Excerpt from http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/war_and_peace/2008/02/saudi-threats-a.html
We have to now review Lawrence of Arabia's relations with the future kings of Saudi Arabia: The Wahhabi movement which the Ottoman Empire had repressed 100 years earlier retreated to the deepest parts of the [Arabian] desert and clung to life there. Think of this period as identical to the Jews wandering in Sinai only ten times worse since the Sinai has some life. This desert is as barren as the Sahara where similar tribes of bandits who are very religious, live. Indeed, the birthplace of many religions is in such areas. When people own virtually nothing and are face to face with death on a daily basis, they commune with the gods more than civilized people who have some regularity and security.
Indeed, I can say from my own experience, one cannot see the
Gods unless one is at the Gates of Death. Only when despair is at its
greatest do we lay our own souls bare to the influence of these
invisible forces. This is why all religions flourish under
persecution and wars.
1735 - The Wahhabi movement to purify and reform Islam began in Arabia.
1744 - In the Arabian peninsula, an alliance is forged between the Muhammad Ibn Saud and Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the leader of the Muwahidun ("those who advocate oneness"), better known in the West as the Wahhabis.
1773 - In the wake of weakening Ottoman influence in the Arabian peninsula, the tribe of Saud captured Riyadh. The Saudis drew their inspiration largely from the puritanical Muslim sect known as the Wahhabis. The Saudi-Wahhabi alliance began to spread a political and religious reform movement throughout the Arabian peninsula.
In 1802, the Wahhabis captured Karbala in Iraq and destroyed the tomb of the Shiite Imam Husayn. In 1803 the Wahhabis captured Mecca. The Ottoman Turks became alarmed and dispatched Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman ruler of Egypt, to challenge the Wahhabis in 1811. He succeeded in reimposing Ottoman sovereignty in 1813. Nearly a century later in 1901 with Wahhabi help, Saudi amir Abd al-Aziz al-Saud recaptured Riyadh. Saud's sovereignty over the Arabian peninsula grew steadily until 1924 when his dominance became secure. The Wahhabis went on a rampage throughout the peninsula at this time smashing the tombs of Muslim saints and imams, including the tomb of the Prophet's daughter Fatima. (see Wahhabi raid of 1924) Saudi Arabia was officially constituted as a kingdom in 1932.
1803 - Indian Muslim resistance to British rule manifested itself in a fatwa ("religious opinion") issued by Shah Abd al-Aziz declaring India dar al-harb ("a house of war") and calling for a holy war against the British. His student, Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, following a pilgrimage to Mecca (1821-24), returned to India and started a puritan reform movement resembling Wahhabi puritanism in the Arabian peninsula. He called for the destruction of polytheism, including prohibitions against Sufi shrine worship and Shiism. These developments along with the appearance of the reform Fara'idi movement laid the foundations for the Sepoy mutiny of 1857. (see Ira Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 720-722)
1820 - The British concluded pacts with Gulf region Arab sheikhs.
1902 - The Saudis recaptured their home town of Riyadh from the rival Rashidi tribe.
1905 - The Saudis under King Ibn Saud (reigned 1901-1953) secured control over the Arabian peninsula by signing a peace treaty with the Ottomans.
1916 - France and Great Britain conducted secret talks (Sykes-Picot Agreement - excerpt at Yale's Avalon Project) carving up the Middle East into zones of influence. France was to oversee the affairs of Lebanon and Syria, while Britain was to do the same for Iraq and Transjordan. Palestine was to have been under dual control, but France subsequently ceded all rights to Britain. On June 5, unaware of the Sykes-Picot agreement, Sharif Husayn of the Hijaz initiated the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks.
1917 - the British captured Baghdad.
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This timeline is quite important for understanding the forces at work here. They have very deep roots and the flower has yet to bloom. The war against the Shi'ites was, from the very start, part of the Wahhabi revolution. This flew right into the rebirth of the Shi'a. As the Ottoman Empire ceased growing outwards into Russia, Africa and Europe, its grip upon the many tribes and religions of its own backyard rotted due to imperial overreach and corruption which was connected to the high debts. Also, the Europeans who used to feed this empire money because it straddled the gateway between Europe and China and India's tremendous manufactured goods bases, the money that flowed via this trade vanished in the 1600s when European sailors figured out how to both go around Africa and then, around the world. They began to wrest away from Ottoman control, many major ports in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea. Sheikhs and potentates began to play the Europeans off of the Ottoman empire in order to gain control.
