HYBRID WARFARE AND ITS TARGET OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA. By Intibah Kadi 23 January 2018

HYBRID WARFARE AND ITS TARGET OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA. By Intibah Kadi

23 January 2018

The news of whistleblower media outlet, The Intercept, holding on for three years to an important NSA document, the contents of which lead to understanding which powers were involved in the earlier years of the War on Syria, has brought into question what exactly The Intercept claims to represent. A number of leaks of important documents including from Edward Snowden gave the media site an air of credibility and prestige, with many believing it had the potential to do good in this world. But a report from Mint Press’ Whitney Webb, puts everything clearly into perspective. https://www.mintpressnews.com/intercept-withheld-nsa-doc-that-may-have-altered-course-of-syria-war/233757/  (Webb's article pasted below due to censoring).Not only did The Intercept, publish evidence three years too late, but failed to write about important events around this document and what they meant. 

Webb’s article blew away any remnants of the notion that The Intercept is a vital link in the fight for justice and accountability. Her article firmly places The Intercept in the forefront of its proper context, that is; a Deep State “controlled opposition” apparatus.

In the case of Syria, it is clear that The Intercept, at no stage,  had an interest in the truth and in fact has deliberately obscured facts from seeing the light of day. The author’s mind went back to statements a researcher, Eva Gonzales,  made in mid-2016. She reported that she sent a highly sensitive and explosive piece of research, to the head of The Intercept. The other end was deathly silent. It was an important piece of “whistleblower” material but not for The Intercept evidently and, was clearly too close to the bone. One of the many alternative media outlets approached considered the research very important but expressed unwillingness to “put one’s hand in the hornet’s nest”. She claimed that not a single “alternative media” site felt able to publish it, despite several of their well known journalists telling the author that it was brilliant and important work. Reading her research back then, it seemed unbelievable that The Intercept would ignore it.

Clearly it was dangerous material and, as The Intercept presents itself most suitable for such risky exposes, they were the go-to people for publication. After all, isn’t that what The Intercept portrays itself as; fearless? This was something clearly for their basket. Now, reading Whitney’s piece in Mint Press, it makes sense why The Intercept ignored that submission.

The article was titled, “The Clarion Project and the ISIS “Dabiq” Trail”. It was based on detailed research which implicated a number of players in the USA and Israel in a phony ISIS magazine which was used for a variety of purposes, perhaps surveillance and recruitment. But, what caught my eye was the fact that, given everything pointing to the magazine “Dabiq” being a Clarion Project publication, it contained in one of it’s editions a “threat by ISIS” to a Senator for his writing a support letter to President Assad. https://evagonzalesthewriter.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/the-clarion-project-and-the-isis-dabiq-trail/ The Senator promoted this fact publicly and refers to it often when embarking on his activities in “support” of Syria. 

Following a logical line of enquiry, the writer notes that this Senator pragmatically severed links, just a few days before meeting President Assad, with Ted Cruz (he was on his inner election team). In addition to this, the Senator is linked to the Christian Zionist church which has church planting interests in Syria, and the member of the church who has become extremely active inside Syria was rescued by the Senator from the prospect of having to return home without a visa to Syria. This operative got stuck enroute to Syria with visa approval looking unlikely and claims that the Senator solved the visa problem in one afternoon by telling the President’s adviser that she was his “aide”. Her status as an “aide” was later confirmed by her in a media interview in Syria. 

Possibly, in light of no such position being stated on the original visa application, the Senator and his colleague went to extraordinary lengths to “clarify” this inconsistency, repeatedly stating that she was not an “aide” but a simple caring “housewife”. This is the same Senator named in the Neo-Con Clarion Project’s fabricated ISIS magazine “Dabiq” as an “enemy of ISIS”. The massive community of Christian Zionists of the USA are the most crucial allies of Israel and outnumber many times the population of Israel. Of interest here, they have a greater ability in finding ways to penetrate the barriers into Syria.

Controlled opposition in its many forms, whether from social action organisations to political or environmental ones, from the plethora of media outlets, to online petitions, have left many genuine seekers of the truth reeling, exhausted, disheartened and disempowered as they expend endless energy trying to figure out who is truly an alternative source of information and action and who is not. 

Add to this, the role these outlets play in espionage or projects that go against the interest of a nation the “empire” targets. Naturally, people make mistakes, and alternative media outlets can get things wrong, but something like this report about The Intercept clearly indicates it is a “controlled opposition” project. 

Placing Gonzales’ research about Clarion Project’s fake ISIS magazine with my observations about the Senator’s utilization of a fake ISIS threat,  together with this report on The Intercept by Webb, makes interesting reading when considering the many desperate attempts of Syria’s enemies to breach her barriers.

Mint Press itself, is no stranger to possible espionage and the attempts to discredit it as a reliable source in the alternative media community. In 2013 they fell victim to a dirty scheme at the hands of a purported independent Jordanian (or is he Israeli?) “journalist”. In the Arab world, not just the Western media, this Israel couch surfing “journalist” was ridiculed whilst also, maddeningly hinting that the Syrian government was responsible for the attack at Al Ghouta.  http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=86582

What the world community of genuine activists and supporters of justice and resistance to the designs of “the empire” need to remember is that, it is a constant battle to keep up with the truth and lies within our movement.  As the writer said in her August 2017 article, NATO has every design on Syria covered and why would it leave the social media movement untouched?  http://thesaker.is/social-media-as-a-tool-of-hybrid-warfare-the-case-of-syria/ Hence it will always be a battle to ascertain where the controlled opposition strikes and what kind of operatives  and projects on the ground are really part of that.

* Interesting to watch in relation to this topichttps://t.co/NA2HFHGHN1

(posted here as many countries portray site as dangerous to open)
The Intercept Withheld NSA Doc That May Have Altered Course Of Syrian War

If this document had been published sooner, it could have dramatically changed the course of the war by exposing the true face of the “moderate rebels” — and potentially saved tens of thousands of lives. That didn’t happen, and no reason has been given by the Intercept for its delay.

by Whitney Webb

October 30th, 2017

By Whitney Webb 

On Tuesday, the Intercept published a hitherto unknown document from the trove of National Security Administration (NSA) documents leaked by Edward Snowden over three years ago. The document was notable as it shed light on the early days of the Syrian conflict and the fact that, for the past six years, so-called “revolutionary” groups aimed at toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have largely acted as proxies for foreign governments pushing regime change.

