West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

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abhik
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by abhik »

UlanBatori wrote:Let me post a small grenade and scoot. Suppose u have 4 ppl in a family in a home. They decided to have the floor redone and their plumbing redone and their roof redone. Hired a total of 10 contractors to do these.
Now there are 10 contractors in the home and 4 "natives". The 10 decide that democratically, the home belongs to them. The occupy the living room couch, raid the refrigerator, in fact stock the fridge with their beer bottles and displace the baby food from there. They run the washer-dryer.

Is there a problem with this story?
If I am one of the contractors then there is no problem at all.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by abhik »

Singha wrote:^ exactly why the hell should we cut and run and give up our footprint there. running away has become so ingrained people rush to it as the #1 option and start discussing "it will be proving our logistics" :rotfl:
...
Singha saar has hit the nail on its head. If I remember correctly after Trump's election win there there was a hue and cry about how the US was going to be taken over by the KKK and reaction of some senior members was to discuss how to accommodate the the horde of returning Indians. Maybe we should open a new thread "design your own tuck-your-tail-between-your-legs-and-run ship/aircraft" to find the best and most efficient system.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Saudi security forces foil attack on Grand Mosque in Makkah: state TV

Saudi security forces foiled an attack on the Grand Mosque in the Makkah on Friday, state television Al Ekhbariya and Al Arabiya TV reported.
Al Arabiya said security forces had found two groups of terrorists in Makkah and a third group in the city of Jeddah. The foiled attack targetted worshipers at the mosque, it said.

The first operation was foiled in Makkah in Assila district, while the second was thwarted in Ajyad Al Masafi neighborhood.
A suicide bomber, who was hiding in a house in the Ajyad neighborhood, opened fire on security forces and refusing to comply with calls to turn himself in. He later blew himself up after a crackdown on him.
Six people were injured and five members of the security forces were lightly injured.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by nachiket »

IndraD wrote:what do gaarus here think are chances of Saudi actually invading Qatar like Iraq-Kuwait crisis?
Looking at their horrendous performance in Yemen the Saudis are in no position to invade anybody. Unless of course the pakis go full retard and send thousands of PA troops under Rawheel's command. Unlikely, and that would still not solve the question of what happens to the CENTCOM base in Qatar.

Blockade and sanctions is as far as they can go.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by UlanBatori »

IndraD wrote:Saudi security forces foil attack on Grand Mosque in Makkah: state TV
The content of the report in no way lives up to the headline. Quality soosais are THIS hard to come by, hain? There is a fundamental problem with soosais to inflate the Big Mosque: where will they go to meet houris?
Oh! I am just coming hiyar after inflating Great Mosque in Makkah!
doesn't sound like a great pickup-line, does it?
This is clearly a continuation of the palace coup. Mopping up holdouts in Makkah. Obviously they killed themselves or were killed rather than surrender. Silenced, either way.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ramana »

Folks time to separate the evacuation of expatriates to the proper thread.
Please post there.

i am transferring the posts there for continuity.

thanks.

ramana
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Saudi-led demands not 'reasonable or actionable': Qatar
Qatar reviewing document issued by Saudi-led bloc of Arab countries and preparing 'an appropriate response'.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/q ... 47175.html
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

https://twitter.com/CT_operative/status ... 6296357888

shades of benazir bhutto here. surely hanging her father by zia had the full approval of outside fathers as quid pro quo. then zia fell and benazir rose.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sy ... ssing-map/

Image

syrians+ are close to capturing T2 (12km yesterday) and creating a jumping point logistic base to head for the southern towns of the euphrates. a network of gas pipelines and no doubt parallel service tracks head off in many directions east from T2.

that region is not very defensible for isis. just flat wide open desert . the syrians have already crossed a bunch of dried up wadis and low hills called wadi al waer. wheeled vehicles can work here, as it did in north africa in WW2. the syrian desert does not seem to have pure play sand dunes of the sahara.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

iraqi army and pmu is said to be preparing for the battle of western anbar. they are still 100km away with nearest major base being the haditha dam. their target would be Al-Qaim on the border - a legendary nest of ISIS emirs same way jisr al shugour & idlib city is the spiritual home of the nusra front.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

Dez continues to hold out despite all odds against the dark tides

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sy ... eir-ezzor/

helicopters from qamishli fly in at low level at night and IL76 airdrops
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

After a brief lull Saudi religious police return to streets of Riyadh http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 08796.html
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

US senator to block arms sales to Gulf over Qatar crisis
An influential US senator has said he will withhold consent for arms sales to Gulf Arab states until there is a "path forward" to resolving the Qatar crisis.
Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, warned that efforts to fight so-called Islamic State and counter Iran were being hurt.
Under US law, Congress must be formally notified 30 days before the sale of any weapons to foreign governments, giving lawmakers time to block it if they object.
Last month, a resolution seeking to stop the sale of about $500m (£393m) of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia for use in the Yemen conflict - part of a $110bn (£86bn) arms deal negotiated by Mr Trump in Riyadh - was only narrowly defeated in the Senate by 53 votes to 47.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40410673
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

lets see what Saudi does to prove that it is not a hotgas of words onlee..

