West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 May 2015 03:22

Seljuks were defeated by Ottomans and got absorbed.

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 02 May 2015 03:35

ramana wrote:Seljuks were defeated by Ottomans and got absorbed.

Seljuks formed Delhi Sultanate, Bahamani kingdom etc, IIRC

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 02 May 2015 13:32

Islamist rebels battle Syrian army near Assad heartland

Islamist rebels and the Syrian army fought fierce battles in Latakia province overnight close to President Bashar al-Assad's ancestral home, the army and rebels said, after weeks of insurgent gains in the country's northwest.

Rebels seeking to topple Assad have in the past sought to bring their four-year-long insurgency close to coastal areas in government-held Latakia, heartland of Assad's minority Alawite community.

An army source told state news agency SANA fighter jets hit insurgent hideouts in the northern Latakia countryside with "tens killed and wounded." Latakia is the main port in Syria and along with the capital Damascus is one of the most important government-held areas in the country.

.....

"The capture of the peaks would make the Alawite villages in our firing range," said an Ahrar al-Sham commander based in Idlib on Skype. In August 2013, Islamist rebels and foreign fighters briefly captured Alawite villages.

.....

Diplomats say rebels are trying to pressure the overstretched army on as many fronts as possible to spread its resources ever more thinly.

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-fig ... 47941.html

Syria army preempts rebel attacks in regime bastion: monitor

Syria's army launched an offensive Friday against rebel groups in a bid to strengthen its control in the northwest Latakia province, a bastion of the regime, a monitor said.

After a series of losses in neighbouring Idlib province, the army is fortifying its positions to preempt potential rebel attacks on Latakia, home to the small Alawite religious community from which President Bashar al-Assad hails.

.....

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that "the battles are taking place around the Nabi Yunes hilltop, a strategic position 1,500 metres (5,00 feet) above sea level, on the edge of Idlib and Hama provinces."

The regime controls the hilltop itself, but opposition groups have taken over the foot of the hill to the west and northwest.

"To protect Nabi Yunes, regime forces are trying to dislodge the rebels," Abdel Rahman said.

If the regime succeeds, it would be able to link up with army units in Sahl al-Ghab in Hama province and could try to advance on Jisr al-Shughur, which it lost to Islamist militants and Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front on April 25.

"On the other hand, if the rebels are able to take over the hilltop, it would open up their route to the coastal parts of Latakia," Abdel Rahman said.

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-army-preemp ... 52815.html

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 02 May 2015 14:15

Singha wrote:I have never understood why israel and the US want to depose Assad. his govt has no real track record of funding the wahabbi warriors running around burning the farm, hezbollah is mainly in lebanon, hamas is palestinian...there aint no syrian militia chanting "death to america" in the streets.

if the islamic warriors now generously equipped with TOW missiles takes over they will quickly throw out any covenant they have and the death to amrika chants will start, ISIS will gleefully extend their caliphate from raqqa to damascus and then what? how is the region more secure?

their next stop will be eastern turkey and inciting a civil war inside turkey and jordan.

they are playing with fire and it will burn them both.

To open supply routes from Mediterranean bypassing Turkey, Saudi? The same reason perhaps everyone covets Baluchistan from CAR perspective?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 02 May 2015 15:15

Singha wrote: if the islamic warriors now generously equipped with TOW missiles takes over they will quickly throw out any covenant they have and the death to amrika chants will start, ISIS will gleefully extend their caliphate from raqqa to damascus and then what? how is the region more secure?

Somebody should have learned a hard lesson by now, by amreki example.

The variety of shoulder fired missiles that the amrekis had supplied to the afghan mujahids ( and many would have been stolen by the paki army too, from the mujahids ), came back to fatally haunt the amrekis during their operations in afghanistan. They had desperately offered to even buy back such missiles at great cost and sought the paki army help. I am sure that the paki army would have tracked down a great many fighters and simply shot them and pocketed the missiles after handing a token few missiles to the amrekis ( after having carefully removed all replaceable and spare parts!! )

I think that the distribution methodology and asset control mechanisms over such equipment may have improved over the years, seeing as how very flexible, shifting and fluid the islamic loyalties can be.

