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The X-man cometh posted:Saudi is just as bad as Israel now, should Miss Pakistan or Miss Philippines be harassed because she posed with a Saudi? (Does such a person exist?) JFC, Saudi is not a noun, learn how to use your own loving language. This is not limited to you, idiots have been talking about "Saudi" pretty regularly recently.
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Dec 18, 2017 00:37
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English will do anything to any word at any time. Saudi is a preposition now.
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Dec 18, 2017 00:57
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steinrokkan posted:JFC, Saudi is not a noun, learn how to use your own loving language. Sounds like somebody is getting pretty Saudi about this. Am I using it right?
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Dec 18, 2017 02:09
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My Christmas wish is that one of the lovely malfunctioning Houthi Scuds lands on Al-Saqr’s house. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Dec 18, 2017 03:33
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OctaMurk posted:Sounds like somebody is getting pretty Saudi about this. Am I using it right? No. Now say you're Saudi
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Dec 18, 2017 03:38
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Achernar posted:Here's a nice little story that made me  , Christmas has returned to Mosul:https://twitter.com/AliBaroodi/status/942058394252431360 quote:Christmas trees & Santa Claus are back to Mosul. You can find them everywhere. It's a nice gesture of peace from Mosulis. https://twitter.com/AliBaroodi/status/942065264321028096 This one's kinda striking because it could easily be a photo from any US city, you wouldn't know it's from Mosul without context.
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Dec 18, 2017 03:51
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Promise made: Promise kept. god bless the troop lord
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Dec 18, 2017 07:18
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Lot of big claims in here so far. It's a three part thing. https://twitter.com/politico/status/942567664358252544
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Dec 18, 2017 08:01
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never forget
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Dec 18, 2017 08:10
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Volkerball posted:Lot of big claims in here so far. It's a three part thing. So, hang on, those seem to be two separate systems? The drug money may also go to Hezbollah, but the car thing seems to be entirely different.
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Dec 18, 2017 09:56
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Josef bugman posted:So, hang on, those seem to be two separate systems? The drug money may also go to Hezbollah, but the car thing seems to be entirely different. Lebanese Diaspora in Africa apparently. This type of thing has been swirling around for a few years now.
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Dec 18, 2017 10:43
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Yeah, the article has people saying this project got quashed to protect the nuclear deal, but it seems a little muddier than that. The person who suggested the DEA stumbled into CIA "turf" is probably onto something. We know the counterterrorism people had their hooks in arms trafficking and Hezballah/Iran and I can imagine how they would have reacted if they found out the anti-drug people were trying to indict their intelligence assets. Of course, the CIA is lovely and political and doesn't give a poo poo about law enforcement, so they don't have to have a good reason to sabotage other agencies' work. Sometimes they don't even do it on purpose.
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Dec 18, 2017 11:38
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OctaMurk posted:Sounds like somebody is getting pretty Saudi about this. Am I using it right? Yes, in that I'm getting ready to infest the OP's neighborhood with cholera.
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Dec 18, 2017 12:09
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Terror Plumbing
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Dec 18, 2017 12:51
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Volkerball posted:Lot of big claims in here so far. It's a three part thing. This is loving huge. If half of this poo poo is as presented, then WTF Obama? Josef bugman posted:So, hang on, those seem to be two separate systems? The drug money may also go to Hezbollah, but the car thing seems to be entirely different. They're inextricably linked. Drug money is used to buy used cars in America, that are shipped to Africa and sold, effectively washing the money.
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Dec 18, 2017 14:11
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https://mobile.twitter.com/AFP/status/942738712248582145
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Dec 18, 2017 14:20
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steinrokkan posted:JFC, Saudi is not a noun, learn how to use your own loving language. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/saudi noun, plural Saudis. 1. a native or inhabitant of Saudi Arabia Hope this helps!!!
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Dec 18, 2017 15:21
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Apparently Saif Gaddafi is going to run for the Libyan presidency in next year's elections. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gadaffis-son-saif-al-islam-run-libyan-presidency-518043043 mediadave fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Dec 18, 2017 |
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Dec 18, 2017 15:28
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Haha, turns out that norwegian army dude who pissed off Turkey so much during that NATO exercise has a kurdish background https://translate.google.com/transl...Erdogan-rasende
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Dec 18, 2017 15:33
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Bohemian Nights posted:Haha, turns out that norwegian army dude who pissed off Turkey so much during that NATO exercise has a kurdish background To the surprise of no one.
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Dec 18, 2017 16:04
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mediadave posted:Apparently Saif Gaddafi is going to run for the Libyan presidency in next year's elections. This seems like a good idea. Does he like knives in the butt?
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Dec 18, 2017 17:25
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support assad to end the war (by continuing it forever)
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Dec 18, 2017 18:37
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I was actually expecting a longer smear campaign before the Kurds ended up on the official to-massacre list.
