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THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Sun 03 Aug 2014, 03:49:31

Keith_McClary wrote:The End Game Scenario
Gaza: Is Annexation Israel’s ‘Permanent Solution’?
In fact it’s the gas

Now consider another dimension to the issue, already written about in The Ecologist: Gaza is valuable property thanks to its enormous resources of natural gas.

When originally discovered in 2000, Gaza’s ofshore 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves were valued at $4 billion. Since then the Gaza Marine reserve has been re-estimated to 1.6 trillion cubic feet, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), while”offshore Gaza territory may hold additional energy resources.”

Israel is approaching a severe domestic ‘gas crunch’ pending the development of its own deep-water Leviathan gas field. Moreover it is now estimated that Gaza Marine’s exploitation could yield revenues of $6-7 billion per year.

And one thing is clear – Israel has no intention of letting Hamas anywhere near that money – nor even Fatah, which runs the West Bank, on any terms other than those that Israel lays down. In 2007 Moshe Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff, stated:

“It is clear that without an overall military operation to uproot Hamas control of Gaza, no drilling work can take place without the consent of the radical Islamic movement.”

And needless to say, that would be entirely unacceptable.

Well the Israelis certainly won't let Hamas get four billion a year to buy rockets with.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Keith_McClary » Sun 03 Aug 2014, 11:49:40

vtsnowedin wrote:
Keith_McClary wrote:The End Game Scenario
Gaza: Is Annexation Israel’s ‘Permanent Solution’?
In fact it’s the gas

Well the Israelis certainly won't let Hamas get four billion a year to buy rockets with.
That is the story of USrael objectives in the Mideast for decades - prevent O&G revenues from falling into the wrong hands. Which means any hands but USrael's (and their puppet kings, sultans, emirs and military dictators).
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Keith_McClary » Sun 03 Aug 2014, 12:42:26

... an October 17, 2004, The New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush (later attributed to Karl Rove[1]):
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."[2]
We need to bring these actors back for an encore to fix reality.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Keith_McClary » Sun 03 Aug 2014, 13:06:48

Kurds take more Territory in Syria as Government Troops Withdraw
By RUDAW 31/7/2014
The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which runs much of Rojava in three autonomous cantons.

The majority of Hassakah’s population is Kurdish and the province shares borders with Iraqi Kurdistan and the Turkey’s Kurdish south. It is Syria’s oil-rich province and agricultural basin.

The YPG said on Wednesday that IS is now fighting with tanks and other heavy weaponry seized from the Iraqi army last month.

Fathullah Husseini, a leader of the Kurdish Leftist Party in Rojava who enjoys close partnership with the YPG, said that for Syrian Kurds this “is a war of life and death.”

He told Rudaw that the forces in Rojava welcome assistance from all Kurdish parties from across the Middle East “to face off this dangerous situation.”

Earlier this month scores of young Kurds from Turkey rushed across the border and joined the YPG as volunteer fighters, forming two new battalions.
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Blind faith

Unread postby Whitefang » Tue 03 Mar 2015, 17:21:19

http://www.prisonplanet.com/netanyahu-t ... error.html

“I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation,” Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. “We have all said that a bad deal is worse than no deal, and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons is the bedrock of our foreign policy and national security.”

Amazing to see these people adore their leaders, clapping sheep, bit scary....no place of a change for the better.
Benjamin is describing himself by talking bad about supposed enemies....endless me me me babble.
That is jihad, the internal battle everybody is dealing with, Ben N. is a barker personality, the humans willing to kill for what they want, peace of fear, of mind freaking out in panic. Self pity at work, same basis for the house of sheep.
Petty little tyrants


He is not such a bad actor, might be close with the planners of worldwide war of terror.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby ennui2 » Sun 26 Jul 2015, 23:25:22

Link to prisonplanet = instant fail.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Keith_McClary » Mon 27 Jul 2015, 01:31:36

ennui2 wrote:Link to prisonplanet = instant fail.

You would prefer it from the horse's mouth?
PRESS RELEASES 03.03.15
Pelosi Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Congress
Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the Joint Meeting of Congress:

“The unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests. Ours is a deep and abiding friendship that will always reach beyond party. Americans stand shoulder to shoulder with the Israeli people. The state of Israel stands as the greatest political achievement of the 20th century, and the United States will always have an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security.

“That is why, as one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.

“Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated something we all agree upon: a nuclear armed Iran is unacceptable to both our countries. We have all said that a bad deal is worse than no deal, and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons is the bedrock of our foreign policy and national security. As President Obama has said consistently, all options are on the table for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.”
http://www.democraticleader.gov/newsroo ... -congress/

:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby onlooker » Thu 01 Oct 2015, 19:57:41

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/glo ... 10edf87694
I am not sure what the criteria is for opening the Doomsday Seed Vault, but whatever it is Syria apparently was approved. Not sure what to make of this story. Is is good because we are using this vault to help people Now. Or is this some sort of gimmick to publicize the Seed Vault. Certainly Syria needs to be able to grow more food. Nevertheless, somewhat odd this story. Guess the desperate times that warranted the "Doomsday" seed vault have arrived.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby ennui2 » Mon 07 Dec 2015, 13:32:33

Keith_McClary wrote:That is the story of USrael objectives in the Mideast for decades - prevent O&G revenues from falling into the wrong hands. Which means any hands but USrael's (and their puppet kings, sultans, emirs and military dictators).