Turkey will not remove troops from Qatar https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... t-of-qatar
Turkey’s president has described as disrespectful a demand by Saudi Arabia and its allies that it withdraw its troops from Qatar as a step towards ending a deepening dispute with the besieged Gulf state.

Two days after the demand was made, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instead reiterated his support for Qatar and described the 13 demands levelled at the Gulf country as preconditions to restore relations as being “against international law”.

“To ask Turkey to pull out its troops from Qatar is firstly disrespectful behaviour towards us,” he said in Istanbul on the first day of a three-day holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. “We don’t need permission from anyone to establish military bases among partners. We endorse and appreciate Qatar’s stance towards the 13 demands. It’s a very, very ugly approach to try to interfere with our agreement.”
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Philip »

Clown Prince Dust-Bin Salman is desirous of establishing a Saudi empire in the Arab world.However,he can't even conquer the Yemen and must remember the eventual fate of Mussolini in Ethiopia.

X-posted,Levant td.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/sau ... 08936.html
s
By demanding the end of Al Jazeera, Saudi Arabia is trying to turn Qatar into a vassal state
If Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman can rush into a hopeless war with the Houthis of Yemen, why shouldn’t he threaten the body politic of Qatar?

Robert Fisk
The newsroom at the headquarters of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel in Doha AFP/Getty
So serious has the Saudi-Qatar crisis now become that the Qatari Foreign Minister is reportedly planning an emergency trip to Washington in the next few days in the hope that the Trump regime can save his emirate. For Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani knows very well that if Qatar submits to the 13 unprecedented – some might say outrageous – demands that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have made, it will cease to exist as a nation state.

Al Jazeera television editors, supported by a phalanx of human rights and press freedom groups, have denounced the 10-day warning that the Qatar satellite chain must close – along with Middle East Eye and other affiliates – as a monstrous intrusion into freedom of speech. One television executive compared it to a German demand that Britain closes the BBC. Not so. It is much more like an EU demand that Theresa May close the BBC. And we know what she would say to that.

But the British Prime Minister and her Foreign Secretary, while obviously anxious to distance themselves from this very dangerous – and highly expensive – Arab dispute, are not going to draw the sword for Qatar. Nor are the Americans, when their crackpot President decided that Qatar was a funder of “terrorism” a few days after agreeing a $350bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

UAE: Diplomacy will be given 'one or two more chances' before they 'part ways' with Qatar
But surely, say the Qataris, this can’t be serious. They don’t doubt that Field Marshal President al-Sisi of Egypt, who loathes Al Jazeera, is principally behind the demand that it close down, but one of the four Arab states must have deliberately leaked the list to Reuters and the Associated Press. If so, why would Qatar’s enemies wish to reveal their hand so early? Surely such demands would be only the first negotiating position of the four Arab nations.

It’s hard to see how the Qataris can respond. If they really did close their worldwide television network and other media groups, break off relations with the Muslim Brotherhood – al-Sisi’s target, although his real enemy is Isis – and the Taliban and Hezbollah, downgrade their relations with Iran, close Turkey’s military base and expose their account books for international Arab scrutiny for the next 12 years, then Qatar becomes a vassal state.

To Qatar’s friends, this seems bizarre, fantastical, almost beyond reality – but who can plumb the brain of the new and highly impulsive 31-year-old Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia? If he can rush into a hopeless war with the Houthis of Yemen, why shouldn’t he threaten the body politic of Qatar? The Saudi royal family have several times tried to humiliate their disobedient neighbour; by isolating this little pearl of wealth with its meddlesome television station, they are forcing Qatar to eat the nearest equivalent of humble pie: food imported from Iran and Turkey.

Al Jazeera, needless to say, is no shrinking violet. Modesty has never been its chief characteristic. Its Arabic service has shown extraordinary partiality towards the Brotherhood, which the emir of Qatar continued to support after the Egyptian military staged a coup d’etat against the elected Brotherhood president of Egypt. Al-Sisi banged up a group of Al Jazeera journalists whose work for the English service had been used – without their permission – on the intrusive and anti-Sisi Arabic “Live” channel run by Qatar.

The English service, despite all the brouhaha when it first began transmitting – the American media hailed its arrival as the beginning of media freedom in the Middle East – rarely covered Bahrain or showed any critical courage in reporting Saudi Arabia. It certainly never asked why Qatar was not a democracy. When it began broadcasting Osama bin Laden’s taped sermons, President George W Bush wanted to bomb the satellite channel – which would have been a slightly more extreme step than the 13 demands of the four Arab nations who now wish to isolate Qatar. An American version of Al Jazeera was a total failure; it began to sound and look like just another version of CNN/Fox News – tat journalism that then infected its worldwide English language service.

