04-24-2017, 09:34 AM
DONALD OF ARABIA
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It was pathetic to see the self-appointed custodian of the Two Holy Masjids and self-declared leader of the Muslim world, King Salman ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bow and salute the Muslim-hating Donald Trump as he disembarked from the plane in Riyadh on May 20. Trump’s wife Melania and daughter Ivanka were also there. No hijab, much less niqab that Saudi women are required to wear, for these ladies. Salman even shook hands with Melania.
Short of inviting him to lead the prayers in al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, the Najdi Bedouins did everything else to ingratiate themselves to their American master. Salman even conferred the King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz medal, the highest civilian award, on the foulmouthed, Muslim-hating Trump. It was indeed a “special” occasion and required special acts.
The dinosaurs from Dir‘iyah were beside themselves at seeing Trump. Here was the president of the most powerful country in the world gracing them with his presence even if he had openly insulted Islam and Muslims both during the election campaign and after becoming president. He had told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in March 2016, “I think Islam hates us.” And to make sure the message was understood, he tried to ban citizens of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the US.
Long used to such insults, the Saudis dubbed the visit historic and branded it with the title, “Together We Prevail.” How could there be any togetherness between the master and his slave?
Trump’s visit was a clear violation of the Prophet’s (pbuh) hadith that there cannot be two power centers in the Arabian Peninsula. Based on their erroneous and self-serving interpretations, Bani Saud prevent ordinary non-Muslims from entering Makkah and Madinah but offer red-carpet welcome to the warmonger Trump. This, however, is nothing new for the Najdi Bedouins. They have a long history of violating Qur’anic injunctions including renaming the Arabian Peninsula “Saudi” Arabia. This is shirk.
After two days of meetings — in reality receiving pledges of loyalty from the shaky Arabian and Muslim rulers — Trump went to Israel where America’s real masters reside, then to the Vatican before joining the NATO summit in Brussels and later attending the G7 meeting in Sicily, Italy. Saudi commentators — a dim-witted lot — could not conceal their glee at the honor Trump had bestowed on them by visiting. Here at last was an American president that would save the illegitimate regimes from extinction, although according to reports (New York Times, May 18), Trump was reluctant to travel. He was consumed by scandals that have swirled around his presidency.
There was another surreal moment when the Saudis inaugurated the “International Center against Terrorism and Extremism” in Riyadh to honor Trump. The prostitutes of Paris would have more credibility if they were to open a center for fighting immorality and vice!
The Saudis threw lavish parties including a concert in Riyadh at which the American singer Toby Keith, notorious for his songs in praise of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages (the Saudis did not mind, signs of progress, one supposes!) that clearly pleased Trump. During a bilateral meeting the aged King Salman asked for help against Iran and the Saudi war on Yemen. Trump and his minions, who had already launched their rhetorical missiles at Islamic Iran before the visit, and repeated their diatribe in the President’s speech to the assembled rulers on May 21.
One picture says more than a thousand words… US President Donald Trump receives the Order of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Sa‘ud medal from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on 5-20-2017. Previous recipients of the award include, among others, former US presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, British prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Egyptian strongman Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. Trump is the first US president to choose a Muslim-majority nation for his first stop abroad, and his aides have said the decision was meant to rebut notions that Trump is anti-Muslim.
During a visit to Riyadh on April 19, US Defense Secretary James Mattis had declared that the “United States wants to see a strong Saudi Arabia,” adding “there is disorder wherever Iran is present.” This was followed by the gruff Secretary of State Rex Tillerson making the scandalous allegation the same day that, “Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests… A comprehensive Iran policy requires that we address all of the threats posed by Iran, and it is clear there are many.”
There was more nonsense from Trump who has a habit of making ludicrous allegations. Referring to Iran’s nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries, Trump, during a meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on April 20, said, “It was a terrible agreement, it shouldn’t have been signed, it shouldn’t have been negotiated the way it was negotiated.” Perhaps he was not aware that officials in his own regime had only two days earlier formally certified Iran’s compliance with the deal.
The ill-informed Trump then blurted out something that would have embarrassed even the hardcore Washington elite. Iran, he said was not living up to its “spirit.” What? “They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that.” Where did “spirit” come into the picture? Trump, however, thinks he can make things up as he goes along.
It is his terrorism charge against Islamic Iran that must be challenged. Washington is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world. Groups like Da‘ish and al-Qaeda exist and flourish only because the US and its allies support them. If the US were serious about fighting terrorism, Trump would have told the Najdi Bedouins directly to stop providing ideological and material support to terrorists. Saudi Arabia is a terror factory. Islamic Iran, on the other hand, is one of the few countries in the world earnestly fighting terrorism whether in Syria or Iraq. In a world dominated by gangsters and mass murderers, truth, however, is the first casualty.
While in Riyadh, Trump also met the potentates of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). There could not have been a more graphic display of dinosaurs on parade: small heads with protruding bellies and all no doubt heading for extinction. They sought Trump’s assurances that the US would keep them on their shaky thrones.
On the final day of Trump’s visit (May 21), the Saudis assembled 55 heads of state from the Muslim world to pledge loyalty to the new American warlord. Iran and Syria were not invited and even if they were, their leaders would not have joined the gathering of puppets. This was the Saudis’ way of showing they were “leaders” of the Muslim world. Why, one is forced to ask, does an assembly of heads of 55 countries need external protection? The Arabian, Asian, and African potentates prostrated to the New York property tycoon now occupying the White House. They had found their true “god” (nastaghfir-allah).
…And another picture needs no words. President Trump, on the second leg of his first trip abroad, solemnly (if that’s possible for the brash president) placed a note in the ancient stones of Jerusalem’s Western (Wailing) Wall on 5-22-2017. The president’s wife and daughter did not cover their heads when the first family visited the holy land of Arabia, but the president donned a Jewish head covering when he visited the holy precincts in Jerusalem. One wonders where he made a prayer for help with troubles back in Washington, and if he exercised his bullying deal-making skills to extort any billions from the Israelis for help with infrastructure development at home; or did he get bullied?