The document explicitly reveals that an attack led by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which was intended to mark the anniversary of the 2011 “uprising” that sparked the Syrian conflict, was directed by a Saudi prince. The document proves, in essence, that the armed opposition in Syria – from the earlier years of the conflict – was under the direct command of foreign governments pushing for regime change.

NSA graphic released by The Intercept outlines Saudi involvement in organizing Syrian opposition 

attacks on Syria’s civilian infrastructure.

According to the document, Saudi Prince Salman bin Sultan had ordered the FSA to “light up Damascus” and “flatten” the city’s civilian airport. The Saudis had also “sent 120 tons of explosives/weapons to opposition forces” for the operation. The Saudis, as the document notes, were “very pleased” with the outcome, which claimed at least 60 lives.

The implications of the NSA document are significant. It offers the clearest proof, in the form of official U.S. government documents, detailing the direct relationship between the armed Syrian opposition and foreign governments, and exposing the fact that this relationship existed much earlier than the mainstream narrative on the conflict had previously suggested.

However, the Intercept article regarding the document is unusual for several reasons. First, the report inaccurately claims that the attack launched at the Saudis’ behest did not result in any confirmed casualties. Second, it states that the 2011 uprising in Syria was an organic, “peaceful” movement that led the Syrian government to wage “an open war against their own people” — a narrative that has since been debunked.

Yet, the largest oversight of all is the article’s failure to mention the U.S.’ role in funding the Free Syrian Army, as well as the CIA’s well-documented role in training the FSA and pumping tons of weapons into Syria in order to foment and exacerbate the conflict in its early days. In light of the NSA document’s revelation that the U.S. had been given advance notice of the planned FSA attack – on a civilian target, no less – Washington’s decision to let it proceed clearly suggests that the U.S. was involved in and well aware of the Saudi directives to the FSA. However, the Intercept piece chooses not to mention this crucial context.

Intercept’s three-plus year delay in releasing document

Free Syrian Army fighters clean their weapons and check ammunition on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria Nov. 14, 2012. Khalil Hamra | AP

That didn’t happen, however, and no reason has been given by the publication for its notable delay. The Intercept has exclusive publishing rights and an exclusive hold on the content of the Snowden leaks, of which this newly released document is a part. Indeed, the Intercept was founded after the Snowden leaks were made public and its first hires were Glenn Greenwald and Lauren Poitras, the only journalists possessing the full Snowden cache. Those documents now belong to the Intercept’s founder — billionaire eBay founder,  — and his for-profit media company, First Look Media.

Examining Omidyar’s connections to the U.S. political establishment offers a plausible reason for the Intercept’s delay in publishing documents so crucial to understanding the situation in Syria. Omidyar was a frequent guest of the Obama White House from 2009 to 2013, garnering more face-to-face visits with Obama during his two terms than did Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, New York Times owner Arthur Sulzberger and even fellow tech billionaire turned major media owner, Jeff Bezos.

Omidyar also directly co-invested with the U.S. State Department, via USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), in opposition groups that played a key role in overthrowing Ukraine’s democratically elected government in 2014 – a U.S.-brokered regime-change operation that shares some notable similarities with the Syrian conflict. His investments with USAID have continued since the Intercept’s founding, helping fund the NGO’s more recent overseas programs aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad.

Also worth noting is the fact that PayPal, of which Omidyar is a major owner, has allegedly been implicated in several of the still-withheld NSA documents for its business relationship with the NSA and its role in the agency’s mass spying program. In addition, former Intercept writers have asserted that Omidyar was “shockingly disinterested in the actual journalism” of the paper, suggesting that the Intercept was created explicitly to delay the release of damaging documents from the Snowden cache until deemed acceptable to the U.S. political establishment and others who stood to lose face were the entire cache to have been made public.

Indeed, another interesting coincidence supporting this thesis is the fact that the Intercept published this latest piece only after the U.S. State Department itself began to report more honestly on the nature of these so-called “rebels.” A day before the Intercept’s story on Syrian “rebels” and the Saudis, the U.S. State Department – for the first time – admitted that “moderate” rebels in Syria had previously used chemical weapons, a charge it had categorically denied for years in order to facilitate laying the blame for any and all chemical weapons attacks in Syria on the Syrian government.

In other words, the Intercept released the document, which effectively destroys Washington’s “moderate rebels” narrative with its own internal documents, only after the U.S. government itself began to unravel that very same narrative.

The Intercept did not respond to MintPress News’ request for comment regarding the timing of the document’s release.

Founder’s connections shape Intercept’s journalism

Billionare Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and The Intercept. Bennet Group | AP

Omidyar’s connection to U.S. regime-change efforts abroad may also explain why the Intercept – until now, that is – has consistently given voice to journalists who have echoed the U.S. establishment regarding the Syrian conflict.

For instance, Murtaza Hussain – the author of this latest Intercept piece – has written numerous stories downplaying the terrorist and Wahhabist elements of the Syrian “rebels.” In the last two years, Hussain has written pieces portraying known Al-Qaeda propagandists, such as Bilal Abdul Kareem, and Al-Qaeda-linked organizations, such as the White Helmets, in an overwhelmingly positive light, failing to mention in both cases the significant evidence tying these entities to known terrorist groups. In another piece, published last August, Hussain gave voice to al-Nusra Front leadership in a lengthy interview that largely whitewashed the group’s Wahhabist leanings and links to terrorist acts in Syria.

Last September, on Twitter, Hussain asserted that Saudi Arabia’s funding of armed factions was not necessarily “good” but that “there is little to indicate they contribute to terrorism.” That last statement has been thoroughly debunked for years, but most recently by Hussain’s own piece on the newly released NSA document.

