West Asia News and Discussions (YEMEN, gulf)

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 07 Apr 2015 22:37

http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e41458.htm
A Young Prince May Cost Syria and Yemen Dear- Article by Patrick Cockburn ( Independant newspaper)
Quote: Saudi King Salman's defence minister and head of the Royal court , his son Mohamed Bin Salman, aged about 30 , wants to establish Saudi Arabia as absolutely dominant in the Arabian Peninsula

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 08 Apr 2015 01:28

ldev - the saudis are using the new al-kebabish body armour suit, highly effective at short ranges

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 Apr 2015 02:07

>>this photograph in the writeup of the 3 Saudi border guards is truly inspired!!

Very much so. Apart from the expansive midriffs, check out how soft and pasty both the "officers" are... They've never seen a day's hard work in their lives, neither has any muscle definition even under the fat (it would have been obvious), both are not just fat, but misshapen. Their helmets are brand new, probably the first and last time they'll be wearing those - and the officer shaking hands is wearing what looks like a gold-braceleted Rado. Check out the way the other fatso is holding the gun. Any minute he's going to lose his grip and shoot his own man-tits off. Tragicomic.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 08 Apr 2015 02:08

So whether "Saudi" troops enter Yemen depends on whether Packees and Egyptians agree to provide the cannon fodder. That is highly unlikely for the Egyptians, given their past experience in Yemen and I don't think the Packees are likely to send troops either. So the Sunni coalition will just go on with the aerial bombing of the Yemenis as the Yemenis don't have an air force or even air defense.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 Apr 2015 02:32

^^Pretty much. But remember there are plenty of Yemeni origin Saudis, and plenty (a majority perhaps) of Shiites in Saudi. Sooner or later the stand-off attacks is going to kill someone's someone... and then the nut-scratching and toe-picking will start in earnest.

The Paks will bolster their military presence in Saudi Arabia - expect the officer/jawan ratio to be almost equal - free umra beckons. It is unlikely that they will go on ground in Yemen in any significant way (they can't be THAT stupid), perhaps some SSG wallahs running around here and there for a while trying to find Bin Ladin (since the Americans haven't actually killed him).

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 08 Apr 2015 03:32

Kuwaiti Fund loans Egypt $1.5bn

Saudi Arabia woos Pakistan with $1.5 billion grant

Looks like shhe-ikhs are desperately need warm bodies to fight their outsourced waars. What a bunch of idiots!! Not that I consider myself an expert on how Brit-shits used their colonies to fight their waars--history, but enough evidence to see tricks from brit-shit's playbook being used here.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 08 Apr 2015 04:45

JE Menon wrote:>>this photograph in the writeup of the 3 Saudi border guards is truly inspired!!

Cruel, cruel. These guys like very cylindrical, like the 'Chinese soldiers' in the Sivaji Ganesan movie 'Rakta Tilakam'. Enables them to race down sand dunes while maintaining a low profile, by simply lying down and doing a swift 'about-face'. Brilliant desert tactics.

I would love to see a report of these guys facing a frontal attack by the ISIS (or Houthis) without benefit of dominant air cover.

It might swiftly become a rear attack...

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 08 Apr 2015 05:10

Falijee wrote:http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e41458.htm
A Young Prince May Cost Syria and Yemen Dear- Article by Patrick Cockburn ( Independant newspaper)
Quote: Saudi King Salman's defence minister and head of the Royal court , his son Mohamed Bin Salman, aged about 30 , wants to establish Saudi Arabia as absolutely dominant in the Arabian Peninsula

Sounds like soothy barbaria has its own Rahul Gandhi.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 08 Apr 2015 06:17

A good view from Indian perspective or reading of the situation. Not the MSM variety, calm and quiet discussion like in BRF.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Apr 2015 06:39

I saw video of Saudi border guards on CNN. Dress,helmet,guns all freshly unboxed. I think nobody mans those posts in peacetime at all.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 08 Apr 2015 06:46

They have top-of-the-line weapon systems and infrastructure/supply/logistics, and actually they put a lot of money into 'training' --- but I am afraid it is superficial. A lot of their training is of course via Khanistan, and it is half-hearted/superficial because the Israel lobby gets in the faces of anyone doing any training / education/ support of Saudis. You have to see J-A hatred of Saudis to understand hate - Indians even on PeeAref don't hate Pakis a hundredth of that.

