Posted on 03/25/2015 9:02:50 PM PDT by kristinn
Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers for anti-Houthi campaign.
Also from Al Arabiya:
UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan Deploy Warplanes Against Houthis
The UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan have deployed fighter jets to join the Saudi air force in the ongoing air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Al Arabiya News Chanel reported.
The UAE has deployed 30 fighter jets, Bahrain 15, Kuwait 15, Qatar 10 and Jordan 6 warplanes, according to the news channel.
Pakistan and Egypt are also taking part in the military campaign, contribution with air and naval forces.
Al Arabiya said Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan have also expressed readiness to contribute ground troops against the Houthis.
I’m not totally upset to see all of these countries FINALLY step up to the plate. Why have we always been the country that has had to go in and “save” these places from themselves? They don’t respect us or even like us, not that I think Zero is or ever will be right. The only “right” thing he can do is leave office yesterday and refuse to take my hard earned tax dollars in any form/means/way in the future as support for his pathetic existance. I do think that we should let them know that we will help but let them fight this battle.
“I suspect that the Saudis have procured their own bomb from Pakistan”
The Independent (UK) published this today:
“Western intelligence agencies believe that the Saudi monarchy paid for up to 60% of Pakistan’s nuclear programme in return for the ability to buy warheads for itself at short notice, the Guardian newspaper reported in 2010.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-says-it-wont-rule-out-building-nuclear-weapons-10139229.html
And from the Wall Street Journal on 11 March:
“Fears of Mideast arms race heighten as Riyadh secures nuclear deal with South Korea” http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-nuclear-deal-raises-stakes-for-iran-talks-1426117583
That Article reports:
“In recent years, Saudi Arabia has also signed nuclear cooperation agreements with China, France and Argentina. Riyadh and Buenos Aires formed a joint-venture company, called Invania, specifically focused on developing nuclear power. “
I guess South Korea, facing a nuclear North Korea and an unreliable American protector, are covering their butts for the future with a nuclear weapons program as well. And Saudi Arabia is diversifying its sources to reduce their risk, and building a program totally under their control.
“In 2010, Saudi Arabia established the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, commonly known as K.A. Care. K.A. Care, a government agency, says on its website that it aims to generate 17.6 gigawatts of electricity using nuclear power by 2032, through up to 16 new reactors.”
Like the AQ Khan nuclear proliferation effort, different components (like enrichment) might be outsourced to other locations for a while, until a complete program can be established.
Militarily, the Saudis are problematical. They took a small role in Desert Storm and the Air Force has seen some action. They have the best equipment money can buy, and a lot of it. But against determined, well-supported, well-led guerillas in hostile terrain .... who knows. With 150,000 men on the ground, they need tactical advisors, command and control coordination, training, logistics .... not much of which is available home-grown.
Actually, even with a nuclear Armagedon, there will be plenty of humans still alive afterwards. Maybe hunting with spears.....
The analogy is close, but I think of the dog as the nation dragging it’s ass on the ground to wipe the obama off on the ground.
SC thanks for the links. Here is an interesting link from Al Zazeera, with lots of comments. Hatred and blame all over the map in the comments: against ISIL, Shia, Sunni, Jews, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Assad, US, British, French, Egypt, etc. Even a few knowledgeable ones. After reading this I am glad that Obama is NOT jumping in with both feet. IF you want to know why there will not be peace in the ME for a hundred years, just read these comments. Enough to curl one’s hair.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/03/shia-militias-step-joins-battle-tikrit-150327010352355.html
Most of their ground forces will probably be from other countries, as always.
One thing I found interesting during the Gulf War, was that the Saudi National Guard outperformed expectations somewhat. When operating near their own areas, the bedouin country boys did not break and break and run.
They will probably mobilize some National Guard to reinforce their border areas, while soldiers of other countries engage the enemy, with some Saudi Ministry of Defense troops and officers accompanying - getting photo ops and some on the job training. Maybe they will surprise us, and start toughening up for the new MAD Max Middle East, beyond the ObamaDome.
If the Saudis send their own citizens over the border, I bet that it would be more to test/train a few of them, and for domestic political reasons. Serious military objectives will most likely be covered by mercenaries - oops, I mean the militaries of allied coalition members.
I am guessing that Egypt is getting the main contract to conduct the Yemen Op.
I wonder if Turkey has contracted to conduct a Northern Front against the Shi’ites? Syria? Mosul?
GASP! That's it! Now we know who is really behind this!
The Gyppos did not fare all that well in Yemen I, IIRC.
Pretty good forecast for the re-foundation of Israel in 1948.
I’ve read the Book of Daniel many times. It discusses much. But it never speaks of Israel being a nation in 600 AD. There is no history book that says that. The nation was destroyed in 70AD. The last of the zealots were smashed in 135 AD, and the Romans renamed the land Palestine. Which all the liberals hang on to until this day. The nation was not a nation until 1948. That is when it was reborn. If it had been a nation in 600 AD, there would be a government, a temple of some sort rebuilt, and there were neither. Herod’s Temple remains in ruins today. The 3d is coming shortly I believe.
While this puny war of a few million people is going on, there are big doings in Asia. The Chinese are holding the BOAO Forum. The are discussing the formation of the AIIB with many nations joining including Brazil, UK and Germany. The scope of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is widespread and all encompassing and must not be ignored.
http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/what-the-aiib-means-for-the-us-china-power-transition/
The BAOA Forum has and extensive AGENDA covering many topics: http://www.boaoforum.org/enannual2015/15509.jhtml
I first became aware of all this earlier today watching a Chinese news program. They showed maps of what they call their Belt and Road, and Silk Road initiative. The land route shown traveled from Asian countries to Tehran, Istanbul, and as far west as Rotterdam. The sea route touched india, went through Suez, and branched to Africa. What surprised me was to see that Russia was not on their maps, so I decided to try to find their map. It turns out there are many proposed routes, but the bulk of them do NOT go through Russia.
