Free Republic

A simple question, What if it was not the Arabs, not the Muslims (OPEC) that control the world's energy? What if the oil tycoons were of a different background, say Irish Catholic or Jewish? Could you imagine how they would be lynched [in the media and all tools of public opinion]? But it's "only" Arabs, Muslims, and they can do whatever they want, limit or extend production of oil. Worst is of course the immense unlimited power they enjoy in being permitted to continue "business" as usual... in the "field" of crimes against humanity... No one ever dares speaks out...

When all but a handful of Arab states cut off diplomatic relations with Egypt, to protest the 1978 Camp David Accords signed with Israel, Oman did not follow suite. It quietly charted its own course, keeping ties with Egypt as well as the other Arab governments. That move speaks volumes about this small country, positioned strategically at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf, and its forward-thinking leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. “We have always believed in dialogue,” explained Ambassador Hunaina bint Sultan bin Ahmad Al Mughairi, in a recent interview with...

The foreign minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Yusef Bin Alawai Bin Abdulla, agreed to hold a short photo-op at the beginning of his meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday at the Sheraton Doha hotel. In the last eight years, since the Al-Aqsa intifada led to severing of relations between the two countries, Israeli and Omani foreign ministers have met mostly in secret, in European capitals or on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. When it comes to Israel's ties with the Arab world, progress is measured in millimeters. Therefore, although it might seem to be...

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to leave for Qatar Sunday for a two-day visit during which she is scheduled to speak at the opening of the Doha Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade. In her speech, Livni is expected to call on Arab nations to assist in the Israel-Palestinian peace process by promoting "gradual" normalization of ties with Israel, among other things. The foreign minister is scheduled to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem al-Thani. During her meetings with senior Qatari officials, Livni is...

WASHINGTON - Borrowing a theme from the presidential contest, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that the possibility of a 3 a.m. emergency call to the White House is all the more reason for the next commander in chief to follow through on President Bush's plans for a national missile defense. "It's plain to see that the world around us gives ample reason to continue working on missile defense," Cheney told the conservative Heritage Foundation at a dinner recognizing the 25th anniversary of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed network of rockets capable of shooting down incoming intercontinental ballistic...

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is “Arab”Wednesday, December 19th, 2007Arabs have been unanimous in rejecting the idea of Israel being a “Jewish state.” Their reasons are that, by definition, a Jewish state would be discriminatory against Arabs and Muslims.If you define “Jewish” in purely religious terms, that would mean that any state that defines itself as “Islamic” is, by definition, equally guilty of this discrimination. If you define “Jewish” in ethnic or national terms, then any state that defines itself as “Arab” would be equally guilty of the racism that Israel is being accused of. Time to check out the official hypocrisy...

Will OPEC Dump the Dollar? BusinessWeek Iran is pushing OPEC to shift away from pricing oil in dollars and instead to a basket of currencies that could include the euro. ... http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/nov2007/gb20071120_087338.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_companies

My cousin Kamran is a successful software engineer in Tehran with a house, a thriving business of his own, and a brand new Peugeot, which he likes to show off by careening through the city's clogged streets at maniacal speeds. Like most of Iran's young and highly educated population, he must rely on other means to make ends meet. So, in addition to running his software business, Kamran tutors neighborhood children, raises chickens on his aunt's farm, hires himself out as a guide and translator for tourists, dabbles in real estate, and occasionally sells imitation designer handbags out of the...

The Bush administration's plan to sell $20 billion in advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and five other Persian Gulf countries is running into congressional opposition and criticism from human rights and arms control groups.Members of Congress vowed yesterday to oppose any deal to Saudi Arabia on grounds that the kingdom has been unhelpful in Iraq and unreliable at fighting terrorism. King Abdullah has called the U.S. military presence in Iraq an "illegitimate occupation," and the Saudis have been either unable or unwilling to stop suicide bombers who have ended up in Iraq, congressional sources say. Human rights groups warned that...

MUSCAT, Oman — More people have fled their homes in Oman's eastern coastal towns as a powerful cyclone approaches the oil-rich Gulf area, police officials said Tuesday. Cyclone Gonu, with winds of 160 miles per hour and gusts of 195 miles per hour, is heading northwest through the Indian Ocean toward Oman's east coast. Authorities on Monday evacuated nearly 7,000 people from Masirah, a lowland island off the east coast of Oman, said General Malik bin Suleiman al-Muamri, head of the country's civil defense. He said that a state of emergency was declared in the affected area, including mobilizing army...