What exactly is keeping you from pulling a San Bernardino if you are so anti-west and sympathetic to terrorists? Seriously. STFU.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Tue 08 Dec 2015, 13:04:05

Here's a potential model explaining why Syria (as well as a number of other ME countries) may never be truly stable or democratic. From Reuters:

"More than 50 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in renewed fighting between rival Taliban factions in Shindand district near the western Afghan city of Herat, a local police spokesman said on Tuesday. The latest clashes underlined the fragmented state of the Islamist movement since the Taliban confirmed in July that its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died more than two years earlier in 2013. Rival groups have rejected the authority of Omar's successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour and called for a new process to choose a leader. There has been intermittent fighting in which scores have been killed. Ehsanullah Hayat, a police spokesman in Herat, said 54 insurgents had been killed and around 40 wounded in the fighting between commanders loyal to Mullah Mansour and his rival Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund, which he said was continuing. The clashes follow days of confusion over the fate of Mullah Mansour. Reports that he had been seriously wounded in a shootout with other Taliban commanders were rebutted in an audio recording purporting to show he was still alive."

Not a lot of details about the "rebels" fighting against Assad but I assume it's a coalition of various groups. Groups that don't necessarily agree on Syria's future post-Assad. Consider how Libya really isn’t a “country” anymore. It goes back to the reality that none of the ME countries were every real countries. They were just areas on a map that some old and long dead white guys drew lines on and declared that all the different ethic, tribal and religious groups contained therein were now “citizens” of said country. And that status remained as long as some dictator stayed in control by whatever financial or military means they had available.

But now as those dictators are removed there is no consolidated and publically supported group to take control. Even with the countless $BILLIONS we've spent in Iraq along with thousands of our military's lives it isn't really a "country" per se. There is a small region under the control of one political group that doesn't even have the support of one of the "country's" major religious groups let alone ISIS. IOW there is no such thing as the “Taliban”: that is just the collective name we given to a diverse group of individuals in a region. Just as there was no united rebel front in Libya I doubt there’s one in Syria as well as other “countries” in the ME. There are no "Iraqis", no Syrians, no Kuwaitis, etc.

At least here we still call ourselves "united states". Though not always that united and while we do agree to follow some collective national laws we still have certain states' rights that allow some variances amongst our citizenry. And we do allow certain radical groups like Mormons to concentrate in Utah, Baptists to concentrate in Dallas and heavily armed rednecks to concentrate in east Texas. Imagine trying to force just those three groups into some unified coalition. LOL.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby onlooker » Fri 12 Feb 2016, 10:02:14

https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/884
Well it looks grim not just for Syria but for the entire planet if US led coalition dares invade Syria. Russia would see it as a "declaration of war". Things are starting to get out of control.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Cog » Sun 04 Jun 2017, 23:43:24

An interesting development given the recent trip of President Trump to Saudi Arabia. Several Gulf countries have cut diplomatic and military ties to Qatar. The US has a large air force base in Qatar and does a lot of operations against ISIS from there. Wonder what's up with all this.
https://www.rt.com/news/390863-bahrain- ... ons-qatar/

Key Arab League nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar after Bahrain said it was cutting all ties and contacts with Doha. Qatar is accused of backing terrorist groups and meddling in other countries’ affairs.


Bahrain announced early Monday that it is severing diplomatic relations with neighboring Qatar and cutting air and sea connections with Doha, accusing it of meddling in its internal affairs. Bahrain’s state news agency said in a brief statement that Qatari citizens have 14 days to leave the country.

It accused Doha of supporting terrorism and meddling in Manama’s internal affairs.

Citing “protection of national security,” Riyadh then announced it was also severing ties with Doha and closing off all land, sea and air contacts, the Saudi state agency said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The Saudi-led coalition has announced that Qatar’s participation in its joint military operation in Yemen has been canceled. The coalition’s statement accused Doha of supporting the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorist groups.

Egypt was next to join the diplomatic war, with Cairo announcing it is cutting relations with Doha, according to Sputnik news agency.