But then again, the amrekis did not disarm a lot of the iraqi army after the surrender and that was another fatal mistake.

the amrekis are turning out to be, by example, great teachers onlee

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 02 May 2015 19:41

Palace Intrigues spark speculation
Article by Bruce Reidel

King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud's unprecedented changes in the Saudi line of succession that benefit his son is raising questions about what might come next in the royal family.

Among the other changes Salman made April 29 was the ouster of the only woman to ever hold a sub-cabinet position. Deputy Education Minister for Girls Nura Al Fayez had been appointed by King Abdullah in 2009

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 02 May 2015 19:46

These changes by royalty are most uninteresting IMO -- because the real schism is between the royals and the Muslim Brotherhood type anti-royalty movements. The Royals created IS who are now seen to be turning against them, but this seems to be drama enacted by the Royalty given how they are actually backing and funding IS. IS seems to exist to fill up the space that the MB types can occupy and create trouble for all the royalty in the region.

habal · Post by **habal** » 03 May 2015 17:46

US-led airstrikes kill 52 Syrian civilians in a day, not 1 ISIS fighter – monitor

US-led airstrikes have killed 52 Syrian civilians in one day, a monitoring group reports. There was fighting in the vicinity, but the strike allegedly failed to kill even a single Islamist fighter.

"Airstrikes by the coalition early on Friday on the village of Birmahle in Aleppo province killed 52 civilians," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Seven of the victims were children. A further 13 were buried under the rubble, he added.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 03 May 2015 19:45

If I remember my history Seljuk Turks never came to India e.g. the Mughals were of the Chagtai branch, etc.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 04 May 2015 01:12

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/2 ... s-in-yemen

Officials: Arab coalition ‘reconnaissance’ troops in Yemen

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 May 2015 06:55

Saudi Arabia's War in Yemen - Ranjit Gupta, The Hindu

(Ranjit Gupta was Indian Ambassador to Yemen, and in January 1968 had visited Sana'a as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy.)

This is easily the best I have read on this issue.

The intense fighting that resulted in the virtual takeover of Yemen by the Shia Houthis earlier this year sent foreign nationals fleeing the chaos, resulting in the recent, splendidly executed, and deservedly, well-publicised rescue of more than 5,000 Indian and foreign nationals by the Indian government. It also sent shock waves through neighbouring Saudi Arabia which chose to react robustly though there was no attack on Saudi Arabia by Yemenis.

To properly understand the situation, one first needs to study Yemen, its politics and its turbulent history. The Shia Imams ruled Yemen for over 1,000 years till 1962, when the Imamate was overthrown by nationalist military officers led by Col. Abdullah Sallal. Both Col. Sallal and Republican Yemen’s second President, Abdul Rahman Yahya Al-Iryani, were Zaydi Shias; Ali Abdullah Saleh, President for 34 years, is also a Zaydi. In fact, Mr. Saleh waged a bitter military campaign against the Houthis from 2004 to 2010. The Muslim Brotherhood is quintessentially a Sunni entity, but in Yemen, its chairman and secretary general are Zaydis. Thus, all this shows that political contestations in Yemen have always been driven by personal ambitions and political ideology, and never by sectarianism.

Chronic infighting

A unique attribute of Yemeni society is that every individual has several firearms. As a result, the country is awash with millions of weapons. Rockets and missiles, Kalashnikovs, machine guns, and even tanks have been on sale openly for decades. Also, resorting to violence is the usual medium of settling disputes. Both the Imams/Kings of Yemen in the 20th century were assassinated; a President too. Two others were overthrown in coups. In Yemen, chronic infighting is a normal thing.

Soon after Saudi Arabia was formally established in 1932, it invaded Yemen in 1934 and absorbed the Yemeni provinces of Asir, Jizan and Najran. In the Yemen civil war of 1962-1967, Saudi Arabia supported the Zaydi Imam. Since then, Saudi Arabia has sought to influence internal political dispensations by providing billions of dollars in aid.