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/923028049909682176

Hussain is by no means the only Intercept writer who has taken such a pro-opposition stance regarding Syria. A recent Intercept piece on Syria, published in September, committed glaring factual errors on basic facts about the war, while also mistranslating a speech given by Assad so as to link him to American white nationalists. In addition, the paper recently hired Maryam Saleh, a journalist who has called Shia Muslims “dogs” and has taken to Twitter in recent months to downplay the role of the U.S. coalition in airstrikes in Syria. She also has ties to the U.S.-financed propaganda group Kafranbel Media Center, which has close relations with the terrorist group Ahrar al-Sham.

For a paper ostensibly dedicated to “fearless, adversarial” journalism, it is strange that the Intercept gives voice to journalists who echo the U.S. position regarding the Syrian war while rarely publishing the work of journalists who have challenged prevailing Western narratives on that war — journalists who, as the Intercept itself recently revealed, have been right all along regarding the myth of the Syrian “moderate rebel.” Yet, given Omidyar’s political connections and the paper’s handling of the Snowden cache, this unfortunate decision is unsurprising.

Feature photo | Syrian rebels attend a U.S. military training session in Maaret Ikhwan near Idlib, Syria during the height of the rebel offensive.

ERDOGAN'S KARMIC TRAP. By Ghassan Kadi 17 January 2018

Ghassan Kadi's take on recent developments in Syria regarding Turkish and American agendas.

http://thesaker.is/erdogans-karmic-trap/

Erdogan’s Karmic Trap

26728 ViewsJanuary 17, 2018 53 Comments

by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog

The security zone America intends to establish in Syria is doomed to fail sooner or later. How can this assertion be made and what can it be based on? Well, two main things really; history and facts on the ground.

America’s seven-decade long post WWII intensive and consecutive military gambles have all failed, and without a single exception. And even though America has learnt a big lesson in Vietnam and went into Iraq more prepared; not only in terms of fire power, but also in terms of media control and manipulation of public opinion, it also failed there. And to think that it also learned from the mistakes of the USSR in Afghanistan and adopted more lethal and effective military tactics that should work, they also failed. So why should an alleged army of 30,000 odd Kurdish YPG fighters with ill-defined American support achieve what much bigger fighting forces couldn’t?

But not only is this army that America is trying to build and establish much less potent than former similar armies, but it is also surrounded by many more opponents.

So let’s get this right. In comparison to what happened in Iraq in 2003 when America invaded, it had over 150,000 troops, state-of-the-art military hardware, a huge fleet of multinational attack ships and huge array of fighter jets and bombers, a bottomless budget and no real Iraqi army nor any resistance in existence. Yet, in no time, an “insurgence” sprouted from nowhere turning life on Iraqi soil into hell for the armies of the coalition. In short, even though Saddam was toppled, the invasion failed abysmally in achieving its full objectives.

Now, with an army of a meagre 30,000 Kurdish troops supported by America, the odds of winning against a coalition of the Syrian Army plus its allies are much less likely, if not impossible.

Some may argue that Kurds are hardened fighters and that they know the terrain very well. Whilst this is true, we need to stop and look at Syria and its allies because they too, at least most of them, are not any less hardened and locally savvy.

And speaking of America’s support, there’s no telling as to what extent it will be; let alone for how long.

Historically again, America has turned its back many times on its allies in similar circumstances, and the Kurds specifically are not strangers to finding themselves on the receiving end of betrayal by many of their former allies; including the Americans.

The obvious allies of Syria are first and foremost Russia without doubt. Russia cannot afford to accept anything short of a sweeping victory of its operation in Syria. But the Russians are a different breed to their “Western partners” who impose their terms and conditions on the allies. The Russians know that they need to juggle other interests in order to make certain that their efforts succeed.

It was easier then for the Russians to round up Iran and Turkey together in confronting Daesh. This part of the Russian role didn’t need too much diplomacy. But now that the defeat of Daesh is a done deal, other once less important issues take centre stage and can tend to make the situation a bit sticky, to put it mildly.

Almost in every mention of Erdogan in all of my previous articles, I have reiterated that he is both an Islamist and a nationalist. He’s been getting away with both for a long time, but perhaps I had a premonition that soon enough, a time will come at which he won’t be able to wear both hats at the same time.

We must remember that Erdogan and Assad will probably never make up. Erdogan has caused so much devastation in Syria and the blood he spilt is still warm. Syrians are not ready or prepared to forgive him even if he pleads on his knees. With that said, Russian diplomacy has narrowed the gap between Turkish and Syrian interests during the war on Daesh phase.

As the opposing forces are poised to enter a new phase; albeit that of negotiations or fighting or both, the anti-American Empire side remains united in seeking total liberation of Syrian territory and the unconditional restoration of Syrian sovereignty. They all seek the withdrawal of the American presence in Syria and are united in regarding this presence as illegal, and it is. They are all against a Syrian federation and the establishment of a Kurdish state. But this is all about what they have in common.

Simply put, this is mainly where their interests diverge:

Firstly, Syria and Iran do not recognise the existence of the state of Israel, but Russia has good relations with Israel. All three parties remain united though, each knowing and accepting the position of the others. This ideological difference may surface once other more pressing matters are resolved, but at the moment, Russia, Syria and Iran agree to disagree on this.

Secondly, Turkey was prepared to sacrifice its former ideological and trade partner Daesh. This became easier as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) turned against its former member Qatar, and with Turkey siding with Qatar, it became easy for Erdogan to turn his back against the GCC-sponsored Daesh. But Erdogan is not prepared to sever ties with the Turkey-Qatar-sponsored Al-Nusra Front.

Erdogan still believes that he can hold on to the Al-Nusra Front; simply because he is an incurable Islamist.

What he cannot see is that his nationalist and Islamist agendas are finally at odds and that he will soon have to choose one or the other.

As the way out of the “War on Syria” became more complex for the original perpetrators, many former allies and foes had to make very costly and embarrassing decisions. Erdogan doesn’t seem to understand that had it not been for Russia and Russian diplomacy, his nose would’ve been rubbed in the dirt a long time ago.

However, time is closing in for Erdogan to choose. He should be counting his blessings and the fact that Russian diplomacy has given him a face-saver not only by accepting his apology for the downing of the Su-24 in Nov 2015, but also in including him and Turkey as a partner in the joint war on Daesh effort, and thereby absolving him from his former affiliations and business deals with it.

