Mecca has skyscrapers

I did not realize that Mecca has skyscrapers until I read this post: "Looming large over the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba (the black cube-shaped building that is the holiest site in Islam) is the largest and second tallest building in the world, called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower complex."

 Now Mecca has the second tallest building in the world.

Thanks Haydar for sharing.

 Remember when I posted Starbucks in the Arab World? That was Christmas 2009, and I reported there were 26 Starbucks in Mecca. I wanted to verify that number again and found that Starbucks has changed its website since then, and the pages that showed the number of Starbucks in each location no longer exist. I had to use Google to find the number is still 26, and I learned that these 26 Starbucks are in Mecca province, which includes Jeddah, and there are many more Starbucks in Jeddah than Mecca. In 2009 I thought all of them were in the city of Mecca. I should have realized how improbable that would be.

While searching for these facts I read an interesting post about Saudi's rejection of Starbucks' new logo, which has been deemed too sexy for Islam. But a giant hotel with shopping malls and with a giant clock on top of it is kosher!

 PS: "The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company"

Arab Hypocrisy on US Embassies

A day after I expressed my belief that Iraq should maintain diplomatic ties with the US in a post about Muqtada al Sadr's comment about the US embassy, a Canadian Palestinian said I am a traitor for defending the occupier. Just because I want to see Iraq maintain diplomatic ties with the US? He said if I ever said this stuff in any Arab country I would most likely be lynched.

Tonight I watched this:

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Syrian protesters in Hama greeted the American ambassador with flowers. The Palestinian in Canada, like most Sunni Arabs everywhere, presumably support the protesters in Hama. At the same time a large number of them condemn or have condemned Iraqis who want normalized relations with the US. There are US embassies in every Arab capital now, yet only Iraqis are condemned for it. I wonder if the munafiqeen know they are munafiqeen.

Were the numbers of US troops in Iraq enough to avoid tens of thousands of deaths of innocent Iraqis?

Al Jazeera reporter Abderrahim Foukara asks former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld if he made adequate preparations for the invasion of Iraq to avoid tens of thousands of deaths of innocent Iraqis. As if Arabs really cared about the deaths of innocent Iraqis! But it is a good question, and obviously the answer is no.



Also interesting is the charge that it is in Foukara's "nature" to be pejorative. It is not in the Arab "nature" to be pejorative. It is in the Arab nature to be a hypocrite. LOL

The Arab masses hadn't been blameless

Fouad Ajami: 'The crowd hadn’t been blameless, it has to be conceded. Over the decades, Arabs took the dictators’ bait, chanted their names and believed their promises. They averted their gazes from the great crimes. Out of malice or bigotry, that old “Arab street” — farewell to it, once and for all — had nothing to say about the terror inflicted on Shiites and Kurds in Iraq, for Saddam Hussein was beloved by the crowds, a pan-Arab hero, an enforcer of Sunni interests.

Nor did many Arabs take notice in 1978 when Imam Musa al-Sadr, the leader of the Shiites of Lebanon, disappeared while on a visit to Libya. In the lore of the Arabs, hospitality due a guest is a cardinal virtue of the culture, but the crime has gone unpunished. Colonel Qaddafi had money to throw around, and the scribes sang his praise.'

Yes indeed, farewell to the Arabs who supported dictatorship and tyranny, those hypocrites.

Suddenly suicide is forbidden in Islam, says Al Azhar

Last month after an Egyptian man emulated the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire and helped spark a revolution, I read on some blog that some cleric issued a fatwa forbidding suicide. I forgot about it until I learned today that it wasn't any ordinary cleric from any ordinary mosque who issued the fatwa. It was from Al Azhar University: "Sharia law states that Islam categorically forbids suicide for any reason and does not accept the separation of souls from bodies as an expression of stress, anger or protest"

Today I'm wondering what those clerics of Al Azhar were saying between 2003 and 2010, when hundreds of Muslims volunteered to become suicide bombers in Iraq. Mohammed M. Hafez of the United States Institute of Peace wrote in his book Suicide Bombers in Iraq: the strategy and ideology of martyrdom:

Support for martyrdom came not only from radical bastions of Islamism such as Iran or Heabollah in southern Lebanon, but also from traditionally conservative institutions such as Egypt’s al-Azhar. Notable religious figures such as Sheikh Ahmed al-Teyyeb, mufti of Egypt, and Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi, imam of al-Azhar, affirmed the right of Palestinians to carry out “martyrdom operations” against Israelis. Yusuf al-Qardawi, a widely respected Muslim leader who has a weekly program, al-Saria wal-Hayat (Islamic Law and Life), on Al Jazeera satellite television, repeatedly issued religious rulings upholding the legitimacy of “martyrdom operations.”