But the deep desert people in
Arabia, sensing the weakness of the Empire, began terrorist attacks
and exactly like the Taliban, took over
cities. These were regained by the Empire over
and over again. But the pressure grew, it never vanished. Note
also how the religious force launched deep in the desert communicated
itself to very distant lands. This was via example as well as
traveling preachers. These people moved about under the radar,
usually on foot or camel and mule. Since they traveled slowly, they
could influence many, many people, one or two at a time, over a
course of many years. The distress caused by the European invasions
was and still is, a very great motivating force within the religions
of the East. The more the Crusaders sought to impose their values and
civilization upon the natives, the more the natives resisted this by
re-energizing their religious roots. This is the same process that
bedeviled the Romans when they sought to control these same regions
the same way.
Note how the British Empire moved around within the Ottoman
Empire, undermining it constantly. Just like the US likes to do, they
were busy luring tribes and local satraps to
betray the empires they belonged to and defy their authorities
in the hopes of gaining economic powers under the cover of the
British Flag. Like today, they also discovered the
British were very hard to get rid of once they were let in.
And the British, like the Americans, were very keen on expanding
their military dominance. This led to spectacular and ugly rebellions
and uprisings when the populace discovered they were wearing a new
yoke.
The Sa-ud of Arabia hardened themselves in the deserts while
Russia, England and France ravenously tore the Ottoman Empire apart.
Even as huge hunks of the empire fell into European hands, the
Ottoman Empire was able to suppress the Sa-udis. But by 1905, they
finally ceded control to the desert religious fanatics. Without the
fierce rules of Wahhabist beliefs, the Sa-ud tribes would not of
succeeded. But even with this victory, they were very poor. They
didn't control any major ports which still remained in the hands of
the Ottoman empire. The railroad was not in their control, either.
Nor were they allowed to interfere with shipping in the Suez Canal.
But they were a good buffer against the Europeans who took over Egypt
and were trying to take over Persia and Mesopotamia.
Lawrence of Arabia was sent deep
into the desert to assist the already ongoing revolt in Arabia. While
he toiled to win over the trust of these very suspicious desert
renegades, he was betrayed by this
super-secret conspiracy hatched by two major empires. Even as they
struggled in vain to defeat Germany, they were busy as bees trying to
expand both of their empires. France and England, far from being
tamed by the near-total collapse of the security of their own home
bases, were spending precious blood and money they were borrowing
from America to fight in very distant corners of the earth, seeking
to enlarge their already bloated empires which they were obviously
unable to hold onto. Especially since they were rapidly going
bankrupt, fighting in Europe itself. This continued in WWII, by the
way. All the way up until NATO was formed, they struggled to keep
these empires running.
The Sykes-Picot agreement is a secret understanding concluded in May 1916, during World War I, between Great Britain and France, with the assent of Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The agreement
It is accordingly understood between the French and British governments: That France and Great Britain are prepared to recognise and protect an independent Arab states or a confederation of Arab states (a) and (b) marked on the annexed map, under the suzerainty of an Arab chief. That in area (a) France, and in area (b) Great Britain, shall have priority of right of enterprise and local loans. That in area (a) France, and in area (b) Great Britain, shall alone supply advisers or foreign functionaries at the request of the Arab state or confederation of Arab states.
That in the blue area France, and in the red area Great Britain, shall be allowed to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they desire and as they may think fit to arrange with the Arab state or confederation of Arab states.
That in the brown area there shall be established an international administration, the form of which is to be decided upon after consultation with Russia, and subsequently in consultation with the other allies, and the representatives of the sheriff of Mecca.
That Great Britain be accorded (1) the ports of Haifa and Acre, (2) guarantee of a given supply of water from the Tigris and Euphrates in area (a) for area (b). His majesty's government, on their part, undertake that they will at no time enter into negotiations for the cession of Cyprus to any third power without the previous consent of the French government.
