Kuwait Airways and the World

A few members of my family are, or have been, employees of Kuwait Airways, and as a consequence, I've been privy to some of the perks of being related to an airline employee in the past (special treatment discounted tickets, etc..), but that was a different time, and the airline world was quite a different one as well. 

Back then, Kuwait Airways 'loaned' some of their aircraft to the likes of Emirates and Gulf Air, the quality and skills of Kuwait Airways' Engineers (real engineers, not licensed mechanics, although even they were quite proficient) were neck-to-neck with the most intelligent and successful people in the industry - it was that good, and it was the '90's...before the Iraqi Occupation.

Friedman Gets it Right all the Time

I've been following Thomas Friedman's writings for some time now, and I've come to the conclusion that many of his writings should be 'required reading' for some of our MP's and Ministers. Set aside his forward-thinking books on the flatness of the world's economy for a minute, and consider how this man's opinions are clear and applicable not only to the U.S.A., but for our own tiny Kuwait.

Take a recent example; Some of those MP loudmouths that preach the necessity for religious tolerance, openness and the virtues of Islam should closely read his article on New York City's decision to build a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. It's not about showing off your will and message as a Muslim in a land that secures your rights to follow any religion you chose while your own country refuses to even expand an existing Church, nor is it about spreading the word of the One True God as you know it while you curse and condemn anyone that follows any other religion. It's about setting an example for everyone in the world, that while you may differ on many issues, you have a right-as a human being-to express your beliefs openly and freely, without fear of repercussions.

Kuwait's Soluiton to the BB Ban Issue: No Porn Please!

During this past week, the UAE, matching India's concerns, boldly and courageously decided to block all Blackberry services within it's country, by October 11th, citing security concerns. Apparently, the UAE isn't too happy that it's security services are unable to access the BB's e-traffic, which prevents them from having any foreknowledge of potential criminal and/or terrorist activities before, during or after they happen. Saudi Arabia, followed suite and pre-empted the UAE by banning the BB's internet services one month before the UAE's announced ban date. 

The Saudi/Emirati decision made so many waves that it actually affected RIM's shares performances for a brief time, and the UAE/Saudi position never changed; Turning off BBM's internet services is a done deal; the security of the State is far more important than the security of RIM's royalty fees.

Policy of Lies

How come this report in Al Qabas says that the summit was a success, and this report says it's mended the Arab-Arab relations, while both this one by VOA News and this one by BBC says something to the contrary??



I thought we were done with censorship and drum-beating in favor of political leaders, or was that a pipe dream after all?

Palestine: What is expected and what can be done?

After the dust had settled, and the guns in Gaza are gradually falling silent - cautiously - one cannot escape the inevitable question: what's next? An Arab initiative, at least two Arab summits, various promises of assistance and relief, all's good, but the man whose home had been obliterated from the map and reduced to rubble is now living in a 2x2 tent right next to that rubble, along with his wife and children, waiting for what comes next.

What is expected from the Arab world in order to relief this poor family, whose only fault is being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Financially, money is no object in the Arab world - it never was - so there's no problem there. GCC countries can commit to billions and billions in aid, but it seldom goes to the right recipients, and controlling it is even more difficult - curiously enough! One needs only to look at the facts to see just how messy their financial aid has become: underground tunnels, rocket-making material, uniforms, weapons, smuggling operations, they all need money, which arguably comes from donations. Hamas isn't state-sponsored like Hezbolla, it's sponsored benevolently by all the Arab and Muslim world, which makes things worse, because the only victim here is the man on the streed waiting in line for his five pieces of bread, since the money's been diverted to make useless rockets.

Militarily, the Arab governments are as harmless as a fruit fly, any any form of supporting paramilitary groups to fight proxy wars instead comes with the wrath of global condemnation and threats to cut trade, so that's off the table.

Diplomatically, the Arabs are about as effective as a band-aid on a gushing wound, even though they hold many valuable tools with which they can promote their agendas peacefully. They're not doing so - in my opinion - because they lack the leadership to even say so, despite their glamorous claims in high-profile summits.

