Different perception on the Middle East from those in the know

 Recently, I got together with a couple of Syrian friends in Toronto and something they said, because of a preconceived perception I have of the ongoing conflicts in that part of the world,  flew right over my head (until today).  My Syrian friends didn't blame America for the trouble in the ME,  not in the least ..... they blamed the United Kingdom !!  Not even France .... just the United Kingdom, its Labor party  and Cameron's Conservatives.

According to them,  Britain wants control over all of what was once theirs and Britain wants to be in a strong position to place several army posts (replacing any of the US ones) and to further strengthen that argument they told me that it's the  British influence which is strong in the ME not the USA's  and I only have to see the number of  UK citizens and  business entities in the ME compared to any other country to realize that.  The UK,  they said,  has made heavy inroads in cementing their influence in Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE in the last two decades.  The UK prefers Qatar to hold sway over the other Arab nations, they said.  Bahrain is  still under Saudi Arabia's control politically and the Brit expatriates from Bahrain are moving to Qatar and the UAE.   Saudi Arabia missed the UK boat because the cavemen there are not very open to the UK influence and are more dependent on the USA.

Today, I read about the UK Parliamentary Inquiry that's just got started and the stuff my Syrian friends said at Christmastime when I met with them, seems more believable and it  enforces my belief that we should listen to all opinions and not dismiss them entirely ... no matter how bizarre they might sound when first we hear them.  Does the  United Kingdom have  their  paws in that dirty jar of  "divide and rule" strategy?   Yes, very much possible !

The first hearing session of the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs    Committee Inquiry into British policy with Saudi Arabia took place today with evidence from two former ambassadors to Bahrain. Robin Lamb, Ambassador 2003-2006 and Sir Roger Tomkys, Ambassador 1981-1984, gave evidence along side Jane Kinninmont from Chatham House and Dr. Neil Patrick from the Royal United Services Institute.....

....In their opening remarks both highlighted the complexities of British policy in the Gulf in balancing interests, moral values and security concerns. Ms Kinninmont argued it is a difficult time for UK diplomats, but also a time of “heightened sensitivities amongst Gulf rulers”, citing the examples of many who have been imprisoned for criticizing monarchs.

She said that Britain is not doing itself any favours if it pretends that all is fine in the Gulf and there are no pressures from below for change. Ms. Kinninmont mentioned the recent speech of the Crown Prince at the Manama Dialogue in which he chose to thank Britain over the US that UK is indeed Bahrain’s closest ally. She said that Britain was prepared to be critical of Bahrain during the first days of the crackdown in February and March 2011, but has since maintained the same level of strong relations, describing this as “puzzling” since the crackdown has continued since then......

....Ms. Kinninmont said that Bahrain has responded in two ways to criticism from the UK, neither of which could be said to be positive. The first was to make threats about cancelling defence cooperation with Britain and the other has been to promise reforms. With this she mentioned the BICI as a positive step, although now Britain is finding itself “in a dilemma as the story of reform is wearing thin.” Ms. Kinninmont was suggesting that whilst Bahrain has promised to deliver on reforms, little has been done, leaving UK in a difficult position with regards to this.....

.....A strong theme of the questions from the MP’s was to what extent the UK can actually have leverage over Bahrain to reform. Dr. Patrick was keen to stress that the strength UK has over Bahrain should not be “overestimated” arguing that there are “limits to what we can do”.

Although Dr. Patrick downplayed the ability UK has to influence events he also noted that the opposition are looking to the UK for support and therefore the UK should “do more of the same” in as much as it engages with all sides......