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You fucks are making me want to play Age of Empires again.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:04
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Paddyo posted:The Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Sumerians, etc. would like a word...
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Feb 28, 2011 23:06
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Jeez Jeremy Bowen's face as he's interviewing Gadaffi on the BBC. He almost can't believe what he's hearing! 
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Feb 28, 2011 23:07
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Paddyo posted:The Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Sumerians, etc. would like a word... And the Persians, Phoenicians, and Macedonians.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:07
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Ham posted:Let the floodgates open! Habib Al Adly, former Minister of Interior and responsible for the Egyptian police, prisons and internal security forces was arrested several weeks ago and they've begun interrogating him pertaining to the events taking place between the 25th and 28th. His forces were the ones that opposed the protesters in Egypt from Jan. 25th till the 28th, killing over 300 and wounding thousands then mysteriously disappeared from the streets and prisons the evening of the 28th which caused massive chaos and looting. I really hope these arseholes get the punishment they deserve.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:07
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All very good points, but you also have to consider that the Egyptians, although they were around for a very long time, went through several changes in power over their existence. The entire some 3500 years of Egyptian rule was broken up into several kingdoms and different power quite a few times. But back to my main point, the idea that the status quo will last forever is like saying my sand castle will never be washed away.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:08
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Roark posted:And the Persians, Phoenicians, and Macedonians. Macedonians and Persians showed up afterwards. Not sure about the Phoenicians.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:11
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Confirmation the rebels have heavy armour:quote:CNN's Ben Wederman tweets: "Saw 13 working T-54 tanks at army base controlled by opposition forces near Ajdabiya. Most of the crews fled to Tripoli." Hopefully they've got some people who actually know how to operate them properly.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:14
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Paddyo posted:The Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Sumerians, etc. would like a word... Pssh more like Suckmerians, Buttbylonians, Shittites, and uhh well Assyrians! Doesnt count if you aren't around to say anything. Nations will just always believe they are the one special case that will never ever fail ever because people are dumb and like to believe what makes them feel good. Usually calling other people on their failures and insulting them. Just look at Ghadaffi and his whole "Hey everything is fine dont mind any of that hey hey look at my shiny umbrella."
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Feb 28, 2011 23:16
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ChaosSamusX posted:Macedonians and Persians showed up afterwards. Not sure about the Phoenicians. So did most of the other empires mentioned. They all existed as empires in the broader region between the founding of the Egyptian state/culture, and the appearance of Rome. That was the point. ^^^ Since there's been defections of troops reported, surely there's someone who knows how to operate an old Soviet tank?
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Feb 28, 2011 23:16
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http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ad_1298859291 This is supposedly a video of Saif Qadaffi pumping some police up to go kill protesters. Any arabic speakers who can stand a Libyan accent able to attest to this? Translation posted:
Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Feb 28, 2011 |
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Feb 28, 2011 23:21
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Roark posted:Since there's been defections of troops reported, surely there's someone who knows how to operate an old Soviet tank? Makes me wonder - how different are the working mechanics of tanks? Is it like a car? Drive one, you've basically driven them all? I'm sure there are a lot of basics involved (forward, backward, etc.) Munitions seem like they'd be a bit more complex.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:23
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The-Mole posted:http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ad_1298859291 It's been reported on various news channels as him saying that.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:24
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Brown Moses posted:Confirmation the rebels have heavy armour: They're T-54s. Lets hope they actually still work. If they do actual operation shouldn't be too hard since I believe they're pretty much designed to be easier to operate, if not exactly comfortable. Almost certainly they have enough expertise to operate/train people in their use.
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Feb 28, 2011 23:29
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Brown Moses posted:Confirmation the rebels have heavy armour: Most of the young males in the country were conscripted into the armed forces. I'd say yeah, they probably got some people who know how to operate them. Saif-Islam Qaddafi posted:I am bringing you reinforcements, resources, food, weapons, everything you need. We are doing well. Today I have brought you meat and rice. This is your country. We have all the resources we need, but your country needs you ... Did he say this while riding from a giant flying stone head vomiting guns and ammunition?