That Alexandretta shall be a free port as regards the trade of the British empire, and that there shall be no discrimination in port charges or facilities as regards British shipping and British goods; that there shall be freedom of transit for British goods through Alexandretta and by railway through the blue area, or (b) area, or area (a); and there shall be no discrimination, direct or indirect, against British goods on any railway or against British goods or ships at any port serving the areas mentioned.
That Haifa shall be a free port as regards the trade of France, her dominions and protectorates, and there shall be no discrimination in port charges or facilities as regards French shipping and French goods. There shall be freedom of transit for French goods through Haifa and by the British railway through the brown area, whether those goods are intended for or originate in the blue area, area (a), or area (b), and there shall be no discrimination, direct or indirect, against French goods on any railway, or against French goods or ships at any port serving the areas mentioned.
That in area (a) the Baghdad railway shall not be extended southwards beyond Mosul, and in area (b) northwards beyond Samarra, until a railway connecting Baghdad and Aleppo via the Euphrates valley has been completed, and then only with the concurrence of the two governments.
That Great Britain has the right to build, administer, and be sole owner of a railway connecting Haifa with area (b), and shall have a perpetual right to transport troops along such a line at all times. It is to be understood by both governments that this railway is to facilitate the connection of Baghdad with Haifa by rail, and it is further understood that, if the engineering difficulties and expense entailed by keeping this connecting line in the brown area only make the project unfeasible, that the French government shall be prepared to consider that the line in question may also traverse the Polgon Banias Keis Marib Salkhad tell Otsda Mesmie before reaching area (b).
For a period of 20 years the existing Turkish customs tariff shall remain in force throughout the whole of the blue and red areas, as well as in areas (a) and (b), and no increase in the rates of duty or conversions from ad valorem to specific rates shall be made except by agreement between the two powers.
There shall be no interior customs barriers between any of the above-mentioned areas. The customs duties leviable on goods destined for the interior shall be collected at the port of entry and handed over to the administration of the area of destination.
It shall be agreed that the French government will at no time enter into any negotiations for the cession of their rights and will not cede such rights in the blue area to any third power, except the Arab state or confederation of Arab states, without the previous agreement of His Majesty's government, who, on their part, will give a similar undertaking to the French government regarding the red area.
The British and French government, as the protectors of the Arab state, shall agree that they will not themselves acquire and will not consent to a third power acquiring territorial possessions in the Arabian peninsula, nor consent to a third power installing a naval base either on the east coast, or on the islands, of the red sea. This, however, shall not prevent such adjustment of the Aden frontier as may be necessary in consequence of recent Turkish aggression.
The negotiations with the Arabs as to the boundaries of the Arab states shall be continued through the same channel as heretofore on behalf of the two powers.
It is agreed that measures to control the importation of arms into the Arab territories will be considered by the two governments.
Note with this secret accord to steal the Middle East, far
from lifting the yoke of tyranny, the Europeans vow to keep
all the customs and tariffs and fees of the Ottoman empire!
And the money stream simply switches from going towards Ankara but to
London and Paris! It pays to read these historic documents in
full. This is because the buried material is quite important today.
Many histories gloss over these things. Just as timelines are very
important, so are these documents! Note carefully how the
KING of Saudi Arabia is called a 'Sheriff'! The Sheriff of
Nottingham in the Robin Hood legends was a
baron who swore fealty to the King of England. He wasn't even a Duke
or a Peer of the Realm. He was only one step above a bailiff.
The office of sheriff . . . was a development that began over 1000 years ago in England . . . simultaneously with the development of the local form of government [that] allowed early English people to be divided into smaller units subject to the considerations of a national interest and central authority of the king. The formation of the units was crucial to the central authority because the population was scattered and Saxon kings had no large standing armies, a centralized court system, or the ability to finance a government appropriately. The small unit management therefore became crucial to a national development of government.
In about the seventh century, groups were formed into "tuns" (later called towns), which were the basic unit of smaller society. Groups of ten families of freeholders or frank-pledges formed units called tens or tithings. The frank-pledges were persons that had to pledge surety to the sovereign against any infractions of good behavior for the benefit of the collective good of the group. Groups of ten tithing became an administrative unit known as a "hundred". Each hundred was responsible for the defaults of the individual freeholders or frank-pledges. The collective liability of the group made for a corporate form of government.