Religiously, we Arabs, as Muslims, Christians and other religions, can only sit back and pray to God, asking for forgiveness and peace to roam the land, and at the same time, asking for his wrath to sweep over the land and punish the criminals - whoever they may be - once and for all.

The fiction that is Palestine today is - simply put - two disconnected plots of land, squeezed by and between three giants who would easily trade it for an Oil contract if no one was looking. But to shift fiction into reality needs more than a cheque, a flag and a national anthem. It needs a political imperative to exist, a social plan to expand and an economic basis to continue to cater to its people. With the rise of Hamas, all these things have been replaced with rockets and martyrs, and while our leaders sit and watch what comes next, organizations like Hamas are claiming their unilaterally achieved victories, with little help from the outsiders, all music to the ears of the poor man living in the makeshift tent, pitched beside a mound of rubble that was his 3-storey home.

Venezuela kicks out Israeli Ambassador over Gaza

Venezuala's outspoken President Hugo Chavez did what most Arab leaders only dreamed of doing in light of current events: he kicked out the Israeli Ambassador and most of his staff, as a show of protest and solidarity with the Palestinians over the recent Gaza massacres.

He's the same man who called George W. Bush a 'donkey and a drunkard' some years ago (link) and also called the Iraqi Shoe-thrower a courageous man.

This man is a Latin American and a Roman Catholic, and a mixed Indian-African-Spanish background who grabbed control of the country through a quirky series of events and immediately set up to implement his plans to improve his country's image and interal social status, with very heavy communist and leftis overtones. I've always been impressed (and amused) with his style of politics, but never more so than when I decided to call the pan black and criticize Israel for it's recent actions in a way that can only be described as accurate and factual.

If only some of our leaders have the cohones to do the same!

Ghaza: An Arab Opportunity

I was following the news and commentary on the latest Israeli attacks on Ghaza, and was not surprised to see and hear the usual rhetoric from so-called 'analysts' and journalists who frequent extremist news channels like Aljazeera. But I was surprised to hear some common sense emanating from the notorious loudmouth BS artisit, AbdelBari Atwan (bio here).

Basically, this character (who looks to me like Bert from Sesame Street!) refutes all the efforts of the Arab Politics, especially Egypt, for not doing enough to help diffuse the Ghaza situation, just like everyone else. But what caught my attention is is recommendations for the Arab countries to exert political and diplomatic force onto the UN and other world powers to do what is required towards the Palestinian cause.

In his glorified speech, he mentions the following:

That the Arab world, who has succumbed to it's defeatist stance, could possible rise up against the west in the form of non-violent protests, by refusing to continue assisting world powers in the following:
-Logistic assistance with the War on Terrorism
-Policing illegal migrations and people trafficking
-Refusing to help decrease the price of Oil
-Dismssal of all Israeli Diplomatic representation in the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim world.
-Protesting to the International Court of Justice

This sounds to me like a do-able plan, if it were properly supported by the majority of the Arab League. And while I agree to the Egyptian position of not opening up it's borders at Rafah to allow the refugees in for security reasons, I disagree with Egypt not doing enough to assist in Humanitarian assistance. However, should Egypt propose Atwan's recommendations to the Arab League, I believe it would-at least-make people think twice before wasting time deiberating over where to meet and what should be the correct wording of their statements.

Then again....this could all simply evaporate into misty dreams!

Words from the past

This is Mohandas K. Ghandi, or Mahatma Ghandi, or Bapu, depends on what ange of history you're reading about him. 

I won't delve deep into his history or achievements, but I'd like to highlight a few of his words and quotes:

1)When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always.

2) What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

3) An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

4) There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for.

5) I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

6) It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

7) The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

In an atmosphere of charged political turmoil and a grossly outgunned Arab world, one needs to take a step back and think for a while about how the in-actions of a single wise (non-muslim) man affected the retreat of an empire.