So while Iran, Saudi Arabia and a few other countries squabble over peanuts, the Asians are planning to plant and harvest the forest, carefully and sustainably, by developing world wide patterns of trade and prosperity.
They say this will encompass more than 1/2 the world’s population, and 1/3 the world’s economics.
IS ANYONE HERE PAYING ATTENTION?? By all means read these links and then Google, AIIB, BAOA Forum, Silk Road Initiative, and Belt and Road.
Sorry, it should read BOAO, all those vowels together confuse my late night brain.
.....the gathering of ME nations to ARM and form coalitions against one another is more than just that.... I just read an article where many of the ME fighters believe this IS the gathering to fight against Israel no matter currently where the conflicts are creating these coalitions......it's the idea ‘they see’ that they are forming these wartime coalitions as never before in modern ME.
Thanks glee’. China’s population is topheavy, meaning, inside of 25 years the only growth industry will be guest workers coming in to care for childless geriatrics, or geriatrics who outnumber their offspring 2:1. Many of their children will be unmarried men.
Meanwhile, the Chinese economy relies on exports, and most of that reliance is its trade surplus with the US. In order to maintain that surplus, China has to keep the Yuan stable against the US dollar, and one major part of that strategy is to buy federal gubmint debt. Interest rates in the US were deregulated 30 years ago, and floating rates have been around much longer than that — you probably recall the 22-23 percent money market rates during the Carter disaster. Like the Japanese before them, the Chinese are rats on a wheel, not in the driver’s seat.
With persistently low interest rates there’s little capital formation. Offshore investment is also driven by offshore investors, significantly lower labor costs, and no environmental impact rigamarole. The Demagogic Party leftists have been undermining employment to overload the system by fostering dependence and breaking down the family, and the economic tactics are part of that strategy.
In China, there’s a significant disconnect between factory production jobs and being able to afford the products produced in those factories. The Chinese have tried to build in other parts of the world (Latin America, Africa) in order to get even lower production costs and feed their own domestic demand for products. The Japanese went through the same crisis, shipping domestic production to the US market, while feeding their own demand with plants in South Korea, Taiwan, etc, until it was obvious that those offshore plants could just as easily sell to the US and undercut the Japanese.
Meanwhile the Chinese, like their Soviet predecessors, are blissfully unconcerned about environmental poisoning (hydroelectric projects salting up fields for miles around; heavy metal toxicity; air quality), while idealogically they pursue their hopeless dream of worldwide domination and overspend on military stuff.
They are probably going to implode, just as the USSR did, and in a similar timeframe; there were 69 years from Lenin’s to Yeltsin’s respective year ones, and since Mao took over China in1949, adding 69 is 2018, or a mere three years off. IOW, 69 is just an approximation. :’) OTOH, if Obama’s project of destroying the Middle East comes to fruition before he leaves office in 2017, the price of OPEC and other world crude is likely to rise again to $100 and beyond — imagine the impact on the Chinese, even worse than the impact on us.
These are those times. The Psalms 83 war looms. Sometime after that the Gog and Magog War of Ezekiel 38 & 39 will come. The Psalms 83 war is what is called those nations of the InterRing. Those nations that are immediately next to Israel. Then the OuterRing which is Gog & Magog war. But, I think that the Gog war may come near or just after the Rapture of the Church. Just certain wording in Scripture makes me believe that and it would take way too long to put all that here. But, we are in the Last Days of history. I really don’t care if people believe it or not. The Bible says so and I believe IT. That is what matters. I hope those that are UnSaved will start paying attention. They are running out of time to come to a saving Grace of Jesus Christ.
Got my attention. Thanks.
Say, Phil, is that a Dragoonoff?
I agree that China has some serious structural weaknesses, and I think that they have had their big run.
Some of their bad practices are catching up to them, and the main things that propelled them seem to be running out, or in danger of reversing (e.g. they are not the low cost labor providers any more, and new money is going elsewhere to set up new business).
One big difference between them and the Soviet Union, is that the Soviets (like the Russians today) were hugely dependent on oil for the lion’s share of their economy and income. Many have pointed to the collapse in oil prices as the shot that finally killed the ailing Soviet Union.
Although China is extraordinarily dependent on export of manufactured goods (and import of raw materials and oil) as you point out, they are also exceptionally dependent on infrastructure investment. To keep high economic growth numbers, the government there has pumped out stimulus after stimulus for “shovel ready” jobs.
They have been building roads, bridges and tunnels like never before in the world. Whole cities have been built, that no one seems interested in occupying. These “ghost cities”, and their “zombie factories”, also propped up with gov’t stimulus past the point where their business case had died, has produced a mountain of debt, secured by assets that are often decaying away without producing a return. That debt will have be written off at some point.
In addition to malinvestment in projects that will never pay themselves off, these programs were rife with corruption and outright theft, which funded a diaspora of low-level Party functionaries fleeing the country with their families and new fortunes. The California real estate market is booming, driven by Chinese paying cash.
The Federal Gov’t in China just put restrictions on local governments to prevent them from issueing new debt for most types of this “stimulus” (i.e., no new project starts). Just these restrictions on local governments, are estimated to take 4% off of GDP, starting to hit this month.
It is interesting to see the timeframes that you pointed out, for the life of the Soviet Union, and that of Communist China. Even though many factors seem different, maybe there are some underlying commonalities, like the rate of corrosion - how long does absolute power take to corrupt a system absolutely? Maybe it is human lifespan - how long until the skills and spirit to really get things done dies out of the workforce?
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