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Feb 28, 2011 23:41
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The-Mole posted:http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ad_1298859291 http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2975 Their Translation posted:Saif: Wait my brothers, we are busy, but I came here specifically. Everyone, morale needs to be up high! "We are not inviting you to meat and rice" is apparently a Libyan expression that refers to "taking care of business".
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Feb 28, 2011 23:48
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Their Translation posted:Crowd: We’ll teach them! We’ll get it back! We’ll reclaim it back! That implies that 'it', I assume Libya, has been lost. At least not all of them are blind. Those guys are not in an enviable position. Poor dumdums.
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Mar 1, 2011 00:02
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NY Times reporting that Gaddafi's special forces have retaken the oil refinery at Ras Lunafa, and Feb17voices reporting that Gaddafi loyalists have shot civilians in Misrata. Would not be surprised if we saw the regime undertaking a last-ditch offensive in the coming couple of days, especially following rumors of discord and disagreement in the regime's upper echelons.
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Mar 1, 2011 00:13
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Roark posted:http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2975 !!! Ground meat (lamb or beef) with turmeric, lemon, lentils and white raisins is my go-to dish for feeding Middle Easterners. I take it they won't be offering any tea then?
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Mar 1, 2011 00:36
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On a lighter (?) note: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=6167220
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Mar 1, 2011 00:45
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Nuclear Spoon posted:On a lighter (?) note: To be fair, it is a bit of an eyesore. Bright Yellow and Pink with very sharp lines. Is it a 1985 throwback tribute? Are we going to see a Halls and Oats: Man Eater cameo?
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Mar 1, 2011 00:58
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What the hell is that terrible logo anyway?
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Mar 1, 2011 00:59
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Ham posted:What the hell is that terrible logo anyway? It is supposed to be 2012 in a a stylized form As in: 20 12 Still terrible.
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Mar 1, 2011 01:00
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Disgusting things, again and again.
cloudchamber fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2011 01:03
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Ham posted:What the hell is that terrible logo anyway? It's basically them putting in the absolute minimum amount of effort to make a logo. "Well, we can't just put '2012' in big letters in Times New Roman. What if... now hear me out... we write '2012' on two lines, and like, Jazz it up some with one of those fonts you have to pay for? And we'll give it a drop shadow because bitches these days are ALL about the drop shadows. Oh, and stick the Olympics logo on there somewhere." Though Iran's opposition to it is pretty hilarious. "If you squint really hard and rearrange the letters is kind of looks like 'ZION', which is offensive to us because we're antisemitic." Yes Iran, that will win you lots of friends.
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Mar 1, 2011 01:03
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I'm wondering what the commanders of the air base that defected to the revolution are doing and if they are involved in/planning any sort of operations that might be directed at protecting the revolution (or breaking the regime) That air power is a major force to be reckoned with. They are a strong deterrent to any sort of offensive taken by Gadaffi to retake positions lost. If they have indeed defected, they could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back. Unless the UN imposes the No-Fly Zone, these guys are a major card in the revolutions hand. Furious Mittens fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Mar 1, 2011 01:07
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Everything is relative, I suppose. I was reading this article on France's responses to the Arab revolutions, and I'm suddenly glad for the US's timid stance.quote:At least 35 people had been killed by Jan. 11, when [French Minister of Foreign Affairs] Alliot-Marie shockingly offered to bolster Ben Ali's grip on power. She suggested to France's Parliament that the world-renowned "savoir-faire of our security forces" allows for the "solving of security problems of this sort." (She later clarified that she meant to help control protesters without killing them, but the distinction was lost to many people in France and Tunisia.)
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Mar 1, 2011 01:19
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cloudchamber posted:Lisa giving Bart a blow job. Hey, thanks. 