So it will be interesting to see what happens on Day 2 of a real war between determined, desperate, well-armed armies and this wonderful Saudi fauj. The Houthis may soon be sporting M-1A1 tanks, transporters, new helmets, flak-jackets, boots, underwear, latest Khan rifles.. Wonder if the Saudis can find a way to surrender the F-15s and AMRAAMs too.

BUT.. those 3 pictured above were not Beards. Those are a different variety of Saudis altogether. The trained ones among those are dangerous.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 07:09

J-A = Jewish-Arab?

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 07:11

Worth reading in totaliy: Starfors analysis of the Iranian US deal and how its checkpoint Russia.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stratfor/20 ... an-deal/2/

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 08 Apr 2015 09:08

JE Menon wrote:>>this photograph in the writeup of the 3 Saudi border guards is truly inspired!!

Very much so. Apart from the expansive midriffs, check out how soft and pasty both the "officers" are... They've never seen a day's hard work in their lives, neither has any muscle definition even under the fat (it would have been obvious), both are not just fat, but misshapen. Their helmets are brand new, probably the first and last time they'll be wearing those - and the officer shaking hands is wearing what looks like a gold-braceleted Rado. Check out the way the other fatso is holding the gun. Any minute he's going to lose his grip and shoot his own man-tits off. Tragicomic.

those are upper class connected guys. those aren't the rural desert camel shepherds who do the real grunt work. the rural types all have tribal aligences and fight at the drop of a hat. they are also primary recruits for al qaeda and ISIS and also used for 9-11 suicide missions in the US. The worst thing you can do is to underestimate them.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 09:46

Though not technically W Asia, this is the other aspect which needs understanding.

Egypt going through its own crisis with ex-mil guys becoming the current militias
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/ ... me=topNews

If this goes on a step more; we can have interesting comparisons (and spot the difference quizzes) between Egypt and Pakisataan

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 10:37

Further updates on how Yemen has mixed feelings and fair bit of hatred for Hadi.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3cc4c18a ... z3WgwZMlhK

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Apr 2015 10:44

Saudis shafted by Pak? Sharif asks Parliament to "take its time" in deciding upon sending troops,etc. to Yemen.

Media reports of the same indicate that for once the Pakis are resisting Saudi pressure to send their troops as cannon fodder in the Yemen Sunni-Shia spat. Pak has guaranteed that it will come to the aid of the Saudis if their kingdom is attacked, but in the case of Yemen,it is the Saudis who are the aggressors! pak already has its hands full with countering the Paki Taliban and its primary aim to once again gain control of Afghanistan through the Taliban. The massive amount of money obtained from controlling the drug trade is the lust of the ISI/Paki military. Pak getting bogged down in yet another futile MEast war and losing focus of waging a proxy war against its sworn enemy India,is a nightmare that it would wish to avoid. Its finances are also nothing to speak of Saudi funds notwithstanding.

So who comes to Pak's rescue? Perhaps to force it to oblige the Saudis.Uncle Sam yet again! Another $!B in mil aid is being given to the Pakis clearly meant for use against India. So much for the Indo-US strategic partners.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Apr 2015 11:15

a theory has been floated that perhaps the saudis could stage a amphibious landing at Aden to relieve the besieged govt forces still holding on to part of the town.

one awaits the arrival of the Saudi MEU.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Apr 2015 11:29

perhaps one reason for the lack of enthusiasm on the Paki side-after all their troops would get extra wages,is that the Iranians might then get interested in stirring the Baluchi and Afghan pot! The last thing that the Pakis would want is to fight/have a crisis on 3 fronts.

"Soothi Barbaria"!

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 08 Apr 2015 11:41

President Obama, We Don’t Need Your Lessons

Unfortunately, the arrogance of the US blinded the decision-makers who could no longer see the reality. This is why we now tell Obama: Our problem is neither our youths nor the relationship of State establishments with the people as you assumed in the biased reports that Israel has been writing against us for years. The next time the GCC leaders go to Camp David, they will not listen to the fake information fed by the Zionist media to you and the consultation tools regarding our crisis with our society and our youths.

