Senate The Middle East Discussion Thread

Now they can openly work together to make the world a worse place instead of just clandestinely.

 

I'm hesitant to ascribe motive here, but I generally assume this is more about continued squeezing out of Qatar from the GCC than anything else, as somewhat more of a continuation of this timeline:

https://www.justsecurity.org/69094/...atar-666-fifth-avenue-and-white-house-policy/

The UAE is also a very minority Arab-state (20% are the Emirati, and the others are immigrants/expats working). Also generally, given Etihad and Emirates, given the ability to travel on those airlines (likely prohibited since they mega-hub Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Israeli passports are prohibited from entering UAE) -- this seems like not much of anything, other than of course extending the legitimacy of the Netanyahu administration, which is bad on its own.

 

I'm not very surprised this is happening precisely because it narrows Qatar's perspectives even further, and because it's a sound move to make against Iran.

 

Yep. There’s also this from Mike Pompeo today:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/18/politics/pompeo-west-bank-settlements-announcement/index.html

And we look back at 9/11 and wonder why.

 

I think I'm going to find some dark relish in watching the USA seeking refuge behind international law against China when I'm old and grey...

And yes, I'm aware my own country has a long history of colonization.

 

And now, the FBI has joined the investigation into the Beirut explosion

 

wrong thread

 

Chaos returns (as if it ever left).

Time for more distraction. An international crisis--while allowing him to say how 'tough' he is on Iran--is just the ticket.

 

lol...

 

Welp, turns out it was likely just a money grab...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/world/middleeast/trump-netanyahu-israel-uae.html

 

Another fire at Beirut's port :s

 

Breaking news on CNN that the Emir of Kuwait has died age 91. Don't have a link at this point.

Edit - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-54340988

 

well.......that's probably not good. He was working on getting Qatar out of the crosshairs of the other Gulf States, so there goes that.

 

Iran must have some bad intelligence or protection that’s two major assassinations in a year

 

Getting things done before a slightly less cooperative President gets sworn in and wags his finger.

 

Fixed.

 

Israel will stop at nothing to make sure Iran never has a nuke. As of now Israel has all the leverage as they are the nuclear power of the two

 

Christ. Israel was also either bombing nuclear facilities or at least openly joking about being responsible earlier this year. Hell the show "Tehran" which is just open propaganda for Mossad has that as a premise more or less, and its stars have been joking about it lining up with actual murders or "accidental deaths" of nuclear scientists and workers. None of which are even working on anything approaching weaponry. No way Biden will try to dictate terms with Israel on this stuff, tut tut all he wants, but the dems will go along for the ride. This is just the state of things until the next Lebanon and Israel's regularly programmed embarrassment leading to a sabbatical

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/27/top-iranian-nuclear-scientist-killed-iran-armed-forces
not super graphic but the image of the blood draining near the bullet-hole filled car is really depressing. Several attackers killed apparently. Hopefully they can be identified

 

So if anyone has been following the credible reports of Australian soldiers during the Afghanistan war killing children, particularly slashing their throats.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/25/skewed-responsibility-australian-war-crimes-in-afghanistan/

one of the reported horrors now has been proven photographically. They took a dead Afghan soldier's prosthetic leg and used it to drink beer out of.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...-soldier-drinking-dead-taliban-prosthetic-leg

 

Rocket served in the Australian army now confirmed.

 

Since Joe Biden has announced that the us and NATO are withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, there’s few things I worry about afterwards.

His withdrawal plan is better than Trumps plan obviously.

I worry that the Taliban will have complete control over all of Afghanistan even though the government we installed is just as barbaric and religiously corrupt also.

I also worry that isis and Al qaeda will grow bigger than they already are and I am concerned that maybe new terrorists groups could rise from the withdrawal like what happened with Iraq.

But the only things that’s good about this at least the multiple Taliban factions fights with each other and the Taliban and isis also fights each other as well.

Also isis and al qaeda fighting each other is good thing too.

 

Does this mark the end of the 9-11 and war on terror era? On the negative side this withdrawal also frees the US to engage in new conflicts else where in the world.