In theory, he should be agreeing to any reasonable resolution Russia seeks in Syria, but the incurable Islamist is simply unable to distance himself from the shackles of what comes with this tag.

So back to the diverging interests, it is true and realistic to say that thirdly and perhaps most importantly, the onus is on Russia to find a resolution that can be based on pertinent common interests of Syria, Iran and Turkey, and one that also serves Russian interests.

Erdogan needs to wise up to realise that he will soon have to choose between being a historic partner in a resolution that will be recorded in history as the first of its kind heralding the beginning of the end of the so-called “New World Order” or, alternatively choose to continue to be affiliated with a bunch of greasy bearded head choppers.

He needs to acknowledge that the peace and security of his area, including that of Turkey, is one that is regional and therefore more expansive than his narrow religious, and grossly sectarian, narratives and inclinations. He must accept that the Sunni approach has already been tried, and that it failed.

The time for Erdogan to wear two hats is coming to a close, if it hasn’t already. Nationalistic views do not match with Islamist views, and if Erdogan sees a fissure in his alliance with Russia and Iran in Syria, he ought to look inside his own head and see that his own ideologies are at war with themselves inside his very head.

Russian diplomacy continues to exercise patience with him, but his window of time is closing and closing fast.

As new lines keep getting drawn in the “War on Syria”, the only wildcard and stick in the mud is Turkey’s Erdogan. It’s a karmic trap that Erdogan had inadvertently set for himself. What is interesting here is that whether Erdogan is aware of this or not, his popularity as the Sunni hero has dropped dramatically in the Muslim street after he reconciled with President Putin. Many of his once great admirers referred to him as a traitor and that he has let them down. He cannot restore his lost popularity without making a 180 degree turn on Russia, and even if he does, he will find it very difficult to rally up an overwhelming Sunni sentiment, especially in the wake of the Saudi-Qatari crisis. If he had half a brain, in other words, he must acknowledge that he has nothing to gain by sticking to his support of Al-Nusra, but much to lose. But will he be able to rid himself of his fundamentalist Islamist ambitions and make rational decisions? Only time will tell.

THE DEATH OF KISSINGER'S SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY; THE JERUSALEM FACTOR. By Ghassan Kadi 7 Dec 2017

The Death of Kissinger's Shuttle Diplomacy; The Jerusalem Factor
By Ghassan Kadi
7 December 2017

http://thesaker.is/the-death-of-kissingers-shuttle-diplomacy-the-jerusalem-factor/


https://southfront.org/death-kissingers-shuttle-diplomacy-jerusalem-factor/

The death of Kissinger’s Shuttle Diplomacy: the Jerusalem factor

21914 ViewsDecember 07, 2017 45 Comments

by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog

No man has possibly served the American Empire as much as Henry Kissinger did, and with all the literature, including screenplays, that have been written about him and his “shuttle diplomacy”, none probably described his biggest ever performance than Patrick Seale in his book “Asad”. After all, even though Kissinger is always remembered as the diplomat who has negotiated terms of settlement with the Vietcong, the Vietnam war was a fait accompli long before the negotiations took off, and if anything, his role was that of damage-control and face-saving; no more, no less.

Kissinger’s true, and perhaps only, major success story was his shuttle diplomacy that paved the way for the historic, albeit infamous, Camp David Agreement between Egypt and Israel.

Before Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy, a term and modus operandi he initiated, all indirect contacts between Arabs and Israelis were done via the UN and its multitude of organizations, and any would-be peace talks, were done via the USA and the USSR. Even the post Yom Kippur War peace deal that Kissinger himself was meant to broker between the Arabs and Israel, was also meant to involve the Soviets as equal partners to America in the negotiation process. But Kissinger managed to convince Sadat that he can negotiate a better deal for him directly with Israel, and without having to involve Egypt’s war time partner, Syria.

The rest is history, and since then, and technically until the 28th of September 2015, the Soviet/Russian presence in the Levant was reduced to a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous. This statement is not to undermine the huge effect of more recent Russian UNSC vetoes since the “War on Syria” started between 2011 and 2015, but effectively, the Russian presence took a turn when Russia engaged itself militarily in attacking terror organizations on Syrian soil on the 28th of September 2015.

In between Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy triumph and the 28th of September 2015, emboldened by the New World Order single super power status, America reigned in the Levant single-handedly as the only power on the ground.

According to Kissinger’s achievements, some of which were put into American foreign policy law, ensuring the security of Israel became an American undertaking and all of the so-called peace negotiations, including those of Oslo, were only intended to ensure the security of Israel and to maintain the power balance grossly in its favour.

Driven by arrogance and self-grandeur, America did not foresee that it should have used the time it had at the top in order to twist the arm of Israel to coerce it to accept a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians. And every time the Palestinians were prepared to let go of more rights, Israel demanded more privileges. Not only did this inadvertently lead to the formation of Hamas, but even the very pliable and malleable PLO remained unable to reach a peace agreement, despite the large number of huge concessions it gave the Israeli side.

America has had a golden opportunity and ample time to negotiate an Arab/Israeli peace deal. No peace deal at all would keep all parties fully satisfied; especially the hardliners on both sides. That said, with the right intentions, America could have brokered an agreement that pleased a workable majority on both sides of the divide. However, in dealing with the crisis, America did not give Palestinian rights in specific, and Arab/Muslim rights in general, any consideration at all.

This is why all peace talks that followed the era of Kissinger all the way till the end of the days of John Kerry have failed; they were predestined to either fail, or to coerce Palestinians and the rest of Arabs to accept the unacceptable.

At the height of their arrogance, the Americans and Israelis never ever thought that a time will come during which they will lose the upper hand. They never even considered that a time will come during which the balance of power they thought they have set in stone was going to shift, let alone change.

Later on, as the “War on Syria” was waged, the “Anti-Syrian Cocktail” with all of its diverse elements and members; including the USA and Israel, were certain of an easy and prompt victory and the capitulation of the axis of resistance.

