Free Republic

RIYADH, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Saudi Arabia on Monday for the first time in over a decade, seeking to capitalise on growing influence borne of military advances in Syria, strong ties with regional rivals and cooperation on energy policy. Moscow accrued power in the Middle East in 2015 by sending troops to Syria, where it and Iran have been key backers of President Bashar al-Assad amid civil war, while the United States pulled back. On the eve of Putin's trip, U.S. troops were evacuating northern Syria as their erstwhile Kurdish allies struck a deal with...

Many may have hitherto been led to believe that the Houthis were a ragtag armed force lacking in sophistication. Many, seeing the drone and missile attacks on Saudi oil plants, may have declared it to be a false-flag attack carried out by Riyadh to boost Aramco’s market value; either that or it was an operation carried out by Iran or even Israel. On Saturday September 28, the Houthis put paid to such speculation by confirming what many, like myself, have been writing for months; that is, that the asymmetrical tactics of the Houthis, combined with the conventional capabilities of the...

Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have captured a large number of Saudi troops after a major attack near the border between the two countries. A Houthi spokesman told the BBC that three Saudi brigades had surrendered near the Saudi town of Najran. He said thousands of soldiers had been captured and many others killed. Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim. The operation was the largest of its kind since the conflict began, the spokesman said. Colonel Yahiya Sarea said Saudi forces had suffered "huge losses in life and machinery". All those captured would be paraded on the Houthi-run...

Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have captured a large number of Saudi troops after a major attack near the border between the two countries. A Houthi spokesman told the BBC that three Saudi brigades had surrendered near the Saudi town of Najran. He said thousands of soldiers had been captured and many others killed. Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim. The operation was the largest of its kind since the conflict began, the spokesman said. Colonel Yahiya Sarea said Saudi forces had suffered "huge losses in life and machinery". All those captured would be paraded on the Houthi-run...

Saudi Arabia is opening the ultraconservative kingdom to tourists for the first time, easing restrictions for foreign visitors as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s initiative to diversify the oil-dependent economy. Visas had been restricted to Muslim pilgrims, and business and diplomatic visitors, but on Friday the kingdom said its new online visa portal would be open to visitors from 49 countries, including the U.S and major European and Asian countries. “Opening Saudi Arabia to international tourists is a historic moment for our country,” said Ahmad al-Khateeb, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

COSTELLO: To most Americans it's an outrage -- a rape victim violated by seven men -- not only blamed for her own attack, but sentenced to prison and 200 lashes. The 19-year-old victim, interviewed by the Human Rights Watch organization, said: "Everyone looks at me as if I was wrong. I wanted to die." In Saudi Arabia, woman cannot travel without permission from a male relative. And that night, the Saudi victim -- without permission -- met a male friend to retrieve some photographs. Both were abducted and raped. She says: "The first man with the knife raped me. I...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, a U.S. government official told CBS, adding that the approval had been granted on the condition that Iran’s involvement could be denied. If what other U.S. officials are saying is accurate, this condition has not been met, however. Earlier this week, a team of U.S. security experts who traveled to Saudi Arabia to examine the wreckage of the drones and cruise missiles fired against Aramco’s Khurais field and the Abqaiq processing facility said they had determined the weapons were manufactured in Iran. Snip They also showed surveillance...

Oil prices dropped sharply Tuesday, following Monday's surge that sent shock waves around the world. US oil futures settled down 5.7% at $59.24 a barrel. It was the worst one-day drop for US oil since August 1, according to Refinitiv. Oil prices initially fell after Reuters reported Saudi Arabian oil production would return to normal within two to three weeks. Tuesday afternoon, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the country's oil exports would not fall in September, as the kingdom will rely on reserves to keep exports stable. Investors took that as a positive sign about the impact of...

America’s oil production is booming. The country’s crude oil output is on track to average 12.2 million barrels per day (BPD) this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA). That’s an increase of 1.2 million BPD from 2018’s record output. Because of that gusher of new supply, the country now rivals Saudi Arabia as the global oil kingpin. It even briefly overtook that nation as the leader in crude oil exports earlier this year. With more supply on the way and additional export infrastructure under construction, America is emerging as a dominant force in the oil market. The...

The US has told at least one US ally in the Middle East, that they have intelligence showing that the launch was “likely” coming from staging grounds in Iran, but they have not shared that intelligence yet. “It is one thing to tell us, it is another thing to show us,” said a diplomat from the region. A US official separately tells CNN that the US has assessed that the attack originated from inside Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. No public evidence has been shared. What countries in the region decide to do, in reaction to the...

