Double-edged Swords

Did Trump collude with the government of Saudi Arabia, specifically with the Saudi war criminal Mohammed bin Salman in his money-grabbing, so-called anti-corruption purge of wealthy (and corrupt) members of the Al Saud family and businessmen?

In August, Trump rolled back anti-corruption and bribery regulations in the energy industry, taking bribery (fees, baksheesh) for oil and energy contracts off the books.

It's a double-edged sword. MbS uses the fat fees previously garnered as a reason to grab the bank accounts of those who received them under negotiations with their U.S. and other foreign partners. Word is getting out of the names of his prey, some of the biggest Saudi players in the industry. It's terribly convenient for American companies -- who provided the "fees" to Al Saud family members and business people and will be exposed during this purge -- will escape the rule of law here.

Is the threat of a new refugee crisis in Europe a double-edged sword? If Israel, the U.S. and Mohammad bin Salman continue with the belligerent chatter about attacking Lebanon, then it appears to be so.

Anybody else notice that Bahrain is shaped like a dagger? 

It seems that Bahrain's dictator and his family are whoring for Bonesaw, kissing the forehead that ordered the bombs to drop on Yemen's poorest children in their schools and buses, bowing to Israel's greed for all of Palestinian land and resources and support by clown foreign minister for Israeli bombing of several fellow Arab countries on phony security grounds. 

Supposedly, Bahrain needs the money from the blood-soaked hands of two men, of Bonesaw and his brain in Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed. Why? Because the ancient unelected prime minister and all the "royal" women have socked away billions of unearned income and corruption is endemic. The island is poor. The rulers won't use their ill-gotten gains to improve the lot of the whole island.

It could be amusing in the Bahrain dagger could be used to cut that dirty, dirty connection, then bring back the assets abroad that aren't making income for the state and remake itself until global warming puts it under water.

#Bonesaw #Bahrain #SaudiArabia #MohammedbinSalman #MohammedbinZayed #Palestine #Bribery #Corruption #Baksheesh #Dagger #ComedianForeignMinisters #Lebanon #Yemen #Israel #PalestinePeacPlan #Kushner #Adelson #Trump #Refugees #WarForIsrael

Next Up.

Who wants to guess what's up for Balochistan?

Dunces, Dukes and Princes talk to Trump

what a great photo by Saudi Press Agency

Dunce hats on a few of the Persian Gulf autocrats.

Dunces. Dunces who managed to get U.S.dunces to kill a lot of Iraqis, Syrians and Yemenis, among others, on their behalf. Petrodollars buys killing to save their dunce necks.

photo copied from John Duke Anthony & Fahad Nazer piece:

http://ncusar.org/aa/2016/12/gcc-us-relations-under-trump-administration/

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations - home of a lot of paid flacks including Anthony himself, disgraced-leaker-of-secrets Petraeus, three Saudi princes including neocon Sunni-terrorist fanboy Turki, professional apologist Nawaf Obaid, and at least one Al-Jubair not Adel, Jubeir spelled both ways, plus Michael Hudson, Raghida Dergham and others.

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I found the piece to be distasteful and shameful, let alone one-sided P.R. meant to sway the dunces without flags over their heads, namely, the uninformed. Well, it's paid. Those pundits get paid to do the shameful deeds, participate in repression of truth for money, spread false stories and propaganda for money. When the money sits in the same room with the pen, money talks. Money has the room as well as the floor.

1) Anthony wrote about anticipation that President-elect Trump will take seriously the GCC’s deep concerns about Iran’s policies in the Arab world. 

My question is logical and different and deserves to be asked. Will Trump take seriously Iran's deep concerns about GCC member's disturbing, sectarian war-mongering, terrorist-supporting policies in the Middle East, indeed, in the world?

 With Generals Flynn and Mattis each speaking into one of Trump's ears, he hears some anti-Iran this, anti-Iran that talk. He hears it's good for business. Yeah, yeah, the defense industry can continue to sell arms to Gulfies, billions and billions worth.