Although al-Qardawi and other religious authorities did not endorse suicide attacks in Iraq, their support for these attacks in the Palestinian-Israeli context was sufficient to lead jihadists in Iraq to ask, “What is different about occupation in Palestine and occupation in Iraq?” The culture of martyrdom spawned by earlier waves of suicide attacks had created the template necessary for justifying suicide terrorism in Iraq.

A week ago a 'leading scholar from al-Azhar said on Friday that protesting is forbidden in Islam. Saeed Amer, head of the Fatwa – religious opinions – Committee at Al Azhar, Egypt and the Sunni Islamic world leading Sunni institute told al-Shourok newspaper that demonstrations that cause violence is “Haram,” or forbidden, within the religion.'

Today the Angry Arab wrote poignantly: "The Mufti of Al-Azhar--the religious institution that has only produced misogyny, repression, intolerance, fanaticism, and obscurantism--called Mubarak and expressed support for dictatorship. What do you expect from a bunch of unlearned clerics who produce fatwas for a fee?"

Bombed hotels were "dens of evil"

'Iraqi insurgents linked with al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Wednesday for bombings this week at three Baghdad hotels that killed at least 36 people, vowing bloodshed would continue.

The Islamic State of Iraq posted the message two days after three suicide bombs rocked the hotels, two of which are popular with foreigners and Western media.

"The knights of Baghdad descended on the heart of this wounded city and targeted another set of dens of evil," said the message posted on a website used by militant groups.'

Dens of evil, presumably because Americans and other foreigners stay there. Meanwhile in Dubai, the hotels look incredible and security is excellent.  I am very curious if any of the suicide bombers came from Jordan or the peninsula, where there are hundreds of nice hotels and Starbucks that serve Americans and other "infidels". It is not fair.

Saddam's was a Sunni-led regime

And today's Iraqi government is Shia-led. I still see Arabs complaining about the "sectarianism" in my comments. They don't like it when I point out that Saddam's regime was Sunni-led, or when I discuss the history of conflict between Sunna and Shia. I still see idiots praising Saddam.

Al-Majid was one of the last high-profile members of the former Sunni-led regime still on trial in Iraq. His conviction and sentencing on Jan. 17 was his fourth death sentence.

...Al-Majid, was Saddam's "hatchet man," Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch in New York, remarked when the general was touring Arab capitals seeking support two months before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. "He has been involved in some of Iraq's worst crimes, including genocide and crimes against humanity."

Hazem al-Youssefi, a representative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, once described al-Majid as a standout in a regime of criminals.

Iraq was held hostage by Saddam and his henchmen, who committed unimaginable crimes for decades without much complaint from our Arab "brothers and sisters". The Sunni Arab nation and "Ummah" unleashed their anger in the forms of suicide bombers and mujahideen only after Saddam's Sunni-led regime was toppled and put on trial for crimes against humanity. The Sunni Arabs in general were angered by America's actions only after America did the right thing and chased down Saddam and his gang of thieves and murderers and put them on trial. Oh and the Arabs were also angered by American abuse at Abu Ghraib after decades of torture and murder at Iraqi prisons before 2003.

Arab & Muslim unity or hypocrisy?

An Arab posted the video below a year ago, after Arab "leaders" cried for Gaza. I don't agree with everything he says. He says Assad killed hundreds of thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and he says Saddam killed tens of thousands of Shia. I think it's the other way around: Saddam killed hundreds of thousands of Shia and Assad killed tens of thousands of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also he characterizes the Palestinians as "filthy" because they betrayed the Kuwaitis. Not all Palestinians supported Saddam and not all Palestinians supported Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.

Nevertheless some good points are made in this video. I just wanted to show how disgusted some Arabs are by the hypocrisy of the Arabs and their support for Saddam. So I'm not the only one.



In the video the narrator says the Jordanian King mass murdered Palestinians in the "August of the Black". He means "Black September"

The Arabs and "Ummah" never cared about Iraqis

The more I read other Arabs' and Muslims' comments praising "resistance" and condemning "occupation" and "traitors" the more I wonder if they really care about Iraqis. It also compels me to think about the history of Iraq and the Middle East and I want to learn more. In a comment, a self-proclaimed Muslim told me "The target is the occupation, and whoever aligns with them. If zero Iraqis ally with them, then zero Iraqis are the target. If 12 million Iraqis ally with them, then 12 million Iraqis are target. This is completely up to them."

Also she said "The first time I ever heard of Saddam Hussein was in 1990. Iraqi internal goings-on are a separate matter from this Crusade today."

I responded:

Meanwhile in the House of Islam, Saudis and other khaleeji jarab have been aligning themselves with Americans since 1973. The mentally handicapped "Ummah" mass murders Iraqis as Muslims drink lattes at Starbucks in Mecca and as Americans plan their "crusade" from their HQ in Doha, Qatar.

