The email account of one of Washington’s most connected and influential foreign operatives has been hacked. A small tranche of those emails was sent this week to media outlets, including The Intercept, HuffPost and The Daily Beast, with the hacker promising to release a trove publicly.
The hotmail account belongs to the UAE’s ambassador to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba, and The Intercept can confirm it is the one he used for most Washington business. HuffPost confirmed at least one of the emails as authentic and the UAE has confirmed that Otaiba’s account was indeed hacked.
Otaiba’s influence derives largely from his pocketbook, as the ambassador is well known for throwing lavish dinner parties, galas, and hosting powerful figures on extravagant trips. Several Christmases ago, he sent out iPads as gifts to journalists and other Washington power players as gifts. There’s no telling what kind of messages might reside in that inbox.
The hackers used a .ru email address, associated with Russia, and referred to themselves as GlobalLeaks, tying themselves to DCLeaks, a website that previously released Democratic emails. The intelligence community has said DCLeaks is a Russian-operated website, which means that the Otaiba hackers are either connected with Russia or trying to give the impression that they are.
Russia and the Gulf monarchies, client states of the United States, are longtime rivals, backing opposing sides in Syria and clashing for decades over Iran.
The emails provided so far to the The Intercept show a growing relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the pro-Israel, neoconservative think tank called the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
On the surface, the alliance should be surprising, as the UAE does not even recognize Israel. But the two countries have worked together in the past against their common adversary, Iran.
On March 10 of this year, FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz authored an email to Otaiba and FDD Senior Counselor John Hannah — a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney — with the subject line “Target list of companies investing in Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia.”
“Dear, Mr. Ambassador,” Dubowitz wrote. “The attached memorandum details companies listed by country which are doing business with Iran and also have business with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This is a target list for putting these companies to a choice, as we have discussed.”
Dubowitz’s attached memorandum includes a lengthy list of “non-U.S. businesses with operations in Saudi Arabia or UAE that are looking to invest in Iran.”
The list includes a number of major international firms, including France’s Airbus and Russia’s Lukoil.
Presumably, the companies are being identified so that the UAE and Saudi Arabia can pressure them over investing in Iran, which is seeing an expansion of foreign investment following the 2015 nuclear deal.
Israel and the Gulf monarchies have grown closer in recent years, as both sides fear that Iran is moving closer to normalization with the West and will therefore increase its own influence and power in the region. But admissions of the alliance between the two are still rare in public. One high-level Israeli official, discussing the relationship on background for a previous HuffPost profile of Otaiba, laid out the politics of it. “Israel and the Arabs standing together is the ultimate ace in the hole. Because it takes it out of the politics and the ideology. When Israel and the Arab states are standing together, it’s powerful,” he said.
The hacked emails demonstrate a remarkable level of backchannel cooperation between a leading neoconservative think tank — FDD is funded by pro-Israel billionaire Sheldon Adelson, an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is one of the largest political donors in the United States — and a Gulf monarchy. (An FDD spokesperson says that Adelson has not given to FDD since 2013.)
Hannah and Otaiba are frequently chummy in the exchanges. On August 16 of last year, Hannah sent Otaiba an article claiming that the UAE and FDD were both responsible for the brief military coup in Turkey. “Honored that we’re in your company,” Hannah wrote to Otaiba.
In another email exchange in late April of this year, Hannah complains to Otaiba that Qatar — a rival Gulf government that has clashed with the UAE in recent months over various issues — is hosting a meeting of Hamas at an Emirati-owned hotel. Otaiba responds that it’s not the Emirati government’s fault, and that the real issue is the U.S. military base in Qatar, “How’s this, you move the base then we’ll move the hotel :-).”
The emails detail the proposed agenda of an upcoming meeting between FDD and UAE government officials that is scheduled for June 11-14. Dubowitz and Hannah are listed as attending, as well as Jonathan Schanzer, FDD vice president for research. UAE officials requested for meetings include Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince who commands the armed forces.
The agenda includes extensive discussion between the two on Qatar. They are scheduled to discuss, for instance, “Al Jazeera as an instrument of regional instability.” (Al Jazeera is based in Qatar.)