The irony is that despite failures to topple Assad, occupy Lebanon or even subdue the besieged and overwhelmed Gaza Strip, the American/Israeli arrogance remained steadfast in its efforts of self-destruction. Self-destruction, because without victories, without being able to enforce political settlements, and without any hopes or enforceable plans to twist events around to its advantage, the American/Israeli axis, make that the American/Israeli/Saudi axis, seemed to be steering itself from the leading role to that of irrelevance.

Whether the fruit of Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” was the love-child of the petro-dollar or the other way around, is a matter akin to what comes first, the chicken or the egg. The two went hand-in-hand, and unabated for a few decades; but the momentum has been lost and the Camp David Agreement zenith cannot be repeated; even on a smaller scale.

But the petro-dollar is also losing its breath. The rise of the joint Russian-Chinese might in particular, and BRICS more generally, is certainly putting the noose around the neck of the Greenback. The American trade deficits compounded with the massive physical gold reserves that the Russians and Chinese in particular are accumulating will soon make the petro-dollar look like “Monopoly” money. Even Saudi Arabia, America’s partner in the petro-dollar fiasco, has recently showed interest in trading with China with gold-backed Yuan.

It is as if the house of cards is tumbling down as what underpins its foundations, one by one, is crumbling.

From the Arab side, Saudi Arabia and its GCC remain within the American camp, and increasingly less covertly, on the Israeli side. GCC state officials have had several meetings with Israeli counterparts over the years, and of late, GCC officials have been making statements declaring that Israel is not an enemy. It is as if they are conditioning Arabs to listen to this rhetoric, clearly with the ultimate objective of normalizing relationships with Israel; something that the Arab street continues to refuse to accept, even in Egypt and Jordan despite their peace treaties with Israel and exchange of diplomatic representation.

In every step of the way however, the American Empire is losing not only its grip on reality, but also that of stature. And in every step of the way, America is putting its regional allies in the Middle East in more tenuous and even embarrassing situations.

Even Erdogan, the great enemy of secular Syria and one who has promised to go into Damascus, triumphant, to pray in the great Omayyad Mosque after the fall Assad, a supposed American ally who continues to be, thus far, a NATO member, finds himself and his national interests closer to Russia than to America. The Turkish-American schism started when the Obama administration did not listen to Erdogan’s ultimatum to choose between supporting Turkey or the Kurds.

Enter the Trump factor.

For better or for worse, and leaving the rest of the world aside if we can, Trump is hastening the process of making America irrelevant in the Middle East.

By moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, many reactions have followed.

Condemnations came from right across the globe, not only from the Arab and Muslim Worlds. Even EU leaders like the French President and German FM have had their say voicing their shock and disappointment.

To “outsiders”, the reaction of Muslims and Palestinians may seem like an over-kill. Some cynics and critics are wondering about the significance of a tokenistic move by America vis-à-vis the bigger reality of occupation on the ground. Such voices are saying that Trump’s decision did not effectively change anything at all. Others may see the wave of rejection as an irrational Muslim upheaval that will eventually run out of steam. But the bottom line is that with Trump’s decision, America has moved itself further away from the few Arab and Muslim supporters it has left in the Middle East.

To say that this move has pushed America closer towards irrelevance would be an under-rated statement. By agreeing to relocate the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Donald Trump has sealed and dusted that deal that makes America totally irrelevant in the Middle East.

Even the Saudis, the staunch supporters of America and only vocal Arab supporters left, are too embarrassed to back Trump on his decision. So, in effect, with his decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem, Trump has galvanized rivaling Muslim factions and groups into a united voice on the single issue of Jerusalem. Even Saudi Arabia and Iran will not openly disagree with each other on this issue. Erdogan pre-warned Trump and referred to Jerusalem as a “redline”. But so was supporting Kurds. How many breached redlines does Erdogan need before he re-evaluates Turkey’s strategic alliances and perhaps even leaves NATO?

Tokenistic as it may mean to some, Trump’s decision means that no Arab or Muslim leader can be seen supporting it without risking street riots and even revolutions.

On the bigger picture however, American irrelevance means that the few Arab states and organizations that remained in hope that one day, perhaps one day, America will be able to broker for them a proper and just peace deal with Israel, have lost hope; and most likely permanently.

This new phase means that the successes of Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” are already a thing of the past; effectively as of now. Apart from the much smaller role Russia played in Georgia in 2008, with Russia actively on Syrian ground, having succeeded in her first real ever military venture outside its borders since the demise of the USSR, the wheel of fate has made a one hundred and eighty degree turn. To this effect, America has catapulted itself out of the position of sole power and dominance, and in doing so, it inadvertently invited Russia back in with open doors.

Kissinger is not turning in his grave yet. He is alive and “well” and watching the mess of what subsequent American shuttle diplomacy, which ironically tried to shape itself on his image, has created and what it has made out of his achievements; not only in as far as giving America the sole power in the Middle East region, but also in terms of what the reversal of his achievements is going to eventuate into when it comes to his obsession with ensuring the security of Israel.

THE MBS-BLACKWATER MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE By Ghassan Kadi 23 November 2017

THE MBS-BLACKWATER MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

By Ghassan Kadi 23 November 2017 It is almost impossible to stay up to date with all the developments and changes within the previously unchangeable Saudi Arabia. Here are some of my thoughts on the most prominent of those recent changes.

http://thesaker.is/the-mbs-blackwater-marriage-of-convenience/

It was also published in ZeroHedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-25/mbs-blackwater-marriage-convenience

The MBS – Blackwater marriage of convenience

23534 ViewsNovember 23, 2017 29 Comments

by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog

Mohamed Bin Salman’s (MBS) royal Saudi coup is still in the making and its stories of mystery and intrigue are unfolding.

Some recent articles written about this unprecedented Saudi development have focused on whether or not MBS was actually desirous of instigating reform within the kingdom of sand and capable of putting together the infrastructure that made such reform possible and how. Other more cynical articles have cast little doubt on his ability to create any change and classified him as yet another puppet of the legacy that his grandfather King Abdul Aziz, the founder of the Saudi dynasty, has forged with the West. In between the two extremes, many perhaps waited in anticipation to see what was to happen next in the now quick-changing kingdom that did not change at all in essence for nearly a hundred years.