Gaza Airstrikes: Al Qaida, Hamas and Arab Logic

The latest atrocities within the occupied territories is by all measures simply terrible, no two people on Earth can say otherwise. But considering that Hamas nullified the previously brokered truce with Israel earlier this month, and as a result, launched it's puny home-made rockets against their enemies concurrently, it comes as no surprise that Israel retaliates in this way. Add to that mix the policy of keeping and maintaining Hamas-controlled strong points within civilian residential areas (a la Saddam Hussein) it comes as no surprise that whenever and wherever Israel targets Hamas it also kills civilians in the process due to simple physics and proximity.

What I'd like to know is: Where is Al Qaida? If this organization was hell-bent on rescuing the Islamic world from the oppression of Zionism and Imperialism as it states, why isn't it present and active in Palestine? We're reading and seeing reports of Al Qaida in Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco, Tunis, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc...but zilch in Palestine or Israel...

Moreover, some of our leaders in the Arab and Muslim world are ever-steadfast in supporting and praising Al Qaida's efforts and messages with every bullet their cohorts fire at the Americans in Iraq, but not one stone is thrown in Al Qaida's name at any Israeli soldier in the occupied lands, ironically enough! But what's really ironic is than this isn't mentioned much in the news. In other words, nobody's paying much attention to the fact that where Al Qaida should be fighting, it isn't, and who it should be protecting, it isn't.

I can't blame the US for this crisis this time, not by a long shot. It's not the US that's planting combat & logistics bases in and around civilian populations, it's not the US that broke the cease-fire agreements, and it's not the US that's firing unmanned rockets at civilians. If the logic was that the US sold the weapons that are killing the Arabs to Israel, ican it be used against Russia or China, whose weapons are all over the occupied lands?

If anyone is to blame for this current state of affairs, it's Hamas, and to some extent Fatah not the Palestinian people, not the Israelis, and certainly not the Americans. Hamas has broken away from the legally authorized Palestinian Authority, and Fatah is still unable to reconcile with them. It's Hamas that had radicalized and hijacked Palestinian Politics, and Fatah is inable to reighn it in, and now Hamas has broken a truce that was in it's favor in the first place, and is making the Palestinian civilians pay for it with their lives while Fatah struggles to maintain political control over whatever scraps of land it still 'owns'. It's the same old Power game all over again.

One cannot fight a fully-armed and nuclear-capable enemy with sticks and stones, but as long as he can speak, logic and common sense always wins. Sadly, this piece of truth has gone unnoticed to many-if not all-of the Palestinians living in the occupied territories today, replaced by emotional outbursts calling for more and more sacrifices to be paid by the civilians.

Worthy of note, here, that Hamas is sponsored and supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, guess who their patrons are in Kuwait.....ring any alarms yet??

Kuwait Prepares for War with Iran

In my earlier post, I talked about the Gulf Area's readiness to confront an attack on Iran by U.S. & (possibly) coalition forces in the area, under the pretext of a continuation of the War on Terror. And much earlier in the year, there were some reports (here and here and here and here) about escalation stages leading up to a final confrontation between Iran and it's 'enemies'.

The U.S.A. has 2 Aircraft Carrier Groups within the Gulf Area, U.S.S. Stennis and Nimitz, not counting it's forward deployment and support bases littered all over the GCC Countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Qatar, Bahrain, Oman) as well as bases in Turkey, Diego Garcia and Eastern Europe.

For comparison one Carrier Group has - on average - over 80 Aircraft, 50 of them are fixed-wing attack aircraft. This means that there are about 150 attack aircraft targeting Iran launchin from U.S. carriers alone!

There's also a French Carrier Group around the area, the Charles De Gaulle, which I'm assuming is part of the Combined Task Force 150 currently based in Bahrain, along with the U.S. 5th Fleet.