Saddam's crimes of the 80s and 90s are separate from today's "Crusade" but I remind people of the history of Saddam's crimes to show that the Arabs and 'Ummah' did not care about the mass murder of Iraqis back then. They didn't care about how many bombs the Crusaders dropped on Iraq in 1991. They cared only about Sunni domination.

The hypocrisy is incredible. At least to me it is.

The Shia now have control of Iraq, and that is what the 3arab jarab got truly pissed about. The retarded Arabs and "Ummah" have never cared about Iraqis.

I should have added that zero American soldiers died in combat in Iraq last month. Most victims of bombings have been Iraqi civilians, and most of them have nothing to do with politics or "occupation".

Badr Shakir al Sayyab and surreal Arab fantasies

Today I learned about Badr Shakir al Sayyab, the Iraqi poet who wrote "The Informer", which was used by the Angry Arab to condemn Mohammad Dahlan in a post. Today a Jordanian American named Habis used the poem to condemn me as a traitor, apparently because I remind people of Saddam's horrors and I support democracy in Iraq. Habis has accused me of supporting the US invasion. I had nothing to do with the invasion, but I was always in favor of assisting the Iraqi people in overthrowing the tyrant, the mass murderer of Iraqis.

I had nothing to do with the 1991 invasion either, but I remember very well how differently the Arabs reacted to that war, during which the US and its allies bombed Iraq for 40 consecutive days and nights, with smart bombs and conventional bombs and definitely the most bombs dropped on an Arab nation in the history of the world. The Arab "resistance" did not respond by sending hundreds of suicide bombers to fight the American invaders in Iraq in 1991. The Arabs did not care how many bombs were dropped on Iraq, as long as Saddam stayed in charge, and stay in charge he did, mass murdering more Iraqis along the way and building dozens of palaces while ordinary Iraqis struggled to survive.

The Arabs were relatively happy throughout the 90s and many of them moved to America to take advantage of its great freedoms and opportunities. It was only after America toppled the hero of the Arab world, Saddam, and put him on trial for crimes against humanity, that the Arabs and "Ummah" unleashed their arsenal of suicide bombers, many of whom were convinced that killing "apostates" will be rewarded by Allah after the appropriate fatwas were issued.

Clearly the Arabs do not care about Iraqis as much as they care about Sunni domination in Iraq. Many Iraqis are shocked to see Arab poets praising Saddam, and I am shocked to see Arab Americans using an Iraqi poem to condemn Iraqis who only want peace and democracy in Iraq. It is bizarre.

To add to the surreal irony and hypocrisy, Badr Shakir al Sayyab was a Basrawi and a communist. The Ba3ath party killed communists!

In February 1963 Qasim was killed in a Baath Party coup. Morris claimed recently that the CIA was behind the coup, which was sanctioned by President John F. Kennedy, but a former very senior CIA official strongly denied this.

"We were absolutely stunned. We had guys running around asking what the hell had happened," this official said.

But the agency quickly moved into action. Noting that the Baath Party was hunting down Iraq's communist, the CIA provided the submachine gun-toting Iraqi National Guardsmen with lists of suspected communists who were then jailed, interrogated, and summarily gunned down, according to former U.S. intelligence officials with intimate knowledge of the executions.

Many suspected communists were killed outright, these sources said. Darwish told UPI that the mass killings, presided over by Saddam, took place at Qasr al-Nehayat, literally, the Palace of the End.

A former senior U.S. State Department official told UPI: "We were frankly glad to be rid of them. You ask that they get a fair trial? You have to get kidding. This was serious business."

"According to Western scholars, as well as Iraqi refugees and a British human rights organization, the 1963 coup was accompanied by a bloodbath. Using lists of suspected Communists and other leftists provided by the C.I.A., the Baathists systematically murdered untold numbers of Iraq's educated elite -- killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have participated. No one knows the exact toll, but accounts agree that the victims included hundreds of doctors, teachers, technicians, lawyers and other professionals as well as military and political figures."

So Saddam learned how to mass murder Iraqis as an employee of the CIA. It was the 60s! Badr Shakir al Sayyab surely knew of these events. He died of a degenerative nervous disorder at the end of 1964, almost two years after Saddam and his gang killed Abdul Karim Qasim. His poem "The Informer" could have been about Saddam and the Iraqis who were determined to imprison or kill Iraqi communists:

I am what you want: I am contemptible
The shoe shiner for the conquerors,
and the vendor of blood
and conscience for tyrants.
I am a crow
feeding off the corpses of chicken.
I am destruction,
I am ruination!
The lip of the harlot
is more chaste than my heart,
and the wings of flies
are purer and warmer than my hands.
As you wish...
I am contemptible!.."

The Arabs apparently do not understand that Saddam was an informer, that he became the tyrant, the conqueror wannabe. Saddam led Iraq to destruction, to ruination! Saddam and his gang of thieves and thugs were contemptible!

