Lawrence Wright, author of the excellent The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, has a piece in the upcoming edition of The New Yorker magazine. He looks at US-Pakistani relations in terms of US financial support to Pakistan and what it apparently got for the money. Let’s just say that it isn’t what the US expected. Instead of a bulwark against the Soviets and against Islamic terrorism, it seems the money was used to grown an (ineffective) army directed against India and overt and covert support of terrorist groups that often acted in ways that served Pakistani ambitions. Wright offers some ideas about how that might be fixed, but I’m not sure if they’d be either effective or even politically possible. The article is definitely worth reading, though.
The Double Game
The unintended consequences of American funding in Pakistan.
Lawrence WrightIt’s the end of the Second World War, and the United States is deciding what to do about two immense, poor, densely populated countries in Asia. America chooses one of the countries, becoming its benefactor. Over the decades, it pours billions of dollars into that country’s economy, training and equipping its military and its intelligence services. The stated goal is to create a reliable ally with strong institutions and a modern, vigorous democracy. The other country, meanwhile, is spurned because it forges alliances with America’s enemies.
The country not chosen was India, which “tilted” toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Pakistan became America’s protégé, firmly supporting its fight to contain Communism. The benefits that Pakistan accrued from this relationship were quickly apparent: in the nineteen-sixties, its economy was an exemplar. India, by contrast, was a byword for basket case. Fifty years then went by. What was the result of this social experiment?
India has become the state that we tried to create in Pakistan. It is a rising economic star, militarily powerful and democratic, and it shares American interests. Pakistan, however, is one of the most anti-American countries in the world, and a covert sponsor of terrorism. Politically and economically, it verges on being a failed state. And, despite Pakistani avowals to the contrary, America’s worst enemy, Osama bin Laden, had been hiding there for years—in strikingly comfortable circumstances—before U.S. commandos finally tracked him down and killed him, on May 2nd.
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Asharq Alawsat has an interesting group of articles talking about the death of Usama bin Laden and what it means. What makes them particularly interesting is that at least two of the writers knew bin Laden personally—I’m not sure about Mshari Al-Zaydi.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former ambassador to the US and UK, former head of Saudi intelligence, worked with bin Laden when it was both Saudi and US policy to support the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He then worked to talk bin Laden down from the pinnacles of arrogance he climbed as his anger mounted.
Bin Laden
Prince Turki Al-FaisalDeath is feared; it marks the end of the temporal world and the start of the hereafter, demarcating between deeds and their rewards. As Allah the Almighty has informed us, the reckoning of a person’s deeds begins the moment his soul is seized and he who been virtuous in his life will be given a handsome reward. The Almighty says: ‘Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state, saying: “As-Salaam ‘alaikum (peace be on you), enter Paradise, because of that which which you used to do.”‘(Holy Qur’an, 16:32) As he for who brings harm to his soul, religion and to the people, then Allah is his Recompense, for the Almighty says: ‘“Those whose lives the angels take while they are doing wrong to themselves.” They will make a submission saying: “We used not to do any evil.” (The angels will reply): “Yes! Truly, Allah is All-Knowing of what you used to do. So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein, and indeed, what an evil abode will be for the arrogant.”‘(Holy Qur’an 16:28-29). When a person dies, then his reckoning is with Allah, ‘for verily, over you are appointed angels, honourable scribes writing who know all that you do,’ (Holy Qur’an, 82:10-12), and nothing remains of his in the world except the anniversary of his death, his legacy and the influences of his deeds. That is what is left of Osama bin Laden whose assassination was announced by American armed forces at the dawn of Monday Jumada al-Awwal in the Islamic year of 1432 (2 May 2011).
Arab ethics prohibit gloating over the dead in accordance with the prohibition of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in Islamic etiquette to not insult the deceased, as insults only hurt the living and never reach the dead. This is what I wish to emphasise in the case of Osama bin Laden.
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Hussein Shobokshi writes that whatever ‘day’ bin Laden and his ideology may have had, they’ve been overtaken by history. Rather than angry and violent protest, the wave of change sweeping the Arab states, the ‘Arab Spring’, is being formed around non-violent protest.