Yemen was among the four Arab countries convulsed by massive demonstrations from February 2011 onwards. Alarmed by its protégé, Mr. Saleh’s inability to control burgeoning unrest, mediation by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) forced him to step down in February 2012, while power was redistributed among the other existing power holders — Mr. Saleh’s General People’s Congress, the Mushtarak, the “loyalist” Opposition and the Sunni Islah party, leaving out the Houthis even though they had participated very actively in the 2011 uprising. Abd Rabbuh Mansour Al Hadi, Vice-President under Mr. Saleh, was elected President without any candidate to oppose him. However, he lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the people, especially after fleeing the country and operating from Saudi Arabia. He has no tribal or political support base in northern Yemen and even in the south, outside Aden.

With both Mr. Saleh and the Houthis shut out, the stage was set for an alliance between these erstwhile bitter enemies. Having headed the Army for so long, Mr. Saleh enjoys considerable support within it and particularly among the powerful Republican Guard. The Army’s huge weapons inventory became the key factor that enabled the Houthis to take control of Sana'a in September 2014, and later, of many of the country’s main cities and ports, and more crucially, its administrative, energy, financial and governmental apparatus.

The Iranian angle

Saudi rhetoric has focussed on Iranian involvement. Yemeni Zaydi Shias are “fivers” whose ideology is closer to the Sunnis than to the Iranian “twelver” Shias. There is no record of significant Iranian involvement with the Zaydi Shias of Yemen beyond some Houthis pursuing religious studies in Iran in the early 1990s. Among them was Hussein Badr Al-Deen Houthi, the founder-leader of the Ansar Allah, during which he picked up what became the Houthi motto: “Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Victory to Islam.” Iranian interest was kindled by the six-year conflict between Mr. Saleh and the Houthis from 2004 to 2010 but truly meaningful interaction between the two began only after the Houthis took control in Sana'a. Direct flights between Tehran and Sana'a started in March 2015 after a gap of 25 years. Iran has signed agreements with the Houthi-led Yemeni authorities to supply Iranian oil, for help in the construction of power plants, and the modernisation of strategic ports. Implementing these agreements will take a long time, if ever. There is little credible evidence that Iran has provided large enough consignments of weapons to the Houthis to make any tangible difference on the ground; logistically, it is almost impossible to do so. However, with several airports and ports now under Houthi control, the possibilities of Iranian weapons supplies to Yemen exist, if needed. From being an interested bystander at best, Saudi actions, policies and rhetoric in the past few years have enabled Iran to acquire credible locus standi and become an active player in the processes of determining Yemen’s future.

Iran’s influence throughout West Asia has risen dramatically since the so-called Arab Spring unrest began — it has become the most influential power in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and now Yemen also. The success of negotiations between the U.S.-led P5+1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China, facilitated by the European Union) has further augmented Iran’s regional standing while further exacerbating already mounting Saudi concerns.

The Saudi response

Saudi King Salman ascended the throne on January 23, 2015, and within hours appointed his son, less than 30 years old, with no governmental experience, as Defence Minister. Ambitious, brash, and oozing self-confidence, he is believed to be the driving force behind Saudi Arabia’s extremely muscular reaction to events in Yemen. Within hours of President Hadi fleeing Yemen, Saudi Arabia launched “Operation Decisive Stsorm” on March 25. The Defence Minister has been personally supervising these operations.

Rather impressively, Saudi Arabia has successfully forged a “grand Sunni alliance” in a matter of days and committed 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers deployed along the border and some naval units, with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and even faraway Morocco joining the air strikes. Egypt is deploying an unspecified number of naval and air force units; ground forces will be deployed “if necessary.” The United States is only providing “logistical, intelligence and technical support”. Concerted efforts led by King Salman personally to persuade Pakistan to join have failed. This could have consequences for Pakistan later. Despite initial support for the air strikes, Turkey now feels that a negotiated solution is a better approach.

