Posted on 08/21/2016 9:19:41 PM PDT by Rabin
I think the Saudi goose is getting cooked. Folks, the following has been going on in Saudi Arabia. The ground war has now come inside Saudi Arabia. Yemeni forces are poised around Najran.
Since June this year the US has steadily been cutting off arms, bombs, weapons and support to the Saudi aggression on Yemen. The US has cancelled a tank deal to replace Abrams tanks destroyed by the Yemenis. Resupply of cluster bombs have also been cancelled. Now military advisors have been withdrawn from Saudi Arabia. Here is the news :
Raben
Interesting...thanks for posting.
And I do not know enough to comment on which of the two we should support.
BUT....we have hugged, kissed and bowed to them for these many years and now we leave them high and dry to die.
What an example that should set for Israel and all the others to see.
Our CIA and State Department will throw all of you under the buss when the going gets tough.
Anyone who trusts this government for their well being and survival is a fool.
Last one out blows Mecca?
The whole article smells, like we give a damn about them bombing Yemen? Yemen is a proxy battlefield in the War between Shia and Sunnis, our place on this battlefield is to arm both sides and hope they manage to kill millions of each other.
I am calling BS on this article.
Main target: oil fields in the Eastern Province around Qatif where the population is mainly shia.
Sounds like a bunch of BS.
BS.
BS. At least as recently as 9 August the State Dept and Defense Dept had just approved a deal to sell the Saudis 153 brand spanking new tanks.
“What an example that should set for Israel and all the others to see”
But Israel can absorb a first strike from nuclear weapons that take out ever bomb they have and launch a retalitory strike from submarines that will take out all her enemies thou she lay in smoldering ashes. Thank God for their wisdom. Moscow is also on the target list as without Moscow the Arab States that oppose Israel would not have been able to strike Israel.
They have a name for this strategy, it is called the Samson option. If their destruction is a certain, they will pull the temple down on themselves and enemies alike.
Israel is wise and they have the most sophisticated of nuclear weapons. We designed them but they have them. They also have the neutron bomb that we took out of our arsenal, and that was most foolish of us. Neutron bombs can be used to destroy life in close quarters without the danger of radioactive fallout nor physical destruction. It is in effect a localized radiation weapon. Inches of armor on a tank are but butter to neutrons. Again I say, Israel is wise.
Samson option click the link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option
Their main goal may be the eventual destruction of Mecca. Saudi Arabia was terrified of this when Iranians started helping Yemen last year and were landing in a port city close to Saudi Arabia. It is a relatively quick drive north for an invasion force to Mecca.
There are, perhaps, fewer more important– or more delicate – relationships between countries than the one between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The very reason the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency dates back to a deal struck in 1971 between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the Saudis, during which the petrodollar was brought into existence.
The U.S. promised to always protect the House of Saud – militarily. In exchange, the Saudis would only accept dollars for their oil. Under Saudi pressure, all of OPEC soon followed suit.
This meant every nation on the planet needed dollars if they wanted oil.
Currently, however, this crucial relationship is arguably at its least stable since the birth of the petrodollar.
This discontent was blatantly obvious during President Obama’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
Despite tradition dictating that government leaders show their respect for visiting foreign diplomats – with the U.S. President being the most revered in the world – Obama was not greeted at the airport by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.
Further, Saudi TV and media pretty much ignored his visit which would, anywhere else, have been great cause for publicity and excitement.
This diplomatic slight was likely the result of the President having referred to the Saudis as “free-riders” in an interview with The Atlantic in March.
The tension between the two countries further increased recently, thanks to the passing of a bill by the Senate – the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) – which would allows the families of the victims of 9/11 to sue Saudi Arabia, pending the verdict as to whether any of the country’s officials were involved in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
This means, if even a single low-ranking government clerk is found to have been involved, Saudi Arabia could be sued by each and every American family that lost someone that day.
While there is a loophole that the Secretary of State may only engage “in good faith discussions” with the defendant concerning the resolution of claims to satisfy the law, Saudi Arabia stands to lose a significant sum of money in compensation for pain and suffering – not to mention the stain on the country’s reputation on an international scale.
The Saudis are fuming hotter than the sands in the Arabian Desert on a sultry summer day.
Between Obama’s remarks and the potential legal trouble, Saudi Arabia is losing its faith in its bond with the U.S.A.