The social groups of these hundreds became useful for census and resource assessment. The hundreds became the basic unit of tax appropriation for the Crown and they provided for much of the development of English common law. The hundreds existed until the nineteenth century, when a more modern form of assessment and census taking developed. Indefinite numbers of hundreds existed throughout early English history.
A sheriff was the local armed guard of
the peasants working for the King of England. The King of
England or Queen in today's rule, expects all the provinces to show
fealty to him or her. They are the Sovereign in name and deed. This
document drawn up by the representatives of the Crown make
it utterly clear, the King of Saudi Arabia was a mere factotum for
the British. He had NO SOVEREIGNTY AT ALL. The
movie, 'Lawrence of Arabia' is full of lies concerning this matter.
It makes it look as if the Arabs were not a force seeking sovereignty
and power but rather, raiders who got out of control when they
entered Damascus. The movie shows them riding their horses around the
negotiating table and screaming at EACH OTHER. Then it shows Lawrence
falling apart, emotionally. But this is fake, pure
propaganda to make us misunderstand the betrayals and schemes
of the Western Crusaders.
The truth is, when the kings and the revolutionaries seeking
independence and sovereignty discovered these agreements to tear
apart their nascent nations and put them into the European yoke, they
rioted. Not only that, they were very upset about the 'international
zone' for Palestine. They suspected the Zionists of Russia were
behind that business and were extremely angry about that. Russia very
spectacularly went up in flames right at this same time. The
Communist revolution sent shock waves throughout the Middle East and
inspired the cities to emulate this new philosophy. The three-legged
European stool become not only two legged but both England and France
were now facing the full fury of the Germans right at home.
When the British originally created the Balfour Declaration they were just looking for support in the World War I, but also had some long term affects in mind. "The immediate purpose was to win for the Allied cause in World War I the support of Jews and others in the warring nations and in neutral countries such as the United States."("Balfour Declaration," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000) "In long-range terms, the motive behind British policy rested on the importance of Palestine as a strategic point on the land and sea routes to India and, above all, as the terminus at the Mediterranean Sea of pipelines from the rich oil-bearing regions of the Middle East."(same site) They knew that the only way they could gain support from the Jews would be to show sympathy to the Jewish cause, and find some way to get Jews to sign an agreement that was going to ultimately benefit the British, but would still leave hope in the Jews minds.
"The British government hoped that the declaration would rally Jewish opinion, especially in the United States, to the side of the Allies and that the settlement in Palestine of a pro-British Jewish population might help to protect the approaches to the Suez Canal in neighboring Egypt."("Balfour Declaration" Encyclopedia Britannica Online) They made a similar agreement with the Palestinians. They signed an agreement saying that they supported the Palestinians movement in keeping the Jews from forming a homeland within Palestine. The British obviously knew that this would cause some turmoil, so they kept it under the table for fear that they would lose Palestinian support. The British had no consideration for anyone else but themselves, because they would do whatever it took to win the war, even when they knew that it would do more harm then good.
The Balfour Declaration was well written. It never really said the British would create a Jewish home state, but that they would support the Jewish movement. " His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in the Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other."
The bankruptcy of Britain led them to
making many promises that trouble us to this very day. I have
to review the long history of Britain and the Muslims in the Middle
East so we can understand the emotions and schemes of all sides in
this mess. The Jews have a long history of expanding contracts from
small beginnings to stretch like rubber over all sorts of things. For
example, despite being nomadic, they used the 'purchase' of Abraham
who was an outsiders from Ur in the region of Baghdad, when he bought
a burial cave for himself and his wife, this is the supposed
foundation of Israel. They even admit to wandering around
Egypt and other parts of Africa before wandering back in and fighting
the natives with greatest ferocity. They then 'bought' Jerusalem via
various tricks including killing lots of natives of that site. They
paid in gold for the Threshing Floor where the Angel of Death was
stopped by King David, just for example.
