UAE-"Blackwater": What Next? I & S Safi 22 May 2011

UAE-Blackwater: What Next?
I & S Safi 22 May 2011.

Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater Worldwide, a company accused of serious abuses and killing of civilians in Iraq, and eventually expelled from Iraq, was contracted by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to establish an 800-member battalion of foreign troops. Prince is now residing in the UAE after facing legal problems in the United States in relation to his former security business.

It is reported that the mission of this new contract private army is to conduct special operations inside and outside of the UAE, defend the oil installations, pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and, interestingly, to put down internal revolts. It is also reported that an added benefit of this development is the message it will send to Iran.

The deal struck between the UAE government and Prince is a step forward into the past. The concept is not new. Rome had its own mercenaries and infamous gladiators. Today’s France has its own Foreign Legion. But the deal between Prince and the UAE portends to something most sinister; the slippery slide towards international anarchy and lawlessness.

Ashamed of their own actions, warring nations had enough decency to sign agreements such as the Geneva Convention and to establish organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and its Security Council, needless to mention the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Questions arise as to the efficacy of these organisations in implementing international laws and resolutions when countries such as the United States find ways to be shielded from the ICC by refusing to join.

International laws and its validity are further compromised by situations such as the UN Security Council consistently favouring and protecting an Israel that seems to be above international law. When countries such as Israel refuse to adopt UN Resolutions, history will always record this as an indictment against them. Despite the ICC being unable to summon George W. Bush into its chambers, it is at least able to put other war criminals on trial; a modest step in the right direction perhaps.

When it comes to “private companies” such as the infamous Blackwater and Prince’s latest venture, there will be no rules of law to be followed, no legal accountability and no internationally accepted criteria as they will operate outside any known jurisdictions and most probably in stealth.

This new venture in the UAE has the hallmarks of government-sponsored military anarchy. The recent history of Blackwater in Iraq clearly demonstrates this lack of accountability and that their rules of engagement are reduced to an open slather of shoot-as-you-please, trigger happy, testosterone laden mercenaries.

Mercenaries are survival driven, they are not fighting for a cause and there is no guarantee that they will refrain from opening fire at the slightest inkling of threat, particularly when protected by impunity.

History tells us that once humanity moves in a particular direction it becomes very difficult to divert the course of events. The salient question to ask is whether this contract will turn into a precedent and if so, what of?

Will we one day be looking at a world in which private armies for the rich and powerful are in control of what used to be known as law and order?

Will it mean that a government ashamed of a particular military action against another nation, or even their own people, might sign a contract with a private army to do the “dirty work” for them, leaving no one accountable? This is not too far-fetched and it is not scare-mongering.

If a government instructs its mercenary army to assassinate a prominent humanitarian because his/her thoughts and words are a thorn in the side of this regime and, if this becomes known, then that government can simply state that it did not give such orders, that this private army has a chain of command problem and were not following orders.

Additionally, this surrogate army will not only be unaccountable for its actions, but it will be able to use this scenario for publicity. Potential clients will see in this assassination proof of this “army for hire” getting the job done and not bowing to any external pressure.

The UAE’s rush to establish this contract with Prince coincides strongly with the “Arab Awakening” and with the growing UAE discomfort of Iran’s activities. This move came only a few weeks after Bahrain asked for Saudi intervention to quell its uprising. Both nations are low in population and have limited home-grown military capabilities. Needless to say, they are both oil rich members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Will Qatar ever find itself in a similar predicament? On the surface Qatar appears to have a good relationship with Iran but, through its endorsed media outlet Al Jazeera, reporting on Syria, the ally of Iran, is harsh and at times highly questionable to say the least. This indicates that the Qatari-Iranian relationship is not as robust as stated. Despite Qatar possessing similar dispositions to its neighbours, Qatar on many levels, gives the impression that it is immune from such uprisings and/or regional conflicts.

Western-style governments may not be able to openly disclose their involvement in establishing such armies. But what is to stop them from entering into such contracts covertly? Private operatives can achieve the same objectives as the CIA for instance but, if and when caught out, they will not be embarrassing governments.

Taking warfare along this course is a step back in time to the days of Genghis Khan, a time when military commanders had no rule of law and no international accountability or, alternatively, to the period of Adolf Hitler where international law to him existed merely on paper and was to be flouted.

In this fast changing world the concept of introducing legislation for something previously unwarranted must be urgently recognised. In the world of IT such responses occurred where the world jumped to protect individuals and corporations from issues such as hacking and piracy.

Given this new development in the UAE and the far reaching and potentially devastating implications of this, it is imperative that we ensure that accountability is universal, and that legislation developed. is beyond reproach, leaving no legal loopholes for any individual, corporation or government.

The Imminent Undoing of Israel. Published 19 January 2009

https://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/the-imminent-undoing-of-israel/

 

That Hill Was Like Any Other

That Hill Was Like Any Other

That hill was like any other. A gentle serene olive grove overlooking the citrus orchards skirting the southern parts of Tripoli. Tripoli was named “Al-Faiha’a” literally meaning the scented. Approaching Tripoli during spring was a floral explosion, buzzing bees, swallows, all scented with the aroma of orange blossom filling the air. Spring was such a festival in the air, on the ground and in every nook and cranny. It started early, as early as winter, each season with its own crops of marvel. Feasts of flowers both great and small carpeted the ground with every colour of the rainbow.