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Mar 1, 2011 01:21
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Sivias posted:Makes me wonder - how different are the working mechanics of tanks? Is it like a car? Drive one, you've basically driven them all? Think of all the hilarious YouTube videos that could result from a bunch of college kids trying to figure out the workings of a MBT by trial and error. In all seriousness, it doesn't matter a lick. Without training any complex weapons systems that fell into the opposition's hands are going to do more harm then good. Makes me wonder what happened to all of those military units that have supposedly defected. Sounds more like they're throwing their stuff away and going home than preparing to actively participate. It doesn't sound like there is any cohesion and certainly no command and control.
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Mar 1, 2011 01:45
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Paddyo posted:Think of all the hilarious YouTube videos that could result from a bunch of college kids trying to figure out the workings of a MBT by trial and error. In all seriousness, it doesn't matter a lick. Without training any complex weapons systems that fell into the opposition's hands are going to do more harm then good. Makes me wonder what happened to all of those military units that have supposedly defected. Sounds more like they're throwing their stuff away and going home than preparing to actively participate. It doesn't sound like there is any cohesion and certainly no command and control. So 300 guys is more effective than 297 guys and 3 guys in a tank they don't know how to shoot stuff with? They might be ineffective but I don't think it'll do more harm than good. I'd prefer to have the tank on my side, if for nothing else, than to absorb bullets that would otherwise be flying through my face. I do want to see those youtube videos made. It's not as much about a show of threatening force as much as a show of "We gots your tanks. What Now! What!"
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Mar 1, 2011 02:07
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/king-saudi-arabia-protestersquote:Many have announced 11 March as the day for "revolution". Should such public protests take place, they will constitute a sign of ultimate defiance, because all political demonstrations are illegal in Saudi Arabia, punishable by lashing and imprisonment. Very much looking forward to March 11.
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Mar 1, 2011 02:15
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the walkin dude posted:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/king-saudi-arabia-protesters Wow. If they actually do start doing public demonstrations in Saudi Arabia that's a BIG deal. Though the US is so buddy buddy with them I think they would end up stepping in despite the many, many reasons why they shouldn't.
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Mar 1, 2011 02:25
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Would the United States military be able to step in? Can they afford to? They seem to be stretched out. For some reason this reminds me of the German Wehrmacht and the Baku oilfields.
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Mar 1, 2011 02:26
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Those would be a few of those many reasons I mentioned, but honestly Saudi Arabia is pretty much the last place left in the Middle East that PRETENDS to like America (they don't), and they're a huge supplier of oil, so the US might feel that they need to step in if their stability is threatened. Even if the US doesn't do it on their own initiative, the SA government might threaten to hold back oil if they don't send military aid, thus putting direct pressure on the US and forcing them to choose between either helping an ally and pissing off the rest of the middle east even more (and if the SA government still falls, REALLY pissing off whoever replaces them), or sitting back and pissing off the current SA government and probably losing them as a "friend", but not making the rest of the middle east any angrier (and potentially ending up on neutral terms with a possible revolutionary government). It's sort of a lose-lose situation for the US, though I can't feel too sorry for them since it's the hole they dug for themselves in the first place.
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Mar 1, 2011 02:31
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Eesh. If there's a revolt in Saudi Arabia it's going to be a bloodbath that makes Libya look like a playground scrap.
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Mar 1, 2011 02:45
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The Cheshire Cat posted:Wow. If they actually do start doing public demonstrations in Saudi Arabia that's a BIG deal. Yeah, it is. Man, I don't know. For this to happen, the Saudis have to be willing to go big, or go home. And by that, I mean that there has to be thousands of them willing to do it Libya-style. That is, they need to be unafraid of imprisonment, torture, whatever. A few dozen, or even a few hundred protestors, isn't going to do the job. King Abdullah isn't regarded as a straight-up savage dictator like Gaddafi, at least, that I know of. While there are terrible punishments for organizing and protesting, it seems that the Saudis enjoy a better average standard of living under their regime than the Libyans do under theirs. That makes me less sure that a significant amount of the population would choose to rebel in the face of severe punishment (and if they succeed, the great unknown) instead of sticking with their imperfect existence under the absolute monarchy. Am I way off here? Edit: Most of what I know about the king is from what I learned from being on a sports team for two years with a Saudi guy in undergrad, three or four years back. The Saudi government was paying for his education in the U.S. Since this guy was no real genius, I suppose he was probably upper-class. Thus, his statements that the king was pretty much a good guy that takes care of the country are possibly not all that credible. 