Update: Badr Shakir al-Sayyab "started his career as a Marxist, but reverted to mainstream nationalism without ever becoming fanatical."

How Sistani Helped America

As'ad Abu Khara (Happiest Father of Shit), also known as the "Angry Arab" wrote yesterday:

Anyone who doubts that Hizbullah is a Shi`ite sectarian party, should read this lousy statement by the party in defense of Grand Ayatullah Sistani--the biggest help to the American occupation of Iraq, more than `Allawi and Chalabi combined. The text of the statement is so reverentially phrased: it talks about Sistani and adds: "may his shadow last." The man does not even have a shadow: he donated it to the American occupation of the country. It states that harming Sisistani is like harming the party. There is no theory to explain this except the requirements of Shi`ite sectarian solidarity.

WOW. Sistani was the "biggest help" to the American occupation of Iraq, according to the clueless professor in California. How did this schmuck become a professor?? Did Sistani help Americans by promoting peace and repeatedly calling for an end to violence? Yes he did.

Or did Sistani help the American "occupation" by forbidding violent reprisals as Sunni Arab terrorists continue to mass murder Iraqis? Yes he did!

Sistani is the top Shia cleric who called for unity and said in 2007: "I appeal to you to leave aside your divisions with your Sunni brothers."

But As'ad Abu Khara has never mentioned Sistani's efforts to end the violence in Iraq.

Yes Sistani did help Americans to stabilize Iraq by encouraging the Shia to not attack innocent Sunni Arabs, even as Sunni Arab terrorism continues. Was that wrong of Sistani to do? Or is As'ad Abu Khara and the Sunni Arabs still pissed that Sistani, with his great influence in Iraq, did not call on the Iraqi Shia to kill Americans? Boo hoo, As'ad Abu Khara! Americans liberated Iraq (albeit 12 years late) when most Sunni Arabs wanted to see Iraqis to continue living under the Sunni boot of tyranny.

Americans hunted down the mass murderer of Iraqis and put him on trial for crimes against humanity. Americans stuck around to ensure that democracy, or a semblance of one, was established in Iraq as Sunni extremists tried to destroy it. Americans trained Iraqi security forces and helped Iraqis defeat a nasty Sunni insurgency that was willing to kill dozens of Iraqi children in order to kill one American.

Sunni Arab extremists (the "resistance") continue to mass murder Iraqis several months after US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities. The "resistance" is still trying to destroy democracy in Iraq. They still fight "occupation" by mass murdering Iraqis. But As'ad Abu Khara does not condemn the murderers. Instead he bitches about "occupation" and condemns the cleric who called for peace and unity in Iraq. These are our Arab "brothers". It makes me sick!

Jordan's secret role in America's CIA

'Hours after last week's deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan, a revision was made in official accounts of the number of intelligence operatives killed in the suicide bombing. Instead of eight deaths, as initially reported, the CIA acknowledged only seven.

The eighth victim resurfaced over the weekend when his flag-draped coffin arrived in his native country, Jordan. The man, a captain in the Jordanian intelligence service, was given full military honors at a ceremony that referred only to his "humanitarian work" in war-torn Afghanistan.

...Yet, despite Jordan's critical role, officials from both countries have insisted that its participation remain virtually invisible, in part to avoid damaging Amman's standing among other Muslim nations in the region, former intelligence officials said."

They seek to avoid damaging Amman's standing among other Muslim nations in the region? Are you serious?? Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, the country that hosted more than half a million American (crusaders!) soldiers in 1991? Or would the Muslim country of Qatar, which hosts the US CENTCOM, look down on Jordan for their work with Americans? Perhaps the pious Muslims of the UAE, where there are more than 90 Starbucks, would stop going to Amman for vacation if they hear such blasphemous news!

Thanks Tony for posting the article.

Remembering the KABOBfest about Iraq

Before I go for a long drive, I wanted to document here, to remember how the Arabs on KABOBfest, whose authors appear to be mostly North Americans of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, reacted to the war in Iraq. In general they did not condemn the Arabs who mass murdered Iraqis as much as they condemned the Americans who overthrew Saddam the murderous dictator. I think some of my comments and those of a few Kabobers are worth posting here:

My first comment was "The Kabobers would probably condemn the bombing of a volleyball game if Americans did the bombing." You responded be telling me that your are concerned about the consequences of US policies, as if this justifies the Kabobers' lack of condemnation of Arab terrorism.

I searched for "Iraq" on KABOBfest, hoping to find strong condemnation of the extremists who have been responsible for the mass murder of Iraqis.

A few interesting posts, some of which I've read before, like "18 Arab Leaders You Would Want with You in a Bar Fight" By Hanitizer, who summarized the criminality of Saddam. Also I read with great interest "Western Hypocrisy Shines at the Racism Conference" By Will, who wrote "Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have paid with their lives. " But he blamed the deaths of Iraqis directly on "Westerners". No mention of the thousands of Arab "mujahideen" and "resistance" dickheads who repeatedly bombed and attacked innocent Iraqis.