Well, now everybody's talking about it openly, and it's being mentioned more frequently than ever before (psychologically preparing the masses??). The following was printed in one of Kuwait's newspapers today, (an English Kuwaiti newspaper also reported it here)representative of Kuwait's state of preparedness in the event that Iran becomes the U.S.'s next target:

• Fuel: 35 days' worth
• Water: 2.3 million Imperial Gallons, enough for 3 months
• Medicines: 6 months
• Food: 6 months
• Blood Bank: ample supplies
• Electricity: Small portable electricity generating units are available.
• Security plan:to combat any uprisings, violent demonstrations that may erupt around the borders.

Consider this: Kuwait is only 300Km's away from the Bushehr Nuclear Reactor. If Iran was hit.....POOF! Just like that, the nuclear dust - alone - that would rise from Bushehr would effectively cover the entire northern coast of the Gulf-inlcuding Kuwait.

The nuclear comtamination would eliminate Kuwait's stored water, food and blood supplies and Oil for the next 100 years. Anyone living in Kuwait would soon develop cancers & diseases as a result of the contamination, and NO CURE IN THIS WORLD would be of much use.

All indications show some sort of showdown some time later in 2007, maybe after the summer, when all the currently-running and previously planned training exercises are complete, and readiness reports are issued to the commanders all over the area. Or maybe when the weather is adequate enough for Air operations (fair & clear skies, calm waters, etc.)

This means we all have until the end of Summer to consider migrating to a safer corner on this 3rd rock from the sun!

George Galloway Speaks!

I got this from a friend just minutes after i posted my last blog! I just HAD to post it for you....don't miss it!

He's a notorious Scotsman, with a Glaswegian flair for blunt commentary, but he's got something to say, and here it is!

Where's the Logic?

Everybody's talking about it, everyone's watching it on the news, the 'net, the radio, the newspapers, the blogs, it's like a rash that won't go away!

This whole Lebanon thing, this age-old teeth-puller that just won't quit popping up. Why can't anyone find a solution already?? And for God's sake, who the hell would tease a regional Nuclear superpower with WWII missiles??

OK, OK, so the cause is just, and it's been long overdue, like a boiling pressure cooker filled with Lentil Soup, but hey, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, and a lot more......HELLO??

Consider the circumstances; We're talking about liberating ourselves from the chains of defeatism and imperialism towards independance and self-sufficiency, further utilizing our natural resources for ourselves, (although i can't see how that still applies, we're living in a Globalized world now!)and at the same time, we're morally supporting anything to do with Democracy and free trade! No wonder we're in this upheaval!

Personally, I believe that the Lebanese got a raw deal when Israel left them back in 2000, and it got a lot worse when Syria decided to pack up & leave Dodge as well, especially after the shady cincumstances in which Lebanon's most prominent Philanthropist was assassinated! These withdrawls left behind a pissed off bunch of battle-hardened fighters looking for someone to adopt their cause. In comes Iran, with it's never-ending supply of Chinese firecrackers & revolutionary ideologies, sucking up the power vacume and presenting itself as the first person to say "NO" to American/Israeli supermacy in the Middle East.

And down south, the poor Palestinians, who just live simply to back ANYONE mentioning the "Palestinian Cause" in their speech, go ahead and support the Hezbolla's rocket-chugging fanfare at the Middle East's best equipped & trained army, shouting provocative slogans an burning flags, like that's going to shed some tears.

It seems that the root cause of ANY conflict in the Middle East & Asia is the Israeli's belligerence to exist on Arab lands, and the Arabs tendency to be bullied & driven to shouting self-defeating slogans as well as their belligerence to kick the Israelis out of their 'God-given' right to live on the promised land..according to them. How are we to acknowledge rights of ownership without going into theological interpretations? Any

By the way, let's not forget (as Kuwaitis) that the same people we're supposedly backing & supporting for attacking Israel today are the very same people that were involved in terrorist incidents throught our history in the first place! So let's not be too hasty in our emotions, and think logically instead of emotionally-for a change!