Equally bizarre was the Saudis’ distribution of what they called the ‘Riyadh declaration’. They even claimed it had been debated and approved by the assembled heads of State. When and where did such debate take place? Many of the assembled heads were surprised to hear about the so-called declaration. They heard about it from the media. There were only two speeches at the assembly: the aged king welcoming Trump and the latter pontificating about fighting terrorism.
There was much handshaking and backslapping as they sang from the same hymnbook. They pledged to “fight terrorism” (no better way to describe hypocrisy) and “protect” American interests in the region so long as they are allowed to stay in power. How can they protect American interests if they cannot protect their own seat of power? There is talk of creating “the fantasy of an Arab NATO,” as Robert Fisk wrote in the Independent (May 18). He went on, “There will be dictators aplenty to greet him in Riyadh, corrupt autocrats and thugs and torturers and head choppers.”
The big question, however, is why Trump broke with long-standing tradition by landing in Saudi Arabia ahead of any of America’s neighbors? Obnoxious to the core, Trump is a businessman. He drives hard bargains. He did not come to Riyadh because he cares for the Gulf monarchs. Trump loathes them and would not even remember the names of any of the Saudi princes he met — they all look alike and in any case, there is an army of them with strange sounding names like “bin This” and “bin That” given Trump’s low mental aptitude.
Trump, however, had a different agenda. Before embarking on this trip, his regime had already signaled it would supply $100 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia; the actual agreement turned out to be $110 billion and would reach $350 billion in 10 years, according to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. These are in addition to the $115 billion the Obama regime sold in his eight years in office. What use are these weapons to the Saudis whose incompetence is legendry? They are clearly meant for use against Muslims, whether in Syria or Yemen.
The Saudis asked Trump to bail them out in Yemen where the war they launched in March 2015 has gone disastrously wrong. Surrounded by warmongers, chances are Trump will oblige. He has already killed scores of innocent Yemenis including eight-year-old Nawwar al-‘Awlaqi, the daughter of Anwar al-‘Awlaqi. She was shot twice in the neck on January 30, 2017. Anwar, an American citizen, was murdered in August 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike.
Trump came to Saudi Arabia with a twin agenda: to get the Arabian despots to purchase more weapons so that American weapon manufacturers can continue to rake in huge profits. After signing the arms deal, he blurted out, “Tremendous investments into the United States and our military community is very happy and we want to thank you.”
Second, he wants the Arabian rulers to pay for the infrastructure development of America that he promised during his election campaign. It would cost $1 trillion. He secured an immediate investment of $200 billion from the Saudis over four years. This amount will definitely increase over the years. Further, he will squeeze hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funds from the Emiratis, Qataris, and Kuwaitis. Trump is an extortionist; he knows how to squeeze money out of the illegitimate rulers in return for promises of protection.
The Arabian rulers cannot say no if they want to continue pontificating from their shaky thrones. It is a cruel (American) world.
IGNORANT MEN THREATEN MORE WARS
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Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman has finally found a real daddy in Donald Trump. Despite their age difference — bin Salman is barely 31 and Trump is past 70 — they are both warmongering bullies. They are also narcissists insisting they never make mistakes. If things go wrong, it is someone else’s fault.
Ignorant men who wield great power are extremely dangerous. It is like handing a loaded gun to a monkey: it will either blow its own brains out or someone else’s. While Trump won an election of sorts in the US amid allegations of manipulation, in the Bedouin kingdom of bin Salman, calling for elections is a one-way ticket to the chopping bloc. He owes his position entirely to the fact that his father is king. And in the medieval Kingdom that claims its constitution is based on the Qur’an and the Prophet’s (pbuh) Sunnah, power passes from one brother to the next. What ayah of the Qur’an or what hadith sanctions this? With the older generation of Bani Saud shuffling to its grave, the new generation is jockeying for influence to grab power. The numerous wars bin Salman has launched — Syria, Iraq, Yemen, etc. — and the new ones he wants to launch against such regional powers as Islamic Iran are meant to burnish his credentials. Instead, they are likely to bring an end to the decrepit kingdom in the Arabian Peninsula. This, however, has not constrained the ill-informed and ill-mannered young prince from barging into dangerous territory.
He has issued public threats against Islamic Iran even while the latter calls for dialogue. On May 2, for instance, in a long and rambling interview with fawning panelists at Saudi-funded al-Arabiya TV channel and al-Akhbariya TV, bin Salman said, “We will not wait until the battle is in Saudi Arabia, but we will work so the battle is there in Iran.” And how will the warrior prince achieve this with the Saudis’ legendry incompetence? By unleashing the sectarian terrorists that are churned out of Saudi-funded madrasahs in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and as far afield as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The sectarian terrorists use different names: al-Qaeda, Da‘ish (ISIS/ISIL), Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Fath, Jaysh al-‘Adl and whatever other “Jaysh al-” label you want to use (fill in the blanks). Their minds poisoned by Wahhabi obscurantism, these terrorists have been unleashed in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and on the borders with Iran (Sistan-Baluchistan bordering the Pakistani province of Baluchistan). It is revealing that these terrorists have not fired a single shot against the Zionist occupiers of Palestine. Their wrath is reserved exclusively for Muslims. The reason is simple: for the Saudis, Zionist Jews are their “cousins” (Adel al-Jubeir, September 2015) while Shi‘i Muslims are kafirs and, therefore, deserve to die!
The warrior prince, however, knows the limits of the Saudis’ fighting prowess, or lack thereof. Despite his boast that the war in Yemen is all but won, he admits finishing off the other side will be costly. “Thousands of our troops can fall victims. There will be funerals in all Saudi cities.” So what does he propose to do to win the war? Starve the Yemenis, use Da‘ish and al-Qaeda terrorists and get US-Zionist help to fight Ansarallah fighters and force them to surrender.