“Operation Decisive Storm” has involved extensive daily air strikes against Houthi and Saleh forces mainly in and around Sana'a, Saada, Taiz, Hodeidah and Aden. Despite almost 2,500 air strikes, the overwhelming majority by Saudi Arabia, killing many Houthi and allied fighters and resulting in the large-scale destruction of their weaponry, the Houthi/Saleh dominance has not been meaningfully dented. The air strikes are causing mounting civilian casualties and wholesale destruction of villages, sending thousands fleeing from their homes; this is causing a further alienation of Yemenis from Saudi Arabia.

The UN Secretary-General has called for an immediate ceasefire and has appealed for $274 million in aid for urgent relief and rehabilitation measures. The ceasefire demand has been rejected but King Salman has decided to contribute this entire amount immediately. However, this will not mitigate Yemeni anger. Meanwhile, by default, the al-Qaeda in Yemen is benefiting enormously.

Though the war cannot be won through air strikes, sending in ground troops will be disastrous. Given that Saudi troops performed poorly against the then much weaker and less organised Houthis in 2009-2010, and have no real combat experience, they are hardly likely to do any better this time fighting against battle hardy Yemenis on their own terrain. Nevertheless, on April 21, King Salman ordered the mobilisation of the National Guard also which has since been deployed along the border. Confusingly, later that evening, Saudi Arabia unexpectedly announced the end of “Operation Decisive Storm” and the beginning of “Operation Restore Hope”, promptly welcomed by the U.S., only for the air strikes to be resumed the very next day and which continue with increasing intensity! It is reasonable to assume that the Defence Minister was behind this since on April 29 he was also appointed Deputy Crown Prince.

Despite growing U.S. reservations, Saudi Arabian hardliners seem determined to impose a military solution; instead, Saudi Arabia is likely to find itself mired in Yemen for a long time in an unwinnable war.

The way forward

The Houthis have welcomed Yemen’s exiled President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi’s recent appointment of Khaled Bahah, an Indian-educated former Yemeni PR to the UN and Prime Minister, as the new Vice-President; this provides an opening for negotiations which are the only way forward. Initially they should be convened by the new U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen and the Yemeni government representation should be led by Khaled Bahah. The various UN resolutions over the past four years, the Peace and Partnership agreement signed between the Houthis and Mr. Hadi in September 2014 and the outcomes of the National Dialogues in 2013 and 2014 provide a good basis for negotiations.

If Yemen is to have long-term domestic stability, it is exceedingly important that all power brokers of the past are exiled abroad for at least five to 10 years. Reports that Mr. Saleh and his family have left Yemen, probably for Oman, which has offered to mediate between the contending parties, are encouraging. However, restarting the political process will take time and getting results even longer. In the meantime, the unfortunate people of Yemen have to face an even tougher future than their difficult past.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 04 May 2015 10:15

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... 22938.html
Robert Fisk
Monday 4 May 2015
Robert Fisk: Who is bombing whom in the Middle East?
It amazes me that all these warriors of the air don’t regularly crash into each other

Let me try to get this right. The Saudis are bombing Yemen because they fear the Shia Houthis are working for the Iranians. The Saudis are also bombing Isis in Iraq and the Isis in Syria. So are the United Arab Emirates. The Syrian government is bombing its enemies in Syria and the Iraqi government is also bombing its enemies in Iraq. America, France, Britain, Denmark, Holland, Australia and – believe it or not – Canada are bombing Isis in Syria and Isis in Iraq, partly on behalf of the Iraqi government (for which read Shia militias) but absolutely not on behalf of the Syrian government.

The Jordanians and Saudis and Bahrainis are also bombing Isis in Syria and Iraq because they don’t like them, but the Jordanians are bombing Isis even more than the Saudis after their pilot-prisoner was burned to death in a cage. The Egyptians are bombing parts of Libya because a group of Christian Egyptians had their heads chopped off by what might – notionally – be the same so-called Islamic State, as Isis refers to itself. The Iranians have acknowledged bombing Isis in Iraq – of which the Americans (but not the Iraqi government) take a rather dim view. And of course the Israelis have several times bombed Syrian government forces in Syria but not Isis (an interesting choice, we’d all agree). Chocks away!