Also I just read "A Moving Diatribe to Mobilize the Iraqi Police" By Will, who condemned the American soldier's lecturing of Iraqi police, even though they deserved to be lectured like that because Shia militias had infiltrated the Iraqi police and some of them killed innocent people, often attacking Sunni Arabs. One would think that Sunni Arabs should applaud the soldier's lecture. But no, Will wondered "if this video is planted by Military strategic communication experts to show why the Iraqi police are inadequate and a US presence is needed, and how the US is trying to get them in shape to take control of their country." WOW

I noticed Kalash wrote on March 8, 2009 in which he appeared to condemn the suicide bombers (he actually mentioned them!), and he wrote that "Sunni residents of Samarra welcomed over a million Shia pilgrims. No major acts of violence were reported. Three years ago, the Golden Mosque was attacked sparking a bloody civil-war." WOW I thought, this Kabober is not like the others. But at the bottom he wrote : "Ali Hassan Al Majid (aka Chemical Ali) was given his third death sentence… That court is more of a joke than the ICC." So Iraq isn't even allowed to try and convict a mass murderer? The court is a joke?

I noticed this Kalash guy has written many posts that mention the horrendous violence in Iraq. Almost a year ago he wrote in "Remembering Iraq (Dec 19 – Jan 18)": "Well over 175 people have died in Iraq over the past month (in addition to any casualties resulting from military operations). That number pales in comparison to the dead in Gaza, but it is a clear sign that the beleaguered nation still has a long way to go."

At first glance it appears to be a condemnation of the terrorists who kill innocent Iraqis, but it's just a condemnation of America and Bush, who according to the Kabobers have caused the deaths in Iraq, which was hunky dory before 2003. In that post Kalash wrote: "Although he’s already been given two death sentences, a new trial began for Ali Hassan al Majid (aka Chemical Ali). This time the charade is centered on his role in the Halabja massacres ."

So Kalash, the smartest of the Kabobers, does not know of Ali Hassan al Majid's role in the massacres of Kurds and called his trial a "charade". How fitting!

In "Remembering Iraq: House of Saddam" Kalash criticized the film for not covering US support for Saddam in the 80s, the crippling effect of sanctions, and most importantly, the atrocities following the 2003 invasion. I wonder if Kalash even knows about the 1991 intifadha and how Saddam's goons mass murdered Iraqis. Also, if the film were to cover the atrocities following the 2003 invasion, wouldn't they have to tell the story about Zarqawi and the thousands of Arabs who travelled hundreds of miles to ostensibly fight the American occupiers, but ended up mass murdering mostly Iraqi civilians and Iraqi security forces?

But Kalash did write: "Saddam Hussein was a ruthless thug responsible for the misery of millions of Iraqis. There were good reasons to take him out". I agree with him on this! Kalash wrote a few of these "Remembering Iraq" posts and on Nov 28, 2008 he called it "Iraq’s elected representatives" - that is progress for an Arab! Kalash has written a lot about Iraq, and I thank him for it. But like most Arabs, he seems more interested in condemning Americans and their "occupation" of Iraq rather than condemning the Saddamist and Salafi scum of earth who continue to mass murder Iraqis.

I will search further back because many posts (507) mention Iraq, and I thought surely one of you Kabobers must have been angered by the civil war of 2006 and 2007. Very interesting reading on KABOBfest that symbolizes how biased (and sometimes clueless) the Arabs are on Iraq.

Maybe that was a bit harsh, because the more I read, the more I did find condemnation, albeit light and infrequent and certainly not as strong as their condemnation of Bush & Cheney:

"Nabeel: "I do not want to be one of those people who was not publicly criticising Zarqawi & Co. when he was blombing Shia areas, but immediately took offense to his targeting of Arab Sunnis."

Iraqi Mojo: "Actually that is the first time I've seen any Arab say something like that. A big SHUKREN to Nabeel, even though it's more than 4 years late."

Then I found this golden nugget:

I just read this: 'what about the militants that come into Iraq to defend “Islam” and all its glory at the present state. I’m sorry but this is disgusting, another sign of why we don’t get along and why arabs will never be friends.'

on "Saudi Jarabia" By NarcelX.

EXCELLENT! Thank you NarcelX!

So NarcelX is the smartest Kabober, not Kalash. Where is NarcelX these days?

Then I wrote this:

I just discovered that NarcelX is Iraqi, and that he quit this blog after one of the clueless Kabobers called NarcelX an idiot for hating the 3arab jarab of KSA. No wonder I agreed with NarcelX, and no wonder the other Kabobers attacked him for expressing his outrage, which other Kabobers evidently did not share. His post "Saudi Jarabia" was the strongest condemnation of "mujahideen" I've seen on KABOBfest. But he is Iraqi, and that makes sense!