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Dec 18, 2017 19:33
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Warbadger posted:I was actually expecting a longer smear campaign before the Kurds ended up on the official to-massacre list. Assad and his supporters have been laying the ground work to assault Afrin/Rojova/SDF/YPG since before those regions fell out of their control and their threats have waxed and waned depending on who was ascendant. Assadians were very quiet during the Deir Ezzor siege when SDF support was critical in resupplying the DEZ garrison during the last ISIS assault that was part of the Palmyra offensive last year but were highly threatening when the SDF seized Taqba. That's the biggest reason I'm in favor of an enduring American footprint inside Syria because this is one of the few areas where US foreign policy can actually prevent conflict and push the country towards a negotiated peace.
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Dec 18, 2017 19:48
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Brother Friendship posted:Assad and his supporters have been laying the ground work to assault Afrin/Rojova/SDF/YPG since before those regions fell out of their control and their threats have waxed and waned depending on who was ascendant. Assadians were very quiet during the Deir Ezzor siege when SDF support was critical in resupplying the DEZ garrison during the last ISIS assault that was part of the Palmyra offensive last year but were highly threatening when the SDF seized Taqba. That's the biggest reason I'm in favor of an enduring American footprint inside Syria because this is one of the few areas where US foreign policy can actually prevent conflict and push the country towards a negotiated peace. How do you propose supplying that enduring footprint if Iraq and Turkey close their borders with the SDF?
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Dec 18, 2017 20:24
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Sinteres posted:How do you propose supplying that enduring footprint if Iraq and Turkey close their borders with the SDF? While things are moving rapidly in a geopolitical sense they are moving slowly as far as the days turn. The United States and Turkey are locked into an abusive relationship with no clear venue on how either would leave the other's influence so the notion of Turkey cutting off Irclick or land routes to east of the Euphrates are as far in the horizon as Turkey departing NATO. If we're talking about a footprint inside Syria in the scale of years and that is a narrow enough opening to secure a future for our allies. As for Iraq I believe that nation is struggling to maintain its own identity and doesn't wish to become a vassal state to Iran nor another country split in two by Iranian proxies such as Lebanon. We did not intervene with Iraq's own Kurdish separatists and have made it clear that we do not support a pan Kurdish movement to create their own country and while I don't follow Iraqi politics (I'm burned out) I see signs that make me think Iraq wouldn't make such a hard move against the US. Locking out US interests in Iraq would lock their country firmly into Iranian sphere and that, judging by Abadi's dance, Sistanti's call to disarm the PMU and even Al-Sadr's actions, appears to not be desired by some powerful power brokers in the country. I'm not trying to skirt around your question but I don't think the premise is necessarily realistic in the short term. And while this is naive of me I would genuinely prefer to lose our influence in the region trying to live up to our nation's ideals than throwing them away in the name of convenience. That level of cynicism has eroded any moral authority we might have abroad and has had degenerating effects on our domestic society. If I might add another point I believe that the entire region is wildly precarious and we simply don't know what it's going to look like five years from now. Even the news in Yemen since Saleh's death indicates that the conflict in that country may be more dynamic than perceived even a month ago.
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Dec 18, 2017 21:28
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Brother Friendship posted:While things are moving rapidly in a geopolitical sense they are moving slowly as far as the days turn. The United States and Turkey are locked into an abusive relationship with no clear venue on how either would leave the other's influence so the notion of Turkey cutting off Irclick or land routes to east of the Euphrates are as far in the horizon as Turkey departing NATO. If we're talking about a footprint inside Syria in the scale of years and that is a narrow enough opening to secure a future for our allies. As for Iraq I believe that nation is struggling to maintain its own identity and doesn't wish to become a vassal state to Iran nor another country split in two by Iranian proxies such as Lebanon. We did not intervene with Iraq's own Kurdish separatists and have made it clear that we do not support a pan Kurdish movement to create their own country and while I don't follow Iraqi politics (I'm burned out) I see signs that make me think Iraq wouldn't make such a hard move against the US. Locking out US interests in Iraq would lock their country firmly into Iranian sphere and that, judging by Abadi's dance, Sistanti's call to disarm the PMU and even Al-Sadr's actions, appears to not be desired by some powerful power brokers in the country. I don't know if Turkey's going to be quite as patient as you think. Once ISIS is well and truly defeated as an organized force, our original goal will have been accomplished, and Turkey will have a much stronger case to make that we shouldn't be indefinitely arming and supporting their enemies in creating a de facto state just because it frustrates Assad and Iran. Turkey obviously isn't a fan of Assad, but even if it's mostly due to Russian mediation, they are willing to work with him in a way Erdogan has made impossible to do with the YPG when he restarted Turkey's war on the PKK. We know from experience that he preferred ISIS on the border to the YPG, so it's a pretty strong preference, and in the absence of a pressing need by the US, it's hard to see how we can make Turkey leaving open border crossings for us to use to assist their enemies the top priority in our bilateral relationship. Iraq's more complicated, since they have obviously needed US assistance themselves, and their government presumably hopes to continue some version of positive relations with us in order to balance against being total Iranian puppets, but there are plenty of non-government actors in Iraq who might be willing to act against us and/or the government if they end up diverging too far from Iranian policy preferences. I don't know if Iran cares enough about the area east of the Euphrates to make it that sort of critical issue which could destabilize Iraq, particularly since the land route is already secured without it, but I guess we'll see. Even aside from the Iran stuff though, just because we're not explicitly promoting regional separatism outside of Syria doesn't mean Iraq won't see it as a long term problem for them too. Yeah, Iraqi Kurdistan's aspirations have been pretty well defeated for now, but the idea that Iraq could face a PKK insurgency at some point in the future now that the other parties failed to secure the gains they promised isn't entirely crazy, especially if they have a success to point to elsewhere. I'm not saying this effort is necessarily doomed, but I hope the Pentagon has put some real thought into this, and received some kind of assurance from Iraq at least if they're openly contemplating this sort of permanent occupation of Syrian territory. The attempt alone will do damage to our relationship with Turkey, so finding out after the fact that it was also a dangerously incompetent attempt with little real planning (much like most of our decisions in the region) would be less than ideal.
