization now led by Mahmoud Abbas, on the other side are the Hamas, which controls the Palestinian legislature and gorvenment.

The Fatah side is getting help from Israel, which has been bombing and/or shelling Hamas strongholds, and Hamas has been firing into Israel. Fatah gets money from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and gets moral and tactical support from Egypt, Jordan, and the West. Hamas gets support from Iran and Syria, and it has the votes since it won the last election.

The Arab Middle East is basically divided into two new camps, the Israeli-Moderate camp and the Radical camp. The goal of the Israeli-Moderate camp ids to contain and push back the Radical camp, which so far consists of Iran, Syria, Palestinian Hamas, and a lot of Iraqis. And let's not forget al Qaeda and the Shi'a threat, whatever the latter is. The goal of the radical camp is to end and push back what it considers growing American-Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.

The goal of the Moderate camp is to maintain the status quo, ante-Iraq, shore up existing Arab regimes and achieve a final Palestine settlement of two states. It will eventually succeed in the last part of its goal, the Palestine part, because the only feasible solution is two states. As for the status quo, ante-Iraq....we are already post-Iraq, and it is impossible, in American terms, to push the toothpaste back into the tube. Or in Arab terms: to push the genie back into the brass lamp.

Cheers
Mohammed

Who took the three American soldiers in the Triangle of Death? Al Qaeda has warned the U.S forces not to look for them, which is an interesting new approach by them. And why aren’t they on the internet or some Arabic satellite TV begging for their lives? Reports say the attack on their unit was well planned- presumably so was the abduction. So what happened to the usual audio or video or clip?

There are three possible explanations:
They are dead, but this is the least likely outcome. It is a bad one, but not the worst outcome.

Or, the worst possible outcome: al Qaeda has them, but they are still within U.S.-controlled territory. They can’t get to a video camera or a webcam yet. This is a very likely outcome. It is also the most unfortunate outcome.

Or, the best possible outcome: they are being held by a different group than al Qaeda. The latter is possible and explains the reward announced for information about them. Obviously al Qaeda can’t be the target of a reward offer. Another group might be bargaining for them, which would mean a bidding war between al Qaeda and the Unites States. Or maybe the group is still on the run, trying to get the men out of American-controlled areas. They would know that al Qaeda might merely give them an IOU and tell them to collect their reward when they get to the other world- It may even help them get there. They know they have a better chance of collecting in this world with the Americans.

As U.S and Iranian ambassadors in Baghdad get ready to meet over Iraq, the White House is eagerly minimizing the importance of the meeting. Which makes one wonder: why hold the meeting at all? This looks like a case of the lady who protests too much. Still, this meeting may be scuttled, just like the earlier one a year or so ago.

Persian Gulf Media still largely expect a U.S and/or Israeli attack on Iran sometime soon. But then again, they have been expecting an imminent attack for over a year now. One warmongering newspaper in Kuwait, alseyassah , has been changing its favorite deadline for D-day every couple of months, putting the attack off while its owner/editor consults fortune tellers and the djinn about the next most-likely date.

Gulf diplomats and top politicians, who probably know no more about this than yours truly (that would be moi), try to sound wise and knowledgeable when asked, mumbling vague sweet nothings about nuclear dangers and the dangers of any war in the region. Which is a sure sign that they don’t know much about future plans for the Gulf Region: these plans are completely out of the hands of Arab diplomats and leaders, subject to the interactions and conflicts of Iranian and American policies.

It looks like the much touted Palestinian accord reached in Riyadh between Hamas and the Fatah is dead, deader than Mr. Arafat. Palestinians are again killing each other while Israel celebrates its independence.

There are reports in the media (both Arab and Western) that Saudi Arabia is doing a ‘Bush White House’ in its relations to the Iraqi government. Just as the U.S administrations refuses to talk with its ‘foes’ so the Saudi royals refuse to sit down and talk to al-Maliki and the Shi’a members of his cabinet. They talk with President Talibani (Kurd), Foreign Minister Zibari (Kurd), and Vice President Hashimi (Sunni), but reports indicate that both King Abdullah and his Foreign Minister have refused to sit down with the Prime Minister (Shi’a). In other words, an unelected absolute monarchy has downgraded the elected Iraqi government. That is another example of Arabian chutzpah.
Cheers
Mohammed

Sadrist deputies, representing the Muqtada al-Sadr movement in Iraq’s parliament, have managed to obtain signatures of a majority of 144 members, out of a total of 275, on a bill that sets a time limit for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. No word yet if Muqtada, affectionately called Mookie by neocons, plans to run in the New Hampshire primary against Hillary and Barack.
The draft law was handed to the Speaker of Parliament (a Sunni). The Speaker himself was involved in a quarrel with another lawmaker earlier this week, and he ended up slapping the other man. No duel is expected because of the slap since he used his bare hand instead of a silk glove. Besides, they do not duel in Iraq these days, they ambush each other, or use car bombs.