We send our youths to your universities to acquire knowledge yet they return as extremists and ‘projects’ for radicals due to your prevailing culture of isolation, marginalization and racism towards Arabs. This is happening in a country that claims to uphold human rights and liberties; but in reality, it is far from what it claims to be.

The issue is that your culture looks at the ‘cover’ of matters rather than the essence, as manifested in your discriminatory perception on a woman’s veil (Hijab) in a manner which distances her from her brain. Through this perception, the ‘Salat’ (five daily prayers) of Muslims is considered a terrorist act, whereas you have a different and more tolerant perception on other religions.

Until today, you have not listened to the word of caution from the Arabian Gulf that the Iranian project will be implemented under the guise of nuclear program negotiations. Here is Tehran struggling to get hold of Yemen, re-enact the crises in Bahrain, and destabilize security of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. All these efforts are meant to break the ties between those countries, but it will fail the same way it did in other regions. This time around, the analgesic you are planning to prescribe to our countries will be ineffective.

Your Excellency Mr President, you need to carefully study the situation. Do not act like the Arab adage, “They follow Ali in prayer and dine with Muawiya”, because the source of the problem is Israel. You keep on struggling to guarantee its existence and expansion plan to cover the entire Palestinian territories under your protection. Another problem is Iran whose leaders are dreaming of reviving the ancient Sasanian Empire.

As per the first case, you should strive to solve the Palestinian problem through both countries. On the second case, you should steer clear of the idea of reviving the dead regional police after you deposed the Shah and replaced him with the Mullah. Any alternatives to these are just illusions.

Consequently, we urge you to read the history of the region well for you to discover why the GCC countries have taken such a position against your policy. We know very well how to protect ourselves and manage our affairs, so the ‘Determination Storm’ is the best way to express this. It is not only meant to teach the Houthis a lesson and spoil the Iranian project, but also to send a message to you that we are decisive.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

Now we know where the bakis copy their infantile bluster from. Arab Times is the official organ of the soothies.

I swear, if these buggers didn't have oil, nobody would bother even to laugh at such pompous bombast.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 Apr 2015 12:17

Like I said, tragicomic.

Guys read that article, it shows you exactly what dreamworlds these guys live in!!!

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 08 Apr 2015 13:02

JE Menon wrote:^^Pretty much. But remember there are plenty of Yemeni origin Saudis, and plenty (a majority perhaps) of Shiites in Saudi. Sooner or later the stand-off attacks is going to kill someone's someone... and then the nut-scratching and toe-picking will start in earnest.

The Paks will bolster their military presence in Saudi Arabia - expect the officer/jawan ratio to be almost equal - free umra beckons. It is unlikely that they will go on ground in Yemen in any significant way (they can't be THAT stupid), perhaps some SSG wallahs running around here and there for a while trying to find Bin Ladin (since the Americans haven't actually killed him).

They are smart enough not to launch a ground offensive in S.Waziristan. So this is going to be milking Saudis to the max extent possible without doing anything real on the ground. They are masters of that art form.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 13:06

so it is decisive storm or determination storm or a desert storm or what? In my eyes, whichever way I look at it, it seems only like a storm in a tea cup.

Poor Yemen though. They had enough trouble and resource fights even without the KSA and Iranian morons meddling with them.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 13:09

As I mentioned earlier too; Pak has no bone in this fight and might go the earlier way when they kept out of the Iraq-Iran war.

Unless its a territorial integrity problem for KSA, they might not go in... However, if the Houthis could make a pincer move on the KSA border, that event will help in calling Pakis bluff.

Mmh. That should be fun and will show what's what

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 Apr 2015 13:10

Buggers couldn't even think up a name independent of America.

They should have called it "Whatever Storm"

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 13:21

Now NW seems to have this queer entry. Haha. Cant remember Egypt and Pakistan meeting up each other for a loooooooooooooong time now.

Pakistan-Egypt: Pakistan is hosting the first visit by Egyptian Minister of Defense Colonel General Sidqy Sobhy. Today he called on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Rashad Mahmood. He also had discussions with the Chief of the Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif.

The official statement said the generals exchanged views on matters of mutual interest and on bilateral military cooperation.