Let us forget and remember
Hussein ShobokshiBin Laden is dead, and now people have begun speculating about the manner in which he was killed, and when this incident actually occurred. Such people are keen to see a picture proving his death, as they refute the official account of the US administration, stating that he died when US Special Forces invaded his compound.
What is more important here is to be aware that everything has an expiry date, which begins to tick down from the moment it is created, then marketed, until the product matures and gradually deteriorates. This was what has happened with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. The organization has become “exhausted”, and so its shelf life has ended in the political market. Another commodity is now becoming more popular and acceptable, namely youth-led revolutions. It is a product that has been welcomed by various categories of people, and has achieved unparalleled initial success, because unlike the ideology of al-Qaeda and similar organizations, who promote violence and blood as a means of change and reform, this new product advocates non-violent peaceful protest as an alternative mechanism.
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Mshari Al-Zaydi notes that the ideology of Al-Qaeda represents the violent strain developed by the Muslim Brotherhood, grown out of the thinking of Sayyid Qutb. He sees bin Laden as an icon of Islamic rage, a rage directed in many directions because none seems to know exactly where the faults lie. He hopes that the passing of the icon will lead to a shift in thinking about change in the Muslim world and a rational approach to problem-solving, even on a massive, civilizational level.
Bin Laden’s death: The end of the icon of rage?
Mshari Al-ZaydiLate on Sunday night, (going by the time in the Arab region of course) Barack Obama announced to America and the world at large that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, along with several other individuals, by American Special Forces, near the Pakistani capital (Islamabad).
Finally Obama emerged victorious thanks to this epic moment, the same moment which former President George Bush had long strived for. But fate favored Obama, the man who hard-line right wing Americans have accused of being a secret Muslim!
This news was covered everywhere, and people feverishly engaged with every detail, asking: what about the body? How will it be buried? Will Bin Laden’s family conduct funeral or wake? Was Bin Laden’s body buried at sea? Why was it buried at sea? Did the American forces conduct the burial of the al-Qaeda leader according to Islamic traditions? And so on, and so on…
This is something that reflects a state of shock about the overall meaning of the story, and the big picture. It is something that first and foremost reveals the shock of this news, but also reflects the religious sensitivities that surround Osama Bin Laden, the leader of global fundamentalist rage.
Ever since the September 11 attacks, Bin Laden was transformed into an “icon” of Islamic wrath, in the same manner that the Communist Che Guevara was transformed into an icon of Latin American leftist anger towards the West.
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The Saudi Minister of Education has half a point as relayed in this Saudi Gazette article. When it comes to Physical Education programs in Saudi schools, even boys schools aren’t very organized. When it comes to girls schools, there’s no need for organization because there simply are no PE programs for girls in state schools. I don’t see a fundamental need to get these programs running in boys schools before they’re addressed in girls schools, though. Every year that goes by without physical education is another year that leads to bad health habits. Girls don’t deserve to be delayed in living healthy lives until boys do. In fact, given the burden that early childbirth places on them, they need it more than the boys do. Perhaps the Minister could re-read what he’s said, then re-think it. This is a problem time neither solves nor improves.
Minister: Too soon to talk about PE for girls
ABHA: Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah, Minister of Education, has said that it is “too soon to talk about physical education for girls when boys still don’t have it”.
Speaking to Al-Watan Arabic daily, Prince Faisal said, however, that the ministry is considering “developing children’s sport”.“There is a project to develop the subject of physical education, led by Deputy Minister of Boys’ Education Khalid Al-Sabati,” he said. “It aims to improve the physical education skills of youngsters and give them more skills that generate good health and benefit for their minds and bodies. It is too early to go into physical education for girls while boys have not been given it.”
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The Washington Post has a useful piece discussing the five great myths that have grown around Usama bin Laden, myths that color both professional reporting and ‘citizen journalism’ in the form of blogs and social media. Read the article to find the details, about which I have no argument. Below, I’ve only highlighted the topics…
Five myths about Osama bin Laden
Peter BergenFew individuals in recent history have exerted greater influence on world events than Osama bin Laden — and even fewer have inspired as much mythology. From the origins of the al-Qaeda terrorist network to the devastation of Sept. 11, 2001, to the manhunt that came to an end with such drama last Sunday, bin Laden’s life has been shrouded in mysteries and misconceptions.
