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@ Saudi military spending: maybe they want some Lebensraum once the oil dries up and global warming hits them.
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Dec 4, 2018 16:16
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They're just trying to adjust to an era where US oil dependency doesn't buy them a cart blanche blanket of security from sanctions and conflict.
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Dec 4, 2018 16:32
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https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1070013889767714817
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Dec 4, 2018 19:15
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Lindsay Graham of all people also seems to agree
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Dec 4, 2018 19:51
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Lindsay Graham is in the super odious position where he virtually always acknowledges his party's position is morally wrong, but he supports it anyway. He's even more of a naked monster than his peers.
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Dec 4, 2018 23:45
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New Yorker has one of their typically long articles about Idlib out today that's getting some recommendations. I'll probably crack into it tonight. https://twitter.com/Anand_Gopal_/status/1069697959800000514
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Dec 5, 2018 00:48
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Confirmed cased pf Swine flu in aleppo. MoH reports Wait til russia claims the us fired off swine flu rockets ay aleppo WAR CRIME GIGOLO fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Dec 5, 2018 |
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Dec 5, 2018 21:11
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https://twitter.com/OzKaterji/status/1070548642552078336
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Dec 6, 2018 06:22
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Too bad she got caught. Don't escape/hide on a cruise ship people.
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Dec 6, 2018 06:32
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Say, remember how Trump wanted US forces out of Syria in six months? (That was 8 or 9 months ago by the way, most of the news stories about that announcement were on April 4, 2018.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...m=.c5c17e27ad4a September 6th, 2018 posted:President Trump, who just five months ago said he wanted “to get out” of Syria and bring U.S. troops home soon, has agreed to a new strategy that indefinitely extends the military effort there and launches a major diplomatic push to achieve American objectives, according to senior State Department officials. https://twitter.com/VivaRevolt/status/1070112463893471232 quote:The US Military is heavily expanding the Himo Military Airbase,at the western entrance of Qamishli City,and beginning to establish 2 new bases east and west of Qamishli City, with reports from Kurdish Sources,that Regime Military sorties from Qamishli Airbase are no longer flying Saladin Rising fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Dec 6, 2018 |
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Dec 6, 2018 22:07
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There's reports that Sean Penn is in Istanbul right now doing a documentary on the Khashoggi murder. Saudi state media is not handling it well. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/med...8mQYaow.twitter "according to wordpress.com"
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Dec 7, 2018 01:00
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Volkerball posted:There's reports that Sean Penn is in Istanbul right now doing a documentary on the Khashoggi murder. Saudi state media is not handling it well. lol, this propaganda is so bad. Who is it even aimed at? Goddamn Saudi sucks at international intrigue so bad
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Dec 7, 2018 04:28
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Saladin Rising posted:Say, remember how Trump wanted US forces out of Syria in six months? (That was 8 or 9 months ago by the way, most of the news stories about that announcement were on April 4, 2018.) President Sanders will deploy the full might of the American military to create a PYD-led pan-Middle-Eastern socialist democracy
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Dec 7, 2018 04:29
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GreyjoyBastard posted:President Sanders will deploy the full might of the American military to create a PYD-led pan-Middle-Eastern socialist democracy pyd spring just doesnt hve that ring that ARAB COMMUNIST SPRIMG does
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Dec 7, 2018 06:10
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LeoMarr posted:pyd spring just doesnt hve that ring that ARAB COMMUNIST SPRIMG does
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Dec 7, 2018 06:15
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Volkerball posted:There's reports that Sean Penn is in Istanbul right now doing a documentary on the Khashoggi murder. Saudi state media is not handling it well. "alleged fiancée"
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Dec 7, 2018 11:03
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It's honestly perplexing how Saudi Arabia has managed to handle literally every aspect of this so terribly.
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Dec 7, 2018 11:47
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Herstory Begins Now posted:It's honestly perplexing how Saudi Arabia has managed to handle literally every aspect of this so terribly.
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Dec 7, 2018 12:33
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Volkerball posted:There's reports that Sean Penn is in Istanbul right now doing a documentary on the Khashoggi murder. Saudi state media is not handling it well. Before I clicked this link I assumed Sean Penn was making a documentary about Khashoggi on behalf of the Saudis. I'm still kinda surprised he isn't.
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Dec 7, 2018 12:33
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Volkerball posted:New Yorker has one of their typically long articles about Idlib out today that's getting some recommendations. I'll probably crack into it tonight. It's a really good/extremely sad article.