It amazes me that all these warriors of the air don’t regularly crash into each other as they go on bombing and bombing. And since Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines is the only international carrier still flying over Syria – but not, thank heavens, over Isis’s Syrian capital of Raqqa – I’m even more amazed that my flights from Beirut to the Gulf have gone untouched by the blitz boys of so many Arab and Western states as they career around the skies of Mesopotamia and the Levant.

The sectarian and theological nature of this war seems perfectly clear to all who live in the Middle East – albeit not to our American chums. The Sunni Saudis are bombing the Shia Yemenis and the Shia Iranians are bombing the Sunni Iraqis. The Sunni Egyptians are bombing Sunni Libyans, it’s true, and the Jordanian Sunnis are bombing Iraqi Sunnis. But the Shia-supported Syrian government forces are bombing their Sunni Syrian enemies and the Lebanese Hezbollah – Shia to a man – are fighting the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Sunni enemies, along with Iranian Revolutionary Guards and an ever-larger number of Afghan Shia men in Syrian uniforms.

Over the past three days, by the way, Hezbollah members in Lebanon have been told to stand by to return to Syria in the next two weeks to fight a great battle in the Qalamoun hills – across the north-east border of Lebanon – lest Isis tries to push into Lebanon itself and cut Hezbollah’s supply line from Hermel to Baalbek and southern Lebanon.

And if you want to taste the sectarianism of all this, just take a look at Saudi Arabia’s latest request to send more Pakistani troops to protect the kingdom (and possibly help to invade Yemen), which came from the new Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman who at only 34 is not much older than his fighter pilots. But the Saudis added an outrageous second request: that the Pakistanis send only Sunni Muslim soldiers. Pakistani Shia Muslim officers and men (30 per cent of the Pakistani armed forces) would not be welcome.

It’s best left to that fine Pakistani newspaper The Nation – and the writer Khalid Muhammad – to respond to this sectarian demand. “The army and the population of Pakistan are united for the first time in many years to eliminate the scourge of terrorism,” Muhammad writes. But “the Saudis are now trying to not only divide the population, but divide our army as well. When a soldier puts on a uniform, he fights for the country that he calls home, not the religious beliefs that they carry individually… Do they (the Saudis) believe that a professional military like Pakistan… can’t fight for a unified justified cause? If that is the case then why ask Pakistan to send its armed forces?”

Read more:
• Robert Fisk in Abu Dhabi: The acceptable face of the Emirates
• Turkey's day of denial amid remembrance for a genocide in all but name
• On an Istanbul street, have I just witnessed a positive step in history?

It’s worth remembering that Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Iraqi army in the battle for the Saudi town of Khafji in 1991. Were they all Sunnis, I wonder?

And then, of course, there are the really big winners in all this blood, the weapons manufacturers. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin supplied £1.3bn of missiles to the Saudis only last year. But three years ago, Der Spiegel claimed the European Union was Saudi Arabia’s most important arms supplier and last week France announced the sale of 24 Rafale fighter jets to Qatar at a cost of around £5.7bn. Egypt has just bought another 24 Rafales.

It’s worth remembering at this point that the Congressional Research Services in the US estimate that most of Isis’s budget comes from “private donors” in – you guessed it – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE But it’s worth knowing just how General Pierre de Villiers, chief of the French defence staff, summed up his recent visits to Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraq, he reported back to Paris, is in a state of “total decay”. The French word he used was “decomposition”. I suspect that applies to most of the Middle East.
and Kuwait.

But blow me down if the Yanks are back to boasting. More than a decade after “Mission Accomplished”, General Paul Funk (in charge of reforming the Iraqi army) has told us that “the enemy is on its knees”. Another general close to Barack Obama says that half of the senior commanders in Isis have been liquidated. Nonsense.

