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Either the rebel prince succeeds in convincing enough people who matter to remove the King, or the King counters and drives the prince out. The former situation is far and away the best option for stability in the Middle East, and would likely allow the Saudi royal lineage to hold on to power for longer. If the second scenario unfolds, current leadership will crack down even harder on dissent and run the state further into the ground. This behavior will ultimately lead to an unpredictable and likely violent revolution, and if you think the Middle East is volatile now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

As John F. Kennedy accurately noted:

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

This also applies to Saudi Arabia.

– From the post: Regime Change is Coming – Saudi Prince Calls for Coup to Remove King

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been pretty checked out of global news over the past severals days. It’s time to get checked in.

The extremely dangerous developments currently unfolding throughout the Middle East cannot be overstated. Indeed, it appears we may be on the verge of all out regional conflict. In order to understand what’s happening and where things might go, let’s review the events of recent days.

On January 2nd, Saudi officials welcomed the New Year by holding its largest mass execution since 1980. 47 individuals were put to death across 12 cities, some by firing squad, others by beheading. While the vast majority (43) were Sunni jihadists accused of attacks upon Western compounds and government buildings during the 2003-2006 period, the remaining victims were Shiite dissidents, most notably the revered and prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The resulting backlash from Beruit to Tehran, from Baghdad to Bahrain, has been nothing short of explosive. Expect this execution to be remembered as a major catalyst in the regional chaos to come.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

After Executing Regime Critic, Saudi Arabia Fires Up American PR Machine

January 4, 2016

After Executing Regime Critic, Saudi Arabia Fires Up American PR Machine

Saudi Arabia’s well-funded public relations apparatus moved quickly after Saturday’s explosive execution of Shiite political dissident Nimr al-Nimr to shape how the news is covered in the United States.

The execution led protestors in Shiite-run Iran to set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, precipitating a major diplomatic crisis between the two major powers already fighting proxy wars across the Middle East.

The Saudi side of the story is getting a particularly effective boost in the American media through pundits who are quoted justifying the execution, in many cases without mention of their funding or close affiliation with the Saudi Arabian government.

Meanwhile, social media accounts affiliated with Saudi Arabia’s American lobbyists have pushed English-language infographics, tweets, and online videos to promote a narrative that reflects the interests of the Saudi regime.

A Politico article about the rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran by Nahal Toosi, for instance, quoted only three sources: the State Department, which provided a muted response to the executions; the Saudi government; and Fahad Nazer, identified as a “political analyst with JTG Inc.” Nazer defended the executions, saying that they served as a “message … aimed at Saudi Arabia’s own militants regardless of their sect.”

What Politico did not reveal was that Nazer is himself a former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington. He is currently a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a think tank formed last year that discloses that it is fully funded by the Saudi Embassy and the United Arab Emirates.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sunni & Shia Tensions Rise in Middle East

January 3, 2016

Sunni & Shia Tensions Rise in Middle East

Protesters stormed and ransacked Saudi Arabia’s embassy on Sunday after gathering to denounce the kingdom for executing a prominent Shia cleric. They stormed the embassy, smashed furniture, setting the embassy on fire, and threw papers from the roof. They were eventually cleared away by the police, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including al-Qaeda detainees and Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who had rallied protests against the government. It was the execution of al-Nimr which had been expected to increase sectarian tensions across the entire region and deepen the hatred between Sunnji and Shia minority in Saudi Arabia’s not to mention with the Shia in Iran.

Indeed, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Jaberi Ansari had been quoted on the state-owned English-language Press TV warning that the Saudi monarchy would pay a heavy price for its policies while a Iranian cleric, Hossein Nouri Hamedani, said this would raise significant tensions.

ISIS: The ‘Enemy’ the US Created, Armed, and Funded

January 3, 2016

ISIS: The ‘Enemy’ the US Created, Armed, and Funded

To delve into Daesh’s convoluted money trail, one must first explore its equally convoluted origins. And in both areas, the role of the U.S. and its allies can not be ignored.

(MINTPRESS) Out of nowhere, it seems, Daesh, also commonly referred to as ISIL or ISIS, spontaneously formed, a group that perverts aspects of Islam for its own violent ends, and threatens, we are told, all that the civilized world holds dear.

The “war on terror,” governments inform their citizens, has a new front. And that front is Daesh.

Let us not be too hasty. Things are not always what they appear. Daesh is well-financed, and that money must be coming from somewhere other than a ragtag band of malcontents. Daesh soldiers have advanced weaponry and sophisticated communications methods. They have tanks and Humvees. None of these can be obtained without significant funding. Though the source is quite illusive, there is some evidence that will lead to a trail.