To put recent developments into perspective, we must objectively look at MBS’s achievements and failures since his rise to prominence; with a special emphasis on the developments of the last few weeks.

MBS has failed to turn previous Saudi Government failed policy on Syria to his advantage by distancing his own legacy from it. If anything, the outcome of the Syrian opposition conference that was held in Riyadh was a farcical outcome of Saudi diplomacy. Not only did this conference coincide with the 20th of November 2017 Putin-Assad Sochi victory summit, but it is still “demanding” the removal of Syrian President Assad from power.

The arrogant and seemingly naive Saudis seem to be still under the illusion that they are able to dictate terms of settlement of the “War on Syria” despite the fact that they have put all of their efforts into winning it but have lost decisively. However, the more painful fact for them is that they lost without a single bargaining chip remaining for them to capitalize on.

Whilst MBS can be “excused” for not being able to find a face-saving way out of Syria, he has failed abysmally in the war that he orchestrated in Yemen, and as this war drags on, the international community is beginning to wake up to the atrocities and genocide that the Saudi-led coalition is inflicting upon Yemen, and no one can be held more accountable for this military failure and crime against humanity than MBS himself.

MBS also failed to contain the loss he “inherited” from the failures of previous Saudi policies in Lebanon and Iraq. If anything, his determination to remain steadfast with these has turned regional Saudi policies into a total joke.

So where did MBS score any success, if any at all?

In my previous related articles and herein, I have mentioned and reiterate that MBS is increasingly gaining popularity within the ranks of young and educated Saudi men and women of all ages and in general amongst the grass-roots of the population. Hence, in this venture, he is scoring two birds with a single stone. In rounding up more popular support, he is confiscating and freezing badly-needed cash under the pretext of corruption.

The estimates of the number of incarcerated Saudi princes and businessmen are not any less subject to a game of guess work than the funds involved in this kerfuffle. Ignoring how many men have been put under detention, the tally of funds confiscated and frozen is estimated at a minimum of USD 150 bn to a maximum of USD 800 bn.

Given that the total official Saudi savings reserve is in the tune of “only” USD 700 bn after decades of high financial times, even the low estimate of USD 150 bn is a huge sum by proportion and by any proportion of course. It is little surprise that MBS is trying to replenish into the coffers of the state such sums, and if he manages to do it, it would be to his credit.

Whilst on the subject of official Saudi savings, after many decades of huge petroleum exports and at elevated prices, the Saudi savings reserve figure should be in the vicinity of a few trillion dollars. But a huge proportion of Saudi petro-dollars has been squandered on royal funds, holidays yachts, prostitutes, drugs, bribes, theft, corruption at all levels, and on this account and this account only, MBS can be acknowledged for bringing corrupt individuals to account.

But whether or not MBS is able to stamp out corruption and/or whether or not he is guilty of the same charge, as his cousins and some others argue, how much command does he have over the affairs of the kingdom, and over the royal family he staged a coup against?

Inside, unconfirmed reports allege that whether or not MBS has any command on traditional local troops that he can rely on, he is not taking any second chances.

To elaborate, the reader ought to be reminded that the Al-Saud legacy built its reign of power (and terror) on Wahhabism and money. Wahhabism was used as the doctrine, and money was the catalyst for buying loyalty and support.

With MBS’s purge on the royals, no traditional royal supporter with known wealth is left feeling safe. How can they feel safe if they hear reports of news of princes like Al-Walid bin Talal not only being in custody, but also getting tortured and his assets frozen and sieged by the state?

In my previous article, The Second Saudi Dynasty: MBS’s Reset Button, http://thesaker.is/the-second-saudi-dynasty-mbss-reset-button/ , I wondered how can MBS count on any local supporters. Apparently, he is not.

Recent inside information that was later on published in various media, reports that MBS has been using Blackwater to do his dirty work.

If those reports are true, MBS has hired Blackwater to arrest, with orders to kill whoever resists arrest, Saudi princes and high-ranking businessmen, and to answer to no one but him. In retrospect, the fatal shooting of Prince Abdul Aziz, son of former King Fahed, was highly unlikely to have been done by a Saudi as this would attract a death sentence in the event of the coup failing.

It has even been reported that Blackwater personnel are driving around in tinted Saudi Police and security agency personnel vehicles in a manner that is totally unbeknown and hidden from the Saudi public. This cannot be corroborated any more than they can realistically be dismissed.

If true, such reports indicate that MBS’s coup is not over. They indicate that he is not taking any chances, but most practically, they indicate that he trusts no one; no one expect Blackwater.

Most importantly and significantly however, such news, if confirmed, indicates that MBS does not have a true hold on power. If such is the case, and seeing the ambition he has, there is more reason to believe that MBS is going to have no choice but to go with his cousins all the way to the wire and until he has destroyed them all and confiscated all of their assets.

After all, he needs their money to achieve his dreams and get his kingdom out of its financial mess. He needs to blame his failure on them. He needs to eliminate any possible claim they can make for the throne.

Almost overnight, MBS has changed Saudi Arabia from a kingdom of sand upon which Al Saud reigned with a solid foothold and strong base, to a kingdom of quick-sand upon which princes and power brokers no longer have a leg to stand on. They either have to pledge total and unconditional loyalty to MBS or fear persecution. On the other hand, if they do pledge that loyalty, and MBS’s coup fails as a result of a counter-coup, then they will risk being seen as enemies of the winners of the counter-coup. It is a damned if you do and a damned if you don’t situation.

Not any less perplexing than the dilemma of the princes is the dilemma of the lower tiers of power in Saudi Arabia; especially senior military officers and their subordinates. With its tribal mentality, Saudi Arabia has had several tiers of armed forces, some of whom are loyal to particular princes rather than to the state itself. Prince Mutaib for example, the son of former King Abdullah, was until the 4th of November, the Minister of the National Guard. The hierarchy within the National Guard are loyal to him personally, and now the big boss is in jail. MBS therefore has a few options; either to coerce those military officers to become loyal to him under the risk of them stabbing him in the back, or, to throw everyone in jail and bring his own people in. But, where would he bring his own people in from and who are they to begin with? After all, and despite all the great power he gave himself, he is Mr Johnny-come–lately and he hasn’t had the advantage of time to slowly build his own army. His practical alternative was based on pragmatism and securing his own safety, and to that effect, he cannot find a more faithful and better trained army than Blackwater. And even though Blackwater does not come cheap, but clearly to MBS the objectives he seeks justify the costs.

