West Asia News and Discussions

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 07 Jan 2020 03:11

UB one day we will meet and discuss QS and India over chai.

NRao I am wary of anyone who paints Taliban as non-Pak state actor.

As for now, Solemaini death weakens the Khameni regime as he was the Luca Brasi of the regime.

Recall Kahmenei came to power displacing Rafsanjani regime.

Think of the Imam council as Mafia council presided now by Khamenei

So wait for power shuffles in Tehran.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 03:18

No evidence that Suleimani was associated with beating up protestors in the Teheran streets. While his brains may be missed, his political affiliations may be overstated: the guy has risen steadily on merit since the Iran-Iraq war, and that is a long time, hain? Seems like a national hero.
Better analog to his killing is the murder of Abraham Lincoln after he won the American Civil War.

The "reasoning" given in the US is becoming curioser and curioser. Now they are saying that "he developed weapons that killed or maimed Americans". OK, he was commanding forces for his nation - not some terrorist sitting in a cave experimenting with fertiliser and fuel oil. By this criterion, the execs of Boeing, Raytheon, and AF labs, all scientists and managers, are fair game when they travel.

Think of it, most of the weapons used by ISIS are American-developed weapons. So those execs have killed more Americans and Iraqi/Syrian civilians, not to mention Libyans, than Suleimani and all his Qud forces combined.

US entities are really losing the plot here. The IQ exhibited in the MSM is nano-scale

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 03:30

Calling Habal, Singha and Austin:
Need updates from Syria pls. RT.com is curiously silent on Syria these dins.
Ivan Sideorenko twitter is shaheed. So is Peto Lucem. Maybe Abou Fadel too. So where can we get updates?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 07 Jan 2020 03:45

Now they are saying that "he developed weapons that killed or maimed Americans".

Those are the IEDs based on shaped charge used in Iraq against US troops.

See the map that NRao posted. From Syria to Iraq his foot print.
And add Yemen.
Most likely he would have expanded East to Kuwait and South to KSA oil fields which are Shia.

This is Cyrus Old Empire of 2000 years ago.

Take the data from Friedman not his opinions.
I will say this:
The biggest gainer is MBS
Second biggest gainer is India

Biggest Loser is Iran
Second is Pakistan.

Baluchistan is now on table.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 07 Jan 2020 03:48

Does India want such a large entity to take shape near the vicinity?

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 04:00

Some things happening:
https://twitter.com/syriawar2?lang=en
War in Syria Retweeted
Syrian_MC
‏ @Syrian_MC
Jan 1
Several air strikes/missiles targeted a convoy for the Uyghurs/Turkmenistan terrorists who were heading towards west #Aleppo CS
other strikes targeted their gatherings near Jesir Al Shoghur south west #Idlib
Their convoy was escorted by 2 Land cruisers operated by Tr intel.

Show this thread
War in Syria
‏ @SyriaWar2
Jan 2

#Idlib
All attacks were repelled by Tigers
2 replies 21 retweets 108 likes
War in Syria Retweeted
Sohayb Masri
‏ @Sohayb_Masri1
Jan 2

Syrian Army units destroy a car bomb before it reaches its points on the axis of the town of Al-Tah in the southeastern countryside of Idlib

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 04:02

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SyrianArmy

Aryn Habeeb
‏ @ArynHabeeb
2h2 hours ago
Syrianarmy finds a network of tunnels and trenches in #Idlib southeastern countryside.

Steele M
‏SteeleSyAA
Jan 4
Tiger spotted! Syrian Arab Army Tiger Forces BGen Suheil al Hassan on break having a rest in rural #Idlib province #Syria #Syrianarmy #Tigerforcesplease feel free to follow for daily Syrian Arab Army updates

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 04:05

ramana:
shia are 15%, Sunni are 85%. Is there any sense in the claim that a Persian Empire is going to be established? The Iranians in recent times have been fighting for survival, against the Sunni campaign of extermination. It is the Sunnis that are all-out invaders everywhere. Best use of the Shia is of course to kill sunnis.