There is also “discussion of possible U.S./UAE policies to positively impact Iranian internal situation”; included among the list of policies are “political, economic, military, intelligence, and cyber tools,” which are also brought up as a possible response to “contain and defeat Iranian aggression.”
FDD has been involved in shaping Mideast policy debate during the Trump administration, so it is likely that the UAE views it as an important conduit to pressure Trump to adopt its more hawkish line on Iran. David Weinberg, a senior fellow at the organization, was quoted last month as saying that the UAE is “ecstatic” about the Trump administration’s approach to the region.
“They have been looking for some time for an American partner to push-back against Iran,” he told Arabianbusiness.com. “They are looking for America to turn rhetoric into action.”
Otaiba has also developed a close relationship with President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. The two first met last June at the behest of Thomas Barrack, a billionaire investor and Trump backer. A Politico article last February described Kushner as “in almost constant phone and email contact” with the ambassador.
Whatever the UAE’s agenda, it isn’t promoting democracy. From the previous profile:
As protests spread in Egypt, Otaiba pushed the White House hard to support Mubarak, without success. After the Muslim Brotherhood came to power in a democratic election, he filled the inbox of Phil Gordon, the White House’s top Middle East adviser, with missives savaging the Brotherhood and its backers in Qatar. (Gordon declined to comment.) “He’d robo-email people,” says the former White House aide. “You can be sure when Yousef has something to say on a topic like that, high-level people throughout the State Department and in the White House are going to hear it, in very similar if not identical emails.”
We’re now getting a sense of what those emails looked like. In an email sent on July 3, 2013, shortly after the Egyptian military deposed elected Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi, Otaiba lobbied former Bush administration officials Stephen Hadley — now a consultant at RiceHadleyGates — and Joshua Bolten on his view on Egypt and the wider Arab Spring.
“Countries like Jordan and UAE are the ‘last men standing’ in the moderate camp. The arab spring has increased extremism at the expense of moderation and tolerance,” he lamented.
He described Morsi’s overthrow in glowing tones. “Today’s situation in Egypt is a second revolution. There more people on the streets today than January of 2011. This is not a coup, this is revolution 2.0. A coup is when the military imposes its will on people by force. Today, the military is RESPONDING to people’s wishes.”
Egypt today is a virtual dictatorship. And a close ally of both the U.S. and the UAE.
Update: June 3, 2017
This piece was updated to clarify the relationship between Russia and Iran.
Update: June 6, 2017
This piece was updated to clarify Adelson’s role in funding FDD.
Top photo: A picture taken in downtown Dubai on May 31, 2017, shows Burj Khalifa and the Dubai skyline.
Ooooh
good
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies teaming up with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, how funny!
I guess all of the effort by UAE’s Yousef has finally paid off. It was just announced that four countries have officially cut ties with Qatar. Now, for the big question: is democracy now available to the highest bidder on the auction block?
It is becoming too obvious even for the less-informed that these “Think Tanks” are nothing more than covers for special interest groups to not only influence policy but actually write laws, effectively removing “the people” from the process. How is this system better than the ones where the monarchs or dictators do what is best for their friends or family members instead of their citizens? We criticize, admonish, and even sanction other nations who do this yet, we are increasingly witnessing our own elected officials doing it. It is so true when they talk about light being the best disinfectant….now, if only someone figured out what to do next to restore true democracy in these Great United States.
And you missed the big story. A company that was indicted for fraud by US DOJ and fined $600 M paid Clinton Foundation through Kuwait Government a sum of 5-10 M USD and were able to settle the case for $ 95 M . A great return on investment.
https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/kuwait-called-hillary-clinton-nix-criminal-fraud-case-defense-contractor-agility/
Uh oh, TI pissed off this guy, who claims they are a “a website with links to Iran.” Sure…
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1110176/middle-east
This article is largely a valid response – the emails really are things that I assume ordinary Arab citizens might feel they have a right to write, so long as their particular government agrees with them. It does have a bit of a no-no in that it plagiarized two sentences straight from the Wikipedia article ( around “pathetic joke”, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Silverstein – which hasn’t been changed since May). And of course, the “pro-Iran” stance of The Intercept is in large part by comparison with a lot of media that is excessively critical of the country – though of course Iran does many horrible things to deserve criticism, that doesn’t mean a fair media should be looking for an excuse to skewer them no matter what.