Some may argue that Blackwater can also be bought by counter coup leaders and even foreign governments. Whilst this is possible, MBS remains to have no better alternative. However, one would imagine that for a company like Blackwater, to guarantee its business success and continuity, it would have a strict code of conduct that stipulates that it will refrain from entering contractual agreements that can generate conflict of interest between its clients. After all, and irrespective of its criminal and underhanded mercenary modus operandi, who would hire it knowing beforehand that it is in the habit of breaking contracts and replacing them with ones with the adversaries? Whilst it is arguable as to whether or not any client of Blackwater can actually take legal action against it and win is another story because, without any doubt, Blackwater, inhumane and criminal as it is, cannot afford to see its reputation ruined.

To sum it up therefore, whilst MBS’s coup is still in the making and its final outcome remaining unclear, what is evident is that MBS does not have enough local Saudi power base that he can rely on in the upper echelons of power. Whilst his grass root popularity among the general population is on the rise, traditional power brokers can neither be supportive of him, seen to be supportive or seen to be against him. Either way, and even though some of them could potentially become strong and faithful proponents of MBS, at the moment any pledges of allegiance are highly risky for all involved.

In his reliance on Blackwater however, MBS is achieving a more guaranteed short term objective. However, this policy can backfire very violently; because it is allowing certain key Saudi power brokers to sit on the fence for a little longer until they see who is the final winner in all of this for them to eventually back.

THE SECOND SAUDI DYNASTY MBS'S RESET BUTTON By Ghassan Kadi 11 November 2017

THE SECOND SAUDI DYNASTY: MBS'S RESET BUTTON
By Ghassan Kadi 11 November 2017

MBS pushed himself to the point of no return, all the while others like Bandar are lurking and waiting to pounce. Here’s Ghassan’s thoughts and speculations about this intriguing and fast-changing situation. http://thesaker.is/the-second-saudi-dynasty-mbss-reset-button/

The Second Saudi Dynasty: MBS’s reset button

24069 ViewsNovember 11, 2017 43 Comments

by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker blog

Ironically, the first three words of my first article regarding the “War on Syria” were 1) Bandar, 2) Bin, 3) Sultan. http://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-anti-syrian-cocktail-by-ghassan-kadi.html

Back in June 2011 when that article was written, Bandar Bin Sultan was clearly the head of the serpent and the architect of all attacks that were plotted and conjured up to destabilize Syria and turn her from the pivotal state of the axis of resistance to one that would kowtow to the so-called American-Israeli roadmap, but in reality, it is an American-Israeli-Saudi roadmap.

Even though Bandar’s wings have been clipped after the death of his then Crown Prince father and his failure in Syria, Bandar remains a potentially very powerful figure in Saudi Arabia. Potentially, because right now, he has been demoted to nothing, but should Mohamed Bin Salman (MBS) take a tumble, what is left of the Saudi Royal family will have to decide who would be king. In such an event, the name of Bandar would definitely surface again. This was a possible scenario even before MBS took his gamble and imprisoned his cousins.

At 68 years of age, Bandar is down but not out, but for the wheel of fortune to turn his way again, he needs a miracle, and the fall of MBS could well be that miracle that Bandar hopes for.

Even if MBS now extorts all of the fortunes out of his detained cousins under the charge of corruption, the moment they get released, they will start planning how to topple him. And as they do, candidates will be proposed to replace him, and Bandar will undoubtedly top that list among a few others.

Furthermore, how can MBS trust army commanders and others who are now loyal to him? How can he guarantee that they won’t do the dirty on him and support the other royals when and if released in a royal family led coup against him?

In fact, with the many wives and children Saudi kings and princes have, the number of descendants of the founding King Abdul Aziz has swollen to over 10,000 in less than a century. With a male prince count of 5,000 or so, this is not only a messy situation that makes succession a nightmare, but a very expensive one as well given that they all receive very generous stipends, despite all the recent cuts and austerity measures that MBS has imposed on them.

MBS sees them as a liability, and he wants them to give back what they embezzled. But in reality, after he has achieved this, what can he do with them in a manner that will not backfire in his face?

Up until recently, the royal family members have split the spoils, and whilst some royals were ministers for example, others were chiefs of police, the royal guards, and less senior ones were kept happy and quiet by giving them powerful financial positions and appointing them as CEO’s. But MBS has put an end to this, and he has put all branches of the armed forces under his own personal command and even made himself the CEO of Aramco, the world’s richest oil company with assets estimated at USD 2 Tn.

It would be foolish to think that the aspiring and power-hungry MBS is not taking all contingencies seriously now, and given what he has thus far done already, there is no return for him. If anything, by taking his cousins as prisoners, giving “put it on the Ritz” a whole new meaning, his only way to end this saga in a manner that guarantees his continuity, even survival, is by totally disempowering his prisoners, and even to possibly assassinate them. With the killing of Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd whilst resisting arrest, and he is the son of a former king, as well as the alleged deliberate shooting down of a helicopter with a prince on board trying to escape, MBS has already demonstrated that royal blood can be forfeit.

Perhaps MBS is receiving his inspiration from the Albanian born Ottoman Mohamed Ali, who was Egypt’s Wali (governor) and how he rose to power in the late 18th Century. He invited all of his rivals to a conference, a whole three hundred of them, and had them all executed.

It has been reported that Bandar is included in the list of princes under arrest. Seemingly, he is being investigated on bribery charges over a weapons deal with the UK, but the underlying reason for imprisoning Bandar, if he is indeed in custody, would be his potential political danger to MBS.

As the events are developing very quickly, it is not clear as yet who are the key princes that MBS was not able to round up for the simple reason of being outside Saudi Arabia when the purge was effected. Though it is highly unlikely that there are many key royals who escaped the purge by being overseas, their “danger” to MBS, whoever they are, cannot be ignored.

