Saudi to its citizens: About that whole jihad thing--don't.

Mindful of how that whole send-jihadists-to-fight-the-Soviets-in-Afghanistan thing turned out (enter: Osama bin Laden, security vacuum in Afghanistan, militant networks in Pakistan, al-Qaeda in general, militants turning against the Saudis... need I go on?), Saudi is trying to stop its citizens from joining the rebel fighters and what some see as holy war in Syria.

The United States wasn't the only country to experience blowback after helping the Afghans fight the Soviets.  Saudi too faced blowback as its returning fighters, emboldened by experience in the field, driven by strong religiosity and angry at the excesses and willingness of its own government to work with the infidels, turned its ire against the Kingdom.  

Saudis are furious at the news reports and images leaking out of Syria of decimation of streets and villages, deaths, and disrespect for religious symbols, as rebel forces fight those loyal to Bashir al-Assad. The country's Wahhabism is further stoking the fire.  The ultra-puritanical strain of Islam sees Shi'ites, of which al-Assad's Alawite sect is an offshoot, as heretics.  

A video entitled "A message from a Saudi fighter with his Syrian brothers" showing a Saudi with rebels, armed to the teeth, posted on YouTube in August, has been seen more than 121,000 times.

"I ask God to unite us in heaven and say to my brothers in the Arabian peninsula to fight in the name of God as your brothers in the Levant need fighters of strong faith and chivalry," said the unidentified Saudi.  

The Saudi government is putting pressure on the al-Assad regime publicly calling on the international community to "enable" Syrians to protect themselves amid reports the Saudis, along with the Qataris and Turks, are funneling cash and arms to the Free Syrian Army.  But they are drawing the line there.

"It's illegal to go abroad and get involved in any...military actions or fighting," Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Turki said.  "This is known to all Saudis and many have been prosecuted.  If we have evidence that somebody is leaving Saudi Arabia for the purpose of joining militants, he will be stopped and investigated for that."  

Clerics have joined the government in pushing back against jihad.

"Families must watch over sons who can be lured into hot spots in this world," said cleric Siraj al-Zahrani. 

"They don't want to repeat the same mistake they made in Afghanistan," said a Saudi who fought the Soviets there.  "Young men went there and learned to fight with many groups of jihadists.  Some of those groups accused Islamic countries of being infidels and the young people were influenced by that and went back to their countries and caused problems." 

Whether or not the government has influence over the estranged youth is questionable.  

"The youth of jihad don't listen to the Council of Senior Clerics," said an Saudi who fought in Afghanistan.

The government's official line is also being ridiculed in online jihadist forums.

"Abdullah, call for jihad against this Syrian tyrant and his aides and you will find, God willing, strong men who have a faith in God to lift the banner of Islam," said one user on a prominent site al-Waseem.  "Enough weakness."

"Green on blue" attack toll in Afghanistan reaches 2,000

The US military toll from insider attacks rose to 2,000 after an attack Saturday in Wardak province that killed a US soldier and a contractor.  The two were apparently killed by a rogue member of the Afghan security forces.

Not only has the death toll rose to 2,000, but such attacks are now the biggest killer of foreign military forces in Afghanistan. Provincial government spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told the AP an Afghan soldier turned his gun on the Americans and started shooting, killing the two foreign forces along with three Afghan army soldiers.

The deaths followed a "verbal dispute" during a joint operation.

Attacks against US and coalition military forces by Afghan police, security, and military personnel increased sharply this year. The development threatens to undermine America's Afghanistan strategy, in which foreign forces work directly with and train their Afghan counterparts to "step up" following US withdrawal, scheduled for the end of 2014.  The United States has cut back on its training missions, for a time halting them completely as recruits were re-vetted.

Hundreds of Afghan soldiers were dismissed after the US halted training missions following an inquiry.

The attacks are also forcing US soldiers on the defensive. The military implemented a "guardian angels" plan, in which foreign military personnel would remain armed and ready for attack during all interactions with their Afghan counterparts.  The increasingly defensive stance--and the ill will that inevitably emerges from interactions between the two sides in charged environment--will only make differences and grievances worse.  It is difficult to see how Afghans will be able to be properly trained to "step up" when such distrust and animosity holds between both sides.

The plan for withdrawal also depends on a contingent of foreign trainers remaining on the ground for years to come.  

