Whatever happened to Les Cheneys ( père et fille)? Father and daughter have been sniping at Obama regularly, each from his/her undisclosed location......<< MORE >>

"US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, seeking to win the support of the United States' closest ally in the Persian Gulf on tough sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Gates met with King Abdullah and the Saudi crown prince as part of the US administration's diplomatic push for new United Nations Security Council...."
My fatwa today is that China will not support any serious tightening of sanctions, which means they will veto if they have to... ... << MORE >>

Is this my imagination or are certain websites hacked, blocked, and forced offline? Two offshore Saudi websites, one claims to espouse reform and the other supports regime change, have gone offline over the past two weeks.....<< MORE >>

"What can Obama do to respond to Israel's slap at Biden?. President Barack Obama faces what may be the biggest test to date of his credibility in the Middle East after Israel greeted Vice President Joe Biden with an announcement that it will construct 1,600 new homes in disputed East Jerusalem...."
The writer in Israel’s Haaretz was right. It was a sharp slap and it will reverberate around the world....What the likes of Ahmadinejad and many others will learn from this lesson...... ... << MORE >>

"Mr Rigi was captured about two weeks ago in an operation outside Iran’s borders. During a press conference in Kabul with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad acknowledged the role of his neighbours in this operation, and “in particular Afghanistan”. Jundollah has killed dozens of members of Iran’s security forces, beheading one policeman in front of a television camera....."
Could the Afghans cooperate with the Eye-ranians without US acquiescence..... ... << MORE >>

"Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe' .The Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may look like their compatriots, but they follow a very different set of customs and traditions. They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals,..."
why not declare the Palestinian Arabs another lost Jewish tribe? Many of them surely have a lot of Jewish blood in them, and they definitely are lost..... ... << MORE >>

"Police First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq told Arab News that the 27-year-old man star of the clip had been arrested along with another man. "He is facing three charges: One is for homosexuality; the other for general security; and the third is for impersonating a police officer," said Al-Bouq…....."
The Village People can now forget about having a concert in Riyadh, or a tour of the Hejaz.... ... << MORE >>

"Was Egypt's Sheikh Tantawi a liberal or a stooge? For some, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, was a bravely outspoken liberal; for others, a mouthpiece of the Egyptian state....."
He was both a stooge and a relative liberal. Relatively liberal compared to Salafis or Saudi Shaikhs, and compared to all clerics in our Persian-American Gulf...... ... << MORE >>

"Bahrain's finance minister said adherence to strict Islamic rules helped his country escape the worst of the global recession. Finance Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al Khalifa predicts growth of four percent for Bahrain's economy this year, saying "long-term consistent growth" is the kingdom's goal...."
But will Pelosi be able to corral enough votes to pass it .... ... << MORE >>

Thus screamed the headline in the website of the ruling “State of Law” coalition of Iraq’s PM al-Maliki. Riyadh has not yet appointed an ambassador to Baghdad, something they promised several years ago. Perhaps they were waiting for a coup or a prime minister with the right inclination. Now they realize that Iraq has changed..... ... << MORE >>

"Egypt's chilling conservatism. A new religious conservatism is on the march in Egypt, with women the biggest losers. Walk into any bookstore or newsstand selling books on religion. Almost all the books are about women...an entire field called "women's fatwas" that goes to unbelievable lengths to debate the legality of praying and fasting during menstruation and pregnancy, the dos and don'ts of sex..."
I probably know the secret.... ... << MORE >>

Right-wing take on Biden and Israel. "Joe Biden's blast at Israel's plan for new housing units will only make the Obama team more unpopular in Jerusalem. Reihan Salam on America's waning influence abroad…..." ... << MORE >>

"Shane, Sarah and Josh are keeping well and staying strong," a joint statement from the hikers' families said on Wednesday. The "Free the Hikers" statement added that the calls were "positive signal that their long detention may soon be over" for the new Iranian year starting March 21…..." ... << MORE >>

"Allawi told The Post Tuesday. "It will be a very violent reaction," said Allawi, who is a Shiite. "A lot of violence will take place, and God knows how this will end."....."
Iyad Allawi is now threatening civil war if his coalition of former and current and closet Baathists is not given power after losing the election...... ... << MORE >>

"Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Prince Khalid, whose passion for culture earned him the title of the "emir of thought and poetry, will present "development projects in his region," said a press release issued by the conference’s organizers: the “France-Saudi Arabia-Gulf Countries Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group”, chaired by Senator Philippe Marini, and the “Strategies for Cultural Development Institute (ISDC),” chaired by Senator Laurence...."
Before all the FRenching starts..... ... << MORE >>