Ken Silverstein was himself a pathetic joke of a journalist. If my memory serves me, he got pissy because he couldn’t keep the company laptop.
Are the emails available for research? If so, where? If not, how can they be verified?
Al Jazeera; Inside Story 6/4/17
What’s The Reason behind recent media attacks against Qatar?
https://youtu.be/XdlzWpwzhvg
Geopolitical alliances in the Middle East shifted years ago. On the U.S. side, the main allies are Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, three different societies (Jews, Turks, and Arabs) that have been fighting for hundreds if not thousands of years and that totally hate each other. (The other side, formerly the Soviet Union and now much less represented by Russia, is now down to Iran and the portion of Syria that’s still controlled by Assad.) Leaders of countries and the rich & powerful that they represent don’t give a damn about this stuff; they care about money, business, and resources.
What might have been a good article has been degraded
by its authors
into a democrat-speak manipulation which
takes a real story and tries to force us into believing the
UNSUBSTANTIATED
“Russia did it” garbage which is necessary for craven democrap
identities to obscure their own smug, willful ignorance.
Great job, brownies!
The Russia references are of no consequences: the ru. is a location where there are low regulations and that they are rivals means nothing much. No one of any intelligence believes the Dem-CrookdClinton Russia talk. If those are valid email address and recipients, then it is SUBSTANTIATED. The fact– up to now– it has been difficult to find a partner to turn rhetoric to action… is well, people are perhaps not that ignorant, or do learn? Iran is a sovereign country, who wants to be next on the list?
These little hidden bastards desert rats are the cause of the destruction of many Arab countries. they have no connection with Islam and their religion, ethic, moral, is money. the f*** his cooperating with Israel and USA and opening the way for them to kill his brothers???! what does a bastard like that deserve?? Traitors Traitors!!! no wonder Emirates is boosting and developing structurally! it is because they have sold themselves to the devil bitches.
Bas ya ahbal …. ya ebn el habla …. i would shake an israeli hands instead of shaking a traitor Palestinian….go to hell
Ya Salam .. you seems like you can shake any hands .. how much per night please?
Political corruption runs deep in Washington, D.C. as the lawsuit against the DNC is proving:
https://www.rt.com/usa/386896-dnc-lawsuit-wasserman-schultz/
Had the DNC allowed a free and fair primary process to occur between Sanders and Clinton, Sanders would have easily beaten Clinton and I believe he would have easily beaten Trump in the general election.
I wish someone from The Intercept would do an in-depth report on what is going on with this lawsuit against the DNC.
Their lawyers are claiming it is the DNC’s RIGHT to rig primaries for the candidate they want!
This story is certainly flowing waaaayyy under the radar!
bravo.
and somewhere along this barage of legal discovery may come the unmasking of the name of the person or organisation of the murderer of Seth Rich. Somehow i think that is what the DNC fears.
Good point, Barabbas!
Oh, grow up already!
Adelson is a proponent of addiction and zionism – theocratic systems that suggest he has little interest in ‘democracy’. The relation of his organization to the gulf monarchies should not be too surprising. I agree this has more to do with him than with Israel. I suspect that their hatred of Iran is that despite its problems it’s actually the most democratic state in the region. They rely on despots and oppression because they are easier to manipulate. Also the coup in Turkey failed, and probably intentionally so (a model for a similar coup in the US under Trump). Not sure why he’s congratulating UAE.
Adelson is not just a zionist, he is a NAZIonist. He deserves the same treatment as the Nazis did.
This is only proves arab countries, particularly gulf states willingness cooperation with Israel’s gov.
No it doesn’t. The article is dishonestly framed, The players here are the UAE, and an Adelson-backed think tank. The Israeli government isn’t a part of the equation. The FDD may be acting in what they think are Israel’s best interests, but the UAE aren’t actually cooperating with Israel (in this instance, at least.)