1. The CIA created Osama bin Laden
2. Bin Laden attacked us because of our freedoms
3. Al-Qaeda’s ideology has nothing to do with Islam
4. Ayman al-Zawahiri, not bin Laden, is the real brains of al-Qaeda
5. Bin Laden’s death is symbolically important but irrelevant to the war on terror
Having just noted that Saudi males are reluctant to take jobs they believe fall beneath their ‘dignity,’ I have to note the exceptions, too. Here, Saudi Gazette reports on a Saudi bureaucrat who came back from a training program in the US, quit his job, and decided to do the work he really wanted to do: cook.
Most cooks in Saudi Arabia are foreign expatriates. Cooking is rarely seen as ‘suitable’ for males, so this fellow’s choice is indeed going against the grain. But good for him! There are few enough Saudi restaurants in the Kingdom. Most of those offering ‘Arab food’ serve a compendium of Lebanese/Syrian/Turkish/Egyptian foods which, after a while, all tend toward a sameness. Saudi food is distinctively different, coming from a different culture and history as well as different access to foodstuffs. It’s worth preserving and promoting.
Course abroad leads state employee to abandon post
AL-JOUF: While the government takes pains to provide its staff with training courses abroad to improve their skills and work performance, a course in the United States had the opposite effect on one employee who, as soon as he returned to the Kingdom, handed in his notice.
Al-Watan Arabic daily reported 57-year-old Abu Naseer as saying that it was his American instructor’s repeated referrals to “work in a job you love” that led him to abandon his civil service position in Riyadh and return to his home town in Al-Jouf to become a cook.
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Interesting little piece in Arab News about Saudi women who support their families—or help support them—through farming. More interesting is the fact of the article as most Saudi males would never consider working on a farm, though there are, obviously exceptions. I suspect, though, that when the fact of the men’s delicatesse is pointed out to them, they would respond by casting ethnic aspersions on the Asiri women. The Asir, particularly the southern part, has strong influences of both Yemeni and African origin, and so ‘isn’t Saudi’.
Nevertheless, these are women who work gainfully with their hands, learning skills—including driving, by the way—in ways males just can’t seem to figure out.
Asir women see no shame in farm work
MISHAAL AL-TAMIMI | ARAB NEWSABHA: Women in southern Asir province work in agriculture and animal breeding to make money for themselves and their families.
Most of the farms where women work are found in the towns, villages and hamlets of the region, particularly in Tihama Sahel.
Umm Mushabbab Asiri, a woman working on a farm, told Arab News that agriculture has always been her profession.
“In the past, agriculture was the main source of income for our family. I used to work on a small farm owned by my father where my siblings and I learned plowing, seeding, harvesting and other activities,” she said.
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So, it’s not just oil prices hitting Saudi herders! Arab News reports that ten barley import companies have been hit with charges of gouging customers by charging more than the government-established and subsidized price. Not only are the companies facing a stiff punishment of fines and exclusion from the market, but they are being named and must purchase newspaper ads in which they name themselves. That’s about as tough a commercial punishment as I’ve heard of.
Barley importers penalized for inflating prices
MD AL-SULAMI | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif approved penal actions against a number of barley importing companies for selling the grain at higher prices than set by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The 10 violators figuring on the list of penalized companies include seven companies in Jeddah and three in Dammam.
The Ministry of Commerce has been receiving complaints from farmers about unreasonable rises in the price of cattle feed.
It ordered all companies dealing with cattle feed not to hike their prices without justification and clearly write the prices on each bag. Its officials have been making field inspections regularly.
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What a difference a decade makes! Only nine years ago, there was fierce opposition to starting English language instruction for Saudi students in 6th grade. The then-Minister of Education was coming under heavy fire from conservatives for his audacity of even thinking such a thing. English language instruction was seen as subversive and a direct threat to Muslim morals and values—well, actually, so-called ‘Saudi’ morals and values. When my office brought English language teaching consultants to the Ministry, at the Ministry’s request, by the way, it led to allegations that the US was seeking to suborn Saudi society. The visitors’ business cards, given to the Minister’s secretary, ended up being posted on jihadist websites, pointing to us as enemies. The consultant was rather perturbed by that and decided he should leave the country. I and my Cultural Affairs Officer decided that this was just part of the job.