    But the Saudis can try to cut off the head of their own snake. Obama's Pentagon has assisted the Saudis and their lousy coalition in the disastrous Yemen war, and maybe Trump will continue to support bombing and starving people for Mo Salman to prove his manhood, for occasional swipes at Al Qaeda or ISIS, for military bases and pipelines from deserts to seas. It'll take guts to end the U.S. part in that dreadful war. Trump has a big mouth but I don't know if he's got any guts.

 Fortunately for Iran, Trump will also hear Rex Tillerson, with both ears, whether he gets the Sec. State post or not. He's already got a pipeline to Trump's ear and that's not going away. I have a strong feeling that Tillerson feels strongly about, say, the facilities at Ras Tanura and Jubail and thinks about where Iranian rockets could land That's the kind of money that I think will talk to Trump.      

2) Pity no dunce hat for JD Anthony who calls Iraqi PMUs non-state actors. They're under control of the Iraqi Prime Minister. Period. U.S. wasn't in favor of Iraqi parliament approval of placing the PMUs in with the regular armed forces for campaigns, but it's happened. PMUs are not going to be allowed to enter with some other Iraqi and Kurdish forces in some places specifically to avoid sectarianism and the appearance thereof. 

So far the reports even from U.S. general in major news media have been positive to the PMUs' effectiveness and speed. They've gone where they were ordered to go and not further. 

There's plenty more in the piece which runs counter to facts and would make lousy policy. Think-tankery public relations is going to be getting more publicity about its funders and the extreme views they propagate. The Saudis multi-million dollar handouts to those chaps aren't going to be enough to cover up their evil deeds. They deserve dunce hats. 

The Stench

So the Saudis host one of their favorite terrorist children, Ahrar Al-Sham, in Riyadh after telling the lousy Jordanian wimp not to put that group of terrorists on the so-called List of Arab Sunni Terrorist Groups he's supposedly compiling. Al Nusrah Front is deliberately kept off the list, too, as it's also preferred by the Saudis, Qataris, Turks, the Israelis and the warmonger and so-called R2P elements of the U.S. decision-making apparatus. The long-prevailing explanation to the low-information public is that ousting Assad is necessary to get rid of ISIS, ISIL, DAESH. The fact that the so-called coalition didn't have much success against the terrorists fed that notion. Then the Syrian state got some serious help from its friends against the Sunni Wahhabist goons and their various backers who want to destroy the state for their various and well-known reasons amongst those who pay attention.

No matter the aroma of Mo Nayef and Mo Salman, the stench of Bandar bin Sultan wafts widely.

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."

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. 

Bahrain military plane falls out of sky in Saudi Arabia

The useless local press says the BDF plane malfunctioned before it crashed with military personnel onboard in the Saudi province close to Yemen.

Perhaps when an airplane is hit by an incoming missile it will malfunction.

Irony On Every Corner

Yesterday some research on Amb. Roebuck, now in Bahrain, made me seriously wonder why he got that post considering there is abundant evidence that his primary skill is stirring up sectarianism.

The answer came today in a complaint from the Sultan of Turkey. Erdogan warns that there is a plot to stir sectarianism in order to divide the region. Of course it is a surprise to him and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf that such a plot could be hatched and they be not only unaware, but no part of it.

He thinks the Saudi tanks in Bahrain went across to test the strength of the causeway and cannot return due to safety concerns.

Time for Regime Change ... in Bahrain

It's my belief that the U.S. may finally lead, may demonstrate zero tolerance of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf's continued funding or contributions in kind, or blind tolerance of the flow of money, weapons, Captagon, and the bread out of the mouths of babies to the terrorists all over the Middle East and Africa and the sub-continent. The U.S. has laws against the use of banks in financing terrorism. Many banks have been fined and or banned from doing business in the U.S. or Europe because they violated such laws. Currently some big, important countries are forming their own banking systems to get around sanctions and their attendant hypocrisy.

Anybody who pays a bit of attention to international affairs knows these things. We also know that the various terrorist groups rely on other means of support. No point to waste time on these knowns.

An example needs to be made of a player in the Gulf, for the rest of them to take serious notice. I don't know how much Ajman or Um Al Qaiwain are contributing funds or banking access to their citizens to send money to their Sunni brethren fighting in the sovereign states of Iraq and Syria. Since the U.A.E. is a federation, it may be federal money, but in the case of Abu Dhabi, we know there is material support of terrorists. Ditto Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and ...