Another major suicide bombing in Kurdistan killed and wounded at least 200 people. Looks like the center of bloody gravity in Iraq is moving north as the date for the referendum on Kirkuk nears. A bomb near Baghdad killed a mere 50 people or so. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for killing several U.S soldiers and abducting three yesterday. Looks like in spite of its problems with some tribal sheikhs in al-Anbar, al Qaeda is resilient enough to move around and operate in the central and western Sunni regions of Iraq. Taking 3 U.S soldiers alive is an unprecedented thing for the terrorist group. How did it happen? Who slipped? Did some Iraqi soldiers or officers aid and abet the fuzzywuzzies?

Iraq’s largest political party, the Shi’a SCIRI, has decided to remove the R, standing for ‘Revolution’, from its acronym. Which makes sense, since the party is now part of the ruling coalition, and not 'revolting' anymore. Reports also indicate that the party will consider Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf, its main source of council on matters of faith. This would replace the Iranian Ali Khamenai, to whom they looked for guidance after the assassination of its leader, Ayatollah al-Hakim in the summer of 2003. This would also presumably put some distance between SCIRI (-R) and the Iranian leaders, who love their 'R' and want to continue to be revolting- perhaps not as revolting as som Arab leaders, but close.

Iran’s Ahmadijejad is stalking V.P Dick Cheney around the Gulf. He is making his own round of the Persian Gulf states right on the heels of Mr. Cheney. Almost nipping at his heels.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing a man over a dispute. The woman, Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa, was found guilty of stabbing the victim. Officials said that she had stabbed him in the neck while he was asleep and then beat his head with a glass bottle (she must have been really pissed about something). She was executed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, the second woman executed this year.

Saudi Arabia executes people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape, armed robbery, homosexuality, practicing witchcraft, resorting to witchcraft, consorting with the djinn, apostasy, kicking a television set showing at least one prince on the air, and notconformity, among other things. In fact, Islam never set any punishments for drugs and armed robbery in the Holy Book or the Hadith, simply because drugs did not exist and armed robbery was a legitimate and respectable avocation among the tribes for some time. As for nonconformity: well, Islam was quite nonconformist in its early years, as was the Prophet himself obviously. You don't start a new faith by conforming to the old one- aren't all religions that way at the beginning?
Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square. Most of those executed tend to be from poorer third world countries, the exception being those convicted of terrorism.
Cheers
Mohammed

From Jordan To Iraq With Hatred?

When he was in power, Saddam Hussein had a special relationship with the Jordanian press. They always sided with him, elevating him to a position of paramount Arab leader, more so than the foolish Gulf press, which did it for free before his invasion of Kuwait. In Exchange, he was generous with them: cash, gold watches, Mickey Mouse watches, even cars were reported to have been given out by the Iraqi Ba'ath to Jordanian reporters and their editors. It was like a whole cottage industry. But it was profitable for both sides.
The man is dead, but many in Jordan, those who never had to live under his rule, still lament his departure, both from the scene and from this world.

The epitomy of Saddam-philia and hypocrisy was published by a Jordanian columnist named Samih al-Maayytah yesterady, in the Jordanian AL-Ghad newpaper, and eagerly, perhaps gratefully re-published on the website of Saudi Alarabiya TV. Here is a close translation of the article:
(Warning: have a sick bag- barf bag- or a bucket ready nearby).
Here goes:

"The essence of the Iraqi file is not in the hateful American occupation and criminality, that is to be expected from an administration that is manipulated by Zionism and ideology. The problem is that a major part of Iraqi forces has chosen to build its relationship with its homeland bsed on hatred and vengeance. This force does not just hate the old regime, but also hates Iraq, and all it sees is power based on uprooting the others (de-ba'athification?).

"Hatred does not builds nations, and that is why those who have ruled Iraq have failed, because their whole equation was based on hatred, vengeance, and narrow self-interest. The first decision they helped the occupier make was the hateful one of disbanding the Iraqi army, which had defeated Iran (that is indeed news, but I used to think that they also gassed a few people). Then came de-ba'athification which was not aimed at leaders, but it was based on hatred of people, institutions, scientists, and army leaders.

"Hatred made supporters of this government come out into the streets and celebrate the anniversary of the occupation as 'liberation'. There is an explanation for that: hatred made this group come out and celebrate the fall of Baghdad. Why else could anyone celebrate the hated fall of their country to the killers and occupiers?
"It is hatred which makes it impossible for these hateful people to be a source of strength and building for their country.
"Iraq will always live in chaos because those who rule it are obsessed with hatred, and full of hatred toward their country and people. There is no excuse for this hatred. These hateful people will always feel alienated, even with power, titles, and money (was that last one a slip by the author?)..........."

Wow, interesting huh? That was a rather hateful article, and very tribal. Whatever way you look at it, there is an awful lot of hate somewhere in there....wouldn't you say?
Cheers
Mohammed

The Arab Toothpaste Plan for the Iraq, Price of Saudi Marital Intimacy

The Saudi-owned media, dominating Arab print and airwaves with its huge overseas outlets (alhayat, asharq alawsat, alarabiya TV, etc...) is again calling for a military-led regime in Iraq, in order to, as they claim, restore order and prepare for a 'more balanced' political system. The editor-in-chief of a major Saudi paper published in London came out openly today for a restored Iraqi army, presumably without its Halabja-era arsenal of chemicals and poison gas, to take over. Does he know that he is proposing to push the Iraqi toothpaste back into its old tube...an impossible task now? Not even the best-paid writers in London can achieve that.

