Emails Expose How Saudi Arabia And UAE Work The U.S. Media To Push For War
by Ben Norton of Alternet
ZeroHedge.com
Jun 12, 2017
A highly influential top Emirati diplomat heaped praise on a prominent Washington Post columnist for writing pro-Saudi propaganda, a leaked email shows.
Yousef al-Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, applauded journalist David Ignatius for his writing on Saudi Arabia. Ignatius is notorious for fawning coverage of the kingdom, promoting its supposed efforts at reform and taking its line on regional conflicts without a shred of skepticism.
The relationship between the UAE’s man in Washington and one of the Beltway’s top pundits is especially notable in light of the conflict that has erupted in the Persian Gulf. A steadily escalating rift between the Gulf states erupted into an all-out media war this June, leading to the alleged hacking of Qatari state media source and the hacking of Otaiba’s personal email account. Before long, the conflict became a siege as Saudi Arabia and its ally, the UAE, suspended diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, and even imposed a de facto blockade on the country.
With the Trump administration alternating between support for the siege and halting opposition to its escalation, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are demanding Qatar to cut off support for the Muslim Brotherhood and to break its ties with Iran. President Trump took credit for the policy, which he implied was an intentional U.S.-led strategy.
Saudi Arabia has used the political turmoil to deflect from its own complicity in supporting Salafi-jihadist group, portraying violent Islamist extremism as a uniquely Qatari problem. (U.S. government intelligence, on the other hand, has acknowledged that both of its Gulf clients Saudi Arabia and Qatar have supported ISIS and al-Qaeda.)
One of the key points of contention between the Gulf states is Al Jazeera, the state-sponsored cable and online news titan that has acted as an arm of Qatari soft power. Though the UAE has no such network to boast of, the emails from Yousef Otaiba — one of the Beltway’s slickest operators — show how the UAE launders its message behind influential sources in Washington.
Doing ‘everything’ for the Saudi crown prince
Both al-Otaiba and Ignatius have huge sway in Washington, D.C. and had the ear of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Both men have gone out of their way to portray the monarchy in Saudi Arabia in a positive light.
On April 20, Ignatius published an article in the Washington Post, titled, “A young prince is reimagining Saudi Arabia. Can he make his vision come true?” Ignatius personally sent al-Otaibi an email on April 21 with a link to the piece. Al-Otaiba replied later the same day, extolling Ignatius. In his reply, al-Otaiba bcc’ed the UAE’s foreign affairs minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, at his official government email account.
“Thank you for taking the time to go out there and meet with MBS,” al-Otaiba wrote, using an acronym for Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince, who is calling many of the shots in the kingdom. It is widely speculated that his father, King Salman, is ill.
“It looks from how you wrote this piece,” al-Otaiba continued, “that you are beginning to see what we’ve been seeing for the last two years. Change!”
Al-Otaiba noted the Post article will be very useful in the attempt to rebrand the draconian Saudi regime.
“I’m relieved to find that you saw what we’ve been seeing and frequently trying to convey,” wrote the Emirati ambassador. “Your voice and your credibility will be a huge factor in getting reasonable folks to understand and believe in what’s happening.”
The Rest…HERE