Bahrain. Banks. Remember when Bahrain was well on her way to being the banking center of the Gulf but didn't get there? Still, there are a good number of banks established in the Island, connected to the banks in the other Gulf states and the world. I betcha there is plenty of dark money flows through that entrepot to the head-choppers de jour by whatever name, through "charities" of course, and for "humanitarian" purposes.

Time to make an example. Time to shut them down. Time for a radical change in the island, a change that will ensure the rest of the Gulfies shut down their terrorist funding, tell the Saudis and Qatar to tell their clerics to fatwa the end of jihad for which they fatwa'd the beginning, and to fatwa the end of the sectarianism and hate campaigns, and to fatwa the end of blaming Iran for the shamal that blows sand in their eyes.

Time for the U.S. military in Bahrain to send the Saudis and Emiratis -- and whatever other military of the Peninsula Shield forces crossed the bridge or flew into the Shaikh Isa Air Base or arrived in ships to put down the anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain -- time to send them home. We have intelligence that some members of those foreign forces have been plotting to carry out unfriendly actions against the U.S.N. In the current tense atmosphere, we need all of them to leave. Immediately. It's a matter of force protection. Chop chop.

Also, any of the Al-Khalifas and their lackeys who believe they may be held accountable for state crimes against civilian population may want to take their cars and retinue across the bridge as well. He who fears an uninvited helicopter landing in the courtyard of the palace he may be in one night with Wife Number Two, may want to consider such advice. Perhaps he may want to consider such advice the next night when he is in the palace of Wife Number Three, or the next in the palace of Wife Number Four. (Pretty sure Wife Number One no longer receives such visits, but that's just gossip.)

Time to close all the banks in Bahrain that have sent one dinar or any other currency to support the terrorists assaults on sovereign countries. It is well known which banks have been involved. They're done. Swift. Let the other states know they've got a limited time to clean up their acts.

Then time to invite the "other" foreign forces in Bahrain to go home, the mercenaries imported to act with an iron fist against protesters and change the demographic balance of the island. Bahrain can afford their return tickets and severance pay, and the houses and villas they leave behind will find people who've been waiting a long time to live in one and the jobs to support their upkeep.

Then reinstate the political parties and have a fair election for a new house of parliament to take the place of the one which Hamad appointed. Two houses, equal. An elected prime minister, no matter that the confession of the winner will not win the approval on the other side of the bridge.

Matter of fact, that is the point. Representative government is going to come to Bahrain. The U.S. and a coalition of willing friends should immediately implement steps to bring it about. It should be a rousing success. It should be without bloodshed if the dictator and his supporters know what's good for them. They have the option to leave, to cross the bridge, to keep their passports or give them up, or they can stay and face the music. It's a one-time, time-limited offer. Do they trust an independent judiciary to give them the fairness they've denied those who oppose them? Perhaps Najd might be an attractive destination to consider?

While the Al Khalifas are considering relocation, rather quickly it is suggested, it might be worthwhile to inform them of another personal financial matter. Funds derived from the natural wealth of the island and funds derived from corrupt deals made over, say, the past 40 years, which have made their way to foreign banks, will be frozen. Mansions scattered all over Europe, all over the globe, paid for with state money pilfered by the royals, will be seized because the funds to buy them traveled through the banks.

The government of Saudi Arabia does not want its favorite terrorists designated as terrorists in the upcoming Hashemite designation of who is a terrorist. Ditto Qatar. Changing the names of their terrorist groups may have fooled some, particularly those who can't read the Arabic script on those black flags, but they're terrorists and they have no sovereign state. There is a simple solution. All those "fighters" and "rebels" supported by the Saudis should have the option:  die or move to Riyadh. Ditto, Qatar. Ditto, U.A.E. Ditto, Kuwait. That should keep the paymasters busy while there are big changes in a small country, changes which Turki Faisal, Bandar Sultan and Adel Al Jubair and their addled king can huff and puff and threaten to blow down, and Bahrain, with coalition support, of course, can flip them something else to blow.

