I’ve just published a foreign policy-related post at Outside the Beltway:
Is it Europe and America that have more fear from ISIS/ISIL or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
I’ve just published a foreign policy-related post at Outside the Beltway:
Is it Europe and America that have more fear from ISIS/ISIL or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
This is not the first time I have heard about terrorists with tanks being more of a threat to Saudi Arabia than the US. If I could only remember where I heard it.
By the way, how’s that Libya operation going? The crazy man might turn out to be right about the bombing targets – London, Paris, Rome.
I’m all for leaving ISIS alone as long as they’re playing in their own shitty little sandbox. And I expect they will burn themselves to a crisp in a couple of years. But if their position is as precarious as a certain commenter states, why is the House of Saud so worried?
@Icepick
Al-Qaeda’s main target was always the House of Saud. They were pissed at the US for enabling them to stay in power. Keep in mind, these people are killers, and they will find any reason to kill.
When Saddam was in power, he threatened Saudi Arabia with his military, but he was never going to give terrorists tanks and allow them to operate in his country. Dictators have enough sense to know that there are no “good” rebels.
They only need to destroy the oil fields enough to disrupt production. The oil money is what keeps the people from revolting. Without oil money, nobody eats.
TB, but al Qaeda was/is heavily funded by people from the Kingdom, not all of whom want the House of Saud gone. It’s this kind of complication that makes me believe the US needs to butt out.
Mostly, I’m curious how people are convinced that ISIS is weak, and that the Saudi king’s obvious concern doesn’t give them pause.
While I agree with TB that the House of Saud was a prime target for Al Qaeda, I don’t think it was the only target. I think the targets included
the Saud family
modernity
Jews
non-believers who were profaning the holy places
The U. S. came under scrutiny on all counts. If we hadn’t been supporting the Sauds and if we hadn’t actually had troops stationed in the KSA and if we hadn’t been supporting the Israelis, we mightn’t have been a target in 2001 but we would eventually have become a target anyway since we’re a symbol of modernity, deserved or not. IMO London or Paris or even moreso Copenhagen is a much better symbol of modernity than New York but we do have size, power, and mythology going for us.
Osama bin Laden was mostly a mass murderer and serial killer. He would add and subtract reasons for killing people as needed. The Palestinians were added after they started getting their asses handed to them.
Until ISIS is able to transport their new tanks to NYC, Saudi Arabia is the next best thing. Of course, the security experts do not make money if the Saudis are the target.
Tanks are not the only weapons of choice ISIS has, Tasty. Biological weapons, small dirty bombs, suicide vests — wouldn’t any one of those initiate some terror in the west?
@jan
Biological and chemical are very ineffective. The US was attacked with anthrax, and they are still finding it in Post Office buildings. Years ago, there was a chemical attack in a Japanese subway, and it did not work as planned.
Nuclear weapons have a shelf life, and the smaller ones do not last as long. A suitcase bomb would good for about six months, and that is assuming somebody could assembly it.
All this assumes a terrorist could obtain these weapons. The dictators know that they are the first target of the terrorists. The Saudis thought that Afghanistan was far enough away.
So far, the average American school shooter has not decided that wearing a suicide vest would be a really good way to end a shooting spree, but at some point, they are going to want to be ten foot tall, super scary villains as well.
ISIS is not a threat to me or anybody I know. For most people in the US, a terrorist attack is low down on any actual threat potential. Would Columbine had been worse if they had been terrorists? Would the Boston Bombers been better if they had been mentally disturbed?
If you are not using the presidency do you mind if we borrow it?
@jan
The link is nothing more than a political hit piece. There is nothing of any substance in it. Reporters are reporters. They are no different than shoe salesmen. If I search his work, will I find references to Israel bombing Iran?
Robert Tracinski gets paid by attracting an audience, and he needs to feed that audience what it wants to hear. You would not read him if he did not say what you wanted to hear. If he were really concerned, he would be working against the evil doers not making money writing against politicians.
If I were to research him, I suspect I would find out that he supported the coups in Egypt, Libya, and Syria. If I am correct, he is now trying to cover his mistakes. By attacking President Obama, he keeps you from paying attention to me pointing out his many failures.
Tasty,
I posted merely the title of the article (no side bar commentary), only because I felt it summed up what many are thinking and saying about the president’s involvement in the world today — nothing more, nothing less.
@jan
The president has a silly and childish foreign policy philosophy, and as president, he is in way over his head. Anybody with a few brain cells can see that, but it does the country no good to beat him up over foreign policy.
The Left spent years tearing down President Bush over many of the foreign/anti-terror policies President Obama continued, and now, few of them will say anything against him. All those years of throwing shit on President Bush were nothing more than political masturbation.
The Office of President of the US was damaged because much of the world views the president as the supreme ruler. If you want to join the shit flinging Left, you can, but I will call you and others out for the shit flinging monkeys you all are.
So there are reports showing up on right wing news sites of jets that have gone missing in Libya. I’m skeptical since I see no mention of this story elsewhere. Does anyone have a read on this? Is it a hoax, or something being blown out of proportion perhaps, or is there genuine reason for concern?
CStanley,
Like a lot of things going on in our foreign policy today, the news seems to have a lag time. The growth of ISIS is only but one example. What this latest missing jet piece means, remains to be seen. However, with 9/11 approaching within days, it does raise the arm hairs as to what to expect. As has been reported, though,Libya is in complete disintegration…..
@CStanley,
I saw something about it, but I did not run it down. If they have been taken, they are probably being held for ransom. Flying a 747 from Libya to the US is not a trivial task.