One is whatever develops around Yemen. A frontal clash between Iran and Saudi Arabia and Egypt can be a game changer, bringing in the United States as a major supplier of munitions, and/or as an active participants in keeping Iranian warships bottled up in the Persian Gulf. One can imagine a nightmare where the Russians and/or Chinese become involved on the Iranian side in order to keep the Persian Gulf open for the flow of Iranian oil.
Another set of possibilities may begin in the US Congress, if Republicans recruit enough Democrats to a proposal requiring Congressional action with respect to what is emerging as a deal with Iran. That would need votes to overcome a Presidential veto, but current speculation is that there are enough Democrats unhappy with what Obama has accepted from Iran. If Congress becomes an active player, the same coalition of Republicans and suspicious Democrats would likely increase US demands on Iran and forestall any agreement.
For several years now, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Biometrics Center have been testing an iris recognition system that can be used to identify subjects at a range of up to 40 feet.
Like similar biometric technologies — fingerprint or facial recognition systems — the Carnegie Mellon project uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques. The technology captures images from a live photographic or video feed and runs them through a database to find a potential match.
April 9
What a surprise it would be if putin would actually wake up one day & follow Greece’s lead of announcing the formation of a war reparations advisory council of some kind to see if they should formally & legally go after germany for that $2T- 3T I saw recently as the inflation equivalent in today’s money.
Ukraine’s decision to equate Communism with Nazism under the new legislation is unacceptable and is an attempt of “political terror,” the Communist Party of Greece said Saturday.
Maidan Square in Kiev
Kiev Becomes First European Capital to Openly Glorify Criminal Ideology – Polish Analyst
ATHENS (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament passed a legislation to ban Soviet Communist and Nazi symbols and propaganda. The same day, the Ukrainian parliament also passed a bill to recognize the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) organization as fighters for Ukrainian independence.
OTTAWA, April 11. /TASS/. The Canadian government intends to send troops to Ukraine in the coming months, CTV television channel reported on Friday. According to a government source, the military will not be engaged in military operations.
According to the TV channel website, CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson reported the news Friday on Power Play. “While the government is still working out the details, sources tell CTV News a training mission is one of the options on the table. Canada will likely work closely with American allies who are already in the region,” Stephenson said.
It’s the Harper government -that only represents 40%, at the very most, of Canadians.
Of that 40% who had always voted Conservative some have gradually cottoned on to the fact that the theocratic Reform Party that combined with the Conservatives in order to defeat the Liberals some years back took it over and imposed their Reform Party Old Testament nastiness.
How can you have a Creationist Minister of Science that doesn’t believe in Evolution?
Divisive Harper stated one of the few truths to ever leave his mouth : “By the time I am finished with Canada you won’t recognise it.”
Hopefully they will all get booted out in the next election.
Yemeni Zaidis most likely will politically ally with the Saudi Sunni Left ( 45% of Sunnis )- if not already- and the SA Shi’ia population in the oil regions who do not like the Royals. This year might be the end of the KSA repressive State as it exists now.
eimar, thanks for that link. It is all the more interesting if I remember correctly an announcement that Pakistan has rejected Saudi request for help with the Yemen Problem.
I have not heard that Erd. is a “wise man,” but perhaps he has been slandered before me, as have so many others. In fact, I KNOW very little about him. Maybe he’s willing to actually do some “peace making” to earn a Peace Prize, reckon?
I can’t see the U.S. PTB allowing their House of Saud “cousins” off the rails leading to chaos, death, and destruction…but what do I know? Maybe the U.S. PTB is gradually losing some of its clout — we can dream, I guess.
Meh. Erdogan talking out of both sides of his mouth again. He visits Riyadh and claims he’s with Saudi Arabia; then he visits Tehran and claims he’s with Iran. Someday that man will have to make up his mind which side he’s on.
Saudis do not fight. They are comfortable releasing bombs from long distance up from the sky, specially if they feel safe. Saudis have become spoiled, a large percentage of them do not even work, foreigners do most of the physical jobs. I can not imagine a Saudi fighting face to face with another soldier. They of course can always hire mercenaries they have to money (so far) to do that.
Once again, I’m very grateful to the Saker blog and its many tech participants, supporters, translators @ Utube and elsewhere, for making Mr. Nasrallah available to me.
I totally enjoy Nasrallah for several reasons, one of which is best expressed in his own words: “…I foresee – not like the astrologers, but by political analysis, experience, data, what we know of the situation in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and equations of current struggles in the region.”