Those maps with fancy colors are utter Berkeley-Stanford. Taliban-infested Afganistan is a shia/Iranian stronghold?

They say "FOUR CAPITALS" - Teheran, OK, Baghdad (utterly shaky though it is a shia-majority nation), Damascus ) Alawite minority fighting for survival surrounded by a sea of blood-thirsty Sunnis - and Beirut (!!) what a superpower!

Compared to KSA,Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Gelf Emirates, Pakistan and all the rest of ME. The whole mess of the OINK In a pinch, Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya,.... in fact most of Africa. Plus of course NATO, UK, USA.
People here are swallowing propaganda from NEWSWEEK? NEW YORK TIMES???

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 04:12

Maybe Indian CAA should be amended: include Shias from Balochistan as persecuted minority. THAT will biss off the protestors really well. Bring in some Balochis and settle them in Mau and Hyderabad.

kit · Post by **kit** » 07 Jan 2020 04:32

UlanBatori wrote:Maybe Indian CAA should be amended: include Shias from Balochistan as persecuted minority. THAT will biss off the protestors really well. Bring in some Balochis and settle them in Mau and Hyderabad.

Not a bad idea !.. and that should shut up a few people incl pappu and co

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 07 Jan 2020 06:46

kit wrote:
UlanBatori wrote:Maybe Indian CAA should be amended: include Shias from Balochistan as persecuted minority. THAT will biss off the protestors really well. Bring in some Balochis and settle them in Mau and Hyderabad.
Not a bad idea !.. and that should shut up a few people incl pappu and co

There is no dearth of Jinnah's in India. I don't understand India's defensive approach to things. We must be capturing territory to our west and east. Merging what's dear to India and in another half Letting Hindus to reside in there.

tandav · Post by **tandav** » 07 Jan 2020 07:18

--Deleted--

Dont do that again!!!

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 08:04

Maxim A. Suchkov
@MSuchkov_ALM
·
3h
#Russia,#China blocked #UN statement condemning attack on #US embassy in #Baghdad.
RUS motivation as explained by MFA:
(a)"cynical" from US to ask for UN vote on this after killing of #Soleimani
(b)over last 5-6 years US numerously blocked simialr initiatives by other countries

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 08:08

UlanBatori wrote:Calling Habal, Singha and Austin:
Need updates from Syria pls. RT.com is curiously silent on Syria these dins.
Ivan Sideorenko twitter is shaheed. So is Peto Lucem. Maybe Abou Fadel too. So where can we get updates?

all the pro-syrian sites are usually taken down when something big happens, just like brf was taken down during noclear deal and after 26/11. Abu Fadel is around but his site has been taken down by state sponsored actors and he is determined to bring it back.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 08:15

ramana,

Indian perspective in all this is, first destabilize iran, second isis wahabism unchecked spreads into caucusus, spreads into russia, and then onto north west china and finally India. So basically asian challenge to european imperialism ends with isis wahabism destabilizing asia.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 07 Jan 2020 08:28

UlanBatori wrote:ramana:
shia are 15%, Sunni are 85%.

True Globally but not in the region where Shia:Sunni are more balanced and Shias even dominate, if you exclcude North Africa and Turkey from the mix. This is not only a Shia:Sunni issue but also mired in Geo-Politics and resources (oil), and to a lesser extent today in global politics, as the US is still riding on the collapse of the SU with no global challenge, not in this region anyways in any significant manner.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 07 Jan 2020 08:31

ramana: My view is keeping the Islamic powers off balance and in a state of siege is always to the benefit of Indian power, even if in the short term India does lose due to oil prices and impact on remittances. The NRI's of the region still are the largest source of funds into India.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 07 Jan 2020 08:34

Ramana,

I think it is too early to figure out who will benefit from this assassination. The reason is it all depends on the replacement of Soleimani. If the next-man-up is as capable (in ALL respects) then there should not be much of a change. And, any minor deficiencies will be covered by more brutal responses.