The much-awaited surrender has not occurred in more than two years of Saudi bombing of Yemen. Instead, Ansarallah fighters have expanded their reach and taken the war into Saudi Arabia. In Tehran, meanwhile, bin Salman’s threat has evoked a strong reaction from Iran’s Defence Minister, General Hossein Dehghan. In an interview with the Arabic language television channel al-Manar on May 7, General Dehghan warned, “If the Saudis do anything ignorant, we will leave no area untouched except Makkah and Madinah.” He went on, “They [the Saudis] think they can do something because they have an air force,” in an apparent reference to Saudi attacks on Yemen where they have destroyed civilian infrastructure killing thousands of innocent Yemeni civilians. Iran, he warned, was capable of hitting every part of Saudi Arabia.
That explains why the ignorant prince has sought US-Israeli help in his provocative war with Iran. Since 2011, the Saudis have failed in their political and military objectives in Syria and Iraq and have had no success in Yemen despite bombing the dirt-poor country since March 2015. The imperialists and Zionists have also been involved in all these places.
But given the mindset of the two men — Trump and bin Salman — they will refuse to learn from history. In fact, they refuse to learn, period! If they dare unleash a war against Islamic Iran, the chances are, there will be no Saudi kingdom left. The Najdi Bedouins will be driven back to their tents in Dir‘iyah to drink polluted water and survive on camel milk and dates. The Muslim world will heave a collective sigh of relief when that happens.
EASIER TO FORGIVE AN ENEMY THAN TO FORGIVE A FRIEND
Abu Dharr
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Newsrooms around the world are sifting and trickling the most important news item to hit their desks: the deep-state Donald’s political pilgrimage to Islam’s cradle — Arabia. Along with this comes the deal of the century: hundreds of billions of dollars that the Saudi regime will be forfeiting for weapons, weapons’ systems, and decades of maintenance expenses, which will essentially bankrupt the oil kingdom. The numbers tossed around are $100 billion to $300 billion over a period of ten years. This showboat display of numbers obscures the fact that the Saudi ruling class is on the verge of mortgaging the peninsula of Islam and its oil wealth to the busy businessman from the whitewashing White House.
In the meantime, news studios in Arabia are humming the propaganda line that they are embarking on this venture in the name of “self-defense” and “national security.” And who is a threat to their national security? Of course, Islamic Iran, not Zionist Israel! For the record, the Saudi presiding princes and their kings ever since they imposed family rule on Arabia over 80 years ago never declared war against Israel. In their twisted definitions of Islamic vocabulary Israel is “Ahl al-Kitab”! And Iran is “kafir”!
The acting has a fantastic cast. The president of the United States of America — the prime Israeli enabler — decides to make his first visit overseas to, of all places, Saudi Arabia — the same Saudi Arabia he berated during his presidential campaign. Let us recall his campaign kvetching about how the US is defending the Saudis on the cheap, “If the Saudis want protection they have to pay for it.” Well, now has come the time for them to cough up the dough.
Real-deal Trump is not going to Arabia to perform the Hajj. He is going there to empty current and future Saudi coffers. All this talk from Washington about Saudi Arabia being the leader of the Islamic world amounts to dressing up the Saudis in public opinion for their pawning of Arabia to Israel and America. The gatekeepers from America to Arabia are careful not to stimulate some rather uncomfortable public thoughts about this Saudi surrender to Zionist America — thoughts such as “the Saudis will never receive advanced weapons from the US such as the advanced F-35” or “an independent Saudi war industry infrastructure.” In other words, whatever the US is going to sell to the Saudi regime will be inferior to whatever the US offers and sells to the Israeli regime.
Mohammad bin Salman — the prince training to be king — was in Washington in April and let slip that his Kingdom will pump $200 billion into the American industrial and commercial infrastructure in the course of Trump’s four years. How will the Saudis come up with that type of money when their reserves have dwindled to survival level due to their war of aggression in Yemen and the financing of wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, etc? The nitwits in the ruling family are floating the idea of auctioning off Aramco and privatizing other state entities. The Saudis in the past century went from rags to riches. Now they are turning the circle and going from riches to rags.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ideologically impoverished and economically insolvent. The hordes of Wahhabi brutes indoctrinated by Saudi financed “madrasahs,” coming to fight their “jihad” in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere are no longer a strategic asset or a political plus for the Saudi imperialist subcontractors. And the money (mis)managers of Saudi officialdom are quickly depleting their financial holdings. This year’s Saudi deficit is estimated to be around $90 billion. Religiously ruined and politically wrecked, the Saudis are now playing their last card: an alliance with their imperialist patron and Zionist godfather — Washington and Tel Aviv, respectively.
Bereft of iman these Arabian quislings are caught in the meshwork of mushriks: the more they feel threatened (threats that are kafir-defined) the more they need weapons; and the more they buy weapons the more they feel threatened!
The American military industrial complex feels very comfortable with Trump the fortune hunter, and Saudis the “take-it-all” suckers. The Saudi inferiors may even decide to hike up the price of Hajj and ‘Umrah to pay Uncle Sam and Cousin Isaac for their survival.
Imagine if all this money that the Saudi chiefs are shelling out to the imperialists and Zionists were spent fi sabilillah. Envisage what a world the Muslims would have if hundreds of billions of dollars went to a consolidation of the Muslim rank and file instead of their takfiri dogma, which has plunged the Muslim East in what appears to be wars without end. Visualize the millions of Muslim children, women, and men who are dying of hunger — the extended hands of Yemenis and Somalis who are begging for water and food to stay alive — and then look at the rulers in Riyadh perpetuating that tragedy while they bow to their lords in Tel Aviv and prostrate to their idols in America by gambling the wealth and resources to imperialist intruders and Israeli invaders.