Every time I read this man, I feel uplifted by the glowing intelligence, heart, dedication, sense of integrity, confidence born of hard experience, and other intangible qualities. Besides, I’d also love to see the utterly brutal Saudi Monarchy eradicated forever and ever.
Need I add my own sense of personal shame in years of US drone bombs and all manner of collusion in this filth insofar as I’ve discovered, which is too farflung to list.
Thank you Saker. These are wondrous words from Hassan Nasrallah. Glorious words. The ultimate defeat in disgraceful and profound humiliation for Saudi Arabia, and the Israelis and Americans who control them, and who tie their fortunes to theirs.
What a way, Saudi Arabia, to take what was a very workable situation, and destroy all fortunate prospects, turn all of Yemen now against you, and empower and even arm Daesh and Al Qaeda, who pose a threat to all powers in the region, including your own House.
Hassan Nasrallah is that rare blend of sacred wisdom and clear-eyed military expertise. I trust what he says about how Saudi Arabia has failed thus far in all its stated objectives, and has furthermore now created a nightmare for itself, whose teeth have not yet chosen to manifest fully, but whom the Saudis could enrage sufficiently to do so.
And all this achieved through foolish pride and hubris, the hallmark of all three nations promoting this latest outrage, yet another massacre of the innocents. The world will grow tired, I think, of Israel, America and Saudi Arabia.
Hassan Nasrallah is that rare blend of sacred wisdom and clear-eyed military expertise.
Yes, he is one of the greatest man alive today and I have immense respect for him. Also, he does never brag, so I find his statement that the House of Saud will hit the dust over this rather stunning…
Cheers!
As usual, very prophetic words from Sayyed Hassan. His closing comments get to the heart of the matter: the humanitarian situation will get much, much worse, the bombing will intensify, the number of killed will be in thousands if not tens of thousands. However, and here is the key, the Saudis will still lose. In all their Khaleeji brilliance, the Saudis have utterly alienated the vast majority of the Yemeni public. Add to this weeks of indiscriminate bombing and — PRESTO — millions upon millions of very angry, and increasingly desperate, fathers, brothers, cousins, mothers and daughters hellbent on revenge in a country where avenging a relative is as culturally ubiquitous as the muezzin’s adhan. Nasrallah understands this in spades; the Saudis have concocted an even more unwinnable Vietnam for themselves than Ho Chi Min could have come up with in his wildest dreams.
And then there is Yemen’s very own “Samson Option”: closing the Bab al-Mandeb or foraying into Saudi Arabia itself. I have no doubt the decision to forestall these options demonstrate acute understanding of the Houthis that doing so would rapidly bring the US directly into the fray, culminating in an occupation of Aden, Socotra and the southern coast. However, if they get backed into a corner too far, you can take the Yemeni Samson to the mother-flipping bank.
At this point I can almost hear the laughing reverberating off of the Kremlin walls; the Red Sea closed to shipping, oil shoots overnight to $150 a barrel, Israel sharts its britches as its shipping gets rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, and last but not least the soon-to-be humiliated Prince Salman loses his grip on the reigns of power and the fiefdom descends into anarchy as the — literally — thousands of princes do a Saudi Battle Royal. Inshallah, the end of the House of Saud.
Speaking of, this is the Saudi “business model” of uniting the tribal sheiks, notwithstanding their faux-Islam Wahabi religion.
This is owed to the fact that according to the existing system in the KSA , oil is sold to tribal sheikhs and leaders of influential clans at 24 dollars per barrel for them to resell it in international markets for a higher price. Last summer prices picked up to a level of 100 dollars a barrel, but now they barely exceed 58 dollars a barrel. In addition, the war requires additional expenditures by the State Treasury, which also has led to a reduction in the payments of subsidies provided to tribes. According to recent reports, the sheikhs have already presented Saudi King Salman their demands, threatening him with disobedience if they are not met.
The kalashnikov in Yemen is part of the dress, like the Jambiya, not only every man has at least one weapon, but in most of the houses there are several weapons. They do not ever delivered. It would be like give honor.
I also agree that this is the beginning of the end of the Sauds, they themselves got into the mouth of the wolf, having despised their Yemeni neighbors, exploiting them as slaves, for decades, and for being at the service of a foreign power that only has seen them as an instrument.