Starbucks in the Arab World

Over the years I have heard Arabs and Arab Americans calling to boycott Starbucks because its CEO (a Jew!) allegedly shares his wealth with Israel.  As Arabs and Arab Americans continue to preach "resistance" and hate the "puppet" government of Iraq, and as Arab terrorists continue to wage war on innocent Iraqis, often targeting small cafes, in nine Arab countries customers buy frappuccinos without worrying about terrorism or "resistance":  

• 24 Starbucks in Egypt, which has cooperated with Israel in stopping weapons smuggling into Gaza, and has been accused of strangling Gaza's economy.
• More than 90 Starbucks in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc), host to a US Air Force base. 
• 10 Starbucks in Qatar, along with Al Jazeera headquarters and a very important US military base called "CENTCOM". 
• 71 Starbucks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including 26 in Mecca (holy cappuccino!). In 1991 KSA hosted almost a million foreign troops, 73% of whom were American.
• 16 Starbucks in Lebanon. 
• 10 Starbucks in Jordan, home of Zarqawi and the deranged sons of Salt.
• 12 Starbucks in Bahrain, host to a US Naval base. 
• 7 Starbucks in Oman, which makes its military bases available for use by the US.  
• 72 Starbucks in Kuwait, which makes its air bases available for use by the US and is also host to a few US Army bases.  

And there have been more than 1,700 suicide bombings in Iraq.

PS: As an afterthought (again!) I thought I should explain that in 2007: 

About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.

And in 2005: 

Who are the suicide bombers of Iraq? By the radicals' account, they are an internationalist brigade of Arabs, with the largest share in the online lists from Saudi Arabia and a significant minority from other countries on Iraq's borders, such as Syria and Kuwait. The roster of the dead on just one extremist Web site reviewed by The Washington Post runs to nearly 250 names, ranging from a 13-year-old Syrian boy said to have died fighting the Americans in Fallujah to the reigning kung fu champion of Jordan, who sneaked off to wage war by telling his family he was going to a tournament.

Since 2004, Iraq has been the only country in the Arab world that is ruled by Shia.

I had to revise this post a few times because I kept finding more Arab countries with Starbucks and it took some time researching the American military presence in each country.  Also I tried to read it from the perspective of somebody who has little understanding of the history and sectarian nature of the conflict.

Are the Arabs not the biggest hypocrites in the world?

Angry Arabs not angry about Arab hypocrisy

I want to document the apparent lack of anger or even awareness among Arab intellectuals at Arab hypocrisy. The Angry Arab wrote today 'Qatari government hearts Isarel': '"Qatar to allow Israeli football players if it wins World Cup bid". Make no mistake about it: all lousy Arab regimes would beg for peace for Israel to please the US.'

The Angry Arab has not commented on the difference between the way Arabs have treated Qatar and the way they've treated the new Iraq and its government. The Arab "resistance" have killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the overthrow of the tyrant Saddam and his murderous regime. More than 1,100 suicide bombers, most of them non-Iraqi Arabs, have blown themselves up in Iraq since 2003. They continue to attack Iraqi security forces, and I still remember the comments on the blogosphere by Arabs from all over the world who believed that it was right to attack Iraqi security forces, because Iraqi security forces work with the infidel occupier. But the Arab resistance has never attacked Qatari security forces like they've attacked Iraqi security forces.

The rules seem to apply only to Iraq, and they definitely do not apply to Qatar. There have been no bombings of Qatari police stations, no bombings of markets in Qatar, where there are 10 Starbucks and one very large and important American military base from which the US launched two wars on Iraq. This bit of Arab hypocrisy does not seem to anger the Angry Arab. Or maybe he didn't notice.

I was curious if the Angry Arab has ever mentioned CENTCOM on his blog, so I searched for it and found this post:

'A US-supported, Shi`ite version of Zarqawi: "The Centcom commander met first with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a languid Shiite cleric who is the leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite party. Hakim, flanked by the chief of his group's Badr Organization militia, told Fallon that "the real problem in Iraq is the Sunnis." Even if the Shiites made concessions to the Sunnis by sharing oil revenue or easing de-Baathification, Hakim said, "the enemies will never accept."" '

So the only thing As'ad Abu Khara has to say about CENTCOM is that its commander met Abdul Aziz al Hakim, who was a Shi'ite version of Zarqawi, according to the Angry professor. Is this guy really a professor? I don't remember Hakim writing a letter encouraging the Shia to mass murder Sunni Arabs, nor do I remember the Badr Brigade bombing markets in Sunni neighborhoods, but we're supposed to believe that Hakim was as bad as Zarqawi.