So while we should not be too romantic about Al Jazeera, its Arab detractors, fortified by their all too romantic new relationship with Trump, are trying to crush any dignity which Qatar claims for itself. To insist that it pays cash compensation for lives lost due to its foreign policy is like asking Saudi Arabia to fund the rebuilding of Yemen, pay indemnity to its 10,000 civilian dead and care for its tens of thousands of cholera victims.

In its earlier days, I asked one of Al Jazeera’s senior staffers if the channel, on which I sometimes appeared, was merely a propaganda plaything of the Qatari royal family. No, I was told firmly. It was a “foreign policy project”. And so it clearly is. Tiny Qatar thought it had become an imperial power upon whose satellite channel the sun would never set. But if it one day acquired the power of land – by rebuilding Syria, for example – this might add territory to oil and liquid gas and Al Jazeera; something which the Saudis would never accept. Is this why Qatar’s nationhood is now being threatened?
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Sauid-Bahrain enraged by footage of Turkey tanks rolling on streets of Qatar
Image
Turks have refused to pull army out of Qtr: Erdoğan rejects Saudi demand to pull Turkish troops out of Qatar
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... t-of-qatar

so far we have seen
Sunni vs sunni
Sunni vs Shia
Sunni vs Kurds
Sunni + Kurds vs Shia
...lets see what lies ahead...
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

i am pretty much sure all the borders of ME and north africa are going to get redrawn in next 2 decades as state after state fails or is made to fail

islam ensures that none but despots can rule these nations, as islam and democracy are like oil and water
despots inevitably fall into two buckets - pro america, pro russia
no 'neutral' despot exists anymore - all need P2 backing to survive (and in Noko case that of cheen)
aspirations of middle class on one side
aspirations of salafis and militants on the other for more piety

by fire and sword the faith that spread its sway on half the world is collapsing in on itself again through fire and sword

the clever ones know the only place muslims can be really safe is as minority in tolerant large non-muslim societies like india, usa, EU - so they are going there by hook or crook

but a section thinks they can take advantage of this tolerance to be militant oil droplet and 'grab readymade resources' to establish new quilla e islams ... hence some are not really happy in tolerant societies too ... but inevitably as they attain area dominance, they come down hard on others and fall back into the same cycle of competing militarized factions .... this we see in full flow in Idlib - N number of militias run their own systems of extortion and checkpoints and daily executions and bombings are common
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Karthik S »

IndraD wrote:so far we have seen
Sunni vs sunni
Sunni vs Shia
Sunni vs Kurds
Sunni + Kurds vs Shia
...lets see what lies ahead...
G-e-H?
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Philip »

When the Moors were in Spain,culture and scientific knowledge in the Islamic world was supposed to be at its highest level.In fact "Christian Europe" had to wait until the Rennaisance to catch up,Scientific knowledge from India spread through the Islamic world to Europe. (Read Black Athena) We saw how India tamed the Muslim invaders and saw them evolve into great builder and patrons of the arts (Aurangzeb forget about).The Oudh/Lucknawi etiquette was an art form.However,easy wealth in the form of the oil black-gold rush in the region has corrupted the desert tribes who rule kingdoms and sheikhdoms carved out of the sand by European mischief-makers.Even religion does not unite them anymore. The clash of egos that have ruined kingdoms which appeared indestructible litter the pages of history.Ask the former royalty of Europe who strode the continent before WW1.
With gems like Bin Salman leading the charge like Don Quixote,with a retinue of Gulfie Sancho Panzas,we are in for another treat,xcpt,that millions of Indians working in the region (and their families) will be sorely affected. Time for New Delhi to break its silence and remind the prancing potentates that we too will not stand by idle if our interests are not respected.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ramana »

Philip, The KSA and GCC vs. Qatar started out like an simple sequential game and suddenly turned into a concurrent game.
So bad it has caused regime change in KSA itself.

What else will happen time and payoff will tell.

Right now to stabilize the game the payoff for negative action has to be reduced. Its very high now.

Both KSA and Qatar get high payoff for negative action.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

one thing i failed to mention is the high rate of private gun ownership even in the GCC not to speak of yemen / syria / iraq type places . you already have a armed horde in every mohalla who are looking to secure their own perimeter. from there its a matter of adding fuel to the fire in political or religions motivation to get a mobile kabila thing going for any cause good or bad (PMU, sunni extremists joining ISIS etc)

click the 2nd column to rank by rate of ownership
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... hip/table/

11 arab nations are in the top 50

iran is way down at 79, india is totally defanged @ 110
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Falijee »

American Factors And The Palace Intrigues In The House Of Saud By A Pro-Russian Veteran Reporter.