Now, Arab News reports, cooler heads have prevailed. A new Minister and new ministry officials have determined that the future of Saudi youth and their employment chances are tied to acquiring fluency in English. Starting instruction earlier is a good part of that, but of course is not the sole solution. More classes do not necessarily mean better classes; quality control will remain vital. Relying on foreign firms, from native-speaking countries, can help. Realize, too, that native-speaking countries aren’t just the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. They also include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. There are enough variations in the forms of English spoken in those countries to assure richness, but also possibly to sow confusion. The Ministry will still be required to establish the standards by which successful teaching will be measured.
Ministry to enlist help of foreign firms to teach English
GALAL FAKKAR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: The Education Ministry will enlist the help of international companies to teach English at government schools after the Cabinet decided on Monday to start English language studies at Grade IV, said Naif Al-Roumi, deputy minister for planning and development.
“We have so far received three applications from specialized international companies to support the ministry in implementing its English language program for government schools,” he said.
On Monday, the Council of Ministers approved starting English language education at government primary schools from Grade IV from the next academic year (2011-12).
“It will be a basic subject and follow the same criteria as other subjects,” a Cabinet statement said, urging school authorities to appoint qualified staff to teach the language.
Al-Roumi said the teaching of English at an early stage would have a great impact on students in learning the various sciences and developing their innovation skills. “It will also help transfer our knowledge to other communities and speed up propagation of Islam,” he said.
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As a side-note, the article mentions that English competence will have an effect on learning other subjects. Given the lack of quality science and history books in Arabic, having the ability to read in English will open doors that are currently closed. I guess some could consider that subversive, but only of their attempts to keep Saudis ignorant.
Well, here’s a counter-intuitive bit of news…
Saudi herders are being hit hard by the high price of fodder, particularly barley. The price of barley—imported primarily from Ukraine, Australia, Russia, and a dozen other places—has jumped by 60%. Much of that increase, if not all, is caused by the higher costs of transportation, which of course is dependent on oil. The Saudi government subsidizes barley importation, but not enough to buffer herders from the effects. According to Saudi Gazette/Okaz, some herders are complaining that they need to sell off large portions of their flocks in order to feed the remainder.
Others accuse barley sellers of price-gouging and artificially running up the price. That’s a common response by many to suddenly higher prices as we see in the US when gasoline prices jump and people start calling for political, rather than market solutions.
Rising barley prices cause disputes
ABDULLAH AL-GHALBIRIJAL ALMA: The increase in the price of barley from SR40 to SR65 per 45-kilogram bag has caused a number of livestock merchants in Asir’s Rijal Alma’ Governorate to abandon their long-practiced trade while some have reduced the size of their business.
Fights also occurred Tuesday among a crowd that gathered at the open area designated for the sale of barley; police and citizens had to intervene.
A number of residents called for authorities to increase monitoring the prices and curb the sharp price increases, saying that the number of livestock merchants is decreasing.
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Saudi Gazette/Okaz run a piece on how tribal traditions are conflicting with Islamic law and who is paying the consequences. Again, women are seen as unable to govern their own lives and parents are, essentially, selling them off. Not surprisingly, this leads to later divorces and the usual messes that follow.
The Family Reconciliation Committee, a government authority, is able to help, sometimes. They have, the article states, caused marriage contracts to be voided when the women complain, as well as to have parents sign undertakings that they will not harass their reluctant daughters. Unsaid is the fact that 10- and 12-year-old girls are likely unable to approach the Committee for numerous reasons.
King Abdul Aziz, founder of the country, was able to drastically reduce the political power of the tribes when he forced them into settlements in the 1920s and 30s. It’s pretty clear, though, that he was unable to civilize them. That work remains for the current and future kings.
Divorce cases rise due to forced marriages
NAEEM TAMIM AL-HAKIMJEDDAH: A number of Saudi parents are forcing their daughters to marry, in direct contravention of Islamic law. This has resulted in an increase in divorces, reports from marriage officers and researchers said.