Saudi-owned columnists in the Gulf and across the Arab World are again repeating the same message, which is almost a mantra now.
The main thrust of these arguments is asserting control by a central government, which incidentally will be less Shi'a and less Kurdish.....especially less Shi'a, which would make it more in line with other Arab regimes. Sort of like, dare I say, our erstwhile brothers, our old buddies of the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party.

Should this new regime be un-elected, then this would make it even more in line with all the Arab despots, absolute monarchs, and presiedents-for-life. All brothers in....despotism.
Nobody has mentioned anything about the fate of autonomous Kurdistan in this desired re-centralized system...it is the almost-independent elephant in the room that no one mentions.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Sunni political parties have been hinting at withdrawal from the government and perhaps from the political process. Vice President al-Hashimi the other day mentioned May 15 as a target date for some serious work on the constitution, or else.

This is apparently part of a coordinated drive to put some pressure on the al-Maliki government. But the real target is the Bush administration, which is even more susceptible to pressure here, since it is terrified of any appearance of a weakening of the Iraqi political process.

The good news is that the sensible Biden-Gelb idea of a union of autonomous regions is gaining support in the Senate.

Love and Marriage in Arabia:
Alarabiya website reports (May 8) on a strange phenomenon in Saudi Arabia: husbands who refuse to ‘get intimate’ with their wives, and wives who have to pay their husbands for intercourse.
One husband demanded 1000 rials from his wife in exchange for his ‘services’- the site did not report what the going rate is for escorts over there. The wife borrowed the money from her brother and paid her husband in order to have intimacy with him. When she lost after the Saudi stock market crashed and could not repay the money, her brother sued her.

The network reports that this has become more common, and is a major cause for divorce or law suits to force the husbands to perform their ‘roles’ in bed. One wife, who is also a businesswoman complains that she has to pay her husband for each time she needs his ‘services’.

Now, where do you suppose these husbands go for their……fun? Unless there is a national need for ED medication.

Saudi religious police in Jeddah roughed up some people and ejected three Canadian women from an exhibition on 'Education in the Middle East'. This parallel police is called 'The OAuthority for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Sin'. They are dedicated to the prevention of any kind of fun that is not related to eating and drinking soda pop. And no, they do not have their headquarters in Washington D.C.

Cheers
Mohammed

The Secret Shi'a (Shiite) Agenda In Iraq

CNN and the Washington Post, and now other media, have been talking darkly and ominously of a Shi'a (Shi'ite) agenda being pushed by the al-Maliki government in Iraq. The reports talk of a secret office attached to al-Maliki that is pushing a 'Shi'a agenda'. Imagine, a Shi'a agenda in Iraq, where only 65% of the people are Shi'as! What will they try next? Majority rule?
This sounds as ominous and threatening as pushing a Communist agenda (pre-1991), and perhaps more ominous than a Salafi-Wahhabi-al Qaeda agenda nowadays.

It is not clear how exactly this secret office is pushing its secret agenda. The office is accused of engineering the firing of officers who do not help the purported Shi'a agenda. Some (Sunni) Iraqi officers are complaining about it. Some U.S officers (anonynmous, of course, in the best tradition of these days) are talking to the media, hinting that there should be more 'control' of that office. Not a bad idea, but control by whom?? And who is this Dr Bassima, the female mastermind of it all, who is supposed to be like Scooter Libby and Karl Rove rolled in one?

On the Shi'a question (is there such a question ?) CNN and the Washington Post are beginning to sound exactly like the huge, well-financed Saudi media, with its far-flung newspapers and satellite stations (Alarabiya TV, alHayat, Asharq Alawsat, LBC, ART, etc, etc). Is a corporate takeover in the cards?
And what the hell is a Shi'a (Shi'ite) agenda?
Cheers
Mohammed

May Day, Mayday... in Arabia

Some Iraqi tribal elders in al Anbar are claiming this morning that the Emir of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayoub al-Masri, has been killed. I will believe it when I see it in living color, or when the U.S military confirms it. Hold that reward money for now!

Looks like the days of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert are numbered in view of the Winograd Report on the Lebanon War last summer. Now, if he were the PM of an Arab country he could declare a 'state of emergency' and get off the hook easily. He could even postpone any further elections until after his death.
See? It pays to convert if you are a leader.

In Yemen, a mini-civil war has been raging for months now, with thousands reported killed. Now President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh has hit on a possible source for this war: he has accused Libya and Iran of supporting and arming the 'rebels'. That should, incidentally, make the Saudis happy, since their two major foes are being implicated...but I am sure it is just a coincidence. President Saleh has not implicated Syria and North Korea, not yet, but things could get worse.