House of Saudi Cards: The Inside Story
Pepe Escobar
Just when geopolitical practitioners were betting on regime change in Qatar – orchestrated by a desperate House of Saud – regime change ended up happening in Riyadh, orchestrated by Warrior ( recently "promoted", young and brash!) Prince, Destroyer of Yemen and Blockader of Qatar, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).
Considering the impenetrability of that desert petrodollar family oligarchy impersonating a nation it’s up to a few foreigners granted access to make sense of the latest Arabian Game of Thrones. It also does not help that the “largesse” of Saudi – and Emirati – lobbies in Washington reduces virtually every think tank and hack in sight to abject sycophancy. (power of Saudi Money Diplomacy!)
A top Middle East source close to the House of Saud, and a de facto dissident of the Beltway consensus, minces no words; “The CIA is very displeased with the firing of [former Crown Prince] Mohammad bin Nayef. Mohammad bin Salman is regarded as sponsoring terrorism. In April 2014 the entire royal families of the UAE and Saudi Arabia were to be ousted by the US over terrorism. A compromise was worked out that Nayef would take over running the Kingdom to stop it.”
Before the Riyadh coup, an insistent narrative had been pervading selected Middle East geopolitical circles according to which US intel, “indirectly”, stopped another coup against the young Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, orchestrated by Mohammad bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with help from Blackwater/Academi's Eric Prince’s army of mercenaries in the UAE. Zayed, crucially, happens to be MBS’s mentor.
Our source clarifies, “the events are connected. Prince is CIA, but he probably stopped any coup attempt on Qatar. The CIA blocked the coup in Qatar and the Saudis reacted by dumping the CIA selected Mohammed bin Nayef, who was to be the next King. The Saudis are scared. The monarchy is in trouble as the CIA can move the army in Saudi Arabia against the king. This was a defensive move by MBS.” When it comes to the crunch, the Saudi regime are entirely dependent on the Americans to keep them in power !
The source adds, “MBS is failing everywhere. Yemen, Syria, Qatar, Iraq, etc. are all failures of MBS. China is also displeased with MBS as he has been stirring up trouble in Xinjiang. Russia cannot be happy that MBS was and is behind the lower oil price. Who are his allies? He has only one and that is his father, who is hardly competent.” King Salman is virtually incapacitated by dementia.
Where does the newly "purchased" Paki General fit in this mix ? Is he advising MBS on many matters or is he , treated like a "miskeen" by the Young Prince and other Saudi Elites :mrgreen:
And to add to the charade, there’s the Jared of Arabia factor. There's no way any serious inside player would confirm anything about the (aborted) coup in Qatar. But if that coup attempt really happened, and was squashed, Jared Kushner may have had inside information, considering his connections. According to the source, “Jared Kushner is essentially bankrupt at 666 Fifth Avenue, and needs Saudi financial help. So he is doing everything the Saudis want. 666 Fifth is in such bad financial shape that even his father-in-law cannot bail him out.” If this is true, then it explains Kushner and Ivanka's recent trip to China soliciting Chinese Investors and luring them with "American Investor Visa " !
This convoluted trail of events does corroborate the famous December 2015 memo by the BND – German intelligence, according to which the House of Saud had adopted “an impulsive policy of intervention”, with then Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince MBS, a “gambler”, bound to cause a lot of trouble. The BND memo detailed how the House of Saud, in Syria, bankrolled the creation of the Army of Conquest – basically a revamp of Jabhat al-Nusra, a.k.a. al-Qaeda in Syria — as well as ideological sister outfit Ahrar al-Sham. Translation; the House of Saud aiding, abetting and weaponizing Salafi-jihadi terrorism. And this from a regime that now charges Qatar of doing the same (Doha supported different outfits). Inter-Ummah tiff is nothing new. ! Long term project of Isamizing the world remains the same !!!
In Yemen, the BND worried that MBS’s war against the Houthis and the Yemeni Army was only profiting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Now MBS’s war – conducted with American and British weapons — has also provoked a horrendous humanitarian catastrophe. How come an arrogant, sloppy, hubristic ignoramus like MBS has come so close to set the whole of Southwest Asia on fire? And not only Southwest Asia; waves of despair are flowing in Western investment circles to the effect that MBS is such a loose cannon his actions will destroy retirement accounts all over the spectrum.( Maybe, Paki Raheel can rein in this "loose cannon" by giving him some sane military advise - and not annoying him at the same time :mrgreen: )
Some essential background is in order. What we have today is the Third Saudi kingdom — founded by Ibn Saud in 1902, keeping the same, previous noxious alliance with troglodyte Wahhabi clerics. Ibn Saud only ruled Najd in the beginning; then, in 1913, he annexed Shi’ite Eastern Arabia (that’s where the oil is), and up to 1926 Hejaz, on the Red Sea coast. A “united” Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed only in 1932. Ibn Saudi died in 1953. Arguably the most influential of his harem of wives was Hassa al-Sudairi. They had 7 sons together. (Demented) King Salman, Nayef and MBS are all Sudairis. MBS is the first of Ibn Saud’s grandsons within striking reach of the throne. So, the "line" will now pass to the next generation, and of course the intrigues will now involve the "Young Princes'" ![/quote]
No wonder every major geopolitical player is now gaming war scenarios – although only Germany stated its concerns on the record. Qatar is a NATO observer. Doha is adamant; it won’t fold to the absurd Saudi demands. What next; will MBS – the most dangerous “leader” in geopolitics today – lose face or launch yet another, demented, unwinnable and this time globally-convulsing war?
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

