U.S. Central Command