Stop Defending Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud

You need a new plan. 

You have defended in public the prince who orchestrated the gruesome torture and killing of Jamal Khashoggi. You've seen the pathetic and numerous responses of the Kingdom of Silence and Gold, and you know they are bull shit. (You're very familiar with cover-ups of political murders, but that's not the point today.)

The depth to which you've sunk in the slime of Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's depravity is stunning, to defend a sadistic, egomaniacal killer. He deserves no defense whatsoever. 

I know you've changed. I didn't recognize the man I loved when I saw you the last time. I truly wonder if you hate yourself for the man you've become, submissive to the killer prince.

You have the opportunity of a lifetime to redeem yourself right now, to stop being complicit in the cover-up and in the dirty ongoing wars. You could start with one step.

You could do it. You could get out of the fucking Al Saud slime. You can refuse to do Bonesaw's bidding, starting with no more gag-inducing P.R. for him. Again, he deserves no defense whatsoever.

I know that Trump is still defending Bonesaw while saying the cover-up is atrocious. Trump and his Jewish backers need Bonesaw for the anti-Palestinian, anti-Iran crusade and you know it. There's other military, economic and political reasons too numerous for here explaining why the U.S. and Al Sauds and Mohammed bin Zayed hold hands, dirty hands. You know all that, too.

I know that Bahrain has its hands out for cash from the Al Sauds and some of the U.A.E. sheikhs, and like Trump, for you it's all about the money. You will get it eventually, you have some leverage, but you could cancel the unneeded arms sales since Bahrain doesn't need to buy its U.S. protection. Remember? We pay your government for basing and facilities, we pay to upgrade them and have our own forces and material to protect. We're not leaving. So cancel those orders, use the funds wisely. You've got an opportunity right now -- while you look like a dirty, stinking, wet lapdog in front of the whole island -- to find and fund the most widely urgent project. Make amends!

You could ask Uncle Khalifa to return some of his corrupt gains since he seems to have got the lion's share. You, as the head of the family, could ask them all to start giving back instead of taxing non-family in more numerous ways every year. You could "find" funds buried in a budget somewhere to cover those returned by family since I know you won't do it openly. 

You can then wait for bigger financial help from your fellow dictators until Bonesaw is executed as he deserves under Sharia law.  Only the Khashoggi's could spare his life or the lives of those men who followed Bonesaw's orders via cellphone, Skype, WhatsApp or extra-sensory perception. They should not show him a bit of mercy. Khashoggi's life is the only life of thousands which Mohammed bin Salman has taken in Yemen and for which it seems possible he may be held accountable and face justice. 

Stop kissing the killer's ass, please. It's not a good look for you.



#MohammedBinSalman #JamalKhashoggi #MohammedBoneSawMan #ShariaLaw

Dispute & Diplomacy Over 4 Persian Gulf Islands

Listening to the United Nation General Assembly speeches this week, I heard Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan demand that Iran give up possession of the strategic and resource-rich Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and the two Tunbs to different historical claimants, namely the states of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaima, or, in the alternative, consent to let the International Court of Justice decide which country or countries have the right to them.

This is not a new demand. I wrote a lengthy term paper at university in the mid-1970s about the 1971 independence of Bahrain and formation in the Persian Gulf of the U.A.E. It included this matter.

( Aside: my research and result so fascinated my professor that he maintained a copy and was able to discuss it with me over 40 years later. I found that he'd used some of my work without attribution, but never mind, that happens at universities, students know it. He's gone now.)  

Most people who hear the demands of the Arab states with respect to the three islands claimed by the U.A.E and Iran do not know or recall that there were actually four Persian Gulf islands involved before Iran took control of the three disputed islands. The fourth was the British Protectorate of Bahrain, ruled in some aspects by the Sunni Al Khalifa family for over 180 years by 1971, but also by other countries historically, including Iran. 

The matter is multi-dimensional but a pedestrian summary would include: Bahrain had and has a majority Shia population with religious, family and other ties to Iran; aspirations for freedom, equality and dignity by the entire population, but especially the under-served Shia segments and those who know discrimination in many ways; a plebiscite asking if Bahrainis wanted to align with Iran or be independent; they heard promises from your family and the Brits of a constitution and rights and chose independence; the U.K. made a secret deal with the Shah, trading independence for Bahrain -- rather than restoration of Bahrain as a historical Iranian province -- for the restoration of Iran's historic right to Abu Musa and the two Tunbs. 

Influential factors have now changed. One of importance is that there's a Bahrain causeway connected to historical Bahrain some 18 miles long with special lanes for members of certain tribes on both sides. Tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled across that bridge to help your family and friends maintain power in 2011, and remain to this day, along with paid mostly Sunni mercenaries from other countries used to alter the demographic balance and suppress dissent in all forms.

To be fair to Iran, if the original 1971 deal is to be renegotiated, if the two member states of the U.A.E. who claim Abu Musa, Lesser and Major Tunbs AND the fourth island, Bahrain, all want to do what's fair, then the causeway built by the malign actor Saudi Arabia and a debt trap, must be immediately given to Iran, along with the full extent of territory stolen from the Arab Shia population by the Al Sauds in their historical rampage across Arabia. 

The planned causeway to Qatar could be built and Bahrain, then aligned with Iran, could share in the immense gas wealth and form a new, peaceful partnership. The fishermen of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah could resume fishing or buy shares in luxury hotels to be built on the islands.

You want something significant, then you give something significant, right? That's what happens in negotiations between equals. Some underestimate their opponent.

#Bahrain #UAE #SaudiArabia #UK #Sharjah #RasAlKhaimah #AbuMusa #Tunbs #Hormuz #StraitofHormuz #Iran #Qatar #Oil #PersianGulf