he is a kind of lost bro of Philip sir looking at writing style :)
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Karthik S »

Singha wrote:India is totally defanged @ 110
How I've been wishing that NCC be a mandatory part of school curriculum of select schools and that students need to earn C certificate (there are A, B and C) to qualify for their man exams. That will give a good 4 5 years training on how to operate a gun. It's always good to have militias as in khan. I am not advocating for gun rights, but people should know how to operate them. I know we have so many retired military people, but still, it's all numbers game isn't it.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Falijee wrote:American Factors And The Palace Intrigues In The House Of Saud By A Pro-Russian Veteran Reporter.

House of Saudi Cards: The Inside Story
Pepe Escobar
For once I thought it is a post by our own Philip saar! :eek:
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

The Coming War Between Saudi Arabia And Iran Will Make American Frackers Very Rich
The biggest gainers will be the US frackers,” says Matsopoulos. “With an extremely wide break-even range from $32 to $55 per barrel, an increase in the oil price to levels higher than $50 will make the overwhelming majority of them smile. The US will soon be able to finance its trading deficit and solidify even more its position as a major oil exporter. The longer a potential crisis in the Middle East lasts, the more the market share of the US companies will increase -- because apart from prices and commodities the political stability of the USA can act as a guarantee for a smooth supply of oil for many consumers.”

That’s why Washington may do little if anything to stop a direct war between the two old adversaries. And Russia may go along with this scenario, as higher oil prices will benefit its own oil producers.

Paradoxically, a direct war will benefit the Saudi Kingdom, too. Higher oil prices will pave the way for its Aramco IPO; and give a very much needed break to its over-exploited oil wells.

Still, an outright war carries high risks for both Saudi Arabia's and Iran's regimes, especially if it involves many casualties. That makes the scenario possible but not probable, at this time.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourd ... 137a7378da
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Rudradev »

The other benefit to both the US and Russia is that energy crises in the wake of a KSA-Iran war will screw the economic outlook for India (most of all) and China.

The US aggravated civil wars in the Southern Mediterranean (Libya) and Eastern Mediterranean (Syria), giving rise to vast swarms of refugees that are busily destroying the social, economic and political stability of the European Union.

Similarly, a hot war between KSA and Iran in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula will create energy crises as well as related economic crises (repatriation of expat workers, decreased demand for manufactured goods, etc.) that will hugely disrupt the economic stability of India and China.

So all these Middle Eastern shenanigans can be viewed as a project by the US (and its UK ally, which Brexited just in time) to undermine the EU (via the Levant) and India + China (via the Gulf/Peninsula). Eliminating rising competitors.

What must not be forgotten is who else benefits. Russia benefits from a weaker EU, because a strong German/French led EU was aggressively driving NATO expansion eastwards, while individual European countries can be dealt with more advantageously on bilateral terms.

Russia benefits from a weaker China. Russia knows that at present it is a junior partner in the SCO, BRICS etc. A prolonged economic contraction (along with a measure of social and political instability) will cut PRC down to size and restore balance of power between these two nations.

Russia and the US both benefit if India gets boxed into its cold-war era sphere of influence: "South Asia", where it can be "balanced" by shoring up Pakistan.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ramana »

ramana wrote:Philip, The KSA and GCC vs. Qatar started out like an simple sequential game and suddenly turned into a concurrent game.
So bad it has caused regime change in KSA itself.

What else will happen time and payoff will tell.

Right now to stabilize the game the payoff for negative action has to be reduced. Its very high now.

Both KSA and Qatar get high payoff for negative action.

Pepe Escobar article confirms a sequential game became a concurrent game.

A regime change in Qatar backfired into regime change in KSA.

Also the possibility that MBS is being made the fall guy for plans that backfired.
His vision 2030 is a way to get KSA out of oil trap.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ramana »

X-posting Falijee's post

American Factors And The Palace Intrigues In The House Of Saud By A Pro-Russian Veteran Reporter.

