I am a big fan of Mahmood Al-Yousif. If you want a view from the Gulf that challenges prejudice and gives you an indication of what exactly it feels like to be an Arab across a narrow strip of water from Iran, he is hard to beat. In this post he has just been to see an economist give a talk:

“Why is it that in this region of the world we are faced with a major conflict whenever there is an appreciable hike in the price of oil?”

He went on to list the first Gulf War (Iran/Iraq) which was heavily financed by the Gulf’s monarchies; the second Gulf War which was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the third and on-going one is the Iraqi occupation by the USA and he suggests that the war clouds are already gathering rather heavily for a fourth conflict evidenced by the saber rattling by the USA against Iran.

These conflicts, he suggests, are nothing more than “correcting” the US deficit against the increase in its oil import bill. How that correction is made is by the US selling arms to us hapless Arabs! Robert Gates seemed to have confirmed that in a recently concluded security conference in Bahrain:

Claiming Iran may secretly have resumed efforts to build a nuclear weapon, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, called for intensified international pressure on Tehran and urged Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to develop a joint air and missile shield to ward off future threats.

It’s easy to strike Dr. Khaled’s observations as nothing more than yet another Arab conspiracy theories, but one would be best advised to think a little about these conditions and come to a studied conclusion. There is at least a semblance of truth in them if only by coincidence…

Regardless of what your position is; the sabre rattling is very real and multi- billion dollar deals have already been announced with the sale of Patriot 2 and 3 to both Saudi and the Emirates to the tune of US$11 billion or so.

Pocket change to both governments it might be, but those funds could have easily been diverted to where they are needed most in our community: education, health, infrastructural or even just kept in the piggy-bank for future generations.

That is the talk on the smart Arab street. Put that in your public diplomacy pipe and smoke it!