Comment: The timing of the visit, when Pakistan's parliament is debating how to respond to the formal Saudi request for military assistance, is a strong indicator that the generals primarily discussed Yemen. Both would prefer to avoid sending ground forces into Yemen.

One commentary noted that Egypt and Pakistan have exchanged missions and delegations for many years, but have engaged in little or no military cooperation. Egyptian President al-Sisi's proposal for an Arab joint force and the Saudi campaign in Yemen are the first instances in which the two are members of a joint international military coalition that could require close military cooperation.

--
Is this a determined effort to give a combined refusal or is it that Egypt has gone to con-vince Pak to become a used con-dom again?

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 08 Apr 2015 13:23

The bakis are there already. Like every other war. The question is only whether this will be a public involvement and shipful of coffins return type involvement. The US hardware, Qatar gas, SA petrol are not free. The bakis are flying the planes today. Will they invade on the ground in SA shirts or baki pants?

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 14:32

I missed this. Why did Erdogan go and meet Rouhani though?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/a ... rkish-ties

This looks like a confusing signal.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 Apr 2015 14:51

>>those are upper class connected guys. those aren't the rural desert camel shepherds who do the real grunt work. the rural types all have tribal aligences and fight at the drop of a hat. they are also primary recruits for al qaeda and ISIS and also used for 9-11 suicide missions in the US. The worst thing you can do is to underestimate them.

Yes TSJ, which is why I specifically mentioned the officers. Even the ordinary soldier there is no camel shepherd as you put it. Having said that, sure, the rural bedouin types and tribals will be much more prepared to start shooting, etc.

The key question here though is, compared to whom? Strictly speaking, only compared to fellow Saudis. Yemeni tribals (including those shunting about the southern Saudi provinces of Asir, Jizan and Najran) are generally much more used to the hard life and tribal warfare (as they constantly fight amongst themselves, a privilege the Saudi tribes have been denied for a while now). But yes, underestimating these folks in general is not a good idea.

If the Saudis wanted to make a serious dent in the Yemeni capacity, they would be far more effective just over-supplying Qat and alcohol...

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 08 Apr 2015 14:56

Erdogan has a swollen head. He sees himself as head of the next Ottoman empire.
We can try to understand his visit in that context. The entire Islamic world today is on a powderkeg. Everyone suspicious of everyone and everyone fighting everyone. Nice only.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 08 Apr 2015 15:17

Besides, its not just the Houthi Youth-i's that the ground forces will meet. They will end up meeting the army units that side with Saleh too. Which poses graver risks and more food for thought.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Apr 2015 15:22

only indonesia, iran, TSP, turkey and egypt among the islamic nations have the manpower and military to fight serious ground level wars.

question is how many want to play in the ring, and how many want to have chai and watch the fun.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 08 Apr 2015 15:47

vijaykarthik wrote:Besides, its not just the Houthi Youth-i's that the ground forces will meet. They will end up meeting the army units that side with Saleh too. Which poses graver risks and more food for thought.

'tis one and the same. The army is houthi at this point. The navy and air force dont exist. Once the foreigners are gone, Aden should fall. Sooner or later. And baki poots will be required on the ground then.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 08 Apr 2015 16:04

India's Minister of State for External Affairs, General V K Singh, a former Indian Army chief himself travelled to both Djibouti and Sana'a to oversee the operations. If my memory serves me correctly, never has an Indian minister of Singh's political rank gone into an active war zone to conduct such a diplomatic and military maneuver (no, Jaswant Singh in Kandahar during the IC814 hijacking in 1999 does not count).

ldev · Post by **ldev** » 08 Apr 2015 17:26

Relations between Turkey and Iran are good, the best between a Sunni and Shia country. Turkey has been one of many conduits that Iran has used to bypass Western economic sanctions. That is why countries like Pakistan and Egypt hope that Erdogan will be able to successfully mediate between KSA and Iran and bring about a negotiated settlement in Yemen. That way Pakistan can have its cake and eat it too i.e. take Saudi aid and yet avoid having to send in ground troops. And so Nawaz Shariff will not announce any formal move on Pakistani troops to Yemen without seeing how the Turkish mediation move plays out. Nawaz Shariff would like the honor of being assistant mediator to Erdogan!!