PS:The Pakis have taken to heart the motto I made up about Yanquis-from wars from Vietnam to Iraq+,"those who retreat and fly away,live to flee another day"! Why should their Sunni soldiers indeed get involved in the Yemen and get their backsides tanned by Shiites at home?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 May 2015 10:45

Saudi-led coalition using cluster bombs: HRW - AFP

The Saudi-led coalition bombing rebels in Yemen has been using U.S.-supplied cluster munitions in its air campaign, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Sunday, warning of the long-term dangers to civilians.

Landmines

The widely banned bombs contain dozens of sub-munitions, which sometimes do not explode, becoming de facto landmines that can kill or maim long after they were dropped.

HRW said it had gathered photographs, video and other evidence indicating that cluster munitions had been used in coalition air strikes against the Huthi rebel stronghold of Saada province in Yemen’s northern mountains in recent weeks.

It said that analysis of satellite imagery suggested that the weapons had landed on a cultivated plateau, within 600 metres (yards) m of populated areas.

Cluster munitions are prohibited by a 2008 treaty adopted by 116 countries, but not by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners or the United States.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 04 May 2015 11:24

No mention/condemnation of it in the vassal press of the west,but they condemn Syria for allegedly using barrel bombs.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 04 May 2015 11:56

Saudi Cluster Bomb only kills Shia so its Sunni Friendly Cluster Bomb

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 04 May 2015 16:24

SSridhar wrote:

This is easily the best I have read on this issue.

True, he gives more information than most of the other reports and articles I've read so far.

The use of cluster bombs against the Houthi's is very disturbing, we know from past use by the US and UK in Iraq that cluster bombs mainly kill and wound civilians. Lots of children died or lost limbs. It's really not a wise thing to do against a basically harmless people (the Houthi's did not attack Saudi Arabia), this is really going to make them (the Houthi's) angry.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 04 May 2015 19:52

Ethiopian protest exposes ‘wound in the heart of Israel’

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said yesterday an outbreak of protests by Ethiopian Jews has “exposed an open, bleeding wound in the heart of Israeli society” and the country must respond to their grievances.

Mr Rivlin spoke a day after thousands of people clashed with police in Tel Aviv. They shut down a highway, hurled stones and bottles at police and overturned a squad car. They were dispersed with teargas and water cannons. More than 60 people were wounded and 40 arrested.

Simmering frustrations among Israel’s Ethiopian community boiled over after footage emerged last week of an Ethiopian Israeli in an army uniform being beaten by police.

Ethiopian Jews begin migrating to Israel three decades ago. Many complain of racism, lack of opportunity, endemic poverty and routine police harassment.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/wo ... 54f54b0332

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 May 2015 20:31

habal wrote:US-led airstrikes kill 52 Syrian civilians in a day, not 1 ISIS fighter – monitor

US-led airstrikes have killed 52 Syrian civilians in one day, a monitoring group reports. There was fighting in the vicinity, but the strike allegedly failed to kill even a single Islamist fighter.

"Airstrikes by the coalition early on Friday on the village of Birmahle in Aleppo province killed 52 civilians," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Seven of the victims were children. A further 13 were buried under the rubble, he added.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP

Why the surprise? Its the plan.

habal · Post by **habal** » 05 May 2015 12:08

the brazenness ..

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 May 2015 16:11

israeli power structure being at its core european is no less racist towards blacks and browns, though they are on the surface welcomed to make up declining numbers their society needs to function and IDF.

but having looted and set fire to africa for decades, europe is now unable to manage the calamity of migrants. 7000 were picked up at sea in the last weekend alone. the italian CG is now operating patrols just off the coast of libya!

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 05 May 2015 17:05

Singha ji..

IIrC, European countries gave duel citizenships to their colonies...

