Saudis

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by Joe Fan, Nov 4, 2017.

  1. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    The wheels continue to turn

    A Saudi paper published a story this week where IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Israel is willing to share intelligence with the Saudis on Iran -- “the largest threat to the region.”

    This would be a first.
    In fact, a Saudi newspaper simply interviewing an Israeli military head was already a historic first (since the countries have no diplomatic relations)

    “With President Donald Trump there is an opportunity for a new international coalition in the region. There should be a major regional plan to stop the Iranian threat”

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-fi...w-idf-head-says-ready-to-share-intel-on-iran/
     
  2. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    That's huge news if those three team up in much greater depth than just on paper. It makes perfect sense for Saudi to push for this.

    They know the U.S. (Christians) and Israel (Jews) will never desire to occupy or threaten their borders.

    But it's clear as day Iran (Shia) has already begun enacting long-term plans to dominate the majority Sunni controlled region. Rallying up Musburger's Reds, Assad, Erdogan, Hezbollah, etc.

    Sounds like the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' principle is about to expand to unprecedented levels for the ME. Three religion coalition is interesting.
     
  3. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    The "largest threat to the region" isn't Iran. The largest threat to the region has proven to be the neocon led US, the crazy Netanyahu government, and the terror supporting Saudis. It is these three entities that have been responsible for all the war and mayhem, attacking country after country. The results? Increased terrorism, destruction of civilization, increased influence in the region by Iran and Russia.

    The coming together, if you will, of MBS and the despotic Saudi regime allied with Israel and with the support of the United States will only mean more war, more failure, and more regional influence for Iran and Russia after the project fails.
     
  4. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  5. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Read the whole thread^
     
  6. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    More regional influence for Russia and Iran than the total split cooperation between those three under BO? Wishful thinking at its finest.

    I doubt there will be an uptick of war from our side, but U.S. supported Israel and SA being newly emboldened will be interesting.
     
  7. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Israel has found and destroyed 29 Palestinian tunnels. These were much more sophicticated tunnels than in the past. They were monitored and controlled using digital technolgy and were booby trapped with remote triggers.

    The tunnels were known to only Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 28 were blown up in Gaza, by commandos. Supposedly it was Saudi or "Gulf Cooperation Council" special forces who first found them. Israel blew up the last attack tunnel by airstrike, killing two Islamic Jihad commanders.

    Then the Israelis went on TV to make it publicly known and to say they knew of the plot with the tunnels. Hamas and Islamic Jihad were warned. The plan is the same one they used on Hezbollah, when they killed all the Hezbollah commanders. This warning was clear. These forces do not play by the same rules or with the same restraints US forces do.

    Saudi and Israel cooperating is a big deal. It can potentially change the reality in the Middle East.



    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 1
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2017
  8. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Coordination?

     
  9. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Hopefully, yes.
     
  10. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    This references Syria. Assad's regular and militia forces have been on the march, with the aid of Russian airstrikes and Iranian-backed foreign fighters. Some say the majority of the war effort is now is Iranian military directly, not just by proxy. The part of this story not as well known is that Iran and its proxies have taken some significant high-ranking casualties.

    The Iranians there are mostly Quds who are the elite unit within the Revolutionary Guard that goes outside their own territory. The Quds Force was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans in Iraq. And now these ******** are being killed in Syria.

    The list of their high ranking officers killed there is now staggeringly long, including Hossein Hamedani – the Quds Force architect of Iranian operations in Syria and person who personally ended the Green Revolution of 2009 by having internal security forces fire on unarmed protesters. It also looks like Qassem Suleimani is dead too — the head of the Quds Force. That's the Quds #1 and #2. But the list of officers killed goes on and on. Basically every Iranian and Lebanese bigwig in Syria ends up dead, including Hezbollah leaders in Syria. And the the Russians are powerless to stop it. Putin even made a direct appeal to the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince in an attempt to make it stop.

    The way they are being killed is sometimes very sophisticated. Often these guys are monitored and tracked, then targeted with new weapons, like shock waves (it's possible some of those tunnels in Israel were destroyed this way as well). Not every country has access to these things.
     
  11. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Last edited: Nov 19, 2017
  12. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    "Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia: We will eradicate extremism very soon"

    The reference here to 1979 is when Saudi Arabia became a Wahhabist state
    There was a bloody uprising. What more or less happened was that the Saudi security forces could not defeat the terrorists, so King Abdullah ended the bloodshed. That's when the country became extremely strict and intolerant.

     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2017
  13. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    MBS is a lying sack of you know what. This from a guy overseeing cluster bombing of civilians and the starvation of hundreds of thousands.
     
  14. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Same for Obama's use of drones?
     
  15. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    Yes. And Indiscriminate drone bombing has accelerated even more under Trump.
     
  16. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    (a) Is that Stalin and Lenin?
    (b) Not sure that's true
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2017
  17. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

  18. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  19. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    I think he is the best hope for the region in my lifetime
     
    • Like Like x 1
  20. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    He did what he said he would do on bombing generally, but how is it you conclude drone usage is indiscriminate?
     
  21. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Confirming what I wrote earlier

     
  22. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    I guess with hell freezing over and all, this will help with global warming.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  23. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    Yes, that's Trump pictured behind Lenin and Stalin. It may not be true, but between the media and the anti-Trump folks, you could probably convince half the population the photograph actually took place.
     
  24. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    I left my glasses at the Cadilac Bar (no kidding) and wasnt sure
     
  25. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

  26. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  27. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Arent you concerned about confusion given the hallowed status afforded Stalin/Lenin among progressives?
     
  28. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    The sheer numbers of bombings have increased under Trump.

    Under Obama, the military would request a target and Obama would approve or deny it. Several innocent people were killed.

    With Trump, he doesn't even bother to screen it, but simply gives a green light to the military (or CIA as the case may be as they now have the capability to use drones) to use their own judgement.

    So it makes sense that if the military/CIA has sole discretion and doesn't have to get Presidential approval, the rate of civilian killings would at best stay the same and more likely even be higher.
     
  29. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  30. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Looks like the NYT/Thomas Freidman may be lurking over here for its fresh ideas

    Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last
    The crown prince has big plans to bring
    back a level of tolerance to his society.

    "Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman...
    "And, if it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe. Only a fool would predict its success — but only a fool would not root for it."
    "'Our country has suffered a lot from corruption from the 1980s until today. The calculation of our experts is that roughly 10 percent of all government spending was siphoned off by corruption each year, from the top levels to the bottom.'"


    “'My father saw that there is no way we can stay in the G-20 and grow with this level of corruption. In early 2015, one of his first orders to his team was to collect all the information about corruption — at the top....This team worked for two years until they collected the most accurate information, and then they came up with about 200 names ....When all the data was ready, the public prosecutor, Saud al-Mojib, took action, M.B.S. said, explaining that each suspected billionaire or prince was arrested and given two choices: 'We show them all the files that we have and as soon as they see those about 95 percent agree to a settlement,' which means signing over cash or shares of their business to the Saudi state treasury ....We have experts making sure no businesses are bankrupted in the process' — to avoid causing unemployment. "

    Not a single Saudi I spoke to here over three days expressed anything other than effusive support for this anticorruption drive. The Saudi silent majority is clearly fed up with the injustice of so many princes and billionaires ripping off their country

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/...-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2017

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