IMHO, an early indicator should be Yemen, and, perhaps all across the map (above). I do not expect changes in funding, ideology, political support, etc. What I hope to track is organization. IF I detect a decline in this area, then I can conclude that the absence of Soleimani has had an impact and then see who benefits, etc.

Another area: Iraq. Looks like the US forces are not leaving Iraq - so, that remains a constant. What can change are the responses of Iran supported militias within Iraq. IF these militias take a beating in the next few months, which is what I expect to happen, then we can assess who benefits from all this.

All these millions of mourners, headlines in NYT, WaPo, BBC, etc are great. However, IMHO, the best way to shut all these strange bedfellows is to shut down the Iranian backed militias across the region. Then we should experience a much better political climate from the Med to the Western borders of India.

________________________________

My immediate interest in is the two-headed hydra: The Supreme Leader vs. the President of Iran.

I am already detecting a split between the two.

The prior's camp has already declared that the response to the assassination will be a military one.

The latter's camp seems to be declaring a totally different response: a hint on targeting the Trump Organization

In addition to Trump hotels in major U.S. cities, the Trump Organization has properties in United Arab Emirates, India, Scotland, Ireland, South Korea, the Philippines and elsewhere.

So, this camp is actually saying that they will not target US def personnel. It seems to be originating from the same person who stated Trump, not the people of the US.

I am interested in seeing the serious degradation of the menace supported by the Supreme Leader.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 08:48

habalji, good to have you here. With a bit of time on my hands, and conscience nagging at me, I have been studying the West Asia/Syria dhagas going back to 2011. Relevance to India is glaringly ominous. Let's not celebrate any discomfiture of these formerly arrogant oil nations. We are seeing the template being tried out inexorably, to break India too. The Russian/Iranian led fightback in Syria is the first sign of hope.
1. Start BIF type "peaceful demonstrations". Stome-throwing. Attacks on Police.
2. Police arrest rioters. Beat a few.
3. "BRUTAL" "Regime" defined in the MSM.
4. International hate campaign gainst BRUTAL Regime.
5. Covert arms incursion.
6. Bribe some senior officers to desert and form Rebel group.
7. Heavy-weapon attacks.
8. Heavy weapon aid, authorized by Congress (I mean US COTUS).
9. Deluge of ATGMs, IEDs, SAMs, armored cars into civil society.
10. (New!) Decapitation strikes when all else fails.

We need to study these carefully and test out counters while we still have time. IF we still have time... A prime part of that is to construct and maintain our own narrative (Rajeev Srinivasan calls it the Indian Grand Narrative). Today the English-language media are absolutely swamped with the US-UK propaganda, with sepoys in many countries parroting their garbage (even here). This is ludicrous, because the majority of English-speakers (those who CAN speak English) who can also read and write, are of Indian descent. The advantage has to be seized.
......

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Jan 2020 09:05

The Iraqi PM has stated that Gen.QS was engaged in sensitivd negotiations between the Saudis and Iranians and Iraq was facilitaring the same.This was being done because of the US withdrawal of troops from the region and realisation that the US no longer called the shots, barring what's just happened, abandoning the game to Russia. Therefore the Saudis and Gulfies realised that with the US being unreliable there was an urgent need to talk to the Iranians and defuse tensions.Gen.QS was quite capable of achieving this.Was this the real reason why he was hit, too prevent a Sunni- Shiite rapproachment which would push Israel out of the game?

KC Singh,our former diplomat and smbassador to Pak said that in the past India used Gen.QS to take care of the Taliban in Afg. ,also supporting the northern alliance and Masood. QS was much more than just a great general.He was a master strategist able to practise real-politik diplomacy too .