One way or the other, israel is ALWAYS involved with any pro-israel organisation, particularly one like this which is so influential & well funded.
It’s supported by Sheldon Adelson. If you know who he is, you know what that means. There’s no reason for the Israeli government to be directly involved, and there’s no evidence for it.
Sorry, that was me, I clicked the wrong entry in the autocomplete by mistake.
The Israeli government isn’t a part of the equation?
SURE IT IS. That is, the netanyahu faction of it. The rest of the israeli gov is for local appeatances only. All that really counts any more is who is running foreign policy. The populations have been abandoned by those FP rats who thrive on them and pretend to be important so they can get paid and go to fancy dinners and outings. SHIP THEM TO MARS.
It is a well known fact that Israel and GCC countries have been cooperating for years. Their common target is Iran. Israel uses its strong ties in the US to support GCC dictatorships and GCC regimes do not object to the Israeli policies against the Pals. They all are very aligned against Iran. Because of 1000’s of Iranian businesses and people living in UAE UAE is the center of covert actions against Iran. UAE has benefited handsomely from Iranian isolation as they have become the conduit for $billions of the business with Iran while working with Iran’s enemies against Iran. Iran should kick out UAE ambassador and cut trade and diplomatic links with UAE. Saudi Arabia and UAE are hand in glove in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, and Libya.
Who wants to hace a trade relationship with iran !!
No, it proves that Dictatorships and an Apartheid regime fear democracy so much they’ll put aside even official wars to try and get it crushed by the Empire of War.
That Sufi Muslim fellow had already told us before he disappeared that Muslim blokes are not “monolithic”, which basically means there are uncountably large number of groups of Muslims, each at the others’ throats performing the ritualistic halaal chopping. All we have to do is be a bit patient and they will solve all the terrorist problems themselves.
An equally effective solution and far more peaceful, is the IAGO race (to which commenter General Hercules belongs) stops breeding.
I can’t believe GH didn’t suffocate months ago.
“Russia and the Gulf monarchies, client states of the United States, are longtime rivals”
What the illiterate journo who wrote that meant is
“the Gulf monarchies, which are client states of the United States, and russia which is obviously not a client state, are longtime rivals”
tx. i am easily confused. sometimes people put sentences in a blender and just pour the words out.
Whoever released these emails should be thanked. Truth is truth regardless of how it is obtained.
I’m hoping for a full release ASAP.
Just read where a current UK poll taken last month shows strong backing for Israel boycott: 2:5..
Coincidentally I also read about more mayhem in London today..a van mowed down a lot of people and in a separate incident, a man with a huge knife began stabbing people in a cafe….hmmm..interesting
waiting fir the FDD to confirm the attack with ISIS ( or “is-us” )
Very likely the work of dangerous white supremacists……
Isn’t it amazing how a tiny lil country can rule the world’s Superpower?
http://www.israellycool.com/2016/12/04/map-of-us-states-with-anti-bds-legislation/..
Now, just what this is all about is Money..
The law in the State of Israel says anybody supporting BDS will not be allowed to enter. ..
While at the same time telling other countries what laws to write ..
“………The law in the State of Israel says anybody supporting BDS will not be allowed to enter. ..
While at the same time telling other countries what laws to write ……..”
According to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta (4-3-2017):
“………More than 100 men suspected of being gay have been detained by Chechen authorities in a campaign against homosexuality, according to a report in a Russian newspaper.
Novaya Gazeta reported on Saturday that three people have been killed in the roundup of men ranging ages 16 to 50; the paper reported that more men may have died in extrajudicial killings…….”
Isn’t it amazing how that tiny little shitty country controls US foreign policy?
HaHaHaHaah..The same Hasbara script..when all else fails , deflect, distract and mention..sex..Sex sells., especially homosexual sex.. it’s the same on every forum..mention BDS and Honisexuality follows..mention Gaza and Homosexuality follows..
