Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Fri 01/16/2015 View Thu 01/15/2015 View Wed 01/14/2015 View Tue 01/13/2015 View Mon 01/12/2015 View Sun 01/11/2015 View Sat 01/10/2015
1
2015-01-16 Arabia
The Great Wall of Saudi Arabia?
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by Fred 2015-01-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [14 views ]  Top
 File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia 

#1 I was going to post this under the heading'

Saudi Arabia building their 'Maginot Line'

Which got me thinking about what the 'Von Schlieffen' plan could be.

ISIS are rather more interested in conquering Sunni lands than subjugating Shiias, which looked at from that perspective, puts Iran and ISIS on the same side against SA.

I can see an alliance between them, where Iran attacks either through Kuwait or a naval assault on Bahrain, drawing Saudi forces away and allowing ISIS to break through into SA.

I'd go for the former, and if the West has the stomach for liberating Kuwait again, it will be a very different prospect against Iran.

OTOH, the large Shiia and ethnic Persian populations in Bahrain make a 'liberation' narrative more convincing. Perhaps convincing enough to prevent a Western military response.

All-in all, we have yet to see the fallout from the oil price collapse. Iran is in very much the same boat as Saddam was, needing more oil revenues to keep the regime afloat. The best way for Iran to do that is to stop the flow of Saudi oil.
Posted by phil_b 2015-01-16 00:22||   2015-01-16 00:22|| Front Page Top

#2 Most folks wouldn't think of war as a consequence of falling oil prices, but then, those same folks aren't aware the U.S. oil embargo against Japan was a factor in WW II.
Posted by Bobby 2015-01-16 13:08||   2015-01-16 13:08|| Front Page Top

#3 Back during Vietnam we had a sensor that was supposed to smell enemy troops and stop infiltration. The thing failed because the jungle is filled with smells that overwhelmed it.

Bet the Saudi desert isn't filled with smells.
Posted by rjschwarz 2015-01-16 14:48||   2015-01-16 14:48|| Front Page Top

#4 Richard: Years ago I worked with an old boy from West Virginia the implanted sensors along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Interesting fellow, liked to work alone. I asked him one time how he got started in that line of work and he said he just volunteered one day. Went on to say that when he finally walked back to the fire base, his boss was so shocked at his survival he took him off all the other missions. Must have been pretty good at it to have survived. Not all the stories about so-called solo, one way mission are bullshi*.
Posted by Besoeker 2015-01-16 16:38||   2015-01-16 16:38|| Front Page Top

23:24 newc
22:36 JosephMendiola
22:30 JosephMendiola
22:19 JosephMendiola
21:15 3dc
21:11 Grunter
21:08 JosephMendiola
21:01 JosephMendiola
20:45 Hupineger Glomomp7489
20:38 chris
19:42 Shipman
19:31 Hupineger Glomomp7489
19:26 Procopius2k
19:21 Procopius2k
19:19 Procopius2k
19:17 SteveS
19:16 Alaska Paul
19:15 tu3031
19:14 Alaska Paul
19:12 Procopius2k
19:11 Hupineger Glomomp7489
19:10 Hupineger Glomomp7489
19:08 Hupineger Glomomp7489
18:49 Steve White









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com