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Arabia
A clear and blatant Act of War!
2019-09-16
[Asia Times] Events in the Arabian Peninsula have upstaged the Israeli elections, supposedly the big story of the week.

The confrontation between Iran and its allies and Saudi Arabia and its allies is on the verge of boiling over into overt warfare.

Attacking the Saudi oil infrastructure is the equivalent of attacking the heart of a living creature – it is the source of its existence as a country. It is not yet clear if the drones came from Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen, from Iran itself or from Iraq. What is clear is that Iran is directly or indirectly responsible for the attack, which is a clear and blatant act of war.
If the drones came from Iraq, that would be another Iranian proxy — Iran is awfully fond of coming at a problem from two sides...

Edit late afternoon:
Posted by:3dc

#18  Another way of putting this is that the world views of the West are not the world views of the non-West. The non-West has adopted the technologies of the West without adopting its weltanschaaung. For the non-West, territorial acquisition for personal glory and eternal fame is not some kind of dastardly crime. How many Iraqis really regret the invasion of Kuwait except for the part where Uncle Sam evicted them?
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2019-09-16 22:21  

#17  Iran wants a war because the Mullahs actually believe — as Osama bin Laden did — that this will force Allah to step up on their side, conquering the infidels for them.

Too complicated. Foreign wars are a test of resolve, especially for Western democracies thousands of miles away. Based on their current military capabilities, without Western intervention, the Iranians can unify the Middle East (ex Israel) under their rule. The only thing that stands in the way is Pax Americana. The invasion of Kuwait came close to not being reversed. The Congressional vote was pretty close. It was approved in the House 250-183 and 52-47 in the Senate. If the expedition hadn't occurred, Iraq would encompass all of the Arab Middle East east of the Suez today.

Iran now faces a president who is unwilling to use force against it - the second in a row over its repeated armed provocations. This is a president who won't even act to evict a leader of a Venezuela that is facing famine and mass unrest. I'd say they're probing their way forward and will push until they meet resistance. No divine intervention expected, although it would obviously be welcome.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2019-09-16 22:09  

#16  at 15, I had saved about $8,000 from my own little business. At that time, interest rates were about 14% and mortgage rates were even higher, and inflation was also in double digits. I remember, because I put my $$ in a passbook savings account which of course earned less than the banks' lending rate.

When I graduated from HS, the unemployment rate in my metro area was close to 25%. My father was working several jobs. Our thermostat was set to 62 degrees in the winter in a state bordering Canada.

So yeah, I paid VERY close attention to all the ways that an economy, including a capitalist economy, can get seriously f---ed up. And no, it wasn't because of the evil government, it was mainly - in our patch - due to the combined incompetence of idiot management and greedy bolshevik labor unions. I've never believed that anyone, not "entrepreneurs" or managers or anyone else, has any lock on wisdom.

Posted by: Lex   2019-09-16 19:44  

#15  neocon warmongers wanted?

Senor Cut-n-paste: show some new thought?
Posted by: Frank G   2019-09-16 19:12  

#14  Iran wants a war because the Mullahs actually believe — as Osama bin Laden did — that this will force Allah to step up on their side, conquering the infidels for them.

Separately, it is very interesting that President Trump just openly said he is discussing a mutual defense treaty with Israel, but there is nothing like that at this time for the Saudis — an open “make me an offer” gambit. Good find, 3dc.

Incidentally, a friend of a friend, who is Israeli, apparently will be voting for Bibi Netanyahu this time — though he loathes him — precisely because he believes their friendship will benefit Israel’s security. And I’ve been seeing more and more quiet admissions on this side of the pond that the writer will choose Trump this time because it is clearly necessary, regardless of personal dislike. The latest voted for Evan McMullin last time.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-09-16 16:52  

#13  It would help to know who are these warmongers first. Any theory with an intangible 'they' is unhealthy tinfoil hat stuff. You think the attacks were carried out by American proxies, is that it ?
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-09-16 14:54  

#12  Instead of making shit up about me, like leftists do, how about a little skepticism regarding an event that is everything the neocon warmongers wanted?

Personal attacks aren't arguments.
Posted by: Herb McCoy    2019-09-16 14:48  

#11  At 15 you were probably an anarchist, Lex. You just choose to remember it different.☺
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-09-16 14:07  

#10  At 15, Lex?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-09-16 14:03  

#9  I wasn't. Ordered liberty requires, y'know, order.

A complex capitalist economy requires clear and extensive rules backed up by the enforcement mechanism of a strong state. Anyone who's ever worked in a wild-west cowboy-capitalist environment knows that market capitalism requires extensive regulation for its own sake.

Libertarianism is idiocy. Adolescent drivel that's been successfully exploited by cheats, market manipulators and predatory pricing monopolists.
Posted by: Lex   2019-09-16 13:55  

#8  Look, Herb must be very young - let him who wasn't a Libertarian (or even a Randite, in my case) at 15 throw the first stone.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-09-16 13:11  

#7  Curious that the plaintiff clings to the same NOM to which we are generally alerted.
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-09-16 12:35  

#6  ^Have you hugged a fracker today?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB   2019-09-16 10:40  

#5  Every time I see some liberal/chickenshit paleoconservative/chickenshit libertarian taking Herb's line of thought I have to bite my lip because actually getting pieces of my life back relies on the plurality of decisionmakers in this country being that exact sort of vicious retard, leading to a massive increase in the price of oil.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2019-09-16 10:17  

#4  Herb, we didn't start this war, Iran did.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-09-16 09:53  

#3  I'd start to suspect Herb is actually Tyler Durden from ZeroHedge, but Tyler let's other rabid droolers write most of the copy over there. So who are you actually, Herb? Kunstlerhead or Danny Sjerkoff?
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-09-16 07:54  

#2  Sure Erb. It's obviously a false-flag Sooper Sekret Op by our NeoCon Warmongering Mil-Industrial Complex™.


Macro F7, idiot
Posted by: Frank G   2019-09-16 06:47  

#1  My, an incident that gives neocons everything they wanted? Amazing how well it worked out. Now we have to start a war, it's the only choice?

Conflict initiation is tough, said Bolton.
Posted by: Herb McCoy    2019-09-16 06:07  

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