CS, , yes..it’s very sad that Russians kill homosexuals
And it’s is a very wildly attractive , publicized feature that Israel is the Homosexual Mecca of the Middle East and needs to be forgiven and followed as an example benevolence because of their love for homosexuals and homosexuality..
chechnya is not russia
chechnya is a rogue province
chechnya is a terrorist manufacturing plant
You left out Christian, Craig!
oops….
one group is running bombing raids on hospitals oops and residential units oops while the others are called terrorists committing wanton acts of violence against those not in hospitals or residential units.
After reading this article,even I’m not forced to be 100% agree with all information brovided unless I have the proof.
I think that, If this is true ? This means that those people are working hard and follow their ideas .
They have a target to achieve.
Should they been blamed?
I don’t think so!!!
We are blamed as we don’t put our plan to reach our success.
For those who found themselves in a situation they didn’t choose to be involved in it.
Better than talking about darkness ,is to have your own candle.
Governments is us,we must play a role a against devils.
We must build success and it is time to do.
This FDD – Dubowitz, which [e-hacked] account is he claiming the ownership of: Surely, it is [Not] the one; the Iranians, new of & had let loose: To observe, perhaps!
as middle east citizen im aware of what uae is doing , they teach us on mosques tv schools that USA Israel Iran are our enemy but the truth is thy are not , its them our government the enemy who took our life our resources ans spent them every where like they own them , thats a good occasion those hackers revealed there crimes and conspiracy to whole world
a hot mail account … who the f. uses a hotmail account to conduct business ???
Maybe they wanted it to get out. From the article there is nothing really new, but it piles on to the threats against Iran. The categorization of Al Jazeera as problematic for the interests of US and Gulf monarchies indicates to that.
“Iran, A russian client state….”???? This is absurd and hubris.
I would advise the authors to seriously reconsider their view and knowledge toward Iran and its politics. Neither Iranian people nor the Regime in Iran does not consider Russia even to an ally, the west has forced Iran in the same boat with Russians. Russia throughout the history has proven time and time again to Iranians that they can’t be trusted.
“a growing relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the pro-Israel, neoconservative think tank called the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)”
After all the wait, UAE officials have found a version of democracy they like: the Israeli version!
What a name: Foundation for Defense of Democracies, FDD!
FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz wrote: “The attached memorandum details companies listed by country which are doing business with Iran and also have business with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This is a target list for putting these companies to a choice, as we have discussed.”
Democracy in action. The Israeli way!
Apparently someone threatens to put the Emir of Qatar on the list for “regime change”.
“The president of a US-based Saudi lobbyist group stated on Twitter that the emir of Qatar’s alleged support of Iran and “insults” against Riyadh could see him suffer the same fate as Egypt’s deposed president, Mohamed Morsi.
Salman al-Ansari, of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC), sparked outrage by saying: “To the Emir of Qatar: regarding your taking the side of the extremist Iranian government, and your insulting of the custodian of the two holy mosques.
“I want to remind you that Mohamed Morsi did the same thing and ended up isolated and imprisoned.” ”
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-lobbyist-attacks-emir-qatar-and-seems-admit-supporting-coup-egypt-1501952237
wealthy people who use their wealth and power to enforce poverty like a prison and deprive people of self governance act as if people want to kill them and replace them. I cannot imagine where they get that idea. Maybe inbred paranoia?
Shame on you UAE Arabs, you convince Americans on your own Muslims. I feel very shame by reading the email sent by UAE Ambassador. Be sure that your nation will kick you just like other dictators. UAE pays their citizen in return of not asking about what the hell they are doing by the state money again the Muslim Ummah. but days will prove the Spring will come to UAE.
Shame on UAE.
So it is…all leaks are Russian leaks no matter the only people with the “evidence” of this held secretly by the fully discredited institutions of entrenched power.
I want to punch people or throw something at them when the say “why everyonre picks on Israel”
Once again, why would a Muslim brother sell lout his own? Cannot blame Israel.
Once again why is Israel involved in everything that destabilizes Muslim countries and puts western countries in danger.. Israel is to blame for everything they day. You can also blame SA/ UAE but that doesn’t mean Israel is not guilty.