Transcript (maybe useful for adding to the article)
– I would like again to welcome our guest, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. Welcome to you, your Eminence Sayed.
We discussed, just before the break and the last part of our interview, questions of paramount importance to our region.
You said that if Pakistan is to intervene alongside Saudi Arabia, it will do so on the pretext of there being an internal threat to Saudi security [and only to defend Saudi Arabia, not invade Yemen],
and you said that this is not just a remote possibility, but that it could happen in the near future. The coming days will show whether such development occurs in Yemen,
if the Houthis can enter into Saudi Arabia. What do you mean by this?
Listen, at the end of the day, I do not have specific (exclusive) information, but it could happen, in the sense that what has been happening in Yemen so far… – let us make an analysis of the situation.
Well, (Saudi Arabia) started with bombing, and they set various objectives.
So far they have not realised any of these goals, not a single one of them.
And this is the experience of the July war (2006) in Lebanon, the experience of wars in Gaza in Palestine – and by the way, the war against Yemen, whether in its media aspect, the psychological warfare, the military leadership or tactics, is exactly like the war against Lebanon, and the war against Gaza, and this reveals to us those who lurk behind the scenes and make the decisions.
Well, they set a number of goals, and they have so far fulfilled none of these objectives. Aside from the fact of killing people, of course, but they had not announced that as an objective.
They said that … and this proves that – today we enter the 17th day of the war – it is a failure. It is a humiliating defeat for the Saudi-American aggression against Yemen.
(The Saudis) said (as objectives) that, first, they wanted to reinstall the President who they consider legitimate: but he is still sitting in Riyadh with his supporters.
Second, they wanted to force Ansarallah, their allies and the Yemeni Army to surrender: but they did not surrender.
(Third, they wanted) the country’s leadership to withdraw, and surrender their heavy and medium weapons.
It may be that many of us in this region, are unaware of a lot of what happens in Yemen, but the Saudis are very familiar with Yemen, and I laughed myself, because from what I know about Yemen, medium and heavy weapons are personal weapons (held even by civilians), that is to say, the (Saudis) claim to remove even personal weapons: in Yemen, all tribes have heavy weapons and medium weapons, and then (the Saudis) declare to groups that after they have imposed a war on them, they should deliver their heavy and medium weapons? In my opinion, this is manifest stupidity.
Well, third, or fourth, they said that the aim was to prevent the Iranian occupation of Yemen, which is a foregone conclusion, since (the Iranian occupation project) is imaginary, so they cannot say they have prevented the occupation of Yemen by Iran.
Fifth, on the ground, they said they wanted to restrain the Yemeni army and people’s committees in some provinces and at Aden.
But (the Houthis) reached Aden, the airport is in their hands – I am using the information from the [Saudi] channel Al Arabiya –, the port is in their hands,
most of the city is in their hands, as well as most of the southern provinces… What have you then accomplished (you Saudis)?
Until this moment, I can speak, from my own knowledge – and we also have the experience of the July War (2006) in Lebanon, the Israeli wars against Gaza, so we understand these things in one way or another- and my assessment of the situation is therefore that what has happened so far is a humiliating failure of Saudi-American aggression against Yemen.
If we believe the official (Saudi) spokesperson, who every day makes a speech about the evolution of the battle – that poor guy is in trouble, he seeks for the smallest success (to harp on about). He then said there was an such-and-such force that was heading to Aden, and that we striked it.
This is not an accomplishment! This is a detail. You’re fighting a war, in any case. In war, there are martyrs, vehicles are destroyed, you kill, you are killed, that’s war, it’s normal!
So tell me about the military achievements that have any significant political or military implication !
But they have not accomplished anything like this up to now.
Instead, I will reveal what the Saudi aggression has really accomplished against Yemen so far.
The first achievement, is that they have made the vast majority of the Yemeni people radically opposed to Saudi Arabia. When have we seen before in Yemen hundreds of thousands, if not millions, manifest by proclaiming “Death to the House of Saud!”
Incidentally, the Saudis do not tolerate anyone talking about them. They pay fortunes, and the whole world gets insulted, no problem, but if a TV station, newspaper, speaker, politician or writer says a (negative) word about Saud, they tear it to pieces.
Well, millions of people manifest in Yemen proclaiming “Death to the House of Saud!”
This is a huge strategic loss for the Saudis in Yemen.