Saturday’s attack on a critical Saudi oil facility will almost certainly rock the world energy market in the short term, but it also carries disturbing long-term implications. Ever since the dual 1970s oil crises, energy security officials have fretted about a deliberate strike on one of the critical choke points of energy production and transport. Sea lanes such as the Strait of Hormuz usually feature in such speculation. The facility in question at Abqaiq is perhaps more critical and vulnerable. The Wall Street Journal reported that 5.7 million barrels a day of output, or some 5% of world supply, had...

Robert Mueller was "the master when it came to covering up" 9/11 ... systemic efforts by the Saudi government to assist .. the 9/11 attacks .. Mueller .. covered up evidence pointing back to the Saudi Embassy and Riyadh — and may have even misled Congress about what he knew. ... In October of 2001, Mueller shut down the government’s investigation after only three weeks, and then took part in the Bush [administration’s] campaign to block, obfuscate and generally stop anything about Saudi Arabia from being released.. ... FBI Agent Stephen Moore headed a 9/11 task force .. concluded that...

Currently, Saudi women still require the approval of a male relative or spouse to obtain a passport, travel outside Saudi Arabia, or even study abroad. It’s a patriarchal system controlling women’s lives that has left the kingdom out of step with the rest of the world for decades. But the country is set to end those travel restrictions. Saudi newspaper Okaz recently announced that the government has formed a committee to review “ending guardianship of a minor at the age of 18,” discontinuing a system that has treated adult women functionally and legally as minors for their entire lives. ...They...

WASHINGTON (AP) — With Iranian military threats in mind, the United States is sending American forces, including fighter aircraft, air defense missiles and likely more than 500 troops, to a Saudi air base that became a hub of American air power in the Middle East in the 1990s but was abandoned by Washington after it toppled Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced the basing agreement Friday without mentioning details.

A couple of years ago, I was interviewing a former senior White House official when the name Jeffrey Epstein came up. Unaware of my personal history with Epstein, this person assured me that the New York financier was no serious harm to anyone. He was a good guy. A charming guy. Useful, too. He knew a lot of rich Arabs, including the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and, further, he had clever ideas about creating bond issues for them. “OK, so he has a girl problem,” this person threw on, almost as an afterthought. Epstein’s name, I was told, had...

Detailed and insightful comments on the drone strike by Iran and Iran's situation in general. A conference in Jerusalem on Syria. Prospects for warlike events now and the big war, which will come at some time according to Ezekiel. Speculation about what will cause the U.S. to not take part.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — One person was killed and seven others were wounded on Sunday in an attack by Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels on a Saudi airport, Saudi Arabia said. The strike came as the American secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, traveled to the country for talks on Iran. Regional tensions have flared in recent days. The United States abruptly called off a military strike against Iran last week in response to the shooting down of an unmanned American surveillance drone. The Trump administration has vowed to combine a “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American...

Last year, the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum in London, Ontario, installed a monument for the country's armed forces who have served in the Afghanistan war. It's a 25-ton, light armored vehicle, complete with a turret on top. But these days, LAVs have taken on another sort of symbolism for Canada. About a mile from the museum, workers with the Canadian division of U.S. defense company General Dynamics Corp. are building the eight-wheeled, amphibious vehicles for Saudi Arabia's National Guard. Now the 15 billion Canadian dollar ($11.2 billion) deal is the focal point of a debate in Canada about balancing the...

The attack on Wednesday comes as Japan's prime minister is expected in Iran to mediate between Tehran and Washington amid escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf regions. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki says a projectile struck the arrival hall of Abha's airport in the southern part of the kingdom near its border with Yemen on Wednesday. That's according to Saudi Arabia's state-run Al-Ekhabriya news channel. He says three women and two children are among the 26 hurt in the attack. Eight have been hospitalized and the rest sustained minor injuries. The Houthis earlier on Wednesday claimed they'd launched a cruise missile...

I am troubled by this administration's almost obsessive embrace of Saudi Arabia. I am even more troubled by conservative media's failure to challenge that embrace. Most conservative media outlets state the following narrative regarding Saudi Arabia: "Saudi Arabia is no longer our enemy. It has become our ally. Thanks to President Trump's hard resolve to fight radical Islamic terrorism, King Salman has appointed his son, MbS, to institute widespread reforms, prosecute pro-terrorist elements, and consolidate an 'Arab NATO' alliance that is intended to contain terrorism and its sponsors in Iran and Turkey. Those who oppose Saudi Arabia now are useful...