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Dec 7, 2018 15:56
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Herstory Begins Now posted:It's honestly perplexing how Saudi Arabia has managed to handle literally every aspect of this so terribly. It’s not exactly a meritocracy.
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Dec 7, 2018 16:18
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Before I clicked this link I assumed Sean Penn was making a documentary about Khashoggi on behalf of the Saudis. I'm still kinda surprised he isn't. MbS could probably make Penn do an enthusiastic 180 if he invited him for a dinner and a nice hunting trip to the desert.
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Dec 7, 2018 16:19
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The BBC had an hour long documentary on this on last night and it was pretty good. Its a tragic story, it just reinforces what most people with an interest in the Middle East already know - pretty much all the Middle Eastern monarchies are run by terrible terrible people. She seems to have used her cell phone throughout the entirety of her escape, which was very dumb. Its probably how the UAE tracked her down. I guess its fair enough that she mightn't have been aware of this possibility, given her sheltered life, but how did the ex French naval intelligence officer who was captaining her yacht/rescue mission not take care of that?
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Dec 7, 2018 16:55
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Squalid posted:lol, this propaganda is so bad. Who is it even aimed at? My one and only guess could be 'Average joes inside the KSA' but even there, unless they have no access to global news and internet, I doubt it. Genuinely wish for Al-Saqr's perspective on this.
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Dec 7, 2018 18:03
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Blut posted:but how did the ex French naval intelligence officer who was captaining her yacht/rescue mission not take care of that? Maybe that's why they're an ex-French naval intelligence officer. 
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Dec 7, 2018 18:03
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Sinteres posted:It's a really good/extremely sad article. Seconded - worth reading every word.
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Dec 7, 2018 19:10
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/afghan-soldiers-killed-coordinated-taliban-attack-herat-181207082508638.htmlquote:Ghani had earlier said that 28,529 Afghan security forces had been killed since the start of 2015, a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged. That is an average of around 20 soldiers killed every day. I wonder how long the Afghan government can hold on.
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Dec 7, 2018 20:13
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OhFunny posted:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/afghan-soldiers-killed-coordinated-taliban-attack-herat-181207082508638.html Really hard to be optimistic that its very long. The parliamentary election in October seems to have been a disaster. The main electoral commission just ruled the results in Kabul invalid due to massive irregularities, but another electoral commission is denying this and saying it will certify the results anyway. The winner in many regions is still tbd, the government has struggled just to count the votes. Now there's been talk about delaying the Presidential election, on the basis that its not even possible for the administration to hold it on time, even though this would violate the constitution. The government is struggling just to maintain basic functions. For the past two years the basic strategy of the Afghan army has been to gradually withdraw from small, isolated rural posts to concentrate forces in defense of larger towns and urban areas. The purpose of this was to stem casualties while consolidating control over vital towns and infrastructure. The downside to this is the Taliban gained greater freedom of movement throughout the countryside and control of more territory. If this strategy has not succeeded in stemming attrition or making the cities more secure its a sign that the current situation is not sustainable, and that time is not on the side of the Afghan government.
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Dec 7, 2018 21:17
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Squalid posted:For the past two years the basic strategy of the Afghan army has been to gradually withdraw from small, isolated rural posts to concentrate forces in defense of larger towns and urban areas. The purpose of this was to stem casualties while consolidating control over vital towns and infrastructure. lol, this is the text book response of a doomed government
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Dec 7, 2018 21:26
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ecureuilmatrix posted:Yep! At this point what does it matter that Saudi keeps Raif Badawi locked up? I really don't get it. It'd be a nice gesture if they just deported him after their total fuckups recently. You'd think that with their controlled domestic media that most people wouldn't have heard much on that guy, and if they did just deport him they should be able to erase his memory, no? Or am I overestimating their competence at even doing that? There's enough people shining a light on the lovely monarchy now that deporting this likely broken man to be with his family could even neutralize them for a while. It's very possible he'll to have lots of problems after release from a Saudi jail cell (like the Canadian released from the Taliban) and his wife would have her hands too full taking care of him to speak out anymore. What's the downside? The whole case is baffling. Then again, "Hey MBS, you're actively making this worse" is something that fucko's heard enough already, I'm sure.