Second, there is a huge uplift and mobilisation of the Yemeni people, seen through the TV channels, although they try to prevent this from appearing: tribes, cities, provinces, the people as a whole and this mobilization and this uprising will grow because of the crimes committed in this aggression against the Yemeni people.
So this is a second achievement, and a result of the aggression.
Another achievement of the aggression, is that there is now a demand on the Yemeni leaders of the battle, who have not taken the decision to close (the strategic Strait) of Bab al-Mandeb, which they could do at any time: it is only 20 kilometres-large, they are quite capable of it.
And they could also hit with missiles targets inside Saudi Arabia, or even enter the interior of Saudi Arabia, but this Yemeni leadership, this people of Yemen leading this battle have not yet taken such action, so far.
But they may take such measures in the future, I do not know. This is related to the development of the war and the battle.
The most important thing here is that there are very strong popular demands to respond to, whether to launch missiles or make an incursion into Saudi Arabia.
And there is currently a strong and widely adopted discourse about Yemeni provinces, which belonged to Yemen in the beginning, but which the Saudis have annexed to their kingdom.
And the Saudi military leadership – I heard this information, but I do not know if it’s true: nearly 90 border villages have been evacuated, their homes even destroyed for fear that Yemenis would take them.
There is currently a Yemeni popular demand: ”Let us go to Saudi Arabia.”
Leadership thus far has not taken such a decision. I wanted to indicate this.
Amongst other major accomplishments of the aggression, let us evoke support for Daesh (the Islamic State) and Al-Qaeda, while they know that al Qaeda and Daesh are truly a danger to Saudi Arabia and all Gulf countries, and we have seen what happened in Iraq.
But these people, when they become blind, it’s for good, and they do not even see what there is in front of them.
In front of you, you have, in Yemen, Daesh and Al Qaeda, and you have the Yemeni army, you have Ansarallah, and you have other friends and allies, political forces in Saudi Arabia, but the ones you fight were ready to negotiate, to dialogue, to come to a settlement with you, before you launched the war against them.
And they are still ready to move toward a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue in a neutral country.
But Al Qaeda and Daesh are a danger to Yemen and all the Gulf countries, governments, Kings, Emirs, peoples…
But where has their blindness taken them to? In order to hit Ansarallah and the Yemeni army, they protect Al Qaeda and Daesh in Yemen, and more, they drop them weapons by air.
Well, is this an achievement? This goes against the interests of Saudi Arabia.Therefore my assessment of the situation is this: there are two aspects, a humanitarian aspect, and this aspect is very painful,
individual: the massacres, bombings, assault, demolition of infrastructure and the Yemeni army– I forgot to remind of this in the objectives.
These people, I mean the Americans and Israel, all allies and armies of which being known, do not want for there to remain in this region any strong army that could one day pose a threat to Israel or to US domination of the region.
And that’s why the Yemeni army is now a target, one of their goals is to destroy the Yemeni army.
Anyway, to conclude, I repeat that on the humanitarian aspect, what is happening in Yemen is very painful and sad, but from another aspect, I said from the beginning that I foresee…. – not like the astrologers, but by political analysis, experience, data, what we know of the situation in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and equations of current struggles in the region.
I stand by the opinion I expressed a few days ago at the beginning of events (about the future outcome of this war): the Saudi defeat for me is the clearest evidence, as the Yemeni victory is absolute certainty,
and this will impact on all events in the region and will be a door of salvation for many peoples and governments of the region.
These are major expectations that you predict for the entire region, your Eminence, on the basis of your political analysis?.
Yes, on this aspect, and I do not make myself worry about the outcome of the battle, and that’s why I said there is no risk.
I consider that there is a very painful humanitarian aspect, but I am absolutely certain that Saudi Arabia will undergo a major defeat.
And its defeat will impact on its internal situation, the royal family, on all those who believed they could perform feats and historic victories, and there will also be an impact on the entire region. It is my conviction.
And we can take notes and wait to see what will happen. Those days are close now.
Putin’s fan club just keeps growing.
https://twitter.com/Ian56789/status/586913789301366785
Jewish view
One is whatever develops around Yemen. A frontal clash between Iran and Saudi Arabia and Egypt can be a game changer, bringing in the United States as a major supplier of munitions, and/or as an active participants in keeping Iranian warships bottled up in the Persian Gulf. One can imagine a nightmare where the Russians and/or Chinese become involved on the Iranian side in order to keep the Persian Gulf open for the flow of Iranian oil.
