Think Tank

I'd like to set up a think tank in the Emerald City. You might find it in your interest to fund it. What do you think about that?

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.

A Valentine's Wish

So long ago that I cannot recall the date, but sometime in the 70s while Johnny Carson was still hosting The Tonight Show, he made a joke that I've told every year to somebody, only altering the names of the two leaders.

This year, 2016, the King of Jordan sent a card to the Prime Minister of Israel, some pretty red hearts on the front tied together with some pretty pink ribbon. Inside, the message:

                               I will be your Valentine
                             if you'll pull out of Palestine.

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."