First, we must look at Daesh’s origins, and even that is not easily discernible. Writing for The Guardian in August 2014, Ali Khedery suggests:

“Principally, Isis is the product of a genocide that continued unabated as the world stood back and watched. It is the illegitimate child born of pure hate and pure fear – the result of 200,000 murdered Syrians and of millions more displaced and divorced from their hopes and dreams. Isis’s rise is also a reminder of how Bashar al-Assad’s Machiavellian embrace of al-Qaida would come back to haunt him.

Facing Assad’s army and intelligence services, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraq’s Shia Islamist militias and their grand patron, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Syria’s initially peaceful protesters quickly became disenchanted, disillusioned and disenfranchised – and then radicalised and violently militant.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Leave the Houthis Alone!

March 28, 2015

Leave the Houthis Alone!

Saudi Arabia‘s US-backed aggression against the sovereignty of Yemen is a textbook example of how local conflicts are internationalized – and become tripwires for regional wars and even global conflagrations.

Like Libya, Yemen is yet another Middle Eastern country that doesn’t really exist: it is actually at least two separate countries, perhaps three – the southern provinces, which are primarily Sunni, the northern tribes, who adhere mostly to they Zaydi form of Shi’ite Islam, and the area around Sa’na, the capital, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, where all Yemen’s clashing cultural, political, and religious factions meet.

The north/south division dates back to the nineteenth century British colonization, when, in 1839, the British seized the port city of Aden and administered it as a subset of the Indian Viceroyalty. It became a major trading center after the opening of the Suez canal, and the Brits pushed outward, extending their influence throughout what had been a land perpetually divided between the Ottoman Empire and local imams, including the distinctive Zaydis in the north. In 1911, the Zaydis rose up against the British and their local collaborators, abolished the north/south division negotiated by the British Foreign Office, and established the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen under Imam Yahya. Yahya’s dream was to recreate the ancient Qasamid dynasty, founded in the seventeenth century: a “Greater Yemen” extending into what is today Saudi Arabia as well as the whole of modern Yemen.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

In Yemen, It’s The Bad Guys Vs. The Bad Guys

March 27, 2015

In Yemen, It’s The Bad Guys Vs. The Bad Guys

Saudi Arabia and Egypt stand poised to conduct a massive ground invasion of Yemen, and the western media will be full of tales about how “Operation Decisive Storm” is liberating that country from the evil Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. And without a doubt, the Houthis are bad guys and so are their Iranian benefactors. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the war in Yemen is a battle of good vs. evil. The truth is that the conflict in Yemen is actually a proxy war between two sets of bad guys that both ultimately plan for Islam to take over the entire planet. On one side, the Iranians are very honest about the fact that they view us as an enemy, and they plan to impose their version of radical Shia Islam worldwide as soon as they can. On the other side, the Saudis pretend to be our friends, but they don’t hide the fact that they believe that their version of Sunni Islam will eventually rule the world. And their version of Sunni Islam includes constant beheadings, the destruction of all churches and the death penalty for anyone caught smuggling a Bible into Saudi territory. At the end of the day, there is very little difference between the Saudis and ISIS. In fact, ISIS gets a lot of funding from Saudi sources, and there is more support for ISIS on Twitter from Saudi Arabia than from anywhere else. Saudi Arabia is a horribly repressive regime where women are treated like dirt, where the secret police conduct a never ending reign of terror and where even a minor deviation from sharia law can mean the loss of a limb. But because our politicians and the mainstream media constantly tell us that they are “our friends”, we cheer them on.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yemen Ground Invasion By Saudi, Egyptian Troops Imminent

March 26, 2015

Yemen Ground Invasion By Saudi, Egyptian Troops Imminent

As reported first thing today, while the initial phase of the military campaign against Yemen has been taking place for the past 18 hours and been exclusively one of airborne assaults by forces of the “Decisive Storm” coalition, Saudi hinted at what is coming next following reports that it had built up a massive 150,000 troop deployment on the border with Yemen.

And as expected, moments ago AP reported that Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that the military intervention will go further, with a ground assault into Yemen by Egyptian, Saudi and other forces, planned once airstrikes have weakened the capabilities of the rebels.

