All things Middle East related

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by mooby

I was more referring to 2008-2010ish, when ISIS was still a relatively unknown thing, and the shitshow that was our economy was priority A. IIRC the comments about ISIS being a JV squad were made after that but I already said that's a fuckup on Obama's part, so I'm not sure what more you are looking for.

And can we please not act like being president of the most powerful country on Earth is not a full time job and then some? Idc who is President, Trump or Obama, there is a reason Obama's days were planned down to the minute. Trump seems more like a "I'm gonna wing it" kinda guy but point is, it's not like Obama was relaxing and some staffer was like "hey maybe you should check out this whole ISIS thing" and he was like, "ehhh I'll get to it when I get to it."

Well trump framed the argument well with the Saudis and other Muslim nations...this is good vs evil. I woulda taken a step further and spoke directly to the Islamic faith and said Wahhabism is pure satanic evil shit that has poisoned your religion. Because, well it's true.

[Alvin Walton]

Trump isnt a politician and he wasnt hired because he was one.
So he isnt going to speak like one.
And he can call them milk toast poo poo heads for all I care as long as he finds a way to kill them.
At least hes not dismissing them like the last guy did.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by Alvin Walton

Trump isnt a politician and he wasnt hired because he was one.
So he isnt going to speak like one.
And he can call them milk toast poo poo heads for all I care as long as he finds a way to kill them.
At least hes not dismissing them like the last guy did.

This is BS and you know it.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by Alvin Walton

Trump isnt a politician and he wasnt hired because he was one.
So he isnt going to speak like one.
And he can call them milk toast poo poo heads for all I care as long as he finds a way to kill them.
At least hes not dismissing them like the last guy did.

If you're going to make outlandish statements at least back them up. Sources please.

[Alvin Walton]

Originally Posted by mooby

If you're going to make outlandish statements at least back them up. Sources please.

Chico already posted it, its a pretty famous statement.
Post #523 in this thread.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by Alvin Walton

Chico already posted it, its a pretty famous statement.
Post #523 in this thread.

Ah, you meant the initial time when he didn't take them seriously, not afterwards when he devoted infinitely more time and resources to actually fighting them. Gotcha.

[Alvin Walton]

From what I read the blast took place outside of the security zone but was in the building.
My local arena for example has a large foyer area with concessions, ticket sales and an assembly area that is a public area. You dont need tickets at this point so you dont go thru any security. I assume that it was similar to Manchester.
Its going to get to the point where will will have to rope off the whole city block to stop these kind of bombings.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by Alvin Walton

From what I read the blast took place outside of the security zone but was in the building.
My local arena for example has a large foyer area with concessions, ticket sales and an assembly area that is a public area. You dont need tickets at this point so you dont go thru any security. I assume that it was similar to Manchester.
Its going to get to the point where will will have to rope off the whole city block to stop these kind of bombings.

I'm not sure there's any solution that doesn't invade people's privacy. I doubt anyone that uses the train station likes the idea of their bags being checked during major public events. Just a shit situation all around.

[InsanePianist21]

Did anyone read about the Saudi crackdown last month?

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by InsanePianist21

Did anyone read about the Saudi crackdown last month?

Little bit...corruption crackdown is almost unheard of over there...Also another interesting change is the fact women will be able to drive in Saudi Arabia. The biggest thing holding back the Middle East is gender inequality. It’s absolutely brutal for women over there...

[Chico23231]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techno...15P?ocid=ientp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Bibi_blasphemy_case

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. She always denied having committed blasphemy

Bibi had spent eight years on death row before the court overturned her conviction and ordered her to be freed.

further reading: Blasphemy: A Memoir: Sentenced to Death over a Cup of Water (2013, ISBN 1613748892).

ive followed this case...a small example of everything that is wrong with that culture and the middle east in general.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techno...15P?ocid=ientp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Bibi_blasphemy_case

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. She always denied having committed blasphemy

Bibi had spent eight years on death row before the court overturned her conviction and ordered her to be freed.

further reading: Blasphemy: A Memoir: Sentenced to Death over a Cup of Water (2013, ISBN 1613748892).

ive followed this case...a small example of everything that is wrong with that culture and the middle east in general.

You'll find no argument from me on this one. I can talk shit about 'Murica all day but I'm thankful we don't live in an area like that.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by mooby

You'll find no argument from me on this one. I can talk shit about 'Murica all day but I'm thankful we don't live in an area like that.

Its like...finally justice for her...BUT now you have very influential Clerics calling on people to kill her any chance they get.

Im hoping the state provides security and she leaves the country asap.

its insane

[mooby]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

Its like...finally justice for her...BUT now you have very influential Clerics calling on people to kill her any chance they get.

Im hoping the state provides security and she leaves the country asap.

its insane

This would be the equivalent of the Saudi's finding out what really happened to Kashoggi.

[SunnySide]

The Turkish military's devastating display of power against the Syrian army last week — which saw the destruction of hundreds of regime tanks, artillery pieces and armored vehicles — came from a cheap but effective domestic drone program that NATO officials say has changed the military equation against Russia in Syria's Idlib Province.

Russia should have won this one — but it didn't

In theory, Russia would win such a conflict.

Yet Turkey won this round.

How?

Turkey has a new ace up its sleeve, one that forced Russia to think twice about escalating against President Recep Erdogan's government, military sources told Insider.

Turkey's offensive was conducted with about 100 domestically produced drones launching cheap guided munitions with deadly efficiency.

"Dropping these bomblets on Syrian regime tanks all night got Putin's attention"

While Turkey guards the exact cost of producing the Bayraktar TB2 as a state secret, it sold 12 drones and three ground command centers to Ukraine last year for $69 million. At less than $6 million per drone, the TB2 is about a third of the cost of the similarly capable US produced Reaper MQ-9, which retails for US allies at about $16 million a piece.

Turkey's President of Defence Industries İsmail Demir, in a 2016 panel discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council, lauded the U.S. restriction on drone sales for pushing Turkey to become an independent UAV manufacturer. "I don't want to be sarcastic, but I would like to thank [the U.S. government] for any of the projects that was not approved by the U.S. because it forced us to develop our own systems," Demir quipped, adding that Turkey no longer wanted U.S.-made armed drones.

"Flying dozens of these drones over Idlib and dropping these bomblets on Syrian regime tanks all night got [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's attention," said the NATO official. "Sure in a direct confrontation, Russia could use its airpower and standoff munitions like cruise missiles to breakdown Turkey's air defenses and drone command and control, but at a cost that would be inconceivable in a conflict over Idlib. Turkey knows it can't force Russia out of Syria as much as they might like to, but they did reinforce that Putin and Assad cannot force Turkey out of Idlib. So it's back to agreements and discussions for now."

Today, Turkey and Russia agreed to another ceasefire in Idlib, with Russian troops patrolling a corridor about 6km on either side of the disputed M4/5 highway that is a critical link between the regime-controlled cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

The peace will no doubt be welcomed. And among military analysts, so will the news that there are some wars that Russia is apparently not willing to fight.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkey-us...174456745.html

Drone wars. The new proxy war frontier.

Ive read other articles about how the US is vulnerable to a swarm of hundreds of drones attacking at one time. Its been somewhat reported we have "knock down" technology but for every outpost for every part of the world where we are stationed?

This seems like something straight out of Spider-man Homecoming.