If there were rulers in Arabia who owed their allegiance to Allah (swt) they would not have been dictated to by the Washington-London-Tel Aviv axis of evil. The financial empire they have would have been put to good use by summoning the scientists, researchers, and technologists from all over the world to come to the land of Islam and build an Islamic infrastructure. That would include military industries, nuclear technology, inter-continental ballistic missiles, satellites, etc. All the money the Saudis are going to hand over to their earthly lords will be spent toward no good cause. Had these Saudi officials embarked on such a course, they would have gained the respect of their people and other peoples everywhere — Muslims and non-Muslims. Instead, they are prolonging a contemporary systemic attempt at exterminating fellow Muslims in Yemen during Ramadan, during the sacred months (al-ashhur al-hurum), and throughout the year.
If the religio-political class in Arabia was confident of its Islam, it would have entered into dialogue with its Islamic neighbor in Iran and figured out for itself whether Iran is an enemy or a friend, leaving no room for Zionists and imperialists to tell them who and what Iran is. The Saudi officials have lost an opportunity to bring Muslims together when they had their soft power. Now the only thing they can do is summon their paid political punters to pay obeisance to the imperial lord.
In this confused “money has the last word” diplomacy, even Hamas is showing signs of giving in. Their decision makers are doing a “Fatah” in the Palestinian arena. What is now the difference between Hamas that wants to wheel and deal with the Zionists, and the Palestinian Authority that decided to do the same wheeling and dealing decades ago? Shuttling between Doha, Istanbul, and Tunisia has taken its toll on the rocking chair revolutionaries of Hamas.
In this pitch-dark political night in the Muslim East the only star that shines is the Islamic Republic of Iran. When virtually everyone is marching to the tune of the Washington-London-Tel Aviv ensemble, the Islamic will in Iran stands out.
Trump’s attempt to forge a “Jewish-Christian-Islamic” grand alliance will fail. You read it here first. It will fail because it is at odds with the course of history and it conflicts with the inevitability of justice. The accord of ruling classes in Tel Aviv, London, and Washington — along with Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara — is not to be confused with the unanimity of beleaguered Muslims whose day of salvation comports with the tide of time and the heave of history. [i]“And they said, ‘By Pharaoh’s grandeur, behold, it is we indeed who will prevail!’” (26:44).[/i]
SAUDI DEPUTY CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN MOVES WITH TIMES
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The young prince outlined his plans in a nearly 90-minute conversation at his office. Two years into his campaign as change agent in Saudi Arabia, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appears to be gaining confidence and political clout to push his agenda of economic and social reform. The young prince outlined his plans in a nearly 90-minute conversation at his office here. Aides said it was his first lengthy on-the-record interview in months. He offered detailed explanations about foreign policy, plans to privatise oil giant Saudi Aramco, strategy for investment in domestic industry, and liberalisation of the entertainment sector despite opposition from some religious leaders.
Mohammed bin Salman explained that the crucial requirement for reform is public willingness to change a traditional society. "The most concerning thing is if the Saudi people are not convinced. If the Saudi people are convinced, the sky is the limit," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Change seems increasingly desired in this young, restless country. A recent Saudi poll found that 85 per cent of the public, if forced to choose, would support the government rather than religious authorities on policy matters, said Abdullah Al Hokail, the head of the government's public opinion center. He added that 77 per cent of those surveyed supported the government's "Vision 2030" reform plan, and 82 per cent favoured music performances at public gatherings attended by men and women.
"MBS," as the deputy crown prince is known, said he is "very optimistic" about President Trump. He described Trump as "a president who will bring America back to the right track" after Barack Obama, whom Saudi officials mistrusted. "Trump has not yet completed 100 days and he has restored all the alliances of the US with its conventional allies."
There's less apparent political tension than a year ago, when many analysts saw a rivalry between Mohammed bin Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is officially next in line for the throne but less prominent than his cousin. Whatever the succession proves to be, the deputy crown prince appears to be firmly in control of Saudi military strategy, foreign policy and economic planning.
The biggest economic change is the plan to privatise about 5 per cent of Saudi Aramco, which MBS said will take place next year. This public offering would probably raise hundreds of billions of dollars and be the largest such sale in financial history. The exact size of the offering will depend on financial-market demand and the availability of good options for investing the proceeds, he told me. The rationale for selling a share of the kingdom's oil treasure is to raise money to diversify the economy away from reliance on energy.
The entertainment industry is a proxy for the larger puzzle of how to unlock the Saudi economy. Changes have begun. A Japanese orchestra that included women performed onstage here this month, before a mixed audience of men and women. A Comic Con convention took place in Jeddah recently with young men and women dressing up as characters from 'Supernatural' and other favourites. Comedy clubs feature sketch comedians (but no female stand-up comics, yet).
"We want to change the culture," says Ahmed Al Khatib, a former investment banker who's chairman of the entertainment authority. His target is to create six public entertainment options every weekend for Saudis. But the larger goal, he said, is "spreading happiness" in what has sometimes been a somber country.
The instigator of this attempt to reimagine the kingdom is the 31-year-old deputy crown prince. With his brash demeanor, he's the opposite of the traditional Bedouin reserve of past Saudi leaders. Unlike so many Saudi princes, he wasn't educated in the West, which may have preserved the raw, combative energy that is part of his appeal for young Saudis.
Mohammed bin Salman is careful when he talks about religious issues. So far, he has treated the religious authorities as allies against radicalism rather than cultural adversaries. He argues that the kingdom's extreme religious conservatism is a relatively recent phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, born in reaction to the 1979 Iranian revolution and the seizure of the Makkah mosque by radicals later that year.
"I'm young. Seventy per cent of our citizens are young," he said. "We don't want to waste our lives in this whirlpool that we were in the past 30 years. We want to end this epoch now. We want, as the Saudi people, to enjoy the coming days, and concentrate on developing our society and developing ourselves as individuals and families, while retaining our religion and customs. We will not continue to be in the post-'79 era," he concluded. "That age is over."