House of Saudi Cards: The Inside Story
Pepe Escobar
Just when geopolitical practitioners were betting on regime change in Qatar – orchestrated by a desperate House of Saud – regime change ended up happening in Riyadh, orchestrated by Warrior ( recently "promoted", young and brash!) Prince, Destroyer of Yemen and Blockader of Qatar, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).
Considering the impenetrability of that desert petrodollar family oligarchy impersonating a nation it’s up to a few foreigners granted access to make sense of the latest Arabian Game of Thrones. It also does not help that the “largesse” of Saudi – and Emirati – lobbies in Washington reduces virtually every think tank and hack in sight to abject sycophancy. (power of Saudi Money Diplomacy!)
A top Middle East source close to the House of Saud, and a de facto dissident of the Beltway consensus, minces no words; “The CIA is very displeased with the firing of [former Crown Prince] Mohammad bin Nayef. Mohammad bin Salman is regarded as sponsoring terrorism. In April 2014 the entire royal families of the UAE and Saudi Arabia were to be ousted by the US over terrorism. A compromise was worked out that Nayef would take over running the Kingdom to stop it.”
Before the Riyadh coup, an insistent narrative had been pervading selected Middle East geopolitical circles according to which US intel, “indirectly”, stopped another coup against the young Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, orchestrated by Mohammad bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with help from Blackwater/Academi's Eric Prince’s army of mercenaries in the UAE. Zayed, crucially, happens to be MBS’s mentor.
Our source clarifies, “the events are connected. Prince is CIA, but he probably stopped any coup attempt on Qatar. The CIA blocked the coup in Qatar and the Saudis reacted by dumping the CIA selected Mohammed bin Nayef, who was to be the next King. The Saudis are scared. The monarchy is in trouble as the CIA can move the army in Saudi Arabia against the king. This was a defensive move by MBS.” When it comes to the crunch, the Saudi regime are entirely dependent on the Americans to keep them in power !
The source adds, “MBS is failing everywhere. Yemen, Syria, Qatar, Iraq, etc. are all failures of MBS. China is also displeased with MBS as he has been stirring up trouble in Xinjiang. Russia cannot be happy that MBS was and is behind the lower oil price. Who are his allies? He has only one and that is his father, who is hardly competent.” King Salman is virtually incapacitated by dementia.
Where does the newly "purchased" Paki General fit in this mix ? Is he advising MBS on many matters or is he , treated like a "miskeen" by the Young Prince and other Saudi Elites :mrgreen:
And to add to the charade, there’s the Jared of Arabia factor. There's no way any serious inside player would confirm anything about the (aborted) coup in Qatar. But if that coup attempt really happened, and was squashed, Jared Kushner may have had inside information, considering his connections. According to the source, “Jared Kushner is essentially bankrupt at 666 Fifth Avenue, and needs Saudi financial help. So he is doing everything the Saudis want. 666 Fifth is in such bad financial shape that even his father-in-law cannot bail him out.” If this is true, then it explains Kushner and Ivanka's recent trip to China soliciting Chinese Investors and luring them with "American Investor Visa " !
This convoluted trail of events does corroborate the famous December 2015 memo by the BND – German intelligence, according to which the House of Saud had adopted “an impulsive policy of intervention”, with then Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince MBS, a “gambler”, bound to cause a lot of trouble. The BND memo detailed how the House of Saud, in Syria, bankrolled the creation of the Army of Conquest – basically a revamp of Jabhat al-Nusra, a.k.a. al-Qaeda in Syria — as well as ideological sister outfit Ahrar al-Sham. Translation; the House of Saud aiding, abetting and weaponizing Salafi-jihadi terrorism. And this from a regime that now charges Qatar of doing the same (Doha supported different outfits). Inter-Ummah tiff is nothing new. ! Long term project of Isamizing the world remains the same !!!
In Yemen, the BND worried that MBS’s war against the Houthis and the Yemeni Army was only profiting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Now MBS’s war – conducted with American and British weapons — has also provoked a horrendous humanitarian catastrophe. How come an arrogant, sloppy, hubristic ignoramus like MBS has come so close to set the whole of Southwest Asia on fire? And not only Southwest Asia; waves of despair are flowing in Western investment circles to the effect that MBS is such a loose cannon his actions will destroy retirement accounts all over the spectrum.( Maybe, Paki Raheel can rein in this "loose cannon" by giving him some sane military advise - and not annoying him at the same time :mrgreen: )
Some essential background is in order. What we have today is the Third Saudi kingdom — founded by Ibn Saud in 1902, keeping the same, previous noxious alliance with troglodyte Wahhabi clerics. Ibn Saud only ruled Najd in the beginning; then, in 1913, he annexed Shi’ite Eastern Arabia (that’s where the oil is), and up to 1926 Hejaz, on the Red Sea coast. A “united” Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed only in 1932. Ibn Saudi died in 1953. Arguably the most influential of his harem of wives was Hassa al-Sudairi. They had 7 sons together. (Demented) King Salman, Nayef and MBS are all Sudairis. MBS is the first of Ibn Saud’s grandsons within striking reach of the throne. So, the "line" will now pass to the next generation, and of course the intrigues will now involve the "Young Princes'" ![/quote]
No wonder every major geopolitical player is now gaming war scenarios – although only Germany stated its concerns on the record. Qatar is a NATO observer. Doha is adamant; it won’t fold to the absurd Saudi demands. What next; will MBS – the most dangerous “leader” in geopolitics today – lose face or launch yet another, demented, unwinnable and this time globally-convulsing war?
So all this started in 2014. And Ombaba was the US President. And looks like he planned to set Middle East on fire with KSA, UAE regime changes along with the Libya and Syria regime change moves. Then add Ukraine to the mix.

