Abu Dhabi's mercenaries need an incentive to stay

From the NYT on May 14th:

 ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

Reflex Response is the new name given to the mercenaries formerly know as Blackwater, led by the aformentioned Erik Prince. R2, as the group is know in the Gulf, is in fact an Emirati company, with the government's stake at 51%. Prince has called this place his home for almost a year now, during which time he has been successfully convincing the Sheiks the benefits of a private foreign army (a la Gadafi).

Know for his groups' despicable practices, Prince has been distancing himself from his former company (currently re-branded as Xe). The former name was tainted by their operations in Iraq, where the group received several no-bid contracts amounting to 21 million USD. They have garnered harsh criticism for their behavior (to put it lightly) and have been investigated by several Governments, including the Iraqi government, for their abuses:

From the NYT again:

Contractors often shot with little discrimination — and few if any consequences — at unarmed Iraqi civilians, Iraqi security forces, American troops and even other contractors, stirring public outrage and undermining much of what the coalition forces were sent to accomplish. The mayhem cropped up around Iraq, notably in one episode reported in March 2005 in which a small battle erupted involving three separate security companies... 

...one of which was Blackwater. Most famously, the group opened fire on a crowd of people and killed at least 17 civilians including women and children, and wounded some 30 others in what came to be known as the Nisoor Square Massacre. In April of this year a US federal appeals court reopened the case against four Blackwater mercenaries.

Make no mistake. These are the worst people in the world. They go above and beyond the call of duty for a bloodthirsty gang of mercenaries. They bribe officials, smuggle arms, open fire upon civilians, and shoot at other private soldiers that are supposedly 'on their side'. There are endless stories about companies like Blackwater that mercilessly shoot down defenseless citizens.



Here in Abu Dhabi, the threat of citizens taking action against the government is slim to none. Unlike Bahrain, the people here are religiously homogenous. Unlike Egypt, no political opposition to the government exists. Unlike Libya, the people here are placated with houses, free school and health care, and all manner of interest free loans encouraging entrepreneurship and personal wealth creation. Basically, any and all reasons for uprising have either been dealt with or simply do not exist. As a friend recently put it, "If Emiratis were to protest... well, they'd probably send their Philipina maids in their place. It's too hot outside you know..." Three bloggers were arrested earlier this year for their harsh criticism of the regime, but I still can't imagine an organized demonstration of any kind. So what use is R2?

The main threat to the Sheiks, if any could be cited at all, may come from Iran. It's no secret that the strife in Bahrain this past spring was fomented by Iran. Here, however, there are very few Shia for Iran to eqip with rebellious ideology or weapons.

In any case, the government is easily courted by a security company from the US, a country with which the UAE has close ties. But it is not clear if the US State Department has had any involvement in the deal, or conversely, if Relex Response is in fact breaking US law by training foreign troops without first receiving their blessing. The UAE has had a strong history of pouring money on American military initiatives, and surely the offer of your own personal international guard makes too much sense to reject.

According to the NYT, R2 is spending $9 million per month on initiatives including training Emiratis, and paying south asian laborers to cook, clean and maintain their camp (as one does in this part of the world). Pennies for a Sheik. But operations have not been so smooth. Like any company that comes to the UAE, R2 has been plagued with what we call "runners". Handfuls of employees have been hired and either quit or were fired within months. They come, make a quick buck and realize this place is a desert. But with all the prostitutes in Dubai (rock up to the Fairmont any night of the week and you'll see what I mean) I'm sure R2 can persuade its mercenaries to stay.

They have no other reason.


For more, check out http://www.blackwaterwatch.com/

Must See, Must Read

Meet Gene Sharpe

the author of the handbook for non-violent revolutions!

(I haven't read it yet!)

Click^!

And coming soon for those of us who are less literarily inclined... the movie...

 

...is coming out this fall.

Libya is F**ked

Gaddafi is launching cold-blooded attacks against protesters from the ground and the air. His own military won't comply with his orders, so he has hired foreign mercenaries to take out both protestors and any military threat that may rise from the ranks.

Yet people march on.

Libya is in no condition for a revolution.

There is no well educated, well endowed sector of the population that can take up the process of transforming the state from autocracy to something else.

Yet they march on.

Civil society is thin at best and political infrastructure of any sort is almost non existent. 

But still people are marching. They are unified against him.

Libya is f**ked.

American blinders on?

Do people still believe that the US is the champion of democracy in the world even after learning that the US has supported Mubarak with 2 billion dollars every year (including 1.3 billion in military support)?

Do people still believe the US is promoting good governance even after learning that they support the current corrupt and oppressive (to varying degrees) regimes in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Algeria and Bahrain?