A Sudanese appeals court has reversed the execution by stoning of two women convicted of adultery. The women will be retried. Another court also reversed the sentence of a man whose hand was about to be cut off for stealing- just seconds before he lost his hand.
Since it normally takes two to commit adultery: what happened to the two men involved? It looks from recent experiences in Sudan, Nigeria, UAE, and especially the repeat offender Pakistan, that the penetrators get away free, and only the penetrated get punished and thus get the proverbial shaft as well.


Cheers
Mohammed

al-Qaeda, Big King Abdullah and Little King Abdul

April 28, 2007
Saudi Arabia has uncovered a major plot and arrested 173 al-Qaeda members, almost al of them Saudis, and taken a huge cache of weapons and cash. The men were apparently arrested over a period of time. Last month Saudi authorities claimed to have arrested 16-17 terrorists, but later it turned out that most of them were merely reformists who had petitioned the ruling family for political freedoms. Most of those earlier charges were trumped up, according to Western media (e.g. The Economist).
This time, it looks like most of those arrested are genuine al-Qaeda terrorists although, if past experience is any indicator, it is possible the authorities may have taken the opportunity to throw in a few of their political critics as well.

There is an Arab saying :”If you have no shame, then do what ever you wish.”
Which brings us to a statement by the Saudi Interior Minister (Police and Security), Prince Nayef, regarding the thwarted plot. The prince expressed ‘regret’ about the failure of some neighboring countries, especially ‘Iraq’ which he singled out, to fully cooperate in security measures. Apparently some of those arrested Saudis had returned from Iraq, where many of them are being trained now in Sunni bastions like Al-Anbar province.

Now the question is: why couldn’t the Prince do his job and keep those from going to Iraq in the first place? And does that not indicate a Saudi failure to fully cooperate in Iraq’s security? And why was it easy for them to return, by crossing the border, again, to a country that is under tight security control, one that is effectively a tribal theocratic police state? And where did all that money, undoubtedly the tip of an iceberg, come from?

Media report that King Abdullah (Big Abdullah of Saudia Arabia, not Little Abdul of Jordan) has banned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from entering his country. Arab media report that Abdullah is upset because Maliki’s policies are anti-Sunni. No report yet whether al-Maliki is upset because Saudi policy has been discriminatory and anti-Shi’a for decades.

Speaking of terrorists crossing borders and cross-dressing, a suicide bomber today killed and wounded well over 200 in the Shi’a shrine city of Karbala. It is almost certain that all those killed and maimed were Shi’as. Perhaps Maliki should bar Saudi princes from visiting his country as well??
Now the question is: where the hell will Maliki go for a good time on his next vacation??
Cheers
Mohmmed

Gulf War Preparations: A Piss-Up in a Brewery?

The GCC Gulf states are preparing for war these days. No, not a war of their own- the whole GCC brass could not organize a military piss-up in a brewery, as one U.S commander in the Gulf once succinctly noted, in spite of the tens of billions on arms expenditure and the attendant fat commissions paid to the local potentates. Which point leads us on its own logical path: if all the high-tech military purchases cannot prepare us for self defense, then, logically, could it be that the reason for these amazing purchases is to generate high commissions for some potentates?
They prepare for what many regard as an imminent American-Iranian war, some consider it a done-deal, a few even wish for it, not that they are queueing up to volunteer. Recent political discourse in the United States makes war seem like a far-fetched eventuality.

At a special conference on Maritime Security in the Gulf, the Director of Maritime Ports in Bahrain, a Shaikh Du'aij Bin Salman Al-Khalifa (of course), called for cooperation to protect navigation in the Gulf and prevent 'illegal activity'.

In Bahrain also, Minister of Interior (police & security) Shailh Rashid Abdullah Al-Khalifa (of course) called for more cooperation among states in the region in protecting navigation.

Bahrain's king Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa (of course) warned those of his citizens who are 'swayed by trouble-makers' not to 'mess up their own security and interests'. The King called on them to join 'the march of modernization and construction' and urged them to 'join national work toward a brighter future' (I must say the last one sounds like something out of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book or perhaps Colonel Qaddafi's (Qaddafi) Little Green Book- who writes these guys' speeches? Some retired Chinese apparatchik? Of course, it could be a forcibly retired Iraqi Ba'athist).

Meanwhile, the U.S naval base in Bahrain is starting a joint maneuver for meeting 'emergency' situations.

Iraq- Time to 'Cut and Run' and Let Them Settle it:
Nine U.S soldiers died in Diyala province yesterday, killed by a suicide bomber that also wounded twenty others. At least 51 Iraqis died in various bombings. The sad fact is that not many Iraqi Arabs feel grateful that these young Americans died to pacify their country. The Kurds are the only Iraqis who are deeply grateful for their liberation from dictatorship and ethnic oppression, and they have made the most of it. In the wider Arab World outside Iraq, including the moderate states, well....the less said the better....

The 'Baghdad Wall' is opposed by almost everyone in Iraq, and it is not clear who in the U.S military command supports it. Around the Arab World, there is strong opposition to it, the exception being a few newspapers in the Gulf.

