All things Middle East related

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order - World News (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/05/15706380-syria-loads-chemical-weapons-into-bombs-military-awaits-assads-order?lite)


This asshole is begging to die. He must have lost his damned mind. This worries me, first they cut off the internet to the world, then reports of loading the precursors for chemical weapons. Doesn't add up to good things happening.


That said, this is coming from a "Pentagon source", which we all know about how this shit goes. We heard the same shit in regards to Iraq before that invasion. As GWB said, fool me once....can't get fooled again.

That's probably the same stash of chemical weapons that got shipped from Iraq to Syria before the invasion.

That's probably the same stash of chemical weapons that got shipped from Iraq to Syria before the invasion.


Riiiiiight....lol

We know because we sold them the stuff when they were fighting with Iran.

IBD (http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/071912-618875-syria-chemical-weapons-came-from-iraq-.htm?p=full)

In 2006, former Iraqi general Georges Sada, second in command of the Iraqi Air Force who served under Saddam Hussein before he defected, wrote a comprehensive book, "Saddam's Secrets."
It details how the Iraqi Revolutionary Guard moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria in advance of the U.S.-led action to eliminate Hussein's WMD threat.
As Sada told the New York Sun, two Iraqi Airways Boeings were converted to cargo planes by removing the seats, and special Republican Guard units loaded the planes with chemical weapons materials.

Old news, I know, but please feel free to keep laughing.

:Smoker:

UAE: Why would anyone with any self-respect choose to work there?

A British woman who was allegedly kidnapped and gang raped by three men in Dubai has been prosecuted for drinking without a licence, throwing a spotlight on the United Arab Emirates’ archaic legal system, which rights groups say does not do enough to protect victims of sexual assault.

Sick society. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/briton-says-she-was-raped-in-the-uae--but-gets-fined-for-drinking-8390574.html)

why do most people work there? the money. 200k+ wasn't that hard to get there not that long ago.

UAE is sort of a weird place though. you have 7 different emirates, lots of oil money and basically 2 social classes. the emiraties (10%), that are stupid rich (they get gifted hundreds of thousands for turning 18 etc, i think all their officers are millionaires), and the working class (mainly immigrants) that do a lot of the shop keeping etc type stuff.

i mean, in the last 5 years their population doubled, and the 10 before that it doubled again, so i imagine the legal system hasn't quite kept up, though it's still based more on middle eastern principles that we find a bit outdated.

not excusing what happened, egypt has had the same issues since the 70s, but dubai is probably the closest/most american friendly places you'll find over in that part of the world.

I guess I'm not that into money.

Pentagon to send missiles, 400 troops to Turkey - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-send-missiles-400-troops-turkey-093600827.html)

first step taken.

why do most people work there? the money. 200k+ wasn't that hard to get there not that long ago.

UAE is sort of a weird place though. you have 7 different emirates, lots of oil money and basically 2 social classes. the emiraties (10%), that are stupid rich (they get gifted hundreds of thousands for turning 18 etc, i think all their officers are millionaires), and the working class (mainly immigrants) that do a lot of the shop keeping etc type stuff.

i mean, in the last 5 years their population doubled, and the 10 before that it doubled again, so i imagine the legal system hasn't quite kept up, though it's still based more on middle eastern principles that we find a bit outdated.

not excusing what happened, egypt has had the same issues since the 70s, but dubai is probably the closest/most american friendly places you'll find over in that part of the world.

I am not sure about those who work in the UAE, but in several other locations in the Middle East U.S. contractors etc. are exempt from paying federal taxes on that money. Combine that with the fact that most of the time you are confined to a compound and really have nothing to spend your money on. It's a great way to save up a nice little nest egg.

Once again I am not claiming to know if this is the case in the UAE, but it is in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and formerly in places like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. I believe that we no longer have a presence in the latter 2, but I could be wrong. If we do have a presence it's not as large as it once was.

List of United States Army installations in Kuwait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_installations_in_Kuwait )

still there.