Do people still believe the US helps to promote smooth transitions to democracy after learning that they supported military coups in Tunisia, (recently reversed!) Algeria, and oversaw the transition of power from father (who was assassinated) to son in Lebanon?

(And we haven't even started to talk historically, or to mention Iraq or Iran.)

Hell, the US even started giving money to Gaddafi in 2009!

Surely the truth must be coming out now. I refuse to believe that someone could credit the US's involvement in the Middle East for the peoples' uprisings these days.

It is also quite clear (if you check this graph) that the US has and will continue to use more military funding to bolster tis to autocratic regimes, than it has to back up the clamor you always hear about liberalization and democracy:

FMF = Foreign Military Funding

And yes, I do mean the Gaddafi: the madman, the tyrant, the Berlusconi of the Middle East (if Berlusconi were a little more prone to pogrom):

Then again, there is nothing like a good ol' virgin female bodyguard troope eh boys?

Trouble with Arab Autocrats pt.1

...exciting times in the Middle East right now. With tyrants ousted in Tunisia and Egypt, several body politics have risen up in contempt of their authoritarian rulers.

People wrongly perceive each country as largely the same, with the same problems running through the entirety of the Middle East. While these countries share certain attributes (they are all post colonial, for example) the conflicts in each are quite distinct. I'm going to try to make it all easy to understand.

But first, a map:

Oops, not that one... (Thats the one where Fox News MISPLACED EGYPT!)

This one:



Of course this is oversimplified, it's 90 seconds long!


Here's another gross simplification for you from 2006 (remember, I'm still getting started...):

And still another, less political:

Can you name the states?

So now we know the where...

Support the uprising, support democracy!

Several news agencies, and as a result probably many people, believe that there is a huge risk of radical, militant islamist political parties rising to power once the 'classic Arab autocrat' is ousted.

I have heard this theory promulgated many times over the past few weeks; used to describe both the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings and even implicitly used to justify the long standing American foreign support for corrupt regimes in the Middle East. Unfortunately, in most cases, it is patently false.

One of the central beliefs in Islamic political philosophy, though few there are, is that despotism beats anarchy. Basic Sharia law, unbeknownst to most western media outlets, largely steers clear of outright political assertions, dealing mostly with familial concerns. But it does come down clearly on this point. As Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), a very influential philosopher, put it, "The tyranny of a sultan for a hundred years causes less damage than one year's tyranny exercised by the subjects against one another... Revolt was justified only against a rule who clearly went against a command of God or his prophet."

This may at first glance seem to support the notion that these autocrats are saving society from what some may call "bad people". But, if we look closer at the political situations in many Arab countries we see that many fundamentalist islamic institutions are largely supportive of the long standing regimes. Islamists have been called on by many regimes for justification of political action in return for political positions and various other favours. Autocrats and dogmatists have been going skipping hand in hand, hanging onto each others backs, all the while sidelining the more moderate and democratic voices in society (be they of what ever religious bent). Those opposing the regime may indeed be religiously conservative and muslim (fine by me), but primarily they would oppose the regime because they are democratic (even more fine).

Mubarak for example, has held a tight grip on the official religious establishment. A horrid but perfect example occurred in 2007 when several journalists were convicted of publishing false information about the regime. A fatwa came from the Grand Imam, the highest religious authority, who cited the Quoran while stipulating that those convicted of libel should be sentenced to 80 lashes!

Ignorant and alarmist media outlets mention the illegal political party the Muslim Brotherhood (that attained 20% of the parliament as independents in the 2005 elections) and Americans westerners get a bit scared. The reality is that they have been the only sensible opposition to Mubarak, have worked explicitly towards democracy, and have claimed outright that they would pose "a democratic political challenge to the regime, not a theological one."

The notion that toppling dictators will plunge Arab Muslim countries into bedlam is frightening. But the idea that radical islamists will suddenly seize power if a regime is toppled simply does not hold not water.

By promoting either argument, America the West is oppressing the moderate democratic people who have been silenced for so long, and who have really never had the chance to take control of their countries.

*

By the way check out this and this for a who's who of the has-beens of Egypt.

Giant tip of the hat to the chaps at http://www.arabist.net/

Issandr El Amrani in Egypt

Check out the coverage from the bloggers at http://www.arabist.net/

Based on several accounts I've been reading, it seems less likely the riots in Egypt will turn into a full scale revolution than those in Tunisia. This is mostly because the army in Egypt has not taken, and probably won't take, a direct stance against Mubarak. Whereas in Tunis, Rachid Ammar, the commander of the military, turned against Ben Ali from the beginning. The early actions of the military in these situations has proven to be very important.

The Egyptian military and police also have plenty of experience dealing with riots.

Time to Vote!

The referendum needs at least 60% of the population of South Sudan to be considered. It's time to vote!

 


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