Iran- Interesting Questions:
Is Iran really on the verge of going nuclear? Are the mullahs and Ahmadinejad doing a Saddam-style campaign of disinformation? Are they being mislead by their own scientists? There is no doubt that they want it, but are they really that close to it?
Cheers
Mohammed

An NBC defense correspondent this morning on MSNBC: "Sectarian killings (in Baghdad) have been reduced. But (the surge) has not reduced terrorist bombings". And I thought these terror bombings were what started the whole 'sectarian' conflict, because they have always targeted Shi'a districts. For example, I have never heard of a terrorist bombing against a non-Shi'a mosque.
Well, eventually the Salafi jihadist fuzzywuzzies will get to the Christian churches, once they have some time off from slaughtering Shi'as and evading American forces. It would be a shame, because these ancient communities have their roots in the early Nestorian chuches that migrated eastward to Mesopotamia and Persia escape persecution.
The predecessors of the Salafis, the pan-Arab nationalists, drove out the Jews of Iraq, who had roots in the country even deeper than many Arab Ba'athists, including Saddam Hussein. It was a great loss to the country, and a gain for Israel.
If the Christians are forced by the jihadist fuzzywuzzies to leave as well.....then Iraq will become a greener, poorer version of her big neighbor to the southwest.
Cheers
Mohammed

Pakistani Nuclear Humor, Nuclear Deproliferation a la John McCain

Pakistan's military ruler General Musharraf offered to act as a mediator between Israel and the Arabs. He offered to act as a non-partisan neutral mediator. An admirable offer.....but his country is hardly neutral: the Jihadists still burn the Israeli flag almost daily around Pakistan. Wouldn't the powerful Governor of Waziristan, one Osama Bin Laden, object? Shouldn't he secure his own main cities- Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, etc -before embarking on shuttle diplomacy?

Genral Musharraf also stated that Iranian enrichment of Uraniuam represents a danger to the Gulf region. He said that Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but that it would be wrong to be used for nuclear weapons. Ok, he is right on the last one, there should be no new nuclear weapons in the Middle East or anywhere else.....but what about Pakistan, which just recently announced testing a longer-range nuclear warhead?
This from the leader of a country that for years was the main seller and spreader of nuclear technology to the third and fourth worlds (remember A Q Khan whom the Pakistan government commended?).
At least he did not sing it to a Beach Boys tune a la McCain, but maybe that is because he is not running in a primary in South Carolina.
Cheers
Mohammed

Gulf Financial Markets, Promising Kurdistan, Iraqis Mourn as the Surge….Surges:

The Saudi market continued to decline Saturday, with the Index reaching the 7307 level. Most local analysts seemed baffled that the market has been declining for some time, even though they perceive the Saudi economy as being strong (at least in terms of the oil sector and its revenues). Some have called for encouraging entry of investors from other ‘Persian’ Gulf countries as a way to shore up demand. This is not likely to be the hoped for panacea for the Saudi market. Big Gulf investors usually seek to diversify their risks by going to international markets, since regional markets are similar and exposed to the same risks associated with the oil markets and public revenues, especially now that the exchange rates are more closely coordinated.

A Saudi financial columnist wrote in the daily Al-Riyadh that the trading day is too long (4 ½ hours compared with the NYSE’s 6 ½ hours of regular trading and the extra-curricular electronic trading) and may be one cause of the recent market decline. He argues that the long trading session keeps shares from closing at the high levels they reach during the day. I guess he means that it gives investors a chance to have second thoughts and perhaps experience what is called “buyers’ remorse” in the United States. What would they do if they ever have after-hours and pre-hours electronic trading?

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti market has been performing quite differently, and the Index reached its highest level in a year (10,634.9) on Saturday. The value of trading reached a historic level at the end of last week, and market authorities were incredulous enough to start an investigation.

Iraqi Kurdistan has been advertising aggressively for investments in Arab media, including electronic media. They call it “Kurdistan, You Gateway to Iraq”. So, leaving politics aside, the Kurds may have at least one good reason to remain within Iraq. The dismal way things are in most Arab countries and Iran, Kurdistan may be able to provide the only reliable safe haven for investments and tourism. Neither the Jihadist fuzzywuzzies nor the Ba’athists have been able to infiltrate the Kurdish region. The one potential sources of future trouble is the ultra-nationalistic Turkish military....and the Kurdish guerrillas tormenting them.

Arab governments sent condolences to the regimes in Algeria and Morocco for the deaths caused by Islamic terror bombings (the total death toll was less than thirty, nothing to write home about by Jihadist standards). Alfayhaa Television noted bitterly that none of these governments expressed sorrow or sent condolences to the Iraqis for the terror bombings that killed over 500 in only one week. Alfayhaa wondered if that was because almost all the Iraqi victims were Shi’as.
Cheers
Mohammed

Zeitgeist and Groveling on the Gulf, Saudis Help With Iraq's Debt

Groveling Media Comments:
The following a summary of a front page editorial yesterday by the owner and chief editor of alseyassah , an extreme right-wing Kuwaiti daily.