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It was pathetic to see the self-appointed custodian of the Two Holy Masjids and self-declared leader of the Muslim world, King Salman ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bow and salute the Muslim-hating Donald Trump as he disembarked from the plane in Riyadh on May 20. Trump’s wife Melania and daughter Ivanka were also there. No hijab, much less niqab that Saudi women are required to wear, for these ladies. Salman even shook hands with Melania.
Short of inviting him to lead the prayers in al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, the Najdi Bedouins did everything else to ingratiate themselves to their American master. Salman even conferred the King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz medal, the highest civilian award, on the foulmouthed, Muslim-hating Trump. It was indeed a “special” occasion and required special acts.
The dinosaurs from Dir‘iyah were beside themselves at seeing Trump. Here was the president of the most powerful country in the world gracing them with his presence even if he had openly insulted Islam and Muslims both during the election campaign and after becoming president. He had told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in March 2016, “I think Islam hates us.” And to make sure the message was understood, he tried to ban citizens of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the US.
Long used to such insults, the Saudis dubbed the visit historic and branded it with the title, “Together We Prevail.” How could there be any togetherness between the master and his slave?
Trump’s visit was a clear violation of the Prophet’s (pbuh) hadith that there cannot be two power centers in the Arabian Peninsula. Based on their erroneous and self-serving interpretations, Bani Saud prevent ordinary non-Muslims from entering Makkah and Madinah but offer red-carpet welcome to the warmonger Trump. This, however, is nothing new for the Najdi Bedouins. They have a long history of violating Qur’anic injunctions including renaming the Arabian Peninsula “Saudi” Arabia. This is shirk.
After two days of meetings — in reality receiving pledges of loyalty from the shaky Arabian and Muslim rulers — Trump went to Israel where America’s real masters reside, then to the Vatican before joining the NATO summit in Brussels and later attending the G7 meeting in Sicily, Italy. Saudi commentators — a dim-witted lot — could not conceal their glee at the honor Trump had bestowed on them by visiting. Here at last was an American president that would save the illegitimate regimes from extinction, although according to reports (New York Times, May 18), Trump was reluctant to travel. He was consumed by scandals that have swirled around his presidency.
There was another surreal moment when the Saudis inaugurated the “International Center against Terrorism and Extremism” in Riyadh to honor Trump. The prostitutes of Paris would have more credibility if they were to open a center for fighting immorality and vice!
The Saudis threw lavish parties including a concert in Riyadh at which the American singer Toby Keith, notorious for his songs in praise of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages (the Saudis did not mind, signs of progress, one supposes!) that clearly pleased Trump. During a bilateral meeting the aged King Salman asked for help against Iran and the Saudi war on Yemen. Trump and his minions, who had already launched their rhetorical missiles at Islamic Iran before the visit, and repeated their diatribe in the President’s speech to the assembled rulers on May 21.
One picture says more than a thousand words… US President Donald Trump receives the Order of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Sa‘ud medal from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on 5-20-2017. Previous recipients of the award include, among others, former US presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, British prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Egyptian strongman Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. Trump is the first US president to choose a Muslim-majority nation for his first stop abroad, and his aides have said the decision was meant to rebut notions that Trump is anti-Muslim.
During a visit to Riyadh on April 19, US Defense Secretary James Mattis had declared that the “United States wants to see a strong Saudi Arabia,” adding “there is disorder wherever Iran is present.” This was followed by the gruff Secretary of State Rex Tillerson making the scandalous allegation the same day that, “Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests… A comprehensive Iran policy requires that we address all of the threats posed by Iran, and it is clear there are many.”
There was more nonsense from Trump who has a habit of making ludicrous allegations. Referring to Iran’s nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries, Trump, during a meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on April 20, said, “It was a terrible agreement, it shouldn’t have been signed, it shouldn’t have been negotiated the way it was negotiated.” Perhaps he was not aware that officials in his own regime had only two days earlier formally certified Iran’s compliance with the deal.
The ill-informed Trump then blurted out something that would have embarrassed even the hardcore Washington elite. Iran, he said was not living up to its “spirit.” What? “They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that.” Where did “spirit” come into the picture? Trump, however, thinks he can make things up as he goes along.
It is his terrorism charge against Islamic Iran that must be challenged. Washington is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world. Groups like Da‘ish and al-Qaeda exist and flourish only because the US and its allies support them. If the US were serious about fighting terrorism, Trump would have told the Najdi Bedouins directly to stop providing ideological and material support to terrorists. Saudi Arabia is a terror factory. Islamic Iran, on the other hand, is one of the few countries in the world earnestly fighting terrorism whether in Syria or Iraq. In a world dominated by gangsters and mass murderers, truth, however, is the first casualty.
While in Riyadh, Trump also met the potentates of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). There could not have been a more graphic display of dinosaurs on parade: small heads with protruding bellies and all no doubt heading for extinction. They sought Trump’s assurances that the US would keep them on their shaky thrones.
On the final day of Trump’s visit (May 21), the Saudis assembled 55 heads of state from the Muslim world to pledge loyalty to the new American warlord. Iran and Syria were not invited and even if they were, their leaders would not have joined the gathering of puppets. This was the Saudis’ way of showing they were “leaders” of the Muslim world. Why, one is forced to ask, does an assembly of heads of 55 countries need external protection? The Arabian, Asian, and African potentates prostrated to the New York property tycoon now occupying the White House. They had found their true “god” (nastaghfir-allah).
…And another picture needs no words. President Trump, on the second leg of his first trip abroad, solemnly (if that’s possible for the brash president) placed a note in the ancient stones of Jerusalem’s Western (Wailing) Wall on 5-22-2017. The president’s wife and daughter did not cover their heads when the first family visited the holy land of Arabia, but the president donned a Jewish head covering when he visited the holy precincts in Jerusalem. One wonders where he made a prayer for help with troubles back in Washington, and if he exercised his bullying deal-making skills to extort any billions from the Israelis for help with infrastructure development at home; or did he get bullied?