Africa & Asia should use this opportunity to pass some of HDI burden on to Europe, while making sure that these guys don't turn sepoys.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 May 2015 17:32

africa seems to be doing just that

taking advantage if proximity of several european controlled islands in the Med sea.

euros only gave citizenship to goras in SA/Aus/Nz ... not to darkies in africa and asia. singaporeans or yemenis(aden) did not get dual citizenship in UK or taiwanese in japan.

yes the best form of reparation is giving offer of citizenship to all former colonies. I note that portugal has given only to descendents of the portugese origin people in goa (driver was saying it costs some 5L because first passport of grandparent or parent has to be made, then the descendent), and the french to some people in pondicherry I am not sure whats the rule there.

we need land for our people and resources for our industries.

india right now does not allow such people to retain indian citizenship but it should imo, as it will just lead to stronger ties even when living in adopted land and undercut their political system slowly just as few million dual citizen jews carry a lot of weight in NYC/DC/LA.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 05 May 2015 17:56

Yes GD.

Even Anglo-Indians got British citizenship iirc. I hope ME and African populations migrate to Europe in large scale and benefit the fruits of their colonial sufferings.

I think PIO/OIC are best alternative to duel-citizenship. NRIs started as Brammins/sudras in their adopted lands but slowly expanding into Vaisya consciousness. I would like to see a strong Kshatriya consciousness built into them in next decade or so.

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 05 May 2015 20:17

France is the only country that is better in this respect and practiced what they preached - liberty, equality and fraternity. When they moved out of Pondichery, they gave _all_ Pondi residents the opportunity to get French citizenship if they applied within 6 months of end of colonial rule. Several tens of thousands of Pondi residents (only minority of them with French ancestry) took up that offer and moved to France. Their similarly lax immigration policies w.r.to their islamic african colonis have given rise to the Islamic problem. Of late, France seems to have tightened their immigration policies.

A treaty giving back the French colony of Pondicherry, as it was then called, to India was signed in August 1962. According to the treaty, people living in Pondicherry were given a six-month period to claim French citizenship. Those who did not wish to get French citizenship were given Indian citizenship at the end of the six-month period.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 909624.cms

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2015 04:20

NPR had a segment today where they tried to blame Israel for the killing of an African refugee by ISIS in Libya!!!

It seems he was deported to Uganda and made his way to Libya where he got beheaded by ISIS.

Its Israel they blame and then ISIS!!!!

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 06 May 2015 05:49

Even Anglo-Indians got British citizenship iirc.

They got "British Commonwealth Passports". Valid for entry to all Commonwealth Countries - except UQ.

When the Ugandan "British citizens" of Indian descent tried to enter Britain after Idi Amin looted raped and hounded them out of Uganda, the British said: "Huh?"

One of the worst scams of the racist British.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 06 May 2015 07:11

ramana wrote:NPR had a segment today where they tried to blame Israel for the killing of an African refugee by ISIS in Libya!!!

It seems he was deported to Uganda and made his way to Libya where he got beheaded by ISIS.

Its Israel they blame and then ISIS!!!!

Yes, I notice the same trend all over Western media, think tanks, and opinion makers.

while many of us continue to find parallels between Pakis and Israel, we should note that West is well on its way to shedding Israel from their alliances. Obama is fundamentally undermining USA's relationship with Israel. Even if a Republican President comes back in 2016, my gut instinct is that the US-Israel alliance has crossed the Rubicon, so to speak. There is no going back. The die has been cast, I think. They will still continue to be close partners, but the "special relationship" is over.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 06 May 2015 11:42

US/Europe will always have a lovee hate relationship with Isareal. They hate Jews for ideological reasons, which ordinary Jews even today face in these countries. Yet they need to use Islam for Geopolitical reasons, control mineral wealth , commodities etc. and not get into anther crusade.

Without Isreal/Jews (jewish lobby) taking the blame for protecting their holy cites, there would be holy war as every Christian holy place will ground to dust if Isreal did not exist and protect them.

Look how Nigerans were stopped from being armed to fight Boko Haram. Which mysteriously surfaced when local Nigerians started demanding a greater share of Oil revenue from Western Oil companies.

This is why Islamism is supported in India as well, to stop India from competing and our western neighbour repeatedly bailed out.

The standard line that US supports Israel because off"Jewish Lobby' is pure BS. Nothing else.

