Mohammad bin Salman is Now One of Us, Part Two
We follow the story of how Mohammad bin Salman, now one of us, transformed into one of our own as he was appointed as the Prime Minister and head of the cabinet, beyond the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, in a remarkable and unprecedented development in late October 2022.
He practically received this position as a birthday gift and in mid-October, with a new alliance with Vladimir Putin, he executed a peculiar oil program to shake the markets by reducing oil production and raising prices. As we mentioned at the end of the first part of this narrative, we continue the story of bin Salman with his and Saudi Arabia’s politics reaching the ominous gates of the Trump era in the second part.
Take care of yourselves.
The days of Barack Obama’s presidency in the United States, especially during his second term, were challenging for many Middle Eastern politicians. If we consider Netanyahu in Israel as a symbol of this confrontation, there is no doubt that the Arab Spring and its impacts seriously transformed Middle Eastern politics, placing Arab Gulf leaders and sheikhs in a unique situation. Events in Tunisia overflowed into Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, leading to the downfall of Arab leaders one after another.
Meanwhile, Obama’s administration’s efforts to control Iran’s nuclear program were progressing successfully following the events of 2009-1388 in Iran, and alongside developments in North Africa and West Asia, Iran entered into dialogue with the United States from the beginning of 2013.
We must return to the media figure we introduced in the first part of our narrative. In 2014, with the emergence of the first steps of the Iran nuclear deal and the serious dialogues between Iranian officials and Westerners, especially Americans, Thomas Friedman conducted an extensive interview with Barack Obama, which should be considered a historical turning point in the media reflection of Obama’s policy and his team’s approach towards the Middle East. This interview took place when the first round of the nuclear agreement had been reached, and on the other hand, ISIS had emerged, upending Iraq and the Levant.
Obama highlighted the importance of diplomacy and the superiority of the nuclear agreement over any other option for controlling Iran regarding Israel’s concerns about the nuclear deal. However, regarding Saudi Arabia and the Arab Sunni countries, as Friedman termed them, Obama had a different tone. He sent an unprecedented message to the Arab Gulf sheikhs: the serious threat to you is not an Iranian attack and occupation; the greatest and primary danger is the internal dissatisfaction within your countries.
He warned the Arab rulers to address the cultural and social situations within their countries. Obama told Friedman that they pursue military assistance and cooperation with these Arab rulers to counter external threats, yet he stated that what is difficult is discussing the internal situations of their countries and addressing the diverse grievances of their people.
Naturally, the rulers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain did not easily digest these words. Netanyahu, from the other side, was beating the drum of confrontation with Obama, and the groundwork for the public revelation of secret partnerships was being laid. The fact that the American president told the Arabs to address their internal situations and also suggested resolving Middle Eastern issues through dialogue among themselves brought these partners to the brink of planning for the future.
Saudi’s Sinister Influence
It was in the summer of this year that Ahmad Abouammo, a Lebanese-American citizen and former Twitter employee, finally had his case concluded in court after years. He was accused of spying for the Saudi security apparatus and transferring information about thousands of users to operatives under bin Salman’s command.
Specifically, Bader al-Asaker, a well-known and influential Saudi security figure who is practically one of the main players in the Saudi royal family’s security structure, executed this plan by hiring Abouammo and paying hefty sums to implement bin Salman’s orders. At least two members of the network created by al-Asaker managed to escape to Saudi Arabia after the exposure of this espionage network based on infiltrating Twitter.
The power of the Saudi lobby and the beginning of bin Salman’s cosmetic programs significantly curbed the criticism and accusations against him, and once again, like in previous instances, no serious action was taken to limit the presence of Saudis in America.
With Abouammo’s identification and arrest, and the publication of news about the Saudi infiltration network in social media, what did not happen was the shutdown of Saudi lobbying activities in America. The Saudi royal family’s influence in America was so great that there was little the Obama administration, which was simultaneously battling ISIS, dealing with Netanyahu, negotiating with Iran, addressing the aftermath of Gaddafi’s fall, and aiding Syrian rebels opposing Bashar al-Assad, could do.
American Republicans have had and continue to have serious ties with the Saudi royal family. Moreover, now in 2022, we know that the Saudi ruling family’s connections with a network of retired American generals are very serious. Here, we need to do something akin to all dictators: find a journalist.
The Journalist
Saud al-Qahtani is originally a journalist whose career began in publications and quickly advanced, reaching significant positions in public opinion management within the Saudi ruling structure. His rise can be traced back to the late previous decade when he became the media control manager in the Saudi ruling structure. Bin Salman quickly attracted him, and al-Qahtani rapidly expanded his media and online activities.
He became a consistently active figure in the online world, engaging with social networks and interacting with users because it was his profession and expertise.
The young Saudi became an important and consistent figure among hacker communities, whose username is now known worldwide. Which username? His username in the hacker forum from the years 2014 and 2015 was where he signed special lobbying contracts with American lobbying institutions on behalf of bin Salman.
The background and supportive foundation for that Twitter infiltration network and lobbying programs must be considered with al-Qahtani’s official and serious presence in the well-known bin Salman institution, abbreviated as Misk. Interestingly, the fugitive members of the infiltration network who escaped from American federal agents and went to Saudi Arabia were officially employed by this institution and continued their lives comfortably.
Reaching the Trumpian World
In 2015, those disillusioned by Middle Eastern developments during the Obama era reached a new company. The final connections between Arab rulers and Israelis were becoming apparent, and the nuclear agreement with Iran added to these partners’ anger. Here, bin Salman’s story and his friends and partners intertwine with another crown prince who, now in 2022, ended his crown prince tenure earlier than bin Salman and, thanks to the death of the Emir of the UAE, is the ruler of that country. Mohammed bin Zayed is another part of our narrative, and his partnership in the Yemen story with bin Salman is one of the strangest parts of Middle Eastern history.
Nevertheless, for the story of 2015, we reach the beginning of a program that led to infiltration in American election campaigns, leaving several prisoners in America. Interestingly, the Israeli structure related to the crown princes of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain controlled the depth of its participation well, and specific figures became the connectors to the Arabs.
The meetings of 2015 in the Middle East ended with meetings in New York, and serious infiltration occurred in the circle of the controversial and divisive American candidate. Donald Trump was hanging on to the Arabs with a fascinating narrative of a meeting in the Middle East. Stay tuned for the next report with the people whose pictures you see together.
The previous part of this article, titled ‘Mohammad bin Salman is Now One of Us,’ and the next part, titled ‘Mohammad bin Salman is Now One of Us, Part Three,’ have been published on Iran Gate.
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