Different reports vary in terms of revealing the exact number and names of princes and top notch businessmen under arrest. Initially, the total number of all detained was said to be 208, but informal reports are now saying that the real figure is much higher. Nothing has been reported about the Al-Rajhi family. The Al-Rajhis are bankers, they are the Rothschilds of Saudi Arabia with close ties to the royals and with some intermarriages. Are their key people arrested, at large, living in hiding or overseas? Or are they simply considered loyal MBS troops because of their Sudairy family link that is close to King Salman?

And if MBS counts on powerbrokers like the Al-Rajhis, he will need many others like them from the outside of the House of Saud, because any Al-Saud descendent can have a claim on the throne; one way of the other.

And what about the clerics? MBS made it clear that he wants to modernize Saudi Arabia and dismantle the Shariah Police among other things, but he is avoiding a confrontation with the clerics as some of them are very powerful and command huge popular support. He is trying to gain popularity from within the disgruntled Saudi youth who are sick and tired of the waste and lavish lifestyle of the royals, especially in tough economic times, and attacking the clerics will not help achieve this target. He much prefers to see them turn to be on his side, but he is using his treatment of his own cousins as a pretext to send a very powerful message to any cleric who wants to stand in his way.

If MBS intends to maintain the royal status quo of all the existing princes, in reality he will be leaving himself with the only choice of having to execute them all, and if he doesn’t, he will forever need to look over his shoulder and guard his back. His other option would be to strip them all from their royal status, push the reset button on the Al-Saud legacy, thereby starting a new bloodline based on himself and his offspring. To clinch this turnaround, he will need to ask his father King Salman to abdicate, thereby blocking even his own brothers, and ending any speculations about the bloodline.

SOME OF THE ARTICLES ON HARIRI AND SAUDI ARABIA GHASSAN KADI HAS WRITTEN SINCE 2011

With Hariri and Saudi Arabia a hot topic currently I thought I would go through and find some of the work Ghassan Kadi has done on this.

SOME OF THE ARTICLES ON HARIRI AND SAUDI ARABIA GHASSAN KADI WROTE SINCE 2011

At the time Ghassan wrote all these articles no one indigenous to Lebanon and Syria and writing regularly in the English language was talking about things the way he was.

Now these things are common place probably.

There are 30 articles here that I could find but many things were written by Ghassan in groups too.

Specifically about HARIRI


The Fall and Fall of Hariri 5 Nov 2017
http://thesaker.is/the-fall-and-the-fall-of-hariri/


This one was in February 2016 and just a few weeks before General Rifi turned against him.

Lebanon’s 14th of March Marches into Oblivion.18 February 2016
http://thesaker.is/lebanons-14th-of-march-marches-into-oblivion/

Saad Hariri. 29 June 2011
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/saad-hariri-by-ghassan-kadi-june-2011.html

***************************************

The MBS-Blackwater Marriage of Convenience. 23 November 2018
http://thesaker.is/the-mbs-blackwater-marriage-of-convenience/

The Second Saudi Dynasty MBS's Reset Button. 11 November 2017
http://thesaker.is/the-second-saudi-dynasty-mbss-reset-button/

The Enigmatic Mohamed Bin Salman. 7 Nov 2017
http://thesaker.is/the-enigmatic-mohamed-bin-salman/

The Fall and Fall of Hariri. 5 Nov 2017
http://thesaker.is/the-fall-and-the-fall-of-hariri/

Mohomed Bin Salman’s Do or Don’t Dilemma. 19 Oct 2-17
http://thesaker.is/mohamed-bin-salmans-do-or-dont-dilemma/

Bin Laden Remembers; the Rise of The Jihadi Spring. 6 September 2017
http://thesaker.is/bin-laden-remembered-the-rise-of-the-jihadi-spring/

The Muslim Spring Take II. 6 July 2017
http://thesaker.is/the-muslim-spring-take-ii/

A Muslim Spring. 12 June 2017
http://thesaker.is/a-muslim-spring/

Trump’s Show Me The Money World Tour. 2 June 2017 https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2017/06/trumps-show-me-money-world-tour-by.html

Al Saud’s Only Gamble. 22 May 2017
http://thesaker.is/al-sauds-only-gamble-option/

Mohamed Bin Salman: The accidental Saudi “King”. 10 May 2016
http://thesaker.is/mohamed-bin-salman-the-accidental-saudi-king/

Lebanon’s 14th of March Marches into Oblivion. 18 February 2016
http://thesaker.is/lebanons-14th-of-march-marches-into-oblivion/

The Mohamed Bin Salman Dilemma; 2 August 2015
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-mohamed-bin-slaman-dilemma-throne.html

Breaking News Breaks Saudi Plans. Translation, Interpretation and Analysis 31 July 2015
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2015/07/breaking-news-breaks-saudi-plans.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part vi. 5 October 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-vi.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part iv. 4 October 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-v-by.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part iii October 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-iii-by.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part iii. 2 October 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-iii-by.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part ii. 1 October 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-ii-by.html

The Imploding House of Saud Part 1. 30 September 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-imploding-house-of-saud-part-i-by.html

The Wind of Change Hitting Saudi Arabia. 13 September 2014
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-wind-of-change-hitting-saudi-arabia.html

Bandar’s Last Stand. 24 December 2013
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2014/02/bandars-last-stand-by-ghassan-kadi-24.html

Saudi for Dummies. 26 November 2013
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2016/04/saudi-for-dummies-by-ghassan-kadi-26.html

Bandar; The Man Who Would Not Be King. 23 October 2013
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/10/bandar-man-who-would-not-be-king-by.html

The Shift of Saudi Arabia from the USA. 23 October 2013
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2016/04/shift-of-saudi-arabia-from-usa-23.html

Bandar’s Gamble. Sept 2013
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/bandars-gamble-by-ghassan-kadi-sept-2013.html

Some of Many Ugly Truths About Saudi Arabia. 29 July 2012
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/some-of-many-ugly-truths-about-saudi.html

King Abdullah and His Saudi Kingdom. 9 Aug 2011
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/king-abdullah-and-his-saudi-kngdom.html

Saad Hariri. 29 June 2011
https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/saad-hariri-by-ghassan-kadi-june-2011.html