It’s called class and money. Why did rich African lords and kings sell fellow Africans to white slavers?
“Identity politics” is properly subject to certain criticisms — just not the ones most liberals and almost all rightwingers identify. Among it’s flaws — or at least its insufficiencies — is failure to take class into account.
Another factor is sectariansim/tribalism, in which “the enemy of my enemy” is sometimes deemed friend, or at least tactical ally.
True, but at the end of the day, common sense should tell you that anyone who sells out their own is of no value to you– you are simply next in their line and no contract they hold with you will be ever be valid, much to the contrary, an alliance with them can be an alliance with certain death. No escaping . Israel is silly and stupid if they believe they are in control of this in any way. When nearly one out of four persons is muslim, things can change very fast . It is a setup to be a fall guy!
Good points all Mona, the other thing is that the real political geniuses at the top levels in any society usually could give a damn about whatever the stated ideology is, compared to properly managing power.
Anyway it’s amusing to see that any brave truthseekers flocking to the Intercept comments section would be shocked, shocked, that the UAE or the Saudis has cozy relations with Israel. Gee whiz, do you mean those weird A-rabs & Iz-ray-lees are just into power for power’s sake too? Here I thought they wuz real fanatics like in the movies….
This is The Intercept, one can aways blame Israel.
for what? murdering palestinians to steal their land?
Hey barb you blamed Zionists for killing Jesus a couple of thousand years before they even existed so i guess you will blame them for anything, even the fact that you sit at home all day getting the govt dole.
Not to worry…its wearing thin around the world. They can’t continue to act as they have with out losing in public opinion.
UAE’s government always makes problems in the world , it funds military coups like in Egypt 2013 , it supports dictators like Al Assad and Sisi , it strikes innocents civilians in Libya .. Someone should stop it !
The UAE are bankrolling Isis in Syria, not Assad. Since they haven’t been stopped doing that, they’re unlikely to be stopped from doing anything else.
*1953.
But it’s different when we do it!
Indeed. After sixty years, the Shadow Government finally accepted responsibility for that historical footnote.
Even then, few took notice.
What’s ironic is that on the long run Mossadeq would have been better for the west than the Shia fanatics that have taken over after the Shah was expelled.
That is true if you look only at Iran.
But Mossadeq was a role model for the whole third world and set to become an important figure in the block-free-movement. The Islamic Republic does not have this importance and will never have it because they can only appeal to Shias.
It’s similar with Guatemala and Arbenz (civil war isn’t good for business interest either but the ouster of him secured the control over Central America as a whole).
There are some issues with how this article is put together: the documentcloud (uggh) site with the letter has blank text, hard-to-read PDF. You have a letter above labelled as a shot of the skyline. I wish that proofreaders hadn’t gone extinct in the 1990s.
The first email about the UAE/Iran companies should interest us, not because it is interesting (it’s not), but because this hotshot “Neocon think tank” is doing what WE can do ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. They got some people together and did some web searches and came up with a bunch of what some call “open source intelligence”, i.e. newspaper clippings, about companies doing business in Iran, and they emailed some guy at the UAE embassy. I mean seriously, *where* is their power? Only in thinking what they do matters. We do the same damn thing, on this forum, on other discussion groups, on Wikipedia, and somehow we let ourselves get dejected and think it doesn’t make a difference, just because we aren’t serving some entity sleazy enough that they have to pay to get people to take their side. Literally the only thing depressing us is a belief that our caste is inherently inferior, when we know full well it’s not.
Hear! Hear!
The problem that average citizens have under such circumstances is that they are faced with a sociological axiom that the larger the group, the less intelligent it becomes even if everyone in the group is highly intelligent. This is because large groups outside of such constraints such as military discipline or political incestuous relationships do not have very large rates of cohesion. Everyone has their own idea as to how to confront a problem forcing the group to expend effort on useless strategies and tactics.