The need to protect their Holy lands without explicitly saying soo was/is/will be the reason US/West will ensure Israel will be allowed to stay on the map, but will not be given a free hand to deal with the Arabs. As the cause is required to keep many an Arab monarchy in power.

Hence, Hamas types will also be kept alive to keep the fire going. After Arabs can lose a war and survive, if Israel loses many of their citizens will meet the fate of Yazidi's with ISIS.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 06 May 2015 12:44

Anti-Semitism is just beneath the surface in the West/US.Just scratch around a little and one will find the prejudices coming out,despite the colour of a European Jew's skin! Whether this is historic racial religious hatred,in that the "Jews killed Christ" (forgetting that Christ was a Jew!),remember Shylock's speech "if you prick us...",or racial hatred and envy of their financial clout as well (Hitler,etc),the disease is alive and kicking,more's the pity.

Mukesh.Kumar · Post by **Mukesh.Kumar** » 06 May 2015 14:15

Partial isolation of Israel may not be such a bad thing for India, as it increases their reliance on India as a client. Scope of cutting better deals is always welcome.

Conversely, Iran coming out of sanctions regime opens up Iran's options. In future, will Iran be as accommodating to Indian interests?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2015 15:29

I believe using the british commonwealth passports and their partial british ancestry, a lot of anglo-indians moved to australia post independence. some would have moved to canada and NZ also.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 06 May 2015 15:41

correct

member_28860 · Post by **member_28860** » 06 May 2015 17:18

Besides the theological reasons, a lot of Jews think that the "Gentiles" envy them because they are smart. And, I agree with them. After all the Jewish contribution to human thought has been phenomenal. Just a cursory glance at their achievements in technology, medicine, mathematics, physics, chess, ... boggles the mind. Even Richard Feynman could not get admission into Columbia University due to the "Quota on Jews"!!!

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 06 May 2015 18:15

UAE unveils Mars mission plan-Good news in a "bad neighourhood"

DUBAI: The UAE on Wednesday unveiled its plan to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021 to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet, a media report said.

A purely ? Emirati team composed of 150 engineers and scientists will work on the mission, the report added.

Comment: So it is not going to be a "of the shelf purchase" as previously rumored

; Just wondering !

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 06 May 2015 20:09

Press Trust of India ‏@PTI_News 54m54 minutes ago

India and Iran ink Chabahar port development pact.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 06 May 2015 20:10

-Deleted

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 06 May 2015 20:11

Murugan wrote:Press Trust of India ‏@PTI_News 54m54 minutes ago

India and Iran ink Chabahar port development pact.

Good development. In the future may allow us to access other CA states.

On the flip side, gives the Iranians leverage.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2015 20:20

Falijee wrote:UAE unveils Mars mission plan-Good news in a "bad neighourhood"

DUBAI: The UAE on Wednesday unveiled its plan to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021 to study the atmosphere of the Red Planet, a media report said.

A purely ? Emirati team composed of 150 engineers and scientists will work on the mission, the report added.

They are working on Ballistic Missile technology.

Means KSA is no longer relying on Chinese missiles & TSP nukes for their detergent.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2015 22:36

uae has not built a proper sounding rocket yet, let alone a launcher of slv type isro did in mid 70s for small payloads into LEO.

you think they will in 5 yrs make a PSLV type launcher to send something to mars ?

I think its more likely they will build a university level science payload using lots of handholding by foreign univs and put that on someone else's launcher.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 06 May 2015 23:08

I wager on Singha's position that this is will result in the UAE using someone else's launcher with their own payload constructed from some satellite kit they buy on the web (or have it privately built) -- even school kids in India have already done this and sent their devices into space.

I don't see how a group that has "do not question or think too freely" on the list of forbidden actions punishable by death can achieve anything of worth at any time. Anways, I am more concerned about their manned space flights to mars in the next decade. Questions like "what direction will they be facing for Fajr? Will the UAE astronauts have to stand on their hands for namaz if earth is on the other side of mars?" -- such questions trouble me to no end. Sigh.