(Warning to the unwary reader: get a sick (barf) bag, or a large bucket before reading)

“It is worthy to stop and think in view of the speech by the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines King Abdullah last Saturday. The political and moral implications of the speech evolved about the clear values of ruling and the task of the ruler. He addressed Saudi citizens at first and admitted that they have a right that he strike with justice, on their behalf, at injustice, and stressed the importance of fighting terrorism in all its forms, and of destroying all destructive and deviate ideas….
“The Arab World is facing a serious Saudi Marja’iyya (i.e higher religious authority, a la the ayatollahs) that is capable of resolving all unfinished bilateral or regional issues. The Arab World now has a leadership with this level of responsibility, full of the values of rule, and connected to the history of the prominent men of this nation and their deeds.....
“All eyes have been raised to the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines, ever since he was the number two man in the Kingdom, and his ideas were made clear, and they are now the policy being applied.
“Now we have started to see, in this leadership, how its Arabic and Islamic Marja’iyya is being activated in pushing forward solutions for unsolved issues (solved issues do not need solutions).
“Now all can see the value of the recent moves of the Saudi Kingdom in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Iraq, and in Darfur…etc. Nobody and nothing could achieve such progress but the anchor, the rule of King Abdullah, whose delicate fingers move only toward playing the symphony of peace.
“We in the Gulf shall see and hear a different tune now that the man has taken upon himself to do what he does superbly. He is seeking to create a Saudi society that fears neither the bright lights of the age (zeitgeist?) nor democracies (not even in Iraq or at home?)….etc, etc, etc ad nauseatingum........”

Another columnist, Ahmad Al-Rube’i, wrote in the Saudi daily asharqalawsat :
“The Crisis of Credibility:
“One of the attributes of King Abdullah, one that distinguishes him from many other leaders, is that he says with his tongue what he believes in his heart. Many observers were surprised that his speech on Saturday was frank and clear, and called things as they are, when he talked of sectarian (Sunni vs. Shi’a) tensions. He said clearly that fanning the flames of sectarianism among Sunnis and Shi’as in the Saudi Kingdom is against the teachings of Islam. (This is news: there is no open sectarian conflict in Saudi Arabia, mainly because any open political dissent will be crushed ruthlessly, like in most Middle Eastern countries)….Our main problem is that ‘some’ of our leaders say something the do not mean, while doing the opposite…...
“What deserves our attention in King Abdullah’e comments is the ceredibility. All leaders who have dealt with him know that what he says with his tongue (no less) is what he believes in his heart. Oh, if only such behavior was the rule and schizophrenia the exception….if that were so, we would not be where we tragically are. (Schizophrenia is the favorite term used nowadays by Saudi press to refer to Libya’s admittedly odd dictator Colonel Qadddafi. True, I wouldn’t share a room with him at college, but what Arab leader is not schizophrenic).

There have been many other examples of such drivel in the Gulf and Saudi media lately. I doubt that wise old King Abdullah himself is behind them- yet, I can almost see a set of strings being pulled by someone.

On the other hand there is some good news, also created by Saudi Arabia. In a positive move that could set a precedent among Iraq’s rich Arab neighbors, Saudi Arabia has agreed to forgive 80% of Iraq’s debt to its government. Total foreign debt and reparations owed by Iraq from the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War and the Iran-Iraq War(1980-1988) could amount to nearly $400 billion, an amount Iraq could never completely pay- nobody has found a way to squeeze blood out of dry rock yet. At the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, Iraq owed foreigners nearly $100 billion. If the report is true, it will be one small step in putting the Iraqi ‘state’, such as it is, on the road to long term economic survival.
Cheers
Mohammed

Virginia Tech and Arab Universities
Arab media gave the killings at Virginia Tech top coverage. It was the next top item of newspaper front pages, after the usual daily dosage of the noble and magnanimous activities of Presidents-for-Life, Monarchs, and their potentates. Even television stations gave it some extended coverage, after the usual daily film clips of Presidents-for-Life, and Monarchs shaking hands, making the correct noises, promising utopia, and kissing each others’ cheeks (no, not THOSE!).

Interesting how some in the United States, mostly media types in need of substance to fill the long minutes on the air, have been talking about college lock-downs. You might as well lock down a whole town like Intercourse (PA), or Hooker (Arkansas). And yes, they do exist. I won’t even mention LLANFAIRWLLGWYNGLLGOGERYYCHWYRNDROBWILLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH (Wales), or Had El-Hmara (The Donkey’s........) somewhere in the (Persian) Gulf region. By the way, the famous Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) means the Sheikh’s ‘sharm’. I’ll let you know someday what ‘sharm’ means, and you probably don’t have to be over 18 either.

Universities and Colleges in the Middle East, the ones I’ve seen, are perfectly equipped for lock-downs. They are usually fenced within high walls, with a few iron gates for access. These gates can, and often are, shut and locked. After hours, the campus, such as it is, is locked down. Fraternization with society at large is not only frowned upon, it is actively discouraged. I recall the time when I taught some courses at a university in the Gulf area, how the guard outside the gate peered at me as I approached, before swinging the gate open slowly, grudgingly. At another campus, which used to be my old high school before being upgraded to a college, the guard would always ask me what my business was before letting me in. So, no fraternization.