--I can say with confidence that this forecaster has never seen the likes of this: a Category 4 (130 knots, or 240 kph) hurricane over the northern Arabian Sea. The wind speeds are estimated (as of 0600 Hours GMT) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). A look at full-disk infrared imagery (from the India Met. Dept.--IMD) helps to afford better perspective on TC Gonu and South Asia:

An extremely unusual occurrence looks to be taking place in parts of the Middle East, with a well-organized cyclone (hurricane) heading towards the Gulf of Oman. We looked back through the past 30years of reliable data, and could not find one single instance of a hurricane hitting that region. A couple of Tropical Storms steered well southwest and northeast of that region, but never directly impacted the Gulf of Oman. So this appears to be a historic event. The storm is Cyclone Gonu… as they are referred to as cyclones in the Indian Ocean. It is currently very strong, with...

MUSCAT, Oman - Cyclone Gonu battered Oman's coast Wednesday with fierce winds and torrential rains, forcing thousands from their homes and shutting down oil installations before heading toward the world's most important crude oil tanker route. The storm — a rarity in the Middle East — was expected to make landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 120 miles to the west. In Muscat, the cyclone unleashed sheets of rainfall and howling winds rarely seen in...

Thousands flee Oman storm threat Muscat residents evacuated as storm clouds gathered An unusually powerful cyclone has begun battering the coast of Oman with winds of 160mph (260 km/h) and large waves. The centre of Tropical Cyclone Gonu is heading north-west through the Indian Ocean towards Oman's east coast. Thousands of residents of coastal regions and the low-lying offshore island of Masirah have been evacuated. People elsewhere have been told to stay indoors, while schools and public building have been emptied to make room for the evacuees. The most powerful part of the storm was expected to hit Oman...

Excerpt - MUSCAT, Oman A powerful cyclone approaching the oil-rich Persian Gulf area forced the evacuation Monday of nearly 7,000 people from an Omani island, a government official said. Cyclone Gonu, with winds of 160 miles per hour and gusts of 195 miles per hour, was headed northwest through the Indian Ocean toward Oman's east coast, said Weather Underground meteorologist Tim Roche. ~ snip ~

10:29 3 Arab states in gulf say would allow Israel to enter airspace to attack Iran (Haaretz)

To understand what feeds former president Jimmy Carter's anti-Israeli frenzy, look at his early links to Arab business. Between 1976-1977, the Carter family peanut business received a bailout in the form of a $4.6 million, "poorly managed" and highly irregular loan from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). According to a July 29, 1980 Jack Anderson expose in The Washington Post, the bank's biggest borrower was Mr. Carter, and its chairman at that time was Mr. Carter's confidant, and later his director of the Office of Management and Budget, Bert Lance.

UPDATE, July 19, 2006. The House is expected to vote on the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA) very soon.   The Senate has already approved this trade pact by 60-34 in June. This could be another CAFTA-type cliff hanger in the House, so please contact your representative immediately via phone, fax, or email, in strong opposition to the U.S.-Oman FTA. Phone is preferable due to the shortness of time and the bigger impact. Help Preserve Jobs and National Security & Independence: Defeat the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement What's it all mean?We have a golden opportunity to derail the NAFTA/CAFTA series of...

With global energy demand soaring, Saudi Arabia, whose abundant reserves of light oil have supplied the world for decades, is looking to unlock its huge, hard-to-tap and largely unexploited reservoirs of heavy crude. If it succeeds in overcoming the technical hurdles, the effort could significantly increase Saudi Arabia's oil reserves over the next several years, potentially adding some slack to tight energy markets. It would also be a blow to so-called peak-oil theorists who have forecast that world oil production is on the brink of peaking. Crude-oil prices have more than tripled since 2002 as increases in global demand have...

WHAT should Arabs do to meet the challenges they face in a world not made by, or for, them? Debated in Arab countries since the middle of the 19th century, the question has been posed with even greater urgency since the 9/11 tragedy persuaded many in the West to regard all Arabs as enemies. Remarkably, the answers given today are more or less the same as those of 150 years ago. One answer, long the one most popular with the elites, is that Arabs should Westernize as fast as they can. Abdul-Rahman al-Kawakibi, the father of modern reformism in the...