Egypt has closed all its seaports and airspace to Qatari vessels and planes, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby vox_mundi » Mon 05 Jun 2017, 11:19:39

Qatar diplomatic crisis: Latest updates

4pm - Iran's food 'can reach in 12 hours' - Food shipments sent from Iran can reach Qatar in 12 hours, said Reza Nourani, chairman of the union of exporters of agricultural products.
3:30pm - UAE port to turn away Qatar-bound vessels - UAE's Port of Fujairah says all vessels flying the flag of Qatar or destined for Qatar will not be allowed to call at the port.
3:30pm - Iran calls for dialogue - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted on the ministry's website as calling for a "clear and explicit dialogue" among the feuding nations. Iran says rising tensions among its Arab Gulf neighbours threaten the interests of everyone in the region.
3:15pm - Maldives cuts ties with Qatar - Decision made because of the Maldives "firm opposition to activities that encourage terrorism and extremism".
3:10pm - Egypt recalls ambassador- Egypt's foreign ministry says it has given the Qatari ambassador in Cairo 48 hours to leave the country and has ordered its own envoy in Doha to return home, also within two days.
2:50pm - Libya's Haftar cuts ties with Qatar - The faction led by Khalifa Haftar, one of three rival governments in Libya, announced it is cutting ties with Qatar.
Haftar's foreign minister accuses Qatar of "harbouring terrorism".
1:30pm - Food supplies stuck at borders - Trucks for Qatar are now lining up across the border in Saudi Arabia and are unable to enter Qatar.

Image

Japan's JERA Co, the world's biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas, said on Monday it has been informed by Qatargas that there will be no impact on LNG supplies after several Middle East countries cut ties with Qatar

Qatar is the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, while Japan is the largest importer, taking in about one-third of global shipments.

Rivalries over oil and gas exports between adjacent Middle Eastern states and their allies have been exacerbating tensions across the region. Rival pipeline projects across the Levant may also have been a key factor in disturbing already unstable regional fault lines.

Qatar and Iran share the largest known gas field in the Middle East, and both are actively seeking to export their gas resources to the region, Europe, Asia and beyond. Some experts argue that those riches are fueling latent regional conflicts in places like Syria and Iraq.

Iran, which suffers severe domestic gas shortages, has made a rapid increase in production from South Pars a top priority and signed a preliminary deal with France's Total in November 2016 to develop its South Pars II project.

https://www.voanews.com/a/energy-rivalr ... 81864.html

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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Cog » Mon 05 Jun 2017, 13:36:27

The only good guys in that region are the dead ones. The Saudis are backing a different group of jihadists and that would be fine, except those jihadists are in conflict with the ones Qatar is backing.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Plantagenet » Mon 05 Jun 2017, 16:01:13

Has anyone mentioned that the largest US military base in the ME is in Qatar?

qatar-us-largest-base-in-mideast

In the unlikely event that this turns into a hot military conflict, its worth nothing that the US Air Force base in Qatar is shared with the Qatari Air Force.

Image
There is a large US military presence in Qatar

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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Cog » Mon 05 Jun 2017, 16:05:25

Yeah the largest, personnel wise, is in Qatar. This is going to complicate our war on terror considerably. Unless there is some sort of agreement that Trump has worked out with the Saudi's that has not yet been leaked to the NYT.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby sparky » Mon 05 Jun 2017, 20:05:36

.
there has been bad blood between the Al Saudis and the Al Thanis ever since ibn al Saud took over the peninsula
some border disagreements , some harsh words and the recent forced resignation of the Sheik replaced by his son

the Saudis think they should be the regional leader while the Thanis wish they would drop dead
in recent years Qatar has tried to build a military power base using Islamist factions .
the real reason the Saudis freaked out was Qatar committing the crime of crime , being rather friendly with Iran .
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Cog » Wed 07 Jun 2017, 15:40:56

Seems like Turkey wants to get in the middle of all of this. This has potential to get out of hand and our Air Base in Qatar is right there in harm's way. Hopefully Tillerson is talking on the phone to the parties involved.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/turkey-t ... cials.html

Turkey's parliament is expected to fast-track on Wednesday a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, officials from the ruling AK Party and the nationalist opposition said.

The move appears to support the Gulf Arab country as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.
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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Plantagenet » Wed 07 Jun 2017, 15:48:11

Cog wrote:Seems like Turkey wants to get in the middle of all of this. This has potential to get out of hand and our Air Base in Qatar is right there in harm's way. Hopefully Tillerson is talking on the phone to the parties involved.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/turkey-t ... cials.html

Turkey's parliament is expected to fast-track on Wednesday a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, officials from the ruling AK Party and the nationalist opposition said.

The move appears to support the Gulf Arab country as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.


Turkey is strongly opposed to the US arming Kurds who they see as terrrorists---they won't care if the US can't fly air support for the Kurds attacking ISIS.

Isis hates Iran who hates the US who hates ISIS who hates Iraq who is friends with Hezbollah who hates the US who is friends with Syria who is allied with Russia who is getting friendlier with Turkey who is angry at the US.

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Re: THE Middle East (general) Thread (merged)

Unread postby Cog » Wed 07 Jun 2017, 15:56:39

Oil price is down quite a bit today. The thought is production cuts are going bye-bye and everyone will go back to pumping all out. That is not great news for my oil stocks.
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