These walls and gates are not there to prevent criminals from the outside from entering and committing crimes on campus. They are there to prevent potential (political) criminals, the students, from spilling out and expressing themselves loudly. Any massacre a la Virginia Tech will happen if and when the students spill out in large groups (there are laws in most Arab states regulating mass public gatherings of more than 10 or so people, and some states even regulate private gatherings but I understand that it doesn't apply to polygamy).
I suspect the story is the same all across the Arab parts of the Middle East and Iran: keep them fenced in and keep everybody else fenced out.
Cheers
Mohammed

Muqtada and Democrats, Al Qaeda Waxing, Bahrain Waning
Arab media report that Sadrists ministers will withdraw, for now, from the Iraqi cabinet, in protest over the refusal of the Prime Minister al-Maliki to support a timetable for withdrawal of U. S forces from Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr himself publicly condemned al-Maliki’s refusal. It is not clear if Muqtada prefers the Murtha plan (isn’t that also the Pelosi plan?), the Hillary plan (whatever it is), or the Kucinich plan (I assume there is one). Still, he can’t hate the Republican plan (isn’t that the one about creative chaos?) all that much: it has brought him so close to being the king-maker.
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Rivalry is intensifying among various factions for the hearts and minds of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority. One thing is certain: the Americans and the ruling Shi’a-Kurdish coalition are not in contention- they will never win the Sunnis’ hearts and minds. The battle is among Ba’athists, moderate Islamists, more extremist Islamists, and al-Qaeda. Underlying all this are strong tribal forces among the Sunni tribes of Western Iraq. It is not clear who will emerge on top, perhaps no one; most likely some kind of a coalition of all of the above.
Meanwhile, the car bombings are becoming more selective, aiming for more strategic and more sensitive targets. Like the Parliament building (and how did they get deep inside? Who let them in??). And an important bridge that kept parts of Baghdad joined.
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Looks like North Africa is the newest battleground for al-Qaeda and her Salafi allies. Bombings in Algeria and Morocco have intensified in recent weeks. Algerians are known as a drab and harsh people, but easy-going Moroccans are getting into the act now. Algeria went through some years of a violent and particularly gruesome civil war after the ruling military-FLN regime annulled the results of elections the Islamists won, and canceled planned elections, in the early 1990s.
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Some Arab media report that the former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran several weeks ago is being held by Iranian authorities. The reports claim that this is part of a series of planned reprisals for Iranian operatives being snatched in Iraq and Europe. Perhaps it is a good idea to heed State Department travel advisories and warnings, just these days.
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Saudi media report that a high Saudi security official, with the rank of General, no less, was found killed in a ‘gruesome way’. The media compared the method of his killing to that of American hostage Paul Johnson, who was butchered by al-Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia in 2004. This would be the first time that the Saudi al Qaeda has resorted to these methods against a Saudi citizen.....but then he is a 'General'.
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Saudi King Abdullah announced that henceforth he will not tolerate injustice and oppression. He also railed against sectarian divisions in his country and across the Arab World. All admirable thoughts, but there was no mention of corruption. Dommage.
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In Bahrain, thousands demonstrated last week against what they claimed is a government policy to change the country’s demographics, by illegally naturalizing outsiders, presumably Sunnis, from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Bahrain’s population is estimated to be about 75% Shi’as. This has become a point of contention in recent months, although the government has denied the story, which probably means that there is some truth in it. Already, Bahrain has a strong Salafi movement (soul mates of al Qaeda), something unheard of in the past. So far, the Salafis have concentrated on their Shi’a rivals, whom they consider the ‘main enemy’ and target………for now.
Bahrain, once the 'Havana' of the Persian Gulf, has recently imposed restrictions on public entertainment, pushing more hotels and businesses to move to Dubai. It is moving now much closer to Kuwait in terms of restrictions on public entertainment and 'fun', and fast closing in on world record-holder Riyadh, where there really is 'no there'....there.
Cheers
Mohammed

Saudi Arabian Interior Minister Prince Nayef (psssst: all interior ministers in the Gulf are princes, because only they can keep law and order) announced that his country has asked Iran to return several Saudis accused or ‘terrorism’ who are in Iran. It is not clear if these Saudis are being held in detention in Iran, but this is most likely. Reports have noted in the past that one of Bin Laden’s sons may be under house arrest in Iran. There have been sporadic reports of Iran holding or hosting Al- Qaeda operatives who had escaped from Afghanistan. Can this be used as another casus belli?
In late 2001 Iran, under a saner president, cooperated with the American invasion of Afghanistan to topple their Taliban enemies- the cooperation stopped a couple of months later, after President Bush gave a speech joining Iran with Ba'athist Iraq and the Dear Leader's North Korea in the Axis os Evil. That was before Ahmadinejad was elected.