Some parents have been justifying this behavior by arguing that their daughters do not know what they need or what is in their best interests.
A distressed woman, M.N., said her father wants to marry her to a man she does not like. “He threatened to abuse me mentally and physically if I rejected the man. He justified his strange stance by saying he gave his word and that he will never go back on it. Tribal traditions give him this right but Islamic Shariah nullifies and prevents such marriages.”
M.N. said she never thought in her wildest dreams she would be married to someone against her will. With tears rolling down her cheeks she said her father had destroyed her life and turned it into a living hell. “I am praying to Allah day and night before the marriage takes place. I cannot imagine I will live with a man I don’t love.”
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Arab News reports that a Saudi terrorist suspect, high on the most-wanted list, surrendered to authorities. Khaled Al-Qahtani is the first Al-Qaeda-related individual to surrender following the death of bin Laden. Whether there’s cause and effect here, that he’s only the first to see writing on the wall, is undetermined. Nor does the article state where Al-Qahtani came from to surrender. Was he in Afghanistan? Yemen? Europe?
The timing might be purely coincidental. Nevertheless, any reduction to the terrorist threat is welcome and not only in Saudi Arabia.
Key Al-Qaeda suspect Al-Qahtani surrenders
P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Alleged Al-Qaeda operative Khaled Hadal Al-Qahtani, who figured high on a list of 47 most-wanted terrorists, has surrendered to Saudi security authorities, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki announced on Wednesday.
“Al-Qahtani contacted security agencies expressing his desire to return to the Kingdom and surrender himself to authorities,” Al-Turki told the Saudi Press Agency.
“Consequently, we made arrangements for his return and reunite him with his family.”
Al-Qahtani would be dealt with according to the procedures followed in similar cases, Turki said, adding that his initiative to surrender would be taken into consideration while looking into his case.
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Writing at his blog ‘Media Myth Alert,’ Prof. W. Joseph Campbell offers a salutary reminder about taking first-out-of-the-gate media reports with a certain degree of skepticism, or at least caution. At present, he’s citing the early—and erroneous—reports on the demise of UBL. He goes on to note how the media-developed stories of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the alleged ‘heroic’ activities of Jessica Lynch turned out to be, well, not-so-true.
The US media (and others) are in a terrific competition to have the ‘best’ story out there first. While they may rely to some extent on ‘official’ releases, they are also pumping their own sources to get what they can. ‘First’ is very often valued more than ‘accurate’, unfortunately. Media do not offer cautions about the iffy nature of their reporting, of the tenuous, the subject-to-drastic-change. I’ve certainly come to my own way of parsing media reports: If the media reports something, then something happened… we won’t know the correct details until sometime later.
But even ‘later’ doesn’t always clear things up. It’s important to know the sources of detail, too. Some sources are motivated by things other than accuracy. There’s driving a personal or political agenda. There’s scoring points against an opponent or opposing point of view. There’s simple ego-building on the part of the source, for who doesn’t like to be quoted—even if anonymously—in national or international media? Some ‘sources’ simply don’t know what they saw; they saw or heard something, but lack the context in which to make good sense out of it. Instead, they report whatever sense they did make of it, valid or not. Sometimes, the source is just wrong.
The fallibility of media is, I think, something that’s dangerously overlooked. Once a story is out there, it becomes some sort of basis for thinking about the story, correctly or not. When contradictions appear, it opens the door to conspiracy theories, a malignancy of their own. Even if media issue a correction, that correction never receives the prominence of the original story. At best, it’s ‘fixed’ on an inside page of a newspaper, in a tiny paragraph or two, or receives a five-second statement on TV. Worse, online media will make a correction, but not make note of it at all, creating a situation in which what you read on Monday is no longer available to read on Tuesday… or two years later.
A cautionary note on early coverage of dramatic events
W. Joseph CampbellAmid yesterday’s jubilation about the slaying of terror leader Osama bin Laden, the media critic at slate.com, Jack Shafer, posted a timely and telling reminder that initial news reports of major events seldom are reliable.
This is especially so, I would add, in covering disasters: The early accounts almost always are erroneous.
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