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 08 Apr 2015 19:48

JE Menon wrote:Buggers couldn't even think up a name independent of America.

They should have called it "Whatever Storm"

Maybe some day we will find some toxic substance like lead or something in the air of rub-el-khalaas or whatever that prevents the frontal cortex from developing, leading to a collective incapacity to develop any culture other than bullying. Otherwise it is hard to explain the complete lack of any culture in these arabians.

I mean, all of us come from some kind of tribal roots but developed some sort of culture. Even the bullying religion of Arabian Islam mellowed to varying degrees when it swallowed other cultures. But here we have the soothies, who, besides deifying bigotry, have practically invented green on green.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Apr 2015 19:50

vijaykarthik wrote:I missed this. Why did Erdogan go and meet Rouhani though?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/a ... rkish-ties

This looks like a confusing signal.

Turkey realizes the importance of the nuke deal which allows Iran to re-emerge. Hence rushing in to pay obeisance.

Game theory folks do a 4X3 truth table for the Iran-Nuke deal.
Top row: Iran, US, Israel, KSA
Left most column: Oil, Geo-political, Nuke

And fill in the matrix with post deal with a +1, 0 or -1

----------------------Iran USA Israel KSA Comments
-------------------Oil +1 +1 +1 -1 Price of oil goes down
-------------------Geo +1 +1 0 -1 Iran enters West Asia
------------------Nuke -1 +1 0/+1 0/+1 Iran w/o nuke is good

You see Iran needs the nuke only if supreme national interests are threatened i.e. Israel or KSA attacking.
The preservation of breakout period helps stabilize the situation! Or else no deal.
Meantime its in the financial doghouse due to sanctions.
US doesn't have the resources to intervene and its frenemies, the Sunnis are getting gout of control.
No wonder KSA is hopping mad.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Apr 2015 19:57

KLNMurthy wrote:
JE Menon wrote:Buggers couldn't even think up a name independent of America.

They should have called it "Whatever Storm"
Maybe some day we will find some toxic substance like lead or something in the air of rub-el-khalaas or whatever that prevents the frontal cortex from developing, leading to a collective incapacity to develop any culture other than bullying. Otherwise it is hard to explain the complete lack of any culture in these arabians.

I mean, all of us come from some kind of tribal roots but developed some sort of culture. Even the bullying religion of Arabian Islam mellowed to varying degrees when it swallowed other cultures. But here we have the soothies, who, besides deifying bigotry, have practically invented green on green.

I said so long ago that Abrahamism empowers the subalterns and violates Desha, kala and mana aspects of dharma.
Islam is an extreme version and mainly empowers the reptilian brain to the detriment of all other parts of the brain.

Arabian Islam only mellowed with Persian contact and all the achievements were from the Abbasids who were Persio-Arabs. Later Turks: Seljuk, Ottoman, Chagatai all mellowed political Islam.
The British to overthrow Ottoman Turks, the scourge of Europe, empowered Wahabi Islam and created Saudi Barbaria.
The US found oil and helped them get funds(post Yom Kippur perfidy) to patronize their violent serpentine brand of Islam.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 08 Apr 2015 20:18

Six Things You Didn’t Know the U.S. and Its Allies Did to Iran

Here is a quote, I don't think it will surprise anyone:

2. The BBC lent a hand to the CIA’s 1953 overthrow of Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh

If the Reuters thing weren’t enough to give Iranians a grudge against the Western media, the BBC transmitted a secret code to help Kermit Roosevelt (Teddy’s grandson) lay the groundwork for an American and British coup against Mosaddegh. (BBC Persian also assisted by broadcasting pro-coup propaganda on the orders of the British government.) Soon enough the U.S. was training the regime’s secret police in how to interrogate Iranians with methods a CIA analyst said were “based on German torture techniques from World War II.”

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015 ... done-iran/

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 08 Apr 2015 21:42

SwamyG wrote:A good view from Indian perspective or reading of the situation. Not the MSM variety, calm and quiet discussion like in BRF.

Really good. Turns out yemen has some sort of claim on border provinces with saudi arising from something called treaty of Taif. If so, that puts saudi actions in a somewhat different light.