This is the same professor who has attacked Sistani many times. Sistani is the cleric who repeatedly called for an end to the violence in Iraq and appealed for unity between Sunna and Shia. In one post the Angry Arab wrote: 'the two people most responsible for sectarian conflict in the Middle East are the Saudi King and the Grand (not at all) Ayatullah, Sistani. (You can add others like Al-Qa`idah, the Badr militia, Hariri family, etc).'

No mention of CENTCOM in Qatar and no mention of Arab hypocrisy. OK!

Sunday Bloody Sunday

"The double suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday was the deadliest attack in Iraq for over two years. It claimed more than 130 lives, and wounded hundreds more."

The resistance strikes again, at Iraqis of course, and our Arab brothers do not seem to be very concerned about it.

As Mish3an Jabouri dreams of unity between Iraq and Syria (but not unity with the Iraqi government), and as 3arab jarab praise Saddam and preach "resistance" from their homes in California, the "resistance" continues to mass murder Iraqis, targeting Iraqi security forces and government employees.

Well at least the "resistance" is no longer targeting markets and cafes. That is considered progress in the Arab world. Anthony Shadid (Arab American journalist) wrote: "Unlike the carnage unleashed by attacks in crowded mosques, restaurants and markets, aimed at igniting sectarian strife, these blasts appeared to rely on a distinctly political logic." I do not understand how "distinctly political logic" can result in the murder of 137 people, but I betchya the Arabs do.

From David Ignatius of the Washington Post: 'But my Iraqi friends were surprisingly upbeat about the future, even after Sunday's terrible bombings. "In every sector, Iraq is coming back to its normal mode," said one. "There is no way it will slip back," insisted the other. I wondered at their confidence on such a day, but that is part of the Iraqi toughness.

Rather than talking about the bombings, we talked politics. My friends sharply criticized the incumbent prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. But as we were debating, one turned to me with a smile: "Here we are talking about who will run the government after the elections. Could you do that in any other country in the Arab world?"

Barack Obama on the bombings: "The United States will stand with Iraq's people and government as a close friend and partner as Iraqis prepare for elections early next year, continue to take responsibility for their future, and build greater peace and opportunity," President Barack Obama said in a statement that condemned the bombings."

From our friends in Europe: "Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said in a statement: "The presidency of the European Union condemns today's car bombs in Baghdad."

It seems that only our Arab "brothers" cannot bring themselves to condemn these bombings that target Iraqi government employees, who are after all ordinary IRAQIS.

The Arabs never ask "why does the Arab resistance attack the Iraqi government by murdering innocent Iraqis?" They do not consider what was happening in Iraq before 2003 and wonder if Baathist extremists would mass murder Iraqis in order to gain power, like they did before 2003.

The bombings apparently do not make the "Angry Arab" angry enough to condemn the Arabs who continue to mass murder Iraqis in the most horrific ways. Instead, California Professor As'ad Abu Khalil wrote recently: "So the US comes to Iraq, sets up a puppet government and tells the puppets that they now have a democracy. So the puppets believe it. I find that quite amusing."

On the same day the Angry Arab wrote about Sistani, who has repeatedly called for peace and unity between all Iraqis. The professor wrote on Friday: "He [Sistani] is one of the worst puppets in the Middle East, and will go down in history as the Cleric of Foreign Occupation. So this man says that he does not interfere in politics but recently has been making noises insisting on open electoral lists."

Incredibly the professor wrote on the same day a post about the Saudis promoting a "Saddam TV satellite channel that will air Saddam speeches and songs non-stop". So Iraqis cannot count on even an educated, respected, liberal Arab American professor who has acknowledged the sadism and criminality of Saddam, to condemn the Arab extremists who continue to mass murder Iraqis.

I suppose I should not expect ordinary Arabs and Arab Americans to condemn the mass murderers of Iraqis, after Arab nationalist poets lauded Saddam, and after Arab American academics still call it a puppet government in Baghdad while ignoring the Arab insurgency that continues to kill Iraqis 6 years after the toppling of the former dictator. I have never seen an Arab or Arab American condemn the bombers, who are obviously Arab and who have killed thousands of innocent Iraqis this year, and this has been a relatively peaceful year in Iraq compared to the sectarian violence of 2006 and 2007.

So these are our Arab "brothers". They seem to have no problem fighting "imperialism" by mass murdering Iraqis. It makes me very sad.

Update (Oct 26): On the Palestinian Pundit, where blaming America for all of Iraq's problems is quite normal, the Arab American blogger Tony posted an article by an Iraqi British "senior lecturer" at London Metropolitan University: 'the Iraqi people are still paying with their blood for the US-led invasion and occupation of their country......the Iraqi people will not freely accept a pro-US regime in Baghdad and that the "exit strategy" will inevitably result in long-term occupation, and bring only more bloodshed and destruction. Why are the Iraqi people expected to elect a disparate collection of corrupt and sectarian pro-US politicians?'