Equally bizarre was the Saudis’ distribution of what they called the ‘Riyadh declaration’. They even claimed it had been debated and approved by the assembled heads of State. When and where did such debate take place? Many of the assembled heads were surprised to hear about the so-called declaration. They heard about it from the media. There were only two speeches at the assembly: the aged king welcoming Trump and the latter pontificating about fighting terrorism.
There was much handshaking and backslapping as they sang from the same hymnbook. They pledged to “fight terrorism” (no better way to describe hypocrisy) and “protect” American interests in the region so long as they are allowed to stay in power. How can they protect American interests if they cannot protect their own seat of power? There is talk of creating “the fantasy of an Arab NATO,” as Robert Fisk wrote in the Independent (May 18). He went on, “There will be dictators aplenty to greet him in Riyadh, corrupt autocrats and thugs and torturers and head choppers.”
The big question, however, is why Trump broke with long-standing tradition by landing in Saudi Arabia ahead of any of America’s neighbors? Obnoxious to the core, Trump is a businessman. He drives hard bargains. He did not come to Riyadh because he cares for the Gulf monarchs. Trump loathes them and would not even remember the names of any of the Saudi princes he met — they all look alike and in any case, there is an army of them with strange sounding names like “bin This” and “bin That” given Trump’s low mental aptitude.
Trump, however, had a different agenda. Before embarking on this trip, his regime had already signaled it would supply $100 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia; the actual agreement turned out to be $110 billion and would reach $350 billion in 10 years, according to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. These are in addition to the $115 billion the Obama regime sold in his eight years in office. What use are these weapons to the Saudis whose incompetence is legendry? They are clearly meant for use against Muslims, whether in Syria or Yemen.
The Saudis asked Trump to bail them out in Yemen where the war they launched in March 2015 has gone disastrously wrong. Surrounded by warmongers, chances are Trump will oblige. He has already killed scores of innocent Yemenis including eight-year-old Nawwar al-‘Awlaqi, the daughter of Anwar al-‘Awlaqi. She was shot twice in the neck on January 30, 2017. Anwar, an American citizen, was murdered in August 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike.
Trump came to Saudi Arabia with a twin agenda: to get the Arabian despots to purchase more weapons so that American weapon manufacturers can continue to rake in huge profits. After signing the arms deal, he blurted out, “Tremendous investments into the United States and our military community is very happy and we want to thank you.”
Second, he wants the Arabian rulers to pay for the infrastructure development of America that he promised during his election campaign. It would cost $1 trillion. He secured an immediate investment of $200 billion from the Saudis over four years. This amount will definitely increase over the years. Further, he will squeeze hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funds from the Emiratis, Qataris, and Kuwaitis. Trump is an extortionist; he knows how to squeeze money out of the illegitimate rulers in return for promises of protection.
The Arabian rulers cannot say no if they want to continue pontificating from their shaky thrones. It is a cruel (American) world.
IGNORANT MEN THREATEN MORE WARS
https://crescent.icit-digital.org/articl...-more-wars
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman has finally found a real daddy in Donald Trump. Despite their age difference — bin Salman is barely 31 and Trump is past 70 — they are both warmongering bullies. They are also narcissists insisting they never make mistakes. If things go wrong, it is someone else’s fault.
Ignorant men who wield great power are extremely dangerous. It is like handing a loaded gun to a monkey: it will either blow its own brains out or someone else’s. While Trump won an election of sorts in the US amid allegations of manipulation, in the Bedouin kingdom of bin Salman, calling for elections is a one-way ticket to the chopping bloc. He owes his position entirely to the fact that his father is king. And in the medieval Kingdom that claims its constitution is based on the Qur’an and the Prophet’s (pbuh) Sunnah, power passes from one brother to the next. What ayah of the Qur’an or what hadith sanctions this? With the older generation of Bani Saud shuffling to its grave, the new generation is jockeying for influence to grab power. The numerous wars bin Salman has launched — Syria, Iraq, Yemen, etc. — and the new ones he wants to launch against such regional powers as Islamic Iran are meant to burnish his credentials. Instead, they are likely to bring an end to the decrepit kingdom in the Arabian Peninsula. This, however, has not constrained the ill-informed and ill-mannered young prince from barging into dangerous territory.
He has issued public threats against Islamic Iran even while the latter calls for dialogue. On May 2, for instance, in a long and rambling interview with fawning panelists at Saudi-funded al-Arabiya TV channel and al-Akhbariya TV, bin Salman said, “We will not wait until the battle is in Saudi Arabia, but we will work so the battle is there in Iran.” And how will the warrior prince achieve this with the Saudis’ legendry incompetence? By unleashing the sectarian terrorists that are churned out of Saudi-funded madrasahs in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and as far afield as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The sectarian terrorists use different names: al-Qaeda, Da‘ish (ISIS/ISIL), Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Fath, Jaysh al-‘Adl and whatever other “Jaysh al-” label you want to use (fill in the blanks). Their minds poisoned by Wahhabi obscurantism, these terrorists have been unleashed in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and on the borders with Iran (Sistan-Baluchistan bordering the Pakistani province of Baluchistan). It is revealing that these terrorists have not fired a single shot against the Zionist occupiers of Palestine. Their wrath is reserved exclusively for Muslims. The reason is simple: for the Saudis, Zionist Jews are their “cousins” (Adel al-Jubeir, September 2015) while Shi‘i Muslims are kafirs and, therefore, deserve to die!
The warrior prince, however, knows the limits of the Saudis’ fighting prowess, or lack thereof. Despite his boast that the war in Yemen is all but won, he admits finishing off the other side will be costly. “Thousands of our troops can fall victims. There will be funerals in all Saudi cities.” So what does he propose to do to win the war? Starve the Yemenis, use Da‘ish and al-Qaeda terrorists and get US-Zionist help to fight Ansarallah fighters and force them to surrender.