I don’t see any particular requirement that ordinary people collaborate in large groups for such things. One person can collect a bunch of news about one or many companies, or a small number can work together in a planned way. But beyond this, I know that Wikipedia can show some clear evidence of collective intelligence, at least in its output if not necessarily in its community governance, which seems to invalidate this “axiom”.
On the one hand, this whole back-channel shenanigans may appear to be part of hypocratic revelations of saying one thing to the public and something else to the bosses – to paraphrase the more infamouse Hillary. However, all the squabbling like chickens in the house is merely arm wrestling which ultimately resolves into ever changing national policies which do shift like the sands of the middle east. Besides, without all the hubbub, what are wealthy people to do? WIthout good excuses to par-tay, important people would appear to be like any common self indulgent glutton, sans the expensive gifting thing.
So much for Muslim solidarity.
More!
Keep exposing the machinations of the wealthy, the powerful, the influential, the utterly corrupt, and the depraved.
Thank you for continuing to bring the important back stories.
Mr. Jilani
“…….He described Morsi’s overthrow in glowing tones. “Today’s situation in Egypt is a second revolution. There more people on the streets today than January of 2011. This is not a coup, this is revolution 2.0. A coup is when the military imposes its will on people by force. Today, the military is RESPONDING to people’s wishes.”…….”
There certainly is some truth to what Yousef Al-Otaiba is saying. Egyptians took to the streets by the millions to protest the political agenda of the elected Morsi. That represented democracy in action (much like Ukrainians). Unfortunately, al-Sisi deposed Morsi imposing a draconian and brutal anti-democratic rule on Egyptians while throwing the initial revolution in reverse. The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist organization by the military government.
Egyptians are far worse off now than under Mubarak although in lieu of Syria, many Egyptians may be opting for security over political rights – for the moment. Sooner or later, the Egyptian people will again take to the streets to protest authoritarian rule.
The last thing the US needs is to tie itself up in all this pointless Iran crap. China is in the process of building a humongous transnational infrastructure program – the new silk road – that will seal its place as the 21st-century world’s preeminent economic power. Yet in the US politicians and media obsesses mindlessly on Russia and Iran.
But what will actually be achieved if they do succeed in launching another multi-trillion dollar war in the mideast? The same as before: mountains of dead innocents and an even less safe and secure world than before. A cynical person might come to the conclusion that the only things driving all this nonsense is the further enrichment of giant military contractors and the entralment of the US political class to AIPAC.
This time, it’s encumbent on journalists to call out this gigantic waste of life, resources, and everybody’s time before the madness is repeated. Please do not just go along with the mindless tide all over again.
“A cynical person might come to the conclusion that the only things driving all this nonsense is the further enrichment of giant military contractors and the entralment of the US political class to AIPAC.”
Or, generally observational?
forsure. Pres Trump is not like the small-thinking chicken-squabbling whorish set of the dumb&dumbers that get elected or appointed. He is the puppet master.The table scrap issues of Russia and Iran are what the dumb&dumbers feed on and apparently addicted to. And being as the foreign policy fraudsters have sold out the US, they are going to drown in their own feces because China is real competition and the D&D clubbers dont really know how to compete without going to war.
Sadly Trump and his boys seem more addicted to the Iran drug than anybody, except perhaps John McCain (aka ‘the nation’s conscience’..)
perhaps PDT is not the addicted
rather PDT is the pusherman
The shape of things to come could be seen at the recent OBOR get together. The US issued a demand to China to exclude the North Korean regime from the attendees. China refused. The US and it’s gang, in a true display of power, sent delegations anyway, but ‘just’ the ones who do the real work of making deals.
Yes, and time for the US to invest in some high speed rail as the most cost efficient and green travel, as much as possible. Laughable and dangerous is to make ATC private, people will die. How reintroducing a for-profit Middleman system will economize is impossible.
really??? they have diplomatic and economic relations with Russia, but a “client state??’ sounds like lazy journalism.
Interesting (but not shocking) article. Nice work.
The rich and powerful play their games. And everybody else, even the environment, and all the dead fish in the sea, pay for it.