In a strange incident, media report that Iranian officials refused yesterday to allow the airplane carrying Iraqi P.M. Nouri al-Maliki from flying over their airspace on the way to Tokyo, because the pilot did not have prior permission to overfly. Unless this was a case of low-level blunder, it may indicate a cooling of relations between Tehran and Baghdad.

Extremist media in the Gulf quote 'Iranian Opposition' groups that Iran has 'inundated' the Persian Gulf states with spies and agents. Great....just what the Shi'a minorities in these paranoid states needed at this time.

Miscellaneous:
A Tunisian study indicates that more than 40% of all men who are under forty years of age in that North African Arab country suffer from sexual impotence. The percentage of impotence reaches 60% for those 50 years or older. The study attributes a quarter of divorce cases to that (probably more). The causes listed are a mix of physical and psychological. Tunisia does not allow the sale of ‘potency-enhancing' drugs, or what are called ED drugs. Does this mean the population of Tunisia is declining?

Cheers
Mohammed

Qadhafi Declares Shi’a Empire, Demotes Saudi King, Draws Fire

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi (Gaddafi) has done it again. He gave his usual rambling long speech at a North African/Saharan meeting last week. He presented certain ideas and made proposals that were sure to rile up the Arab establishment, especially its new leadership, the Saudis. And they did:

He called for the establishment of a Second Fatimid Empire. The Fatimids were the Shi’a dynasty that ruled from Cairo and controlled much of North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean for over 200 years. They also established the city of Cairo.

He reminded everyone that the Al-Azhar Mosque and its University, now a center of Sunni theology, were established under the Fatimid Shi’as in the 10th century.

He criticized those who have done their best to raze the tombs of the Prophet Mohammed and his Sahaba early followers (in Madina, Saudi Arabia). He also referred to the efforts to obliterate historic Islamic sites in Arabia, a favorite pastime of Wahhabi extremists who consider all such monuments as heretical relics.

He said that the Two Holy Shrines are not all in Saudi Arabia: one of them is in Mecca, but the other is in Jerusalem. (In this case, someone’s title will have to be changed to "Custodian of the Single Shrine", with a demoted job description.......guess whose?).

His Proposals go against the sectarian campaign being waged in some Arab states to emphasize differences between Shi’as (Shiites) and Sunnis, and to paint the former as a suspect source of subversion and danger.

The reaction has been swift. The awesome Saudi media conglomerates, with their network of television stations and newspapers across the Arab World and in Europe (Alhayat, Asharq Alawsat, etc) have been on the offensive ever since. As have some of their allies in the Gulf states. The Colonel is daily demonized (for the wrong reason), and some religios shaikhs have been recruited to issue opinions calling his ideas ‘heretical’. Professors and academicians have also been recruited to expound on the Colonel's doubtful sanity- one academician/journalist asserted he was suffering from Schizophrenia...and he even managed to spell it right.

One thing is certain about Qadhafi: whatever you think of his often unorthodox ideas, his weird brand of dictatorship, and his deadly past, he is never boring. He would have livened up the last Arab summit in Riyadh, and made it more interesting than what it was: a meeting of mostly nondescript despots.
Cheers
Mohammed

Controversy in Kuwait: The Dichotomy of the Salafi Hair Obsession.

In Kuwait, Islamists tried yesterday to force a new female cabinet minister to wear the hijab, the headcover that is a mark of piety for some. The minister refused to wear the hijab during the swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly. Normally they would have called for her to wear a burqa'a or niqab, the Zorro-style mask that women wear in Saudi Arabia and is favored by the Arab Salafis and their Afghan Taliban drinking buddies. As it turned out, they could not manage forcing even a paltry hijab on the tough lady.
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It is strange how the Fundies of the Arab World are publicly obsessed with a woman's public hair, and how secretly they are even more obsessed with a woman's not-so-public hair, but in a different way. This is a dichotomy that I could never understand- perhaps it has to do with a certain kind of repression which leads to a certain kind of frustration? Or perhaps they need to work out more- don't they still have Fundie boot camps somewhere (no, not necessarily the Afghan or Pakistani variety)? Maybe they should even walk to work instead of driving- I have noticed that many of them are sort of obese. Eating too much sweets and thinking of women's hair, all of it, the whole time is bound to make you fat.
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In any case, the Fundies are obsessed with women, and they spend much of their time trying very hard not to think of a woman's hair, all of it. They try to enact laws that deal exclusively with women and their appearance, especially the hair. Now it would be interesting if a law is passed forcing them to cover their shaggy beards, or in some cases their unfriendly visages. Often they call a woman's face and hair as ‘'aura’, an Arab term meaning something that is taboo and should be hidden and not seen in public- sort of like a person's private parts. I think many of their silly faces should be declared ‘'aura’.
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There are many serious problems that can benefit from releasing some of the energy of these Fundies’ frustrations: for example, the quality of health care in a country that spends a fortune on health, but all high public officials and important private dignitaries, rich ones, are sent overseas for medical treatment at government expense.
Cheers
Mohammed