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 07 Jan 2020 09:26

Philip wrote:The Iraqi PM has stated that Gen.QS was engaged in sensitivd negotiations between the Saudis and Iranians and Iraq was facilitaring the same.This was being done because of the US withdrawal of troops from the region and realisation that the US no longer called the shots, barring what's just happened, abandoning the game to Russia. Therefore the Saudis and Gulfies realised that with the US being unreliable there was an urgent need to talk to the Iranians and defuse tensions.Gen.QS was quite capable of achieving this.Was this the real reason why he was hit, too prevent a Sunni- Shiite rapproachment which would push Israel out of the game?

KC Singh,our former diplomat and smbassador to Pak said that in the past India used Gen.QS to take care of the Taliban in Afg. ,also supporting the northern alliance and Masood. QS was much more than just a great general.He was a master strategist able to practise real-politik diplomacy too .

They all take care of there own countries benefits. Only in India we have Indians vouching for Russians, Americans and Iranians. We better start at increasing our military strength and influence to counter the outcome of the situation in the middle east getting worse.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 09:57

yak herder,

the aggressors are following the philosophy of a late american philosopher and confederate general albert pike. Now pike predicted rise of communism and rise of radical islam as means to achieve us objectives. Exactly as we see it now. He wanted radical islam to fight against political zionism, in the process exterminating both.Now you can see where the entire qassem soleimani assasination is headed for. This is where India comes in, radical islam and political zionism exterminates each and field is left open for russian, chinese & indian narratives. Western China and South West Russia are vulnerable to radical islam. Being a democracy with a population burdened with civilizational sense of victimhood which is reinforced now and then and kept afresh in memory, India is not on highest priority but its turn will come after russia and china are destabilized. Let us give a 20-50 yr time frame for that. Thus you can see now why it is important from usa deep state perspective to keep the pot boiling at all times because else the time frames keep getting stretched. You have to see middle east from that perspective then everything makes sense.

From Indian perspective it makes sense to dismantle pakistan before they can become facilitators of any western sponsored wahabbism push on India. Break it up into small states while Iran distracts everyone else. Dont leave it unmolested to become western cats paw later.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:07

UlanBatori wrote: 1. Start BIF type "peaceful demonstrations". Stome-throwing. Attacks on Police.
2. Police arrest rioters. Beat a few.
3. "BRUTAL" "Regime" defined in the MSM.
4. International hate campaign gainst BRUTAL Regime.
5. Covert arms incursion.
6. Bribe some senior officers to desert and form Rebel group.
7. Heavy-weapon attacks.
8. Heavy weapon aid, authorized by Congress (I mean US COTUS).
9. Deluge of ATGMs, IEDs, SAMs, armored cars into civil society.
10. (New!) Decapitation strikes when all else fails.
......

upto 5 is doable, but 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 is not possible in India due to scale and model of govt. This is not working even in venezuela. It worked in Syria and Iraq because ruling baath parties were dominated by minorities.

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 07 Jan 2020 10:21

UlanBatori wrote:habalji, good to have you here. With a bit of time on my hands, and conscience nagging at me, I have been studying the West Asia/Syria dhagas going back to 2011. Relevance to India is glaringly ominous. Let's not celebrate any discomfiture of these formerly arrogant oil nations. We are seeing the template being tried out inexorably, to break India too. The Russian/Iranian led fightback in Syria is the first sign of hope.
1. Start BIF type "peaceful demonstrations". Stome-throwing. Attacks on Police.
2. Police arrest rioters. Beat a few.
3. "BRUTAL" "Regime" defined in the MSM.
4. International hate campaign gainst BRUTAL Regime.
5. Covert arms incursion.
6. Bribe some senior officers to desert and form Rebel group.
7. Heavy-weapon attacks.
8. Heavy weapon aid, authorized by Congress (I mean US COTUS).
9. Deluge of ATGMs, IEDs, SAMs, armored cars into civil society.
10. (New!) Decapitation strikes when all else fails.