Quite a Olympian God moving chess pieces pretending to be a peace loving minion.

Got stalled in KSA, UAE and Syria. Ukraine minus Crimea is in a mess.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ArjunPandit »

Rudradev wrote:The other benefit to both the US and Russia is that energy crises in the wake of a KSA-Iran war will screw the economic outlook for India (most of all) and China.
Rudradev, while not relevant for this forum. This can put further pressure on CPEC/OBOR
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by ArjunPandit »

Ramana guru,
to me Rawheal Sharif is a useful idiot adn expendable.

In the masterploy by ganjoo, he's off his back. If his advise works well (either ways: MBS calms down or MBS achieves military success, like a true manager Ganjoo would come and say he gave his best man).
If it doesnt and faces failure we might see the red shift from Laal topi to Rawheel Sharif, in this case too he's off his back. There will be fall out on Sharif, but some other day. However, given their circumstances and way of life they anyways dont look that far ahead in time
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Falijee »

Qatar ‘manipulated FIFA’s voting members’ during World Cup bidding process: leaked report :roll:
BERLIN – As Qatar gears up to host the World Cup in 2022, a leaked report published by German tabloid Bild suggests the Gulf country and FIFA took part in corrupt practices during and after the bidding process. Bild has published the first of a series of extracts from the 430-page report, which was written by former FIFA independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia in 2014. The dossier represents one of the biggest investigations ever carried out in the world of sports. One extract of the report allegedly states that those seeking to bring the World Cup to Qatar “served to undermine the integrity of the bidding process.” Qatar ( and Saudi Arabia) have always been known to use "Cheque Book Diplomacy" to have their way!. Why this report was "leaked" at this particular time, is anybody's guess . :mrgreen:
In particular, the report mentions the role played by Aspire Academy, one of the biggest sports academies in the world, which aims to find and develop Qatari athletes. It says Aspire Academy was “implicated in a decisive manner in the manipulation of FIFA members who had the right to vote.” "Cutoff" used in the bribing process , so that Qatari hands are not "dirtied" :mrgreen:
The report also claims that three FIFA executive members were flown to Rio in a private jet provided by the Qatari Football Association, ahead of the vote for 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights. It also states that the 10-year-old daughter of a FIFA official received a deposit of two million Swiss francs (US$2 million) into her bank account months after the ballots were cast. Saudi hand in the "leaking process", to malign the Qataris, cannot be entirely ruled out :twisted:
In addition, the report claims that the husband of one of disgraced former FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s closest aides was handed a contract in Qatar for his construction company.
Meanwhile, Peter Rossberg, the Bild journalist who obtained the copy of the report, wrote on Facebook that the dossier does not provide “proof” that the World Cup in Qatar had been bought. :roll: Hiding his own role in the "leaking process". Throwing off the scent from those who might suspect him of "lifafa journalism" The concept of "plausible deniability comes to mind :mrgreen:
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

FIFA and the IOC are patronage networks stuffed with elites. thats been known since i was in washable cloth diapers and juan antonio samaranch and sepp blatter ruled the roost. in that era sebastian co was a active athlete and so was nadia comaneci.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Aurangzeb redux

Deposed crown prince of Saudi put under house arrest, his passport seized as per news channels http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06 ... ed-palace/
The former crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who was deposed last week to make way for the king’s ambitious 31-year-old son, has reportedly been confined to his palace and banned from leaving the country.

Mohammed bin Nayaf, a 57-year-old nephew of the king, was the heir to the throne and led the powerful interior ministry until he was stripped of his positions to clear a path for Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s son.

According to the New York Times, bin Nayaf has now been told he cannot leave his palace in the coastal city of Jeddah and must stay inside Saudi Arabia. His personal bodyguards have reportedly been replaced by forces loyal to the new crown prince.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Philip »

Great display of traditional Muslim monarchist mayhem by the House of Saud. The Clown Prince,one Dust-Bin Salman,is now desperate to keep his dear bold relative from talking and spilling the beans about Dust-BIn's disastrous Yemen expedition,and his other covert actions in supporting ISIS to the hilt.
The palace coup is complete.the doddering old king has unleashed the young upstart who is waiting to rape Qatar of its riches and behead its rulers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... -to-palace
Deposed Saudi crown prince confined to palace
Saudi officials deny claims Mohammed bin Nayef is under house arrest while power transition takes effect
Saudi boys play in front of a billboard showing King Salman flanked by Mohammed bin Salman (right) and Mohammed bin Nayef.

