Behind The Veil

for a little while.

Had to think about an interaction with three young people from Saudi Arabia with whom I chatted for about 20 minutes on a Seattle E-line bus at the beginning of the month. Two were women, one of whom is a student in her early 20s, chatty, the other older, didn't talk much, and the student's backwards-baseball-hat wearing brother, 28-30, with the trending Mo Salman beard. Dress was in northwest style. It was freezing cold.

They were sitting across from me on the side-facing seats, chatting. My linguistic radar kicked in. I thought that I heard Arabic, but it was rather noisy. Undaunted, in a quiet moment, I asked the chap to please speak a bit more so that I could tell what language they were speaking as I wasn't sure if it was one that I recognized, but it sounded like Arabic. One of the girls laughed and said that I was right, and the chap asked how I knew.

Naturally I took the occasion to first ask him, in Arabic of course, where he is from. Saudi Arabia. Young banker from Jeddah just here for a vacation, visiting sister who is a student at a local college. I trotted out my favorite sentences in Arabic -- which sound very impressive, even to me -- and they all three told me that I speak beautiful Arabic. (Nevermind that it was three sentences and a joke.)

I gave them my website card, of course, asked the girlies to bookmark it, noted that I'd put my email there, told them to contact me if I could help them in any reasonable way.

I didn't mention my primary contacts in Bahrain, only that I'd lived there and gone on to study subjects related to that life-changing experience and followed closely events in the area. I did mention the some members of the Algosaibi family had been family friends and graciously hosted my sister and myself in Beirut before the civil war there. I did that because of the Algosaibi bank that was in the news a few years ago and the young chap is a banker; couldn't help myself showing off that I knew something about a big scandal in Saudi Arabia. Shortly thereafter, the bus ride was over. We went our separate ways.

It has struck me as very strange over these weeks that a banker, a Saudi banker, would ride a city bus. Lyft. Uber. Some other company. Cost of bus for three people more expensive than Lyft. Saudi Banker can't afford to hire a cheap car? They all had smart phones, smart clothing and good English. Perhaps they wanted the thrill of riding the bus which always smells like pot and booze because it's the one goes straight up and down the main highway. You know, a real slice of Seattle life without all those messy receipts. 

That's why I do it. Staying behind the veil.

Saudi Yabbutts Out in Force

World-leading headchopper Saudi Arabia's multi-million dollar P.R. machine is out in full force trying to justify its murder of Ayatollah Nimr Al Nimr.

In the custom and practice of the industry, the "Yeah, but" is Option No. 1. Now all we hear is, "Yeah, we killed the Ayatollah, but Iran, Iran, Iran, Iran ..." ad infinitum.

Today the Al Saud dumped bombs on Iran's embassy in Yemen, on purpose, following many prior bomb-dropping in the immediate vicinity. "Yeah, we bombed it, but, you know, Iran has unjustly imprisoned an American reporter."

Phony 1981 Coup Attempt in Bahrain

 It wasn't some "fringe radical Shia Islamist group" responsible for the so-called 1981 coup attempt in Bahrain. It was a carefully written bit of theatre. 

There are scholars who claim expertise on some aspects of life in Bahrain, who expand on the Wikipedia article on the coup attempt in December 1981, even write books about it. Well-sourced books, even, saying the responsibility is with some "Iran-supported fringe radical Shia Islamist group."

The December coup was preceded by your own coup attempt against your father shortly after I left the island in March. The lure, the plants and the practice for a fictional terrorist operation.

I haven't seen anyone who grew up on the island and is now an academic write about THAT unsuccessful coup. 

Al Saud play Game of Frogs

Al Saud headmaster say to Al Khalifa frogs, "Jump!"

Al Khalifa frogs say, "How high?"

Al Saud say to convicted war criminal and well-paid mercenary frog leading Sudan, "Jump!"

Al Bashir says, "How high?"

Al Saud say to Al Nahyan, "Join us in demanding frogs jump."

Al Nahyan "Okay, but maybe it would be better if an older, more experienced crown prince operated in the shadows, pulling frog puppet strings."

Al Saud say to Al Sabah, "Join us in demanding frogs jump."

Al Sabah say, "We prefer to mediate frog jumping competition."

Al Saud say to Qatar's Al Thani, "Jump!"

Qataris say, "We ain't frogs."

Shaikh Nimr Al Nimr Will Get His Revenge, Posthumously

Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr, may he rest in peace, called for secession of the most-heavily Shia populated province of Saudi Arabia if there was no end to governmental discrimination, abuse, repression, jailing, torturing and murdering of its Shia citizens who live there and have lived there before the Al Sauds "unified" parts of Arabia. The fact that the province holds massive quantities of hydrocarbons by which the Al Sauds have enriched themselves and blackmailed the world is not unknown to its underprivileged residents.

Shaikh Nimr's martyrdom.

In the dark of night following the fireworks of New Year and by order of the murderous thug leading the Saudi regime, Shaikh Nimr was martyred by gory beheading for peacefully expressing his political views which may help bring about the breakup of the KSA in ways long sought by others.

2015 proved yet again that the Al Saud cannot competently manage the Hajj and the Holy Places. Calls have been loudly made since the two disasters last year for the administration to be removed from the Saudis, for an internationalized body instead.

Yemen would like three of its historical provinces returned to their sovereignty. Perhaps they might consider additional territory as part of the costs the Sauds must pay for the death, destruction and chaos they've wrought in the reckless Mohammed bin Salman "Bonesaw" and dirty war prince Mohammed bin Zayed's war and starvation campaign against the mostly innocent Yemenis.

(It's been reported that Mohammed bin Salman loves to play poker and gamble. One hopes he pays mightily for the gamble in Yemen, but so far it appears Bonesaw is using the country's funds and only mightily paying Trump, including the support of Kushner's plan to gift all of Palestine to Israel.)

The U.S. government and Big Oil had a well-developed contingency plan to break up KSA into five parts around the time in September 1980 when Saddam Hussein began the long war against Iran. U.S. Sec. Def. Brown's comments about it were in the press and I repeated them in a private conversation in Bahrain shortly thereafter with a senior government official who is now even more senior, the sel-appointed king. He laughed, but it was out the side of his face.

The Eastern Province is surely a candidate for separation, and more if there is justice. Adding a bridge and fast trains and some islands to which it is historically-related would help resolve a sectarian issue in three Persian Gulf countries on the Arab side, but that is down the road a bit.

Meanwhile, the energy companies who are happy to do business with Iran will be more than happy to do business with the Shia-dominated government of the new province just as they now do business with the Al Sauds. Green is green, isn't it?

Shaikh Nimr will not be forgotten. 

Giving "Help with Transport" A New Meaning

Reading a bookmarked article from 2014 wherein a reference to a CRS report on oil in Kurdistan drew my attention, I finally learned why the U.S. never bothered to interfere with the theft of oil by various terror groups. Why? Well, you know. Turkey has been "helping with transport."