We need to study these carefully and test out counters while we still have time. IF we still have time... A prime part of that is to construct and maintain our own narrative (Rajeev Srinivasan calls it the Indian Grand Narrative). Today the English-language media are absolutely swamped with the US-UK propaganda, with sepoys in many countries parroting their garbage (even here). This is ludicrous, because the majority of English-speakers (those who CAN speak English) who can also read and write, are of Indian descent. The advantage has to be seized.
......

Dear UB sir, with all due respect, too much dhoti shivering in your post. Till point 4 you may be right. But please remember one thing, all those "arrogant" oil countries (add egypt to it) are dictatorial/monarchy. India is led by a party that just received historic mandate of the people. More BIF open up, more fence sitters join the PIFs, a good thing for us. Everything from 5 to 10 is a wild imagination of yours.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:30

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:37

Brasco_Aad
@Brasco_Aad
·
7h
Donald Trump mocking Hadj Suleimani during a radio interview tonight:

''I heard they put his remains into a cardboard box, because there was not much left of him. Perhaps only a finger with his ring around it. Yeah, it was pretty bad.''

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:41

هادي نصرالله
@HadiNasrallah
10h
“All what Qassem Soleimani did was stand up for Christians against ISIS and Al Qaeda”

A mass was held in the evangelical church of Aleppo, Syria to honor the martyrdom of General Soleimani who had an essential role in the liberation battle of Aleppo against US-backed Jihadists.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:46

The'Nimr'Tiger
@Souria4Syrians
· 11h
Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi spoke to Chinese ambassador today who told the PM #China is ready to provide Iraq with necessary military and logistical assistance

Iraqi PM speaking to #US ambassador now: we must ready a plan for US withdrawal out of #Iraq

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 07 Jan 2020 10:48

Is the assassination of a General in Iraq such a important factor that it causes gravitational shifts in ME political landscape. ME is/was always rife with murders and conspiracy theories.
As far dreams of Persian empire or Iranian influenced region across erstwhile Mesopotamia, This can only be a dream but not happening in reality atleast in next few decades. By that time India and China would have risen to the top of the power pyramid.

For India, with the emergence of alternate Fuel and EV, the dependence on ME will reduce with time and then it will purely be a strategic play. Right now we want to be in the good books of everyone knowing that we have very few real friends out there but with Oil no longer a strategic weapon in near future and a more assertive Bharat, We will be able to pick and choose sides based upon their behavior. Till then we just hope that ME doesn't go up in smoke like 1990-91.

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:50

Elizabeth Tsurkov
@Elizrael
·
13h
A fighter in the Samarkand Brigade told me why fighters are going to Libya: "Turkey is carrying out a policy of starving the dog to make him follow you." The salaries of fighters in Syria are $50 per month - impossible to survive on. Rumored monthly salaries in Libya are $1,500

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 10:51

Elizabeth Tsurkov
@Elizrael
·
14h
Sources inside the Turkish-backed Syrian factions tell me that in exchange for fighting in Libya, fighters are being promised Turkish citizenship after 6 months of deployment.
Multiple commanders in the factions received Turkish citizenship & passports over the past month

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 11:14

cbinese perspective on trumps iraq policy

Eastern Lion 东方军事爱好者
· 21h
USA: I invaded your country, killed your people, bombed your houses, stole your oil&gold, created ISIS to break your life, now pay me for my work! https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/1 ... 3333407744

habal · Post by **habal** » 07 Jan 2020 11:30

al muhaysini of saudi sponsored al-qaeda in souria comes out of the woodwork

https://twitter.com/i/status/1213803117181112321

Walid
@walid970721

Jan 5
The #Syria based Al-Qaeda tied Saudi Sheikh Muhaysni (US designated terrorist) is celebrating #QassemSulaimani's death & saying that his hand was cut off by God (I guess to him God and #Trump are one and the same). This speech puts him squarely on the same side as the US #Iran

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 07 Jan 2020 12:28

Philip wrote:This was being done because of the US withdrawal of troops from the region and realisation that the US no longer called the shots, barring what's just happened, abandoning the game to Russia.