For instance, the new and elected government of the peaceful and protected islands of Bahrain could, with continued coalition support, of course, announce its intention to rectify a historical wrong, to unify the islands with the historical Bahrain on what is presently considered to be the K.S.A. mainland. It was rumoured the prior threat of such pursuit by unspecified means was sufficient for Bahrain to secure from K.S.A. proceeds from the Abu Safa oil field over the years. Historical Bahrain would include the oil-laden area with a large Shia population, the oil of which belongs to the state. Have some bravura, take Ras Tanura.

The fun could begin soon. Perhaps we need to order some more of those Freedom Donuts. Remember the anxiety they caused the first time we provided hot donuts to a few protesters? Hospitality donuts, truly. That's all it was, but Khawalid spun what many considered a laughable conspiracy theory set forth to distract the gullible, inter alia. More Krispy Kremes than last time, please. We need them for the upcoming holidays and happier times. Freedom Donuts after regime change.

Another Saudi Arabian Terrorist Attacks Us

A woman, a young Pakistani woman from Saudi Arabia, married under the contractual laws of one of the two sects of Islam to an American man her guardian must have approved even though they met online, was trained to shoot short and long guns, gussied up like a ninja terrorist, participates in a mass shooting, then dies either by police bullet or her own hand. 27 years old. Probably hopped up on Captagon. Who trained the honeypot? Who paid the bills? Who benefits?

Al Sauds Don't Drain the Swamp, They Drain The People's Money

It's been reported widely this week that the IMF warned Saudi Arabia may run extremely low in financial assets in five years unless they sharply reduce their spending. It's also widely suggested that the funds being depleted so fast are due to low oil prices (nevermind the Saudis wanted them low and have kept them low for multiple reasons) and to costs related to regional wars.

Why isn't the reporting more accurate? Why can't the Independent or the Guardian or the lousy New York Times or the Washington Post reporters include just a couple more salient facts and less euphemism? "Regional wars?" Why not say the Saudis are spending massive funds in support of terrorists and terrorism in Syria and Iraq? Why not say that the Saudis spent billions to overthrow the democratically elected president of Egypt and keep that sissie in power? Why not say the Saudis are spending massive funds bombing the poorest nation in the Middle East to smithereens, hiring soldiers from other countries to do what they cannot do themselves on the ground, committing war crimes, patrolling the sea to stop enough food, water and medicine for the millions of people affected by the Young Hothead General's need to prove his manhood?

Why not say that the Al Saud family are the biggest thieves on earth, that their greed and corruption appears to know no bounds? Daily there are reports of the massive theft of public money and plots on how to get more of it at the highest levels of the Saudi dynasty. The 12 to 16 billion dollar Lockheed Martin deal announced this week? How many of those billions is baksheesh? How much is the share of Mohammad bin Salman in that baksheesh?

Even some reporters whose work I respect get a fail, and the royal lovers at SUSRIS get the cake.

Why The Gulf Nations Don't Take Syrian Refugees

so ...

The lousy NYT ran a story a couple days ago about the fact that wealthy Persian Gulf nations -- whose state and private funds help support the Sunni terrorist groups in Syria and elsewhere -- are not taking in refugees fleeing from the war in Syria. It's highly likely that they're also not taking in victims of the Saudi's dastardly aggression in Yemen, either.

Nope, the Gulfies are good at importing Sunni mercenaries from all over the Arab world, to do the tough jobs which their own citizens cannot be trusted to do. For example, in Bahrain they fill out the ranks of the military, police and secret services. They're brought in to alter the demographic balance on the island as well as assure loyalty through financial and other benefits such as free housing and medical care, cheap loans, subsidized meat, bread, electricity and fuel. How else could those men and their families afford to live in the Gulf? They even pay the ultimate price for those jobs, dying in lands not their own and for a country not their own.

Well, if they're unskilled or day laborers, they can live in accommodation with multiple other such workers or in the lousy worker camps built for those who are doing the manual labor that has built the gleaming towers throughout the Gulf. There were eleven such men living in a one bedroom apartment in the block of flats where I lived in Adliya the last time I was there. I doubt that situation has changed since then.

If they're rich refugees, no problem. Welcome. 

Cowards. Rotten cowards, the whole lot of them. I read Marc Owen Jones's piece putting forth some cogent reason why their regimes don't take in refugees from the conflicts they support. He left out the obvious. They're a bunch of cowards.