A Polish girl's journey across the Middle East

My grandparents literally paved the road for me. 

The BBC featured an article this morning about Danuta Mazka, a young girl from what was Poland, now Ukraine, who was sent with her family to Siberia after the Soviets invaded Poland in 1939.  A few months later, she and her family were sent to Siberia.  According to the article, no one knows how many Poles were deported in those weeks, but most estimates point to around one million.  

"We were put on a cargo train," remembered Danuta.  "It was full-72 people in each wagon. There was a hole in the floor for the toilet, and a little stove."

She continued, "The guard would come and throw the dead babies out of the window into the snow. When an adult died, they'd put the body on a platform by the engine. When the train slowed, they'd put them off. But the children they just threw away."

After the German invasion of Poland in 1941, the Soviets turned to the captives and gave them a choice--either join them against the Nazis as members of the Red Army or join the Polish army in exile.  Many joined the army in exile.  

Danuta's journey would take her from Siberia to Uzbekistan to Iran to North Africa and Palestine, finally settling in the United Kingdom.  

I read this article and got really emotional. I remembered my grandfather telling me a similar story about my grandmother, who was born in what was Poland and now Ukraine, sent to Siberia. Somewhere between the two of them, their journeys took them to Iran, Egypt, and Palestine (from what I remember). Danuta's story very closely followed that of my own grandmother. 

I sent the article to my mom, asking her whether the article was similar to the story of my grandparents.  She replied:

Yes it is. Poland was invaded on her 9th b-day. The family was captured and sent to Siberia where she and your great uncle caught birds (a reason for you to like birds [birds are my number one fear]) and ripped off potatoes from trains to bring "home" to eat.  Later, the family went to some Middle Eastern country, I forget which, where your great grandmother, a healthy-sized woman, was pinched many times and men asked your great grandfather if they could buy her for a wife [apparently nothing has changed]. He said no. They got to England where she met Dziadzia [my grandfather] and the rest is history.

Egypt, Hearing From Obama, Moves to Heal Rift From Protests

Via NYT:

CAIRO — Following a blunt phone call from President Obama, Egyptian leaders scrambled Thursday to try to repair the country’s alliance with Washington, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response to the attack on the United States Embassy by seeking to first appease anti-American domestic opinion without offering a robust condemnation of the violence. 

Set off by anger at an American-made video ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, the attacks on the embassy put President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in a squeeze between the need to stand with Washington against the attackers and the demands of many Egyptians to defy Washington and defend Islam, a senior Brotherhood official acknowledged. 

During a late-night, 20-minute phone call, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if Egyptian authorities failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks. 

The rising breach between the United States and Egypt comes at a critical time for the longtime allies. For the Obama administration, it is a test of whether it has succeeded in efforts to shore up influence after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and to find common ground with the new Islamist leaders of a country that is a linchpin of American policy in the Middle East. 

For Egypt’s new president, the dilemma quickly became an early test of the Brotherhood’s ability to balance domestic political pressures, international commitments and its conservative religious mandate now that it is also effectively governing in a new democracy. 

US drones in Benghazi target of anti-aircraft missiles as investigations show attack preplanned

This sh*t cray.

A protester holds a rifle outside the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. 

Benghazi's international airport was closed after militants attacked US drones with "heavy" anti-aircraft fire. The drones were sent to Libya's second city after a September 11 attack on the consulate killed US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other embassy staffers.  Libyan officials feared for the safety of civilian aircraft in the area and closed the airspace.

"Two American drones flew over Benghazi last night with the knowledge of Libyan authorities," said Deputy Interior Minister Wais al-Sharif.  "They were visible to the eye and came under attack by anti-aircraft weapons used by armed militias."

In addition to moving drones to Benghazi, the United States sent a special Marines team and destroyers to the coast, building up the position of the US in the event of a future attack.

Preliminary evidence shows the attack was planned in advance.  There is a growing belief that the attack was retribution for the drone strike killing of Mohammed Hassan Qaed, aka Abu Yahya al-Libi, a Libyan killed in Pakistan.

The consulate was looted and an FBI team is yet to arrive to investigate the area due to security concerns. Additionally, important documents are missing from the consulate, including papers with the names of Libyans working with the United States and raising fears for their safety.

Putin being Chopin, playing with tigers, escorting wild cranes, swimming like Phelps.

Not related to the Middle East or South Asia but entertaining nevertheless. 