Dont know where you got this inference? This was what Prez Trump said unequivocally

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the U.S. president said: “If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”

“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said.

US has slowly developed independence from gulf hydrocarbons, via fracking and EVs. They are going to leave only after milking the last bit of oil and sell it to us, the EV-deficient consumers around the world. And when they leave, they are going to drop a lighted match. What we are seeing are samples of gasoline being lit to see how it goes. US is not going to leave the ME for Russia or China to roll in peacefully and enjoy the hydrocarbons. Prez Putin realized that a while back, but unfortunately his main wealth is same as the Gelf, more hydrocarbons. So he did not pick a fight with Erdogan, despite provocations triggered by pro-NATO turks like those shoot-downs. Instead he quietly bargained with all sides and got a decent deal, but there was a flip side. He is now saddled with an unproductive Turkey.

Israel, Soddys and Persians are all expendable pawns being deftly moved around. Trump is just a blunt instrument that came along at a convenient time in history. Like I mentioned yesterday in this thread, India has made its deals with MBS-koya and Iran can only blame itself for that situation. Its political system did not have the depth to figure out the importance of nuclear umbrella nor can it keep its mouth shut. Gen Suleimani got himself hyper-extended and became too public in dealing justice as a competitor to whiteman. He allowed himself to be a single-point* failure for Iran's causes

UB-saar, I dont think there is any idealism in ME on any side. If Gen Suleimani fought with ISIS, it was because he saw an opportunity to spread Iran's own version of "Imam-perialism", piggy backing on Prez Putin's rather bold initiative to use non-military means to thumb the nose at US. And not because he felt for Yazidis or Kurds or even Assad. He was not very careful about lots of things towards the end.

This is my view on what happened to him, based on a tech example: In Silly-con Vale, a lot of product pitches get rejected by rich Hassidim VCs, because
1) there is no H&D exit, even if current revenue is strong
2) the product has potential liabilities (however minute and inconsequential in real life)

#2 is ok for most small operators, because those sharky lawyers who circle this funding scene, know it is a waste of time and resources to sue someone who is still small and can hardly pay any decent damages. But the minute a VC signs up, that small operator is no longer a small target. The VC's wealth will cast a glowing red laser dot on the small operator and paint a fine target for legal action of the most cynical kind. That is what happened with Gen Suleimani's enterprises, a la Putin.

India and Iran are not going to partner beyond a point, unless they let go of their Imamperialism. PM Modi has met MBS-koya to make sure the bets are hedged. India is not going to do what Gen Soleimani and his political backers did: interfere in oil markets
__________
* The diff between Gandhi and MLK is that Gandhi never allowed himself to be become SPOF when going against the will of white man. Good strategy, which made MKG live long enough to achieve his core objective, unlike MLK.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 07 Jan 2020 12:33

UlanBatori wrote:Maybe Indian CAA should be amended: include Shias from Balochistan as persecuted minority. THAT will biss off the protestors really well. Bring in some Balochis and settle them in Mau and Hyderabad.

UlanBatoriji,
Very bad idea. Neither should the Ahmedias or Rohingyas be included in this list of peacefuls.
Sorry to disagree.
Gautam

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 07 Jan 2020 15:18

Iran Now Knows Decapitation Will Be Part of Strategy Going Forward, Ret. Major Says Bloomberg

Iran's supreme leader weeps amid sea of mourners over general slain by U.S.

Jan.06 -- Retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons discusses the strategy behind the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Qassem Soleimani, one of Iran's most powerful generals. He speaks with Bloomberg’s David Westin on “Balance of Power.”

SRajesh · Post by **SRajesh** » 07 Jan 2020 17:04

https://youtu.be/6u3AQj_X1fY
And our own Mr Coupta explaining why MP called Bajwa and not Jaishankar!!