Will this invasion mean that Yemen as we know it will no longer exist and become annexed by Saudi Arabia? According to coalition military sources, the answer is no, but that remains to be seen:

Three Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that a coalition of countries led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia will conduct a ground invasion into Yemen once the airstrikes have sufficiently diminished the Houthis and Saleh’s forces. They said the assault will be by ground from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen’s Red and Arabian Sea coasts.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Saudi Arabia, with US Support, Invades Yemen

March 26, 2015

Saudi Arabia, with US Support, Invades Yemen

As a study released today shows the US has killed perhaps more than 2 million people in the last decade of its wars on the Middle East, the US is now supporting a Saudi invasion of Yemen.

Telesur:

The government of Saudi Arabia began a military operation in Yemen against the Shiite Houthi rebels, early Thursday local time. Some reports say the operation could involve 150,000 troops and 100 fighter jets.

According to Reuters news agency, the United States coordinated with the Saudi government ahead of the attacks.

In a statement released late Wednesday, the White House confirmed it will provide logistical and intelligence support for the operation.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most repressive states, and has a deal with Pakistan for delivery of nuclear weapons at its request (see BBC’s “Saudi Nuclear Weapons on Order from Pakistan”).

In 2010, Obama secured a 60 billion dollar arms sale to the Saudi dictatorship, then a 640 million dollar sale of banned (as reported by Foreign Policy mag) cluster bombs.

In the 1980s, the US supported an invasion by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq of Iran. The US providedHussein with advanced weaponry, chemical weapons, and plans for building chemical weapons facilities. The attack killed some 1,000,0000 Iranians.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Another Middle East War Breaks Out: US-Supported Saudi Arabia Begins Bombing Yemen, Tanks Cross Border

March 25, 2015

Another Middle East War Breaks Out: US-Supported Saudi Arabia Begins Bombing Yemen, Tanks Cross Border

UPDATE: US providing support to Saudi Arabia – US Official (so US weapons are being used on both sides)

Earlier today we reported that, on very short notice, Saudi Arabia had moved heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, “raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict.” In other words, Saudi Arabia was preparing for war.

Shortly thereafter, but before Yemen’s president bravely fled the country over fears of the Houthi rebel advance, Yemen’s foreign minister called for Arab military intervention against advancing Shiite rebels.

As we explicitly warned, “the conflict risked spiraling into a proxy war with Shi’ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere Shi’ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies backing Hadi.”

Moments ago all these warnings were borne out when Al-Arabiya reported that the latest middle-east war is now official after Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf States had launched a bombing campaign against Yemen.

More details:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How ISIS Pays Its Fighters——From Gulf State Bankrollers

February 27, 2015

How ISIS Pays Its Fighters——From Gulf State Bankrollers

Islamic State is still receiving significant financial support from Arab sympathisers outside Iraq and Syria, enabling it to expand its war effort, says a senior Kurdish official.

The US has being trying to stop such private donors in the Gulf oil states sending to Islamic State (Isis) funds that help pay the salaries of fighters who may number well over 100,000.

Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of the Kurdish President, Massoud Barzani, told The Independent on Sunday: “There is sympathy for Da’esh [the Arabic acronym for IS, also known as Isis] in many Arab countries and this has translated into money – and that is a disaster.” He pointed out that until recently financial aid was being given more or less openly by Gulf states to the opposition in Syria – but by now most of these rebel groups have been absorbed into IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate, so it is they “who now have the money and the weapons”.

Mr Hussein would not identify the states from which the funding for IS comes today, but implied that they were the same Gulf oil states that financed Sunni Arab rebels in Iraq and Syria in the past.

Dr Mahmoud Othman, a veteran member of the Iraqi Kurdish leadership who recently retired from the Iraqi parliament, said there was a misunderstanding as to why Gulf countries paid off IS. It is not only that donors are supporters of IS, but that the movement “gets money from the Arab countries because they are afraid of it”, he says. “Gulf countries give money to Da’esh so that it promises not to carry out operations on their territory.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yemeni Houthi fighters fire on protesters after clashes kill 26

February 14, 2015

Yemeni Houthi fighters fire on protesters after clashes kill 26

(Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the rule of the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi movement whose gunmen fired on protesters in the central town of Ibb and wounded four, medics said.

It was the second day of nationwide demonstrations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in less then a week after its dissolution of parliament this month unraveled security and sent Western and Arab embassies packing.

Activists said they were enraged by the death on Saturday of Saleh al-Bashiri, who they say was detained by gunmen as they broke up an anti-Houthi protest in Sanaa two weeks ago and was released to a hospital with signs of torture on his body on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Yemen’s upheaval has drawn international concern as it shares a long border with top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia, and the country is also fighting one of the most formidable branches of al Qaeda with the help of U.S. drone strikes.

Heavy clashes between Houthi fighters and Sunni Muslim tribesmen fighting alongside Al Qaeda militants in the southern mountainous province of al-Bayda on Saturday killed 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters.