And if we daringly enter into the whirlpool that is the "Divine Inspiration" discussion, we'd always be alienating someone-never fails! You'll always find someone or some people with the inflexibility of refusing to abandon their cause, be they religious, political or economical. It's the nature of the beast for humans to differ, and will be the status quo for as long as there's human life on this planet.

So, for the sake of argument, let's drop the 'God-given right' thing for a moment, and focus on today's issues.

Let's assume-again, for the sake of argument-that we as Muslims believe that the Jews are, in fact, our Semitic Cousins, and that both they and we have the same right to own the land in question. Let's then dissolve this issue down to 'rightful ownership', and not a divine right. How do we resolve this issue today?

By finding common ground, i say.

Consider this..
FACT: 40+ years of military and Guerrilla conflict hasn't added up to anything more than even more hatred by either side.
FACT: Israel, since it's establishment in 1948, is here to stay, and nothing anyone will do will change that.
FACT: Jews, Muslims & Christians all have a say in Jerusalem
FACT: This is an age-old issue that will not be resolved by any one party, because no one is neutral in it.

Solution: Let's find some common ground in present day terms!

Now, since Money talks, here's my 'ahem' solution:

1-Stop retaliating to Israeli aggression (An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind!)
2-Get them down on a conference table (shame them to that table by not retaliating to their bullets-Ghandi kicked out the world's most powerful empire out of India by simply doing nothing-and he wasn't even a Muslim!)
3-Acknowledge their need to exist (it's a "Human" right, not a religious one!)
4-Make them acknowledge our need to exist (It's part of the deal, if they REALLY want peace!)
5-Discuss how to come up with an agreement to co-exist (1967 borders, right of return, settlements, et al.)
6-In return for being flexible, offer Israel some financial packages: long-term trade agreements, cash subsidies, etc.
7-BE PREPARED to make concessions in return..we're talking about buying lasting peace which was never achievable through force!
8-Accept what's on offer in light of what's being offered.
9-Sign the damn treaty already!
10-Get the rich Arab countries to back up the newly-established Palestinian territories with a strong, internationally-protected economy.
11-Create a thriving Tourism & Banking Industry based on Islamic Financing Principles within the protected Arab lands. (Create more jobs, increase trade, attract investments, create more opportunities, etc.)

This would be the 'best choice, all round' for all concerned parties, and would eventually have a cascading effect on all the concerned parties in the region; Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Israel, the USA, the GCC, etc.

>The Lebanese will stop being bombed into the last 2 centuries;
)The Syrians, Jordanians & Egyptians will be able to free up their economy and quell the rising extremists that call for the destruction of Israel, now that there's no issue to talk about since the Palestine issue has been resolved;
>The Iranians may even stop pursuing nuclear weapons and spreading their revolution, and instead turn to become Energy generators for their neighbours;
>The GCC citizens will be able to spend their cash within the Middle Eastern touristic destinations;
>The U.S. will be able to 'spread the word of Democracy' once again, or better yet, be exposed as to it's true intentions in the region, in a way that would be as clear to the European Union-among others-as a the bright summer Sun.

Moreover, the Islamic-Revolutionary organizations all over the world would be able to stop calling for the establishment of Islamic States in return for the Islamic Economic systems that should be improving their lives within 3-5 years of their inception. At best, it could serve as a template for other clashes around the world, like the Kashmir issue.

True, some people cannot be bought, but I can't imagine a world where things remain as they are forever, nor can I imagine a Utopian world either. But considering that wars over religion or belief systems have done little more than deepen old wounds or create even more schisms over the 2000+ years, it's time for "Mutually Assured Economies" to reign in, as opposed to "Mutually Assured Destruction.

Almost every concievable problem can be solved, if both we and the Israelis stop being so stubborn and investigate the long-term advantages of a lasting peace, one that would reap benefits far greater that killing each other until the end of days!

We can work out any differences if we had safe homes in which we can think!

Waste of time? Any other choice? You decide..