That was the Tripoli I grew up in and had known as a boy. On that hill, some half a century ago, my family had many picnics. During one of them, for some silly boyish reason, my middle brother took Mum’s wedding ring and threw it there, not admitting his guilt till twenty years later. That ring stayed there, probably still hidden underground, telling an untold story and keeping the days of glory alive paved with gold.

That hill was like any other. Nothing was different about it. Not back then. Then the wind of change began to blow and the gentle olive groves had to give way to the urban sprawl and the ugly concrete jungles. The new invention “plastic” marred the ground and replaced the flowers, the grass, and all what filth could cover and stifle. Only the hardy plants were still able to survive in hidden hard-to-reach places.

Unable to spot trees, even the sparrows now nest in the shrapnel holes the Civil War left behind in ugly building walls. All those olives trees that I once knew one by one, as personal friends, have been chopped down.

Nothing is left behind, nothing at all. In the last few months, I tracked those graveyards looking for figments of past glory to find nothing but filth and more filth.

In between one pile of filth and the next, I could only see the odd Oxalis flower here and there. Would it be possible at all to ever find a Cyclamen? I often wondered!! How could I? How could I ever imagine finding that shy and sensitive queen of the Lebanese winter flowers amongst all that carnage?

But just yesterday, my Susan and I found our feet taking a turn during our walk ending us up on that hill where the wedding ring sits patiently in silence. That hill is no longer like any other hill. Unlike other hills, it hadn’t changed and all of a sudden, it was unique, clean, and buzzing with tiny buds gearing up for the spring rhapsody. There were some Tulip leaves, Arum leaves, with their flowers still in their inception waiting for the message from heaven to get up and bloom. Tiny violets were here and there together with millions and millions of the run of the mill Oxalis.

Would I be still dreaming if I were to search for the elusive Cyclamen or has it deserted Lebanon in protest to the sprawl that has contaminated its land and dignity?

With hope and apprehension, I kept looking. I had to keep looking, and then in a little shady spot covered with some spikes, my eyes finally saw what they haven’t seen since I left this land some three decades ago. I found the local queen, the elusive shy violet Cyclamen. Not very far from my mother’s ring, that gorgeous flower refuses to give up and die away. It is here throwing its seed in hope that it will be here when the hands of destruction have grown sick and tired of violating its home. The queen and the ring keep each other company, adamantly refusing to leave and vehemently declining to give up their inner beauty.

Salutes, Larks and Executioners.

Salutes, Larks and Executioners.

We tend to walk down the steep hill, the olive grove side, to the "Al Manar" shopping complex. The shopping centre is just in front of the army check point where soldiers inspect the various vehicles entering the city from the south. We always have to go and stand near them to flag down a taxi to take us and our shopping back home. Often these young soldiers signal to a taxi driver to collect us. Once they actually put all our shopping into the boot of the taxi and waved goodbye to us. I often see the soldiers do nice things like that.

Today we didn’t get the soldier’s help. We flagged down a taxi driven by an old man who was haggling with the price. I thought he was going to be an unpleasant character. In no time, this old man, informed us that we had disturbed his singing by flagging him down.

He started to sing with a strong, deep beautiful voice. He sang old, old haunting Arabic folk songs. My husband joined in and the man looked pleasantly surprised. The singer was visibly impressed when suddenly “oudh” - like sounds and notes were provided to accompany parts of his song. It was just one of those rare and special moments.

The man had been a professional singer in Kuwait in his earlier years. He kept on checking in the rear view mirror to gauge my reaction. After hearing us speaking in a foreign language, the old man in wonder asked, “where did you get her from?” He got his answer and replied “yeh, I thought she looked different”.

This lark voiced, fading star, driving his battered and fraying Mercedes, by the time he pulled up outside our building, was beaming the widest beam as we expressed our heartfelt appreciation for the wonderful ride home.

Back at home I noticed a light shining into our apartment from next door. The light came from an apartment normally closed up. The last time I saw anyone in the apartment was some months back, in summer. It was a man and his European wife. Apparently, the man also visits the apartment with his North African wife. But, today there us a cleaner was busy inside, getting it spotless. I am told that this activity means that the woman of the house must be coming over from her home in Europe.

When she is here, she wants to visit some of her neighbours and socialize. But, the neighbours don’t want anything to do with her. “Why?” I ask.

The answer I received was that, the woman from next door lived in that apartment with her two boys and two girls for many years. Her two sons were part of a political party from a neighbouring country. Quite some years back, during a time of civil unrest, they took it upon themselves to go to the area near the check point outside the front of the now Al Manar shopping complex, stop everyone, check their identification papers and put to one side all those who were from a particular religious group. They then killed them, 13 young people, apparently with a bomb.

I heard scant details of this story back in summer and it was always on my mind as I walked that road to Al Manar. The men’s mother was brought up a Christian but must have converted to Islam when she married her now absent husband. The story is that the boy’s paternal grandfather took ill and died after learning what his grandsons had done. Children from the neighbourhood identified them as the bombers. They saw the two men put black socks over their faces and plant the bomb.

Neighbours saw, on that evening after the bombing, the men’s mother pacing up and down the balcony till late at night. The next morning the apartment was deserted. Apparently, there were family links to a parliamentarian who assisted the whole family to move to Europe. Only one of the children, a daughter, lives here nowadays.

The land that “Al Manar” sits on has heard it all; from sounds of screams of those about to be executed to the voice of a lark making the most of the acoustics in his taxi.