The state faces collapse in impoverished, strife-torn Yemen two weeks after the Houthis took formal control of the country and continued an armed push southward.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yemen Is On The Brink Of Civil War, Says UN Envoy

February 13, 2015

Yemen Is On The Brink Of Civil War, Says UN Envoy

CAIRO, Feb 12 (Reuters) – The United Nations’ special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has warned that the country is on the brink of civil war and accused all sides of contributing to the political and economic turmoil.

Yemen is slipping further into chaos as the Houthis, an Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militia from the north, consolidate their grip on power after seizing the capital in September and sidelining the central government.

The fighters have been advancing into southern territories, confronting Sunni Muslim tribesmen, other groups and the local branch of al Qaeda.

“We believe the situation is very dangerous. Yemen is on the brink of civil war,” Benomar said in an interview with television channels al Arabiya and al-Hadath late on Wednesday.

Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters seized an army base in southern Yemen and held soldiers prisoner on Thursday. The United States, Britain and France have closed their embassies in Sanaa, citing security concerns.

Benomar said Yemen’s economy was facing imminent collapse and called for more dialog to reach a peaceful settlement.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yemen crisis explained

January 21, 2015

Yemen crisis explained

As Yemen plunges deeper into chaos, Al Jazeera Hashem Ahelbarra explains who the key players are in the conflict.

Recent fighting between Houthi rebels, who took control of the Yemeni capital in September, and the army has thrown the country deeper into chaos.

Hashem Ahelbarra, an Al Jazeera correspondent who has reported extensively from the country, explains what is at stake and who the key players are in the conflict.

What triggered the latest bout of violence?

Hashem Ahelbarra: When pro- Houthi militias abducted Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, the Yemeni president’s chief of staff, President Hadi gave orders to the army to take over the security of the capital. This was seen by the Shia Houthis as a government plot to dismantle their Popular Committees.

The committees are pro-Houthi militias which were deployed on the streets of the cities that were captured by the rebels last year. They set up checkpoints around government buildings, at the international airport of Sanaa and near the presidential palace.

The Houthis had initially agreed to pull out their fighters once a government was formed. They later backtracked saying that withdrawing their fighters from the capital would lead to more instability.

Who are the main players in Sanaa right now?

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

#BahrainSchism: Anti-government protests break out after arrest of Shia opposition leader — RT News

December 30, 2014

#BahrainSchism: Anti-government protests break out after arrest of Shia opposition leader — RT News.

Protests in Bahrain against the detention of the head of the banned Shia movement, Al-Wefaq, on Sunday, have been marked by clashes with security forces. Sheikh Ali Salman boycotted parliamentary elections, influenced by the ruling Sunni royal family.

Opposition groups protested Monday against the arrest of cleric Salman, 49, who remains in custody for further questioning, AFP reported. They were supported by dozens of Shia clerics, who gathered in Imam al-Sadeq mosque in Al-Guful village near Manama, saying that the arrest was a “huge insult to all the people.”

“The Bahraini Authority is moving backward to a police state instead of taking steps toward a political solution and an end to the serious human rights violations against citizens,” opposition groups led by Al-Wefaq said in a statement.

On Sunday morning, as the banned Shia opposition party announced the arrest of its leader, clashes broke out between the security forces and hundreds of Al-Wefaq supporters. People gathered in villages near the capital city of Manama.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bahrain arrests main Shia opposition leader — RT News

December 28, 2014

Bahrain arrests main Shia opposition leader — RT News.

Bahrain’s main opposition group says its leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been arrested after hours of interrogation.

The Bahraini Interior Ministry said in a statement issued earlier that Salman was questioned about “violating certain aspects of the law,” but did not go into any further details.

The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said on Sunday that its leader was arrested after 10 hours of questioning by criminal police.

Salman was re-elected on Friday as leader of the Shia opposition group.

His lawyer, Abdullah al-Shamlan, said that Salman had been accused of “inciting hatred against the regime and for calling for its overthrow by force.”

Al-Wefaq said that the detention of its leader is “a dangerous adventure that will complicate the political situation in Bahrain.”

The majority of Bahrain’s population are Shias, but the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is ruled by a Sunni minority.

In July, a Manama court suspended al-Wefaq’s activities so that it could correct its legal status, and later banned all of its activities in October. In November, the opposition movement said it was boycotting parliamentary elections.

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Mr Hussein would not identify the states from which the funding for IS comes today, but implied that they were the same Gulf oil states that financed Sunni Arab rebels in Iraq and Syria in the past.

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