With this agreement by Britain who did
NOT have ANY sovereignty over ANY parts of Palestine AT ALL, they
claimed the right to this land, via the money they gave the King of
England. The rage of the Arabs in the Saudi family over this
issue is indescribable. They were expecting to be sovereign over
Palestine as well as the empty zone as Arabia
was called back then. There is an old saying, 'Hold your
friends close and your enemies closer'. This applies to the Saudis:
they decided the only way to gain some control over Britain was to
embrace Britain in a death grip. This seemingly impossible task
wasn't as hard as it appeared on the surface. The Crown has a long
and inglorious history of wanting to gain gold and wealth without
much work. They are always going bankrupt. They always need money.
And they don't particularly like Jews. They have a very ugly history
in this regard. The Jews will fund their wars
but they would then attack the entire Jewish community and steal
everything back. Then the Jews would rebuild their shattered
relationship with the Crown until this happens again.
In WWI, the British didn't have very many Jews they could
despoil. They had to 'sell' them something and the Jews wanted
'sovereignty.' But the Barfour Agreements didn't dare give this so
they gave only the hope of sovereignty. The Crown needed money from
Jewish bankers but they needed the political support of the House of
Saud as they struggled, after WWI, to control Iraq and Iran. This
balancing act leaned increasingly towards supporting the Arab
Wahhabist regime as WWII approached. The British knew that Hitler
would aim straight towards the Suez Canal and if they pushed for Jews
to invade Palestine and drive out all the Muslims, this would drive
the 'Sheriff' of Mecca into Hitler's eager arms. Especially since
Hitler's beliefs were much, much closer to the Saudis than British
plans. After Hitler's defeat, the Saudis and the Palestinians were
horrified to learn that the Barfour Agreements were going to be
endorsed by the new United Nations which was an undisguised front for
European and now, American imperial pretensions. All warnings that
this would cause serious problems in the future were ignored. So the
very first act of the UN was to set the stage for WWIII.
We need all this history in order to fully understand today's
news about Bandar and his role in the latest series of scandals
involving British and US ruling elites and their various business and
spook dealings with the Muslims.
Back to the Wikipedia article at the top:
Faisal's daughter, Haifa, is married to his nephew Bandar ibn Sultan, the former long-serving Saudi ambassador to the United States and current Saudi national security advisor. Bandar, the son of an African concubine, had been all but disowned by his father Sultan at the time, due to his perceived inferior lineage. Faisal, however, forced Sultan to recognize Bandar as a legitimate prince by giving Bandar his own daughter's hand in marriage, thus breaking a major taboo in Saudi society at the time.
King Faisal was a most amazing
man. He reformed Saudi Arabia to a great degree while keeping the
Wahhabist religious powers going. This was dangerous and tricky for
him. He, himself, was a very austere man. Thin and tall, he practiced
his religion with deep devotion. His policies made Saudi Arabia much
richer. The previous king was thoroughly corrupted by money and power
and was degenerate. Saudi Arabia was nearly bankrupt when Faisal had
his palace coup. Faisal then had to turn around and face the fury of
the situation in Palestine and he was disturbed by the revolutionary
powers of the Ba'ath party that took over both Egypt and Iraq.
Battling the Ba'ath parties drove Faisal into the arms of the
Americans who exploited this to expand Jewish possessions in the Holy
Lands. This broke out in full fury when the series of wars from 1967
to 1973 broke out.
At the end of which, the Jews gained total domination of the
Palestinian people. The grinding horror of the
New Holocaust now commenced. The King of Saudi Arabia asked
for my parents to come over and help him deal with all this after the
1973 defeat. He was very anxious for more modern technology
especially in the fields of lasers, optics and energy systems. My dad
talked earnestly with the King about the Hubbert Oil Peak which was
finally just beginning to be felt in the US within the oil industry.
[ US
Peak Oil was
around 1972!] My dad had access to the statistics via the
CIA's tracking of the pumping of oil. He persuaded the King to
prepare for Saudi Arabia's future Hubbert Oil Peak. Putting money
into education and especially engineering and energy research, he got
the King of Saudi Arabia to fund US solar energy research. The US and
England were all big on pumping more oil in the Gulf, the North Sea
and Alaska. But the King of Saudi Arabia threw his energy into
preparing for solar energy and other systems.