DonT15 fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Mar 1, 2011 02:46
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Isn't Saudi Arabia the country with Chop-Chop Square and severe oppression of their women?
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Mar 1, 2011 02:50
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the walkin dude posted:Isn't Saudi Arabia the country with Chop-Chop Square and severe oppression of their women? Saudi Arabia is basically the harshest, most oppressive regime in the entire Middle East. They don't get a lot of attention for it because they're oil buddies with the US so the media typically doesn't talk about it. DonT15 posted:Man, I don't know. For this to happen, the Saudis have to be willing to go big, or go home. And by that, I mean that there has to be thousands of them willing to do it Libya-style. That is, they need to be unafraid of imprisonment, torture, whatever. A few dozen, or even a few hundred protestors, isn't going to do the job. If anything, they would have to be even BIGGER and harder than in Libya, because of the high chance of US involvement if it went to open conflict. The only thing that would keep the US out is if the protesters managed to completely topple the government and have clear control of the country in like, week 1. Also, I once met a kid from Saudi Arabia when I was in summer camp. His father was a general or something, and he lived in a mansion with servants. He considered himself to be "Not that rich". I think the upper classes in Saudi Arabia literally have no idea how badly the poor have it, save for maybe a few that are the ones directly responsible for that situation. They're sort of like the French aristocracy there; they just kind of assume that because they're living in luxury that everyone else is doing okay and any dissent is just people being uppity. (the kid ended up leaving camp after like 3 days. My guess is he found the standard of living at a sleep away camp too difficult. He was honestly surprised that you have to wipe your own rear end. I swear, that is actually something he said. I really, really hope he's just used to having a bidet and not that he actually has someone to wipe his rear end for him) The Cheshire Cat fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Mar 1, 2011 02:56
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The Cheshire Cat posted:Though the US is so buddy buddy with them I think they would end up stepping in despite the many, many reasons why they shouldn't. This is something I've been warning about since the start of this thread. Keep your eye on the Saudis. On July 15th, 1979, Jimmy Carter gave his 'Malaise' speech where he basically outlined that any interference with America's flow of oil amounts to a moral equivalent of war. This brings me to my next point. America can't afford to let the oil stop flowing. Coincidentally, we also can't afford any more military intervention, in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, due to our current quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan in order secure oil. (Thanks Bush). One of the biggest reasons why participating in an expensive war of choice is a terrible idea (don't convince yourself that it was anything other than a war of choice) is because now we're unable to focus our efforts on a real issue. Iraq was a gamble, and we lost. Well, the oil companies didn't. They made profits never seen on this planet. Sivias fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Mar 1, 2011 |
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Mar 1, 2011 03:21
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DonT15 posted:Edit: Most of what I know about the king is from what I learned from being on a sports team for two years with a Saudi guy in undergrad, three or four years back. The Saudi government was paying for his education in the U.S. Since this guy was no real genius, I suppose he was probably upper-class. Thus, his statements that the king was pretty much a good guy that takes care of the country are possibly not all that credible. Someone from Saudi Arabia mentioned earlier that the government is basically shipping their citizens around the world to get great educations, but they fear returning home because there will be no job when they arrive. The employment in Saudi Arabia isn't much far off from what it was in Egypt. The only difference is the country is by far more conservative than the surrounding nations and the government is more of a family. So rearranging money around to help the lower class citizens is far easier. e: sorry for double post.
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Mar 1, 2011 03:24
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