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Dec 7, 2018 22:01
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His wife and kids have been living in [my hometown!] Sherbrooke for some time. There's a huge tapestry of Badawi hanging from the facade of the town hall, in front of which are support events every other week (meetup #200 was a month ago, I think?). Badawi got preapproved for immigration should he be released (
) The local Amnesty Inter chapter has basically become the Official Badawi support staff, making his wife somewhat of a local celebrity. The regional support for his family has been very heartening, yup.
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dinoputz posted:At this point what does it matter that Saudi keeps Raif Badawi locked up? I really don't get it. It'd be a nice gesture if they just deported him after their total fuckups recently. You'd think that with their controlled domestic media that most people wouldn't have heard much on that guy, and if they did just deport him they should be able to erase his memory, no? Or am I overestimating their competence at even doing that? If they released Raif, how could they justify keeping Samar Badawi in prison? If they release Samar, how could they justify keeping Loujain Hathloul and Eman al-Nafjan in prison? If they release those two, then...etc etc. Creating a public perception that your regime will give concessions when pressured is a big part of what created the political environment that existed in Syria in the early 2010's. It's why so many authoritarian regimes will risk the collapse of the entire nation state over even the pettiest of issues. So that people know that asking for anything whatsoever is going to have positive consequences only over the dead bodies of a lot of people. MBS tried to frame himself as this cosmopolitan reformer, particularly to audiences outside of Saudi Arabia, but at the same time, they are trying to maintain the reputation within Saudi Arabia that activism of any kind will only result in sorrow. That's why you see them doing contradictory acts, like allowing women to drive, while simultaneously locking up the most prominent activists for womens rights in the country as foreign agents, and torturing them. They're compensating for creating this perception of being open to reform by being as brutal as they can towards real reformers. Raif has become a symbol of activism, so I expect he'll be made example of. He's got several years left on his sentence, but he owes so many lashes that they'd kill him before they were all finished. They keep postponing rounds of his lashings due to his health, so he's nowhere near being done. Since that's likely to still be the case when his time is up, they can say oh well he hasn't had all his lashings so he still owes a debt to society, and keep him locked up. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he ends up dying in there. I hope they grow bored with him before that happens. Volkerball fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Dec 7, 2018 |
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Dec 7, 2018 23:15
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https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...42ab7878abafa78quote:Dubai Royal Court insists princess is ‘safe’ despite nine-month disappearance Didn’t Herve actually used to post here? (Mostly promoting his book if I recall right)
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Dec 8, 2018 06:52
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Nckdictator posted:https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...42ab7878abafa78 Why is it that its never enough for these freaks to be quietly committed to the minimum of callous despotism necessary to maintain their rule, but always have to extend a petty personal sadism into every aspect of their lives? God willing a hot and merciless wind will blow forth from the desert and scour these latter day Sodoms and Gomorrahs which are the Gulf Monarchies from the face of the earth.
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Dec 8, 2018 08:30
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Squalid posted:Why is it that its never enough for these freaks to be quietly committed to the minimum of callous despotism necessary to maintain their rule, but always have to extend a petty personal sadism into every aspect of their lives? God willing a hot and merciless wind will blow forth from the desert and scour these latter day Sodoms and Gomorrahs which are the Gulf Monarchies from the face of the earth. Don’t besmirch our partners and allies in the war against the biggest state sponsor of terrorism Sir.
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Dec 8, 2018 19:05
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Everyone should know by now that terrorizing people outside your country is what brings the hammer down on you (Iran messing with Israel? Not cool! Oh, but a country like Yemen? Yea, sure...let's make a buck from it too), but terrorizing your own people? In the eyes of the international community that has always been and will be acceptable, no matter the degree nor the propaganda that state that as the chief reason for why a country should get invaded.
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Dec 8, 2018 19:39
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Tough read on the situation for Houthi prisoners. Hisham al-Omeissy was in one of them, and was recently freed. The article he's linking has some horrible images in it, so be warned. https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/1070970407656808449
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Dec 8, 2018 20:03
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Throwback to before Max Blumenthal sold his soul. https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/103817672386555904
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Dec 9, 2018 02:26
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Nckdictator posted:https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...42ab7878abafa78
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Dec 9, 2018 02:36
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https://twitter.com/IbnSiqilli/status/1071639937030721537
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Dec 9, 2018 10:50
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Interesting humvee the Taliban is rocking there. I wonder how many millions (billions?) worth of US military surplus the Taliban is going to end up with when it eventually wins the war.
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Dec 9, 2018 13:51
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