Another set of possibilities may begin in the US Congress, if Republicans recruit enough Democrats to a proposal requiring Congressional action with respect to what is emerging as a deal with Iran. That would need votes to overcome a Presidential veto, but current speculation is that there are enough Democrats unhappy with what Obama has accepted from Iran. If Congress becomes an active player, the same coalition of Republicans and suspicious Democrats would likely increase US demands on Iran and forestall any agreement.
http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2015/04/11/iran-speculation-prompts-numerous-scenarios/
For several years now, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Biometrics Center have been testing an iris recognition system that can be used to identify subjects at a range of up to 40 feet.
Like similar biometric technologies — fingerprint or facial recognition systems — the Carnegie Mellon project uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques. The technology captures images from a live photographic or video feed and runs them through a database to find a potential match.
http://www.sott.net/article/295077-Iris-scanner-identifies-a-person-40-feet-away
April 9
What a surprise it would be if putin would actually wake up one day & follow Greece’s lead of announcing the formation of a war reparations advisory council of some kind to see if they should formally & legally go after germany for that $2T- 3T I saw recently as the inflation equivalent in today’s money.
http://www.sott.net/article/295091-How-to-win-hearts-and-minds-Putin-returns-Nazi-looted-icon-to-Greek-prime-minister
It would be great.
APR 11
Ukraine’s decision to equate Communism with Nazism under the new legislation is unacceptable and is an attempt of “political terror,” the Communist Party of Greece said Saturday.
Maidan Square in Kiev
Kiev Becomes First European Capital to Openly Glorify Criminal Ideology – Polish Analyst
ATHENS (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament passed a legislation to ban Soviet Communist and Nazi symbols and propaganda. The same day, the Ukrainian parliament also passed a bill to recognize the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) organization as fighters for Ukrainian independence.
The party said in a statement:
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150411/1020764504.html
OTTAWA, April 11. /TASS/. The Canadian government intends to send troops to Ukraine in the coming months, CTV television channel reported on Friday. According to a government source, the military will not be engaged in military operations.
According to the TV channel website, CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson reported the news Friday on Power Play. “While the government is still working out the details, sources tell CTV News a training mission is one of the options on the table. Canada will likely work closely with American allies who are already in the region,” Stephenson said.
http://tass.ru/en/world/788644
It’s the Harper government -that only represents 40%, at the very most, of Canadians.
Of that 40% who had always voted Conservative some have gradually cottoned on to the fact that the theocratic Reform Party that combined with the Conservatives in order to defeat the Liberals some years back took it over and imposed their Reform Party Old Testament nastiness.
How can you have a Creationist Minister of Science that doesn’t believe in Evolution?
Divisive Harper stated one of the few truths to ever leave his mouth : “By the time I am finished with Canada you won’t recognise it.”
Hopefully they will all get booted out in the next election.
Yemeni Zaidis most likely will politically ally with the Saudi Sunni Left ( 45% of Sunnis )- if not already- and the SA Shi’ia population in the oil regions who do not like the Royals. This year might be the end of the KSA repressive State as it exists now.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-announces-new-regional-policy-.aspx?pageID=517&nID=80901&NewsCatID=466
eimar, thanks for that link. It is all the more interesting if I remember correctly an announcement that Pakistan has rejected Saudi request for help with the Yemen Problem.
I have not heard that Erd. is a “wise man,” but perhaps he has been slandered before me, as have so many others. In fact, I KNOW very little about him. Maybe he’s willing to actually do some “peace making” to earn a Peace Prize, reckon?
I can’t see the U.S. PTB allowing their House of Saud “cousins” off the rails leading to chaos, death, and destruction…but what do I know? Maybe the U.S. PTB is gradually losing some of its clout — we can dream, I guess.
Meh. Erdogan talking out of both sides of his mouth again. He visits Riyadh and claims he’s with Saudi Arabia; then he visits Tehran and claims he’s with Iran. Someday that man will have to make up his mind which side he’s on.
Saudis do not fight. They are comfortable releasing bombs from long distance up from the sky, specially if they feel safe. Saudis have become spoiled, a large percentage of them do not even work, foreigners do most of the physical jobs. I can not imagine a Saudi fighting face to face with another soldier. They of course can always hire mercenaries they have to money (so far) to do that.
Once again, I’m very grateful to the Saker blog and its many tech participants, supporters, translators @ Utube and elsewhere, for making Mr. Nasrallah available to me.