The much-awaited surrender has not occurred in more than two years of Saudi bombing of Yemen. Instead, Ansarallah fighters have expanded their reach and taken the war into Saudi Arabia. In Tehran, meanwhile, bin Salman’s threat has evoked a strong reaction from Iran’s Defence Minister, General Hossein Dehghan. In an interview with the Arabic language television channel al-Manar on May 7, General Dehghan warned, “If the Saudis do anything ignorant, we will leave no area untouched except Makkah and Madinah.” He went on, “They [the Saudis] think they can do something because they have an air force,” in an apparent reference to Saudi attacks on Yemen where they have destroyed civilian infrastructure killing thousands of innocent Yemeni civilians. Iran, he warned, was capable of hitting every part of Saudi Arabia.
That explains why the ignorant prince has sought US-Israeli help in his provocative war with Iran. Since 2011, the Saudis have failed in their political and military objectives in Syria and Iraq and have had no success in Yemen despite bombing the dirt-poor country since March 2015. The imperialists and Zionists have also been involved in all these places.
But given the mindset of the two men — Trump and bin Salman — they will refuse to learn from history. In fact, they refuse to learn, period! If they dare unleash a war against Islamic Iran, the chances are, there will be no Saudi kingdom left. The Najdi Bedouins will be driven back to their tents in Dir‘iyah to drink polluted water and survive on camel milk and dates. The Muslim world will heave a collective sigh of relief when that happens.
EASIER TO FORGIVE AN ENEMY THAN TO FORGIVE A FRIEND
Abu Dharr
https://crescent.icit-digital.org/articl...e-a-friend
Newsrooms around the world are sifting and trickling the most important news item to hit their desks: the deep-state Donald’s political pilgrimage to Islam’s cradle — Arabia. Along with this comes the deal of the century: hundreds of billions of dollars that the Saudi regime will be forfeiting for weapons, weapons’ systems, and decades of maintenance expenses, which will essentially bankrupt the oil kingdom. The numbers tossed around are $100 billion to $300 billion over a period of ten years. This showboat display of numbers obscures the fact that the Saudi ruling class is on the verge of mortgaging the peninsula of Islam and its oil wealth to the busy businessman from the whitewashing White House.
In the meantime, news studios in Arabia are humming the propaganda line that they are embarking on this venture in the name of “self-defense” and “national security.” And who is a threat to their national security? Of course, Islamic Iran, not Zionist Israel! For the record, the Saudi presiding princes and their kings ever since they imposed family rule on Arabia over 80 years ago never declared war against Israel. In their twisted definitions of Islamic vocabulary Israel is “Ahl al-Kitab”! And Iran is “kafir”!
The acting has a fantastic cast. The president of the United States of America — the prime Israeli enabler — decides to make his first visit overseas to, of all places, Saudi Arabia — the same Saudi Arabia he berated during his presidential campaign. Let us recall his campaign kvetching about how the US is defending the Saudis on the cheap, “If the Saudis want protection they have to pay for it.” Well, now has come the time for them to cough up the dough.
Real-deal Trump is not going to Arabia to perform the Hajj. He is going there to empty current and future Saudi coffers. All this talk from Washington about Saudi Arabia being the leader of the Islamic world amounts to dressing up the Saudis in public opinion for their pawning of Arabia to Israel and America. The gatekeepers from America to Arabia are careful not to stimulate some rather uncomfortable public thoughts about this Saudi surrender to Zionist America — thoughts such as “the Saudis will never receive advanced weapons from the US such as the advanced F-35” or “an independent Saudi war industry infrastructure.” In other words, whatever the US is going to sell to the Saudi regime will be inferior to whatever the US offers and sells to the Israeli regime.
Mohammad bin Salman — the prince training to be king — was in Washington in April and let slip that his Kingdom will pump $200 billion into the American industrial and commercial infrastructure in the course of Trump’s four years. How will the Saudis come up with that type of money when their reserves have dwindled to survival level due to their war of aggression in Yemen and the financing of wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, etc? The nitwits in the ruling family are floating the idea of auctioning off Aramco and privatizing other state entities. The Saudis in the past century went from rags to riches. Now they are turning the circle and going from riches to rags.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ideologically impoverished and economically insolvent. The hordes of Wahhabi brutes indoctrinated by Saudi financed “madrasahs,” coming to fight their “jihad” in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere are no longer a strategic asset or a political plus for the Saudi imperialist subcontractors. And the money (mis)managers of Saudi officialdom are quickly depleting their financial holdings. This year’s Saudi deficit is estimated to be around $90 billion. Religiously ruined and politically wrecked, the Saudis are now playing their last card: an alliance with their imperialist patron and Zionist godfather — Washington and Tel Aviv, respectively.
Bereft of iman these Arabian quislings are caught in the meshwork of mushriks: the more they feel threatened (threats that are kafir-defined) the more they need weapons; and the more they buy weapons the more they feel threatened!
The American military industrial complex feels very comfortable with Trump the fortune hunter, and Saudis the “take-it-all” suckers. The Saudi inferiors may even decide to hike up the price of Hajj and ‘Umrah to pay Uncle Sam and Cousin Isaac for their survival.
Imagine if all this money that the Saudi chiefs are shelling out to the imperialists and Zionists were spent fi sabilillah. Envisage what a world the Muslims would have if hundreds of billions of dollars went to a consolidation of the Muslim rank and file instead of their takfiri dogma, which has plunged the Muslim East in what appears to be wars without end. Visualize the millions of Muslim children, women, and men who are dying of hunger — the extended hands of Yemenis and Somalis who are begging for water and food to stay alive — and then look at the rulers in Riyadh perpetuating that tragedy while they bow to their lords in Tel Aviv and prostrate to their idols in America by gambling the wealth and resources to imperialist intruders and Israeli invaders.