He's got the most bizarre PR scheme.

H/t: NYTimes

Vladimir Putin clockwise from top left: In Russia's far east forests tranquilizing a tiger; horseback riding in southern Siberia; swimming in a Siberian lake; and digging at an archeological site in Greece.

Mr. Putin played the piano at a charity concert in 2010.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia escorted six endangered Siberian cranes to their winter habitat. Experts say that when raised in captivity, these cranes quickly form bonds with figures they perceive as parents.

"Green-on-blue" attacks now biggest killer of NATO troops

More NATO troops are killed by rogue Afghan soldiers and police turning weapons against their trainers than declared enemies.  The uptick of insider attacks marks a worrying turn for ISAF officials as they prepare to wind up the Afghanistan mission.

In response, the US military halted training of Afghan government-backed militias for a month in order to re-vet recruits after the wave of attacks. A spokesman for the military coalition said there is no set date for the resumption of training of the local police.

Afghanistan's military announced today that it arrested or expelled hundreds of soldiers in a bid to stop the attacks.

An August 28 attack in which a man in an Afghan army uniform killed three Australian soldiers and wounded two in the southern province of Uruzgan brought the total number of NATO personnel killed by "green-on-blue" attacks to fifteen for the month of August.  Nearly one in three international coalition deaths were caused by Afghan allies last month.

International forces said there have been 34 insider attacks this year, and 12 in August alone, resulting in the deaths of 45 international troops.  ISAF claims the majority of attacks are one-offs, fueled by personal disagreements and cultural differences, but the frequency of the attacks hints at a larger problem.

Much of the alliance's war strategy relies on close cooperation between foreign and Afghan troops, with the foreigners as trainers and the Afghans expected to take responsibility after NATO's departure at the end of 2014.   The military is attempting to cut back on the attacks through a "Guardian Angels" program, in which one or two armed ISAF troops would monitor all Afghans during each mission and meeting.  These angels will be prepared to fire on anyone who tries to kill a coalition service member, according to the New York Times. In a bit of an understatement, General John Allen, ISAF Commander, said, "There is an erosion of trust that has emerged from [the attacks]."

US Official on the Muslim Brotherhood: "They sound like Republicans half the time."

When people ask me about the Muslim Brotherhood, whether or not they aim to spread Islamic law throughout Egypt and turn it into the next Iran, I laugh.  The Egyptian group's rhetoric sounds familiar to me--it sounds almost exactly like what comes out of the American Republican party.  The religiosity, the nationalism... it's not scary, it's politics.

I'm apparently not the only person who thinks that way.  To me, this says a lot not about the Republican party being crazy, because I don't think they all are, but more about the nature of politics worldwide and how conservative parties rally their base.  Whether they are Christian or Muslim or Hindi or Jewish, it's all the same.  And don't worry, this is not a conservative-bashing post--liberals have their own means of rallying the base--"Big business is coming for us! Fox News!"

The article in which the official is quoted is worth reading in its entirety.  At the American Chamber here, I am actually working on these delegations mentioned in the article. Last week, AmCham hosted Robert Hormats, who spoke with a group of businessmen (mostly men) and emphasized the need to create inclusive growth to ensure the foundation of a democratic Egyptian state with opportunities for all.

Next week, we will host a HUGE US government and business delegation, with over 117 business men and officials and nearly 50 companies represented to emphasize commitment to the development of Egypt's private sector in the weeks and months ahead.  They are aiming to signal that Egypt is "open for business" and push for changes to Egypt's business environment to make the Middle Eastern country more amenable for investment.

Additionally, the US government is moving forward with plans to issue nearly $1 billion in debt forgiveness, extending a $250 million loan guarantee to Egypt through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). There is also discussion about a US-Egyptian Enterprise Fund, based on successful programs established in Central and Eastern Europe following the dissolution of the Soviet Union to develop small and medium enterprises.  $60 million has been set aside for this project, and the Administration is working to secure more.

Sounds great! But I know all of this will open up rumors to the United States being in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood. And I hear it a lot--that the US supported the MB from the beginning. Which is crap--the US just supported the legitimate winners of the election. They did not shut out the MB and instead chose to keep dialogue open. This is a huge change from how the US dealt with the group previously. But in terms of the election, no, the process was not perfect. But Shafiq lost and the liberals were unable to mobilize.