I totally enjoy Nasrallah for several reasons, one of which is best expressed in his own words: “…I foresee – not like the astrologers, but by political analysis, experience, data, what we know of the situation in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and equations of current struggles in the region.”
Every time I read this man, I feel uplifted by the glowing intelligence, heart, dedication, sense of integrity, confidence born of hard experience, and other intangible qualities. Besides, I’d also love to see the utterly brutal Saudi Monarchy eradicated forever and ever.
Need I add my own sense of personal shame in years of US drone bombs and all manner of collusion in this filth insofar as I’ve discovered, which is too farflung to list.
Thank you Saker. These are wondrous words from Hassan Nasrallah. Glorious words. The ultimate defeat in disgraceful and profound humiliation for Saudi Arabia, and the Israelis and Americans who control them, and who tie their fortunes to theirs.
What a way, Saudi Arabia, to take what was a very workable situation, and destroy all fortunate prospects, turn all of Yemen now against you, and empower and even arm Daesh and Al Qaeda, who pose a threat to all powers in the region, including your own House.
Hassan Nasrallah is that rare blend of sacred wisdom and clear-eyed military expertise. I trust what he says about how Saudi Arabia has failed thus far in all its stated objectives, and has furthermore now created a nightmare for itself, whose teeth have not yet chosen to manifest fully, but whom the Saudis could enrage sufficiently to do so.
And all this achieved through foolish pride and hubris, the hallmark of all three nations promoting this latest outrage, yet another massacre of the innocents. The world will grow tired, I think, of Israel, America and Saudi Arabia.
Hassan Nasrallah is that rare blend of sacred wisdom and clear-eyed military expertise.
Yes, he is one of the greatest man alive today and I have immense respect for him. Also, he does never brag, so I find his statement that the House of Saud will hit the dust over this rather stunning…
Cheers!
As usual, very prophetic words from Sayyed Hassan. His closing comments get to the heart of the matter: the humanitarian situation will get much, much worse, the bombing will intensify, the number of killed will be in thousands if not tens of thousands. However, and here is the key, the Saudis will still lose. In all their Khaleeji brilliance, the Saudis have utterly alienated the vast majority of the Yemeni public. Add to this weeks of indiscriminate bombing and — PRESTO — millions upon millions of very angry, and increasingly desperate, fathers, brothers, cousins, mothers and daughters hellbent on revenge in a country where avenging a relative is as culturally ubiquitous as the muezzin’s adhan. Nasrallah understands this in spades; the Saudis have concocted an even more unwinnable Vietnam for themselves than Ho Chi Min could have come up with in his wildest dreams.
And then there is Yemen’s very own “Samson Option”: closing the Bab al-Mandeb or foraying into Saudi Arabia itself. I have no doubt the decision to forestall these options demonstrate acute understanding of the Houthis that doing so would rapidly bring the US directly into the fray, culminating in an occupation of Aden, Socotra and the southern coast. However, if they get backed into a corner too far, you can take the Yemeni Samson to the mother-flipping bank.
At this point I can almost hear the laughing reverberating off of the Kremlin walls; the Red Sea closed to shipping, oil shoots overnight to $150 a barrel, Israel sharts its britches as its shipping gets rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, and last but not least the soon-to-be humiliated Prince Salman loses his grip on the reigns of power and the fiefdom descends into anarchy as the — literally — thousands of princes do a Saudi Battle Royal. Inshallah, the end of the House of Saud.
Speaking of, this is the Saudi “business model” of uniting the tribal sheiks, notwithstanding their faux-Islam Wahabi religion.
This is owed to the fact that according to the existing system in the KSA , oil is sold to tribal sheikhs and leaders of influential clans at 24 dollars per barrel for them to resell it in international markets for a higher price. Last summer prices picked up to a level of 100 dollars a barrel, but now they barely exceed 58 dollars a barrel. In addition, the war requires additional expenditures by the State Treasury, which also has led to a reduction in the payments of subsidies provided to tribes. According to recent reports, the sheikhs have already presented Saudi King Salman their demands, threatening him with disobedience if they are not met.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/04/10/rus-vojna-v-jemene-b-et-po-agressoru-saudovskoj-aravii/
http://journal-neo.org/2015/04/10/rus-vojna-v-jemene-b-et-po-agressoru-saudovskoj-aravii/
I only can see it with subtitles in French
The kalashnikov in Yemen is part of the dress, like the Jambiya, not only every man has at least one weapon, but in most of the houses there are several weapons. They do not ever delivered. It would be like give honor.