If there were rulers in Arabia who owed their allegiance to Allah (swt) they would not have been dictated to by the Washington-London-Tel Aviv axis of evil. The financial empire they have would have been put to good use by summoning the scientists, researchers, and technologists from all over the world to come to the land of Islam and build an Islamic infrastructure. That would include military industries, nuclear technology, inter-continental ballistic missiles, satellites, etc. All the money the Saudis are going to hand over to their earthly lords will be spent toward no good cause. Had these Saudi officials embarked on such a course, they would have gained the respect of their people and other peoples everywhere — Muslims and non-Muslims. Instead, they are prolonging a contemporary systemic attempt at exterminating fellow Muslims in Yemen during Ramadan, during the sacred months (al-ashhur al-hurum), and throughout the year.
If the religio-political class in Arabia was confident of its Islam, it would have entered into dialogue with its Islamic neighbor in Iran and figured out for itself whether Iran is an enemy or a friend, leaving no room for Zionists and imperialists to tell them who and what Iran is. The Saudi officials have lost an opportunity to bring Muslims together when they had their soft power. Now the only thing they can do is summon their paid political punters to pay obeisance to the imperial lord.
In this confused “money has the last word” diplomacy, even Hamas is showing signs of giving in. Their decision makers are doing a “Fatah” in the Palestinian arena. What is now the difference between Hamas that wants to wheel and deal with the Zionists, and the Palestinian Authority that decided to do the same wheeling and dealing decades ago? Shuttling between Doha, Istanbul, and Tunisia has taken its toll on the rocking chair revolutionaries of Hamas.
In this pitch-dark political night in the Muslim East the only star that shines is the Islamic Republic of Iran. When virtually everyone is marching to the tune of the Washington-London-Tel Aviv ensemble, the Islamic will in Iran stands out.
Trump’s attempt to forge a “Jewish-Christian-Islamic” grand alliance will fail. You read it here first. It will fail because it is at odds with the course of history and it conflicts with the inevitability of justice. The accord of ruling classes in Tel Aviv, London, and Washington — along with Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara — is not to be confused with the unanimity of beleaguered Muslims whose day of salvation comports with the tide of time and the heave of history. [i]“And they said, ‘By Pharaoh’s grandeur, behold, it is we indeed who will prevail!’” (26:44).[/i]
SAUDI DEPUTY CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN MOVES WITH TIMES
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/mena/...with-times
The young prince outlined his plans in a nearly 90-minute conversation at his office. Two years into his campaign as change agent in Saudi Arabia, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appears to be gaining confidence and political clout to push his agenda of economic and social reform. The young prince outlined his plans in a nearly 90-minute conversation at his office here. Aides said it was his first lengthy on-the-record interview in months. He offered detailed explanations about foreign policy, plans to privatise oil giant Saudi Aramco, strategy for investment in domestic industry, and liberalisation of the entertainment sector despite opposition from some religious leaders.
Mohammed bin Salman explained that the crucial requirement for reform is public willingness to change a traditional society. "The most concerning thing is if the Saudi people are not convinced. If the Saudi people are convinced, the sky is the limit," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Change seems increasingly desired in this young, restless country. A recent Saudi poll found that 85 per cent of the public, if forced to choose, would support the government rather than religious authorities on policy matters, said Abdullah Al Hokail, the head of the government's public opinion center. He added that 77 per cent of those surveyed supported the government's "Vision 2030" reform plan, and 82 per cent favoured music performances at public gatherings attended by men and women.
"MBS," as the deputy crown prince is known, said he is "very optimistic" about President Trump. He described Trump as "a president who will bring America back to the right track" after Barack Obama, whom Saudi officials mistrusted. "Trump has not yet completed 100 days and he has restored all the alliances of the US with its conventional allies."
There's less apparent political tension than a year ago, when many analysts saw a rivalry between Mohammed bin Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is officially next in line for the throne but less prominent than his cousin. Whatever the succession proves to be, the deputy crown prince appears to be firmly in control of Saudi military strategy, foreign policy and economic planning.
The biggest economic change is the plan to privatise about 5 per cent of Saudi Aramco, which MBS said will take place next year. This public offering would probably raise hundreds of billions of dollars and be the largest such sale in financial history. The exact size of the offering will depend on financial-market demand and the availability of good options for investing the proceeds, he told me. The rationale for selling a share of the kingdom's oil treasure is to raise money to diversify the economy away from reliance on energy.
The entertainment industry is a proxy for the larger puzzle of how to unlock the Saudi economy. Changes have begun. A Japanese orchestra that included women performed onstage here this month, before a mixed audience of men and women. A Comic Con convention took place in Jeddah recently with young men and women dressing up as characters from 'Supernatural' and other favourites. Comedy clubs feature sketch comedians (but no female stand-up comics, yet).
"We want to change the culture," says Ahmed Al Khatib, a former investment banker who's chairman of the entertainment authority. His target is to create six public entertainment options every weekend for Saudis. But the larger goal, he said, is "spreading happiness" in what has sometimes been a somber country.
The instigator of this attempt to reimagine the kingdom is the 31-year-old deputy crown prince. With his brash demeanor, he's the opposite of the traditional Bedouin reserve of past Saudi leaders. Unlike so many Saudi princes, he wasn't educated in the West, which may have preserved the raw, combative energy that is part of his appeal for young Saudis.
Mohammed bin Salman is careful when he talks about religious issues. So far, he has treated the religious authorities as allies against radicalism rather than cultural adversaries. He argues that the kingdom's extreme religious conservatism is a relatively recent phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, born in reaction to the 1979 Iranian revolution and the seizure of the Makkah mosque by radicals later that year.
"I'm young. Seventy per cent of our citizens are young," he said. "We don't want to waste our lives in this whirlpool that we were in the past 30 years. We want to end this epoch now. We want, as the Saudi people, to enjoy the coming days, and concentrate on developing our society and developing ourselves as individuals and families, while retaining our religion and customs. We will not continue to be in the post-'79 era," he concluded. "That age is over."