Yes, really… a client state. Perhaps Mr. Jilani will obtain the emails from the Russian Ambassador to Iran and publish them for your edification. But I think not. If it’s not an indictment of Israel, either real or perceived, he’s not interested. Is Iran “neutral” regarding Israel in any respect? Neither is this reporter.
Israel is the shit starter in that entire region, yet, the mainstream corporate “news” media never shines light on their involvement? While they subjugate an entire group of folks, murdering them whenever they feel like, while the media freaks out when one of the oppressed get out and kill two people?
Pfft.
That is simply absurd.
But you Zionists are very good at photoshopping anti Israel messages on their missiles.
Yeah, we get it, along with a whole host of misinterpretations you’re so proficient with for Western consumption.
“A small tranche of those emails was sent this week to media outlets, including The Intercept, HuffPost and The Daily Beast, ”
Mr. Jilani did not go out and “obtain” the emails.
How about going after the “star” reporters of US news outlets, that have either served with IDF or have children that are, while reporting on conflicts…I’d check out that “neutrality” first.
I’m happy to provide at least a partial list of those when I have more time.
And the Palestinians are a sideshow for the wealthy Muslims to continue to thrive, at the expense of their own people’s. As if the wealthy Saudis cannot bring their own home to Mecca and Medina. Joke.
I think that’s because Palestinians prefer to stay where they’ve been for so many generations. It is their homeland…not Mecca.
Also, the 3rd holiest site in Islam is Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
My opinion is Trump backed off moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, as a show of “good faith”. Possibly.
The escalation in hacked e-mails, seemingly by state actors or state connected groups, requires the media to think through carefully what their policy for publishing or reporting on emails obtained in this criminal fashion.
The Intercept would do well to state an explicitly clear policy on this regard. Is the editorial standard that the manner in which “newsworthy” information (obviously a designation subject to any individual news organization) is obtained totally irrelevant to the publication of that information? If Bernie Sanders or Julian Assange’s private communications were hacked, would The Intercept report on those communications?
Is there any scenario in which the manner in which newsworthy information is obtained preclude the publishing of that information – if, for instance, someone’s private information was not hacked but instead violently coerced out of someone?
I think The Intercept would do well to articulate their positions on these issues. In the U.K. illegal and immoral means of collecting “newsworthy” information of course led to the massive News of the World scandal, and it behooves an organization nominally committed to the highest journalistic standards to be clear about their own practices.
They have.
If you have a problem with exposing private conversations about world issues, please offer your justification.
“If Bernie Sanders or Julian Assange’s private communications were hacked, would The Intercept report on those communications?”
If those communications exposed a seedy underbelly, yes, I believe The Intercept would publish them.
Your argument is the PUBLIC PROPERTY IS NOT SACRED scam. That scam argument betrays the real meaning of privacy which is between individuals. So how much is your elixer today?
Keep repeating this for years, Iran does nothing wrong and is rather puny on the global scale,or more wronged than anyone else, it is all provocation to create a pretext to attack to break and enter into Iran has the world’s 2nd largest oil reserves– AND WE AINT PAYING FULL PRICE FOR THAT — well maybe in blood, as Iraq.
Yes.
Who started all this shit? The United States, England, France.
1953 for the United States. Earlier for those other two agitators.
We in the West spin EVERYTHING.
Yes, but the muslims have their own local brand of the deal, swapping and bargaining in the souks. The problems is the wealthy Muslims do not stand with their lesser brothers, they sell them out..so they can get out.
“The Muslims?” Wtf are you talking about?
The Saudis can’t bring “their own” home? What planet do you inhabit?
The idea that “the Muslims” in some vaguely defined Middle East are an undifferentiated mass that can be moved hundreds of miles for israel’s or anyone else’s convenience is a bizarre confluence of comic, provincial ignorance and bloodthirsty imperial privilege.
We’re talking about people(s) with massive ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious differences.
So Palestinians are supposed to uproot themselves and move to Saudi Arabia and things will suddenly get better? Here’s a challenge – try writing something stupider. It will take real effort.
My first toy as a child that i can remember was a top. You would push down on the rod at the top and the thing would spin. Spinning might be a uniquely homosapien attribute.