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Jan 2020 19:49

habal wrote: upto 5 is doable, but 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 is not possible in India due to scale and model of govt. This is not working even in venezuela. It worked in Syria and Iraq because ruling baath parties were dominated by minorities.

From our "it will never happen to us series"( not to u habalji, but to Kartikji):

It worked in Syria and Iraq because ruling baath parties were dominated by minorities. So it will work in India when Indian ruling party is dominated by mynawrities. India was very very close in 2014 and again (maybe just a bit safer) in 2019. The proper analogue is when an ISIS-likeentity is set up among the MAJORITY, which if u note, is increasingly coming to the realization that such a jeehaad (let's call it Dharma Maha jeejaad) is essential to save the true civilization.
I haven't become a Darka Butt fan. Just pointing out that a strategic infusion of money and arms can turn a generally bissful community into a extremely violent one. Witness what Khalistan did to Sikhs. Absolutely Deep State type enterprise.

People need to be aware so that one does not always follow the herd, or if one does, at least spare a glance around from time to time.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 07 Jan 2020 19:59

ShauryaT wrote:
UlanBatori wrote:ramana:
shia are 15%, Sunni are 85%.
True Globally but not in the region where Shia:Sunni are more balanced and Shias even dominate, if you exclcude North Africa and Turkey from the mix. This is not only a Shia:Sunni issue but also mired in Geo-Politics and resources (oil), and to a lesser extent today in global politics, as the US is still riding on the collapse of the SU with no global challenge, not in this region anyways in any significant manner.

Exactly!! Take the 200 million Bangladeshs, 200 million Indonesians, 200 million Indians, 200 million Bakis and another 200-400 in Africa out of the mix!! Then Shia-Sunnis are 50-50 in where they are fighting!

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 07 Jan 2020 20:18

Netanyahu says Israel should 'stay out' of fallout from US killing of Soleimani, per report

WORLD Published 11 hours ago
By Vandana Rambaran | Fox News

Tehran is having the regroup and figure out what's next following President Trump's decision to take out their top general, says Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to distance himself from the U.S.-led airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, telling Security Cabinet ministers on Monday that Israel should "stay out of it."

“The killing of Soleimani is a U.S. event, not an Israeli event, and we should stay out of it," Netanyahu said, according to reports by Axios that cited two ministers who attended the meeting.

The prime minister gave further instructions for Cabinet officials not to engage the press in commentary about the attack – which has ramped up the tensions between the U.S. and the Middle East and escalated the likelihood of a retaliatory attack – in order to ensure that Israel's longtime rivals do not get the impression that it was involved in last week's deadly drone strike.

The director of Mossad, a branch of the Israeli Intelligence Community, told ministers they were not expecting any attacks from Iran because "Israel stayed in a distance from the incident," adding that the leaders should expect Iran's retaliation efforts to become more apparent on Tuesday, once the national three-day period of mourning for Soleimani is over.

A former chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said Sunday the Israeli city of Haifa and Israeli military centers would be included in Tehran’s retaliation for Soleimani's death, according to Reuters.

“Iran’s revenge against America for the assassination of Soleimani will be severe. ... Haifa and Israeli military centers will be included in the retaliation,” Mohsen Rezaei said in a televised speech to mourners in Tehran.

Following the attack, where the U.S. launched three rockets at Baghdad International Airport, killing the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and five other people, Netanyahu issued a statement with brief congratulatory remarks to President Trump, a longstanding ally in the region.

"Qassem Soleimani brought about the death of many American citizens and many other innocents in recent decades and at present. Soleimani initiated, planned and carried out many terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East and beyond," Netanyahu said. “President Trump is deserving of all esteem for taking determined, strong and quick action. I would like to reiterate — Israel fully stands alongside the U.S. in the just struggle for security, peace and self-defense.”

Netanyahu reiterated to Cabinet ministers Monday that although Israel did not take part in the attack, they support the U.S.' right to defend itself.