Our Lebanese Australian friend who contributes to the Palestinian Pundit and to the Angry Arabs Comments Section, quoted Juan Cole, who pointed out that "The Minister of Public Works is Riyadh Gharib, a prominent member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is close to the clerics in Tehran. Public Works as a ministry would thus have a lot of ISCI party members as employees and it is also a huge source of political patronage. Baathists or Sunni extremists would have every reason to hit it."

But this is the part of Cole's article that interested our respected Lebanese Australian friend: "The Republican's avaricious and illegal war on Iraq destabilized the eastern Mediterranean, perhaps for decades, creating long-term challenges to US and global security of which the Baghdad blasts are very possibly only minor omens."

I guess Iraqis should have stuck it out with Saddam so that the eastern Mediterranean would remain "stable" in the eyes of Juan Cole and non-Iraqi Arabs.

Also today the Angry Arab wrote about the bombings: 'Look at this language about the bombings yesterday: "leaving a scene of carnage that raised new questions about the government’s ability to secure its most vital operations." You would not know from this sentence that the US has some 130,000 troops.'

And you would not know from any Arab "intellectual" that Arabs murdered around 150 Iraqis yesterday, including 30 Iraqi children.

Update (Oct 27): "Iraq's government pledged tighter security the day after two suicide bombings claimed at least 155 lives, including two dozen children trapped in a bus leaving a day-care center."

Pre-2003 Torture & Murder at Abu Ghraib

An Iraqi reporter named Suadad al Salhy has been hired by the New York Times. On her blog she wrote: 'The Iraqi government has announced that it will rehabilitate Abu Ghraib prison, turning part of it into a museum of torture. However the Shiite-led post-war government in Baghdad said that it will focus on the “crimes” of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni regime, and not American torture post-2003.'

I commented that this is appropriate, since the crimes of Saddam Hussein's regime at Abu Ghraib were much more horrific and lasted much longer than American torture at Abu Ghraib. I find it strange that the author put the word "crimes" in quotes. Many Sunni Arabs and even some Iraqis do not know of or refuse to believe the stories of torture and murder that took place at Abu Ghraib and many other prisons in Iraq prior to 2003. This is just another symbol of the division between Shia and Sunni Arabs. Maybe I shouldn't blame those who are ignorant of Saddam's crimes, since the Arab press did not report them.

What Arabs are (not) Angry about

I suppose I shouldn't expect Arabs to be Angry about Saddam (or any of our Arab brothers) killing innocent Iraqis when they aren't even Angry about Jordanian men killing their own sisters.

Sister shot six times in alleged 'honour' killing

August 01, 2008 10:00pm

A 26-YEAR-old Jordanian man was charged with murder today after his 23-year-old sister was shot dead in an apparent "honour" killing.
The unnamed suspect allegedly shot his sister six times last night in the Nqeira area south of the capital Amman, a security official said.

"He turned himself in and confessed to murdering his sister to cleanse his family's honour because she disappeared from home for four months with a man," the official said.

"He killed her the moment she returned home last night. But forensic tests showed that the girl was a virgin."

It was the eighth reported so-called honour killing this year, according to Jordanian authorities which in 2007 recorded 17 such murders - a slight rise on previous years.

Those convicted in such cases often receive light sentences because parliament has twice refused to reform the penal code, despite pressure from human rights groups to end the near impunity of perpetrators.

ExxonMobile Helps Qatar Prosper

Why do so many Arabs and leftists have no problem with Qatar, host to CENTCOM, prospering from its business with ExxonMobil, while they bitch and moan about Iraq's recently signed short-term service contract with ExxonMobile and other oil giants?

"In November 2005, ExxonMobil started production at the Al Khaleej block in the North Field at a rate of 750 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). In July 2006, the company announced a $3-billion plan to expand this output to 1.6 Bcf/d by 2009, which will be used to fuel power plants and industrial customers in Ras Laffan, the RasGas LNG project, and as feedstock at the Oryx Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Project. ExxonMobil is the largest foreign investor in development projects at Qatar’s North Field. Aside from Al Khaleej, the company is also involved in increasing natural gas supplies for the RasGas and Qatargas LNG projects, each of which will rely on significant increases in output from the North Field over the next several years (see the LNG Section below for additional details)."

The Permanent Infidel Presence in Persian Gulf

Over the weekend my father and I were talking about the incredible stupidity and hypocrisy of Al Qaeda and other "resistance" groups who murder foreigners in Iraq and Iraqis who work with foreigners. I told him that AQI murders Iraqis who work with Americans, but apparently it's OK for Al Qaeda that Saudis do big business with Americans and the US CENTCOM is in Doha, Qatar. I mean we don't hear about suicide bombings in Riyadh or Doha. My father agreed and told me that it's apparently OK with Al Qaeda that France, the country that banned the hijab, has signed a deal with Abu Dhabi for a permanent French naval base there. I missed this months-old announcement and thought I should add it to the list of examples of Arab hypocrisy.