Martin Chulov in Beirut
Thursday 29 June 2017 11.14 BST Last modified on Thursday 29 June 2017 14.47 BST
The deposed Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, has been confined to his palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, as his young successor seeks to consolidate his newfound power, two sources close to the royal family have confirmed.

The movements of the former heir to the throne have been restricted since Mohammed bin Salman, 31, replaced his cousin as crown prince last week, ensuring that he, instead of the 57-year-old security tsar whom he ousted, would eventually succeed his father as ruler.

Senior Saudi officials denied Nayef was under house arrest, with one describing the claim – first reported in the New York Times – as “not true at all”. Another official, however, said: “It’s just in the changeover period. MBS [bin Salman] does not want to take any risks. It is not house arrest. Nothing like that at all.”

Bin Nayef had been the kingdom’s most influential security official over the past 15 years. He had maintained close intelligence connections with the US and UK and was seen by Saudi allies as an assured and trusted hand.

Mohammed bin Salman, newly appointed crown prince, kisses Mohammed bin Nayef’s hand. Photograph: AP
His ties to Saudi allies are far more extensive than those of his successor, a possible factor in the decision to keep him isolated while the power transition takes effect. The House of Saud had been determined to convey the image of a seamless handover, with a government video showing Bin Salman bowing and kissing the hand of his cousin after being named crown prince.

In the lead up to the change, however, a mutual rivalry has eroded trust. “It was never daggers drawn,” said the Saudi official. “It was that a younger man wanted the job and the older man didn’t like it. Things never broke down, but it became clear that the king’s son had the profile and status that the crown prince should have had. Everyone could see that.”

The New York Times reported that guards loyal to Bin Salman had replaced those of his predecessor outside the Jeddah palace to where the ousted royal had returned. It is understood that Bin Nayef and his close family members have been prevented from leaving the kingdom.

“If he is seen as benign, this will change quite quickly,” the official said. “I suspect they don’t want him jetting off to Washington in a bad mood and telling anyone, even our allies, the state secrets.

“There is too much risk in letting a disgruntled figure talk at a time like this.”

The upheaval follows a dizzying series of moves from the usually cautious kingdom, which in recent weeks has recalibrated relations with Washington and opened a diplomatic offensive against Qatar, led by Bin Salman’s office, while pressing ahead with a war in Yemen and an ambitious economic and cultural overhaul at home.

Bin Salman has been central to the changes, which have helped his profile and powers grow rapidly under the tutelage of an 81-year-old monarch who has given him an almost free hand over most aspects of society.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Singha »

is prince salman a radical islamist or a secularish tyrant?
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by Philip »

Dust-Bin Salman is a Wahaabi Soothi. The dynasty has Wahaabi blood steeped in it The DNA speaks for itself.

Another white knight to the rescue of Qatar what? Prince Vladimir of Put-it-in?

Xcpt: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/2017 ... atar-food/
Russia Ready to Supply Food, Freshwater to Qatar If Needed r
MIDDLE EAST
16:59 29.06.2017
0 15220
Russia is ready to supply food, freshwater and any other products to Qatar, if such need arises amid the ongoing diplomatic row between Qatar and other Arab countries, President of Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin told Sputnik in an interview.

"I think what the Qataris now really care about most is food. I think that if such issues arise, we will surely select partners from both the grain trade and many other products that Russia produces," Katyrin said on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings international summit, answering a question as to whether Russia was ready to supply food to Qatar amid the ongoing diplomatic row for the country.

He added that Russia could supply freshwater to Qatar, if necessary, noting that "we have the whole Baikal, [world's largest freshwater lake], no need to worry."

"We, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, proceed from the presumption that in whatever way the political situation turns, the first necessary thing is to preserve the functioning economic ties, and the second is to look for new opportunities, regardless of sanction regime. If there is no one, we develop new ties and try to preserve old ties, as well as look for new niches that are not sanctioned," Katyrin added.

He also believes that sanctions against Qatar will not work as planned by those who introduced them. The only internationally recognized body authorized to introduce sanctions is the United Nations Security Council, he added.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by IndraD »

Singha wrote:is prince salman a radical islamist or a secularish tyrant?
secularish tyrant...he is supporter of women driving in Saudi.
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Re: West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Post by UlanBatori »

Secularish tyrant who uses the radical islamists to do his terrorizing for him. Zia ul Haq II. With the military acumen of Musharraf. :rotfl: Witness Yemen and Syria and Iraq campaign successes.
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