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Dec 19, 2017 00:48
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An opinion piece on Saudi Arabia trying to pressure Jordan: How Saudi tried to bully Jordan and failed http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/saudi-bully-jordan-failed-171218103430867.html quote:The presumed tripartite Saudi message was this: Amman and Ramallah should lighten up their criticisms of Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital; not join the Organization of Islamic Cooperation emergency summit that convened in Turkey last week; and, support Saudi Arabia's desire to promote an expected Israel-Palestine "peace plan" that is being developed by the White House. It's a short opinion piece in Al Jazeera - so definitely not unbiased, but interesting that this is now definitely the 'narrative' being put out.
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Dec 19, 2017 13:32
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Is it just that the House of Saud is so used to getting it's own way that it became poo poo at using threats, or has it always been bad at them?
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Dec 19, 2017 15:30
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Josef bugman posted:Is it just that the House of Saud is so used to getting it's own way that it became poo poo at using threats, or has it always been bad at them?
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Dec 19, 2017 16:30
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Flayer posted:It's probably mainly the fact that when you're an unfathomably rich prince with literally tens of thousands of servants at your beck and call you don't get used to anyone standing up to you. I reckon MBS has the sincere and fundamental belief that anything he says will be obeyed and doesn't understand how or why people aren't falling in line with his foreign policy ideas. It doesn't help he was homeschooled so he really has no basis for comparison. That said, I think the other issue, is that not everything does against him all the time (Bahrain mostly buckled under) which adds some positive reinforcement. I wonder if the next move to openly screw with the Palestinian economy to bring them to "heel" and re-enter the peace process as essentially a treaty of surrender.
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Dec 19, 2017 16:48
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https://twitter.com/pandagulu/status/943140687012392960 Ahmadinejad is gonna end up dead soon if he keeps loving around.
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Dec 19, 2017 20:57
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Volkerball posted:https://twitter.com/pandagulu/status/943140687012392960 What a loss for the world that would be.
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Dec 19, 2017 21:05
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https://twitter.com/tobiaschneider/status/943188196388728832 The Houthis fired a missile at the royal palace today. Edit: Reportedly intercepted in flight.
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Dec 19, 2017 21:35
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OhFunny posted:https://twitter.com/tobiaschneider/status/943188196388728832 It almost definitely wasn't intercepted. They (like pretty much everyone else) lie their asses off about that. https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/943128836983549954 For what it's worth, it is notable that there seems to be a solid consensus that these missiles are Iranian now rather than scrounged up remnants of Yemen's military. Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Dec 19, 2017 |
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Dec 19, 2017 22:19
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Isn't there a video that allegedly shows it being intercepted?
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Dec 20, 2017 00:10
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Laurenz posted:Isn't there a video that allegedly shows it being intercepted? https://twitter.com/JeremyBinnie/status/943121716796100608 The media have a habit of being really gullible when the US or its allies say their missile defense systems have worked.
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Dec 20, 2017 00:32
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Sinteres posted:For what it's worth, it is notable that there seems to be a solid consensus that these missiles are Iranian now rather than scrounged up remnants of Yemen's military. I was pretty skeptical at first, seems pretty impressive that you can transport a Scud into Yemen right now. Small arms, some heavy guns, sure. But a scud? Alternatively, I wonder if they're retrofit kits?
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Dec 20, 2017 00:53
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guidoanselmi posted:I was pretty skeptical at first, seems pretty impressive that you can transport a Scud into Yemen right now. Small arms, some heavy guns, sure. But a scud? They may have been smuggled in before the blockade. Or the blockage is ineffective because "LOL KSA Armed Forces".
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Dec 20, 2017 01:45
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Xae posted:They may have been smuggled in before the blockade. Isn’t the US Navy helping with the blockade though?
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