I also agree that this is the beginning of the end of the Sauds, they themselves got into the mouth of the wolf, having despised their Yemeni neighbors, exploiting them as slaves, for decades, and for being at the service of a foreign power that only has seen them as an instrument.
One can only hope… May it be so.
Transcript (maybe useful for adding to the article)
–
I would like again to welcome our guest, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. Welcome to you, your Eminence Sayed.
We discussed, just before the break and the last part of our interview, questions of paramount importance to our region.
You said that if Pakistan is to intervene alongside Saudi Arabia, it will do so on the pretext of there being an internal threat to Saudi security [and only to defend Saudi Arabia, not invade Yemen],
and you said that this is not just a remote possibility, but that it could happen in the near future. The coming days will show whether such development occurs in Yemen,
if the Houthis can enter into Saudi Arabia. What do you mean by this?
Listen, at the end of the day, I do not have specific (exclusive) information, but it could happen, in the sense that what has been happening in Yemen so far… – let us make an analysis of the situation.
Well, (Saudi Arabia) started with bombing, and they set various objectives.
So far they have not realised any of these goals, not a single one of them.
And this is the experience of the July war (2006) in Lebanon, the experience of wars in Gaza in Palestine – and by the way, the war against Yemen, whether in its media aspect, the psychological warfare, the military leadership or tactics, is exactly like the war against Lebanon, and the war against Gaza, and this reveals to us those who lurk behind the scenes and make the decisions.
Well, they set a number of goals, and they have so far fulfilled none of these objectives. Aside from the fact of killing people, of course, but they had not announced that as an objective.
They said that … and this proves that – today we enter the 17th day of the war – it is a failure. It is a humiliating defeat for the Saudi-American aggression against Yemen.
(The Saudis) said (as objectives) that, first, they wanted to reinstall the President who they consider legitimate: but he is still sitting in Riyadh with his supporters.
Second, they wanted to force Ansarallah, their allies and the Yemeni Army to surrender: but they did not surrender.
(Third, they wanted) the country’s leadership to withdraw, and surrender their heavy and medium weapons.
It may be that many of us in this region, are unaware of a lot of what happens in Yemen, but the Saudis are very familiar with Yemen, and I laughed myself, because from what I know about Yemen, medium and heavy weapons are personal weapons (held even by civilians), that is to say, the (Saudis) claim to remove even personal weapons: in Yemen, all tribes have heavy weapons and medium weapons, and then (the Saudis) declare to groups that after they have imposed a war on them, they should deliver their heavy and medium weapons? In my opinion, this is manifest stupidity.
Well, third, or fourth, they said that the aim was to prevent the Iranian occupation of Yemen, which is a foregone conclusion, since (the Iranian occupation project) is imaginary, so they cannot say they have prevented the occupation of Yemen by Iran.
Fifth, on the ground, they said they wanted to restrain the Yemeni army and people’s committees in some provinces and at Aden.
But (the Houthis) reached Aden, the airport is in their hands – I am using the information from the [Saudi] channel Al Arabiya –, the port is in their hands,
most of the city is in their hands, as well as most of the southern provinces… What have you then accomplished (you Saudis)?
Until this moment, I can speak, from my own knowledge – and we also have the experience of the July War (2006) in Lebanon, the Israeli wars against Gaza, so we understand these things in one way or another- and my assessment of the situation is therefore that what has happened so far is a humiliating failure of Saudi-American aggression against Yemen.
If we believe the official (Saudi) spokesperson, who every day makes a speech about the evolution of the battle – that poor guy is in trouble, he seeks for the smallest success (to harp on about). He then said there was an such-and-such force that was heading to Aden, and that we striked it.
This is not an accomplishment! This is a detail. You’re fighting a war, in any case. In war, there are martyrs, vehicles are destroyed, you kill, you are killed, that’s war, it’s normal!
So tell me about the military achievements that have any significant political or military implication !
But they have not accomplished anything like this up to now.
Instead, I will reveal what the Saudi aggression has really accomplished against Yemen so far.
The first achievement, is that they have made the vast majority of the Yemeni people radically opposed to Saudi Arabia. When have we seen before in Yemen hundreds of thousands, if not millions, manifest by proclaiming “Death to the House of Saud!”