Another key part of that distrust stems from the U.S. lifting sanctions against its rival, Iran.
Further, Saudi Arabian bigwigs feel that the U.S. did virtually nothing to save its long-time Sunni partner, Hosni Mubarak – the former President of Egypt who was forcibly removed from office and subsequently convicted of corruption in 2015. This has given the Saudis cause to wonder whether they’re the next Sunni regime to be dumped by the U.S.
It is, however, the 9/11 bill that has been causing the most turmoil lately.
As soon as it became international news, the Saudi media had a field day. One daily Saudi newspaper, Okaz, blared the headline: “Congress’ Satanic Deed Opens the Gates of Hell for the World’s Largest Country.” You don’t even have to read between the lines to see how the nation feels about the United States.
Although the headline certainly over-simplified a truly complex issue, the article made a valid point. If this bill is signed into law, what’s to stop other countries from suing the United States for damages and death caused by the U.S. military? Or even to stop other countries from using this same legal action against one another?
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act is, in effect, a Pandora’s Box. Tit-for-tat lawsuits will likely fly back and forth across the globe soon.
Politics aside, it’s crucial to take a look at possible implications of this growing gulf between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia – especially where the financial markets are concerned.
Everyone, including investors, ought to quickly come to grips with the fact that the United States is dealing with a brand new Saudi Arabian regime.
As I detailed previously, the keys to the Kingdom are in the hands of 30-year old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The man known to some as MbS, is a no-BS kind of leader. His authoritative style varies in many ways from those of his predecessors, but, more than anything else, he has no fear of the U.S. This sets him apart from most Saudi leaders.
For MbS, the “playbook” is open. He has made it amply clear that he’s not going to shy away from conflict with the U.S.
He is not, however, stark, raving mad, and knows better than to wage a physical war against the most powerful country on the planet. Instead, his options for action are what the financial markets refer to as “black swan” events.
The first battleground for which would be within the oil markets
The Saudis have already completed Stage 1 in their oil strategy – driving prices down, and hurting certain producers such as U.S. shale.
Now Stage 2 is underway. The country’s rig count is up 45% and counting, over the past two years.
The ultimate goal is to lift Saudi production capacity from 12 million barrels a day to 20 million barrels a day in the shortest time possible. The end game is to flood the market with so much oil that even Iran would struggle to maintain numbers as well as exports.
Ultimately, MbS hopes U.S. oil players will drown in the flood.
Oil market participants think MbS is bluffing. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. But only time will tell.
The Saudis may also move to break the bond between the dollar and the Saudi riyal. That bond has been set at 3.75 riyal to the dollar since 1986.
A riyal devaluation may be MbS and the Saudis’ big move towards the end of the petrodollar.
China, Russia, and India, among others, are urging an end to the “hegemon” dominance of the U.S. dollar in the international monetary system – particularly with regard to the pricing of commodities. They now have a sympathetic ear in an unhappy Saudi Arabia, the only country who can effectively put an end to dollar dominance.
For the United States, this would be a big change. The global economy would have to find its footing with another currency.
China is waiting in line – so that could be the petro-yuan. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
The end of the petrodollar system would tank the stock market and affect the U.S. standard of living.
So, thanks to our politicians kicking sand into the face of Saudi leadership that’s no longer afraid of standing up to the United States, after all these years – the death of the petrodollar is now a very real possibility.
Good investing,
Tim Maverick
Some of those pallets loaded with cash made their way back from Iran and into the pockets of people on Washington who approved the ransom.
Obozo seems to favor Shia and ISIS
You’re talking about the port of Hodeida — know the place well.
About 500 miles and that is a very very very long way if you have adequate air power to kill the nice neat columns of invading forces aside from ground forces that can and will fight. This "aint gonna" happen and I am not a fan of Saudi;
I don't have a strong opinion, but the Saudi military isn't the greatest. They have been relying on us, and now that we are leaving. they are on their own. They have been trying to build a sunni coalition, but that does not seem to have been successful. I guess the current fighting in Yemen is giving them experience in battle, but it doesn't seem that they are clearly winning, especially if they are now having to fight inside Saudi Arabia.
Odd. Has Obola now chosen sides against the Saudi’s - even when it is THEIR oil price reductions (oil supply increases) that have driven oil prices low to benefit HIS economy over here? (And destroyed the TX and PA oil suppliers?)
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