Incidentally, the Saudis do not tolerate anyone talking about them. They pay fortunes, and the whole world gets insulted, no problem, but if a TV station, newspaper, speaker, politician or writer says a (negative) word about Saud, they tear it to pieces.
Well, millions of people manifest in Yemen proclaiming “Death to the House of Saud!”
This is a huge strategic loss for the Saudis in Yemen.
Second, there is a huge uplift and mobilisation of the Yemeni people, seen through the TV channels, although they try to prevent this from appearing: tribes, cities, provinces, the people as a whole and this mobilization and this uprising will grow because of the crimes committed in this aggression against the Yemeni people.
So this is a second achievement, and a result of the aggression.
Another achievement of the aggression, is that there is now a demand on the Yemeni leaders of the battle, who have not taken the decision to close (the strategic Strait) of Bab al-Mandeb, which they could do at any time: it is only 20 kilometres-large, they are quite capable of it.
And they could also hit with missiles targets inside Saudi Arabia, or even enter the interior of Saudi Arabia, but this Yemeni leadership, this people of Yemen leading this battle have not yet taken such action, so far.
But they may take such measures in the future, I do not know. This is related to the development of the war and the battle.
The most important thing here is that there are very strong popular demands to respond to, whether to launch missiles or make an incursion into Saudi Arabia.
And there is currently a strong and widely adopted discourse about Yemeni provinces, which belonged to Yemen in the beginning, but which the Saudis have annexed to their kingdom.
And the Saudi military leadership – I heard this information, but I do not know if it’s true: nearly 90 border villages have been evacuated, their homes even destroyed for fear that Yemenis would take them.
There is currently a Yemeni popular demand: ”Let us go to Saudi Arabia.”
Leadership thus far has not taken such a decision. I wanted to indicate this.
Amongst other major accomplishments of the aggression, let us evoke support for Daesh (the Islamic State) and Al-Qaeda, while they know that al Qaeda and Daesh are truly a danger to Saudi Arabia and all Gulf countries, and we have seen what happened in Iraq.
But these people, when they become blind, it’s for good, and they do not even see what there is in front of them.
In front of you, you have, in Yemen, Daesh and Al Qaeda, and you have the Yemeni army, you have Ansarallah, and you have other friends and allies, political forces in Saudi Arabia, but the ones you fight were ready to negotiate, to dialogue, to come to a settlement with you, before you launched the war against them.
And they are still ready to move toward a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue in a neutral country.
But Al Qaeda and Daesh are a danger to Yemen and all the Gulf countries, governments, Kings, Emirs, peoples…
But where has their blindness taken them to? In order to hit Ansarallah and the Yemeni army, they protect Al Qaeda and Daesh in Yemen, and more, they drop them weapons by air.
Well, is this an achievement? This goes against the interests of Saudi Arabia.Therefore my assessment of the situation is this: there are two aspects, a humanitarian aspect, and this aspect is very painful,
individual: the massacres, bombings, assault, demolition of infrastructure and the Yemeni army– I forgot to remind of this in the objectives.
These people, I mean the Americans and Israel, all allies and armies of which being known, do not want for there to remain in this region any strong army that could one day pose a threat to Israel or to US domination of the region.
And that’s why the Yemeni army is now a target, one of their goals is to destroy the Yemeni army.
Anyway, to conclude, I repeat that on the humanitarian aspect, what is happening in Yemen is very painful and sad, but from another aspect, I said from the beginning that I foresee…. – not like the astrologers, but by political analysis, experience, data, what we know of the situation in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and equations of current struggles in the region.
I stand by the opinion I expressed a few days ago at the beginning of events (about the future outcome of this war): the Saudi defeat for me is the clearest evidence, as the Yemeni victory is absolute certainty,
and this will impact on all events in the region and will be a door of salvation for many peoples and governments of the region.
These are major expectations that you predict for the entire region, your Eminence, on the basis of your political analysis?.
Yes, on this aspect, and I do not make myself worry about the outcome of the battle, and that’s why I said there is no risk.
I consider that there is a very painful humanitarian aspect, but I am absolutely certain that Saudi Arabia will undergo a major defeat.
And its defeat will impact on its internal situation, the royal family, on all those who believed they could perform feats and historic victories, and there will also be an impact on the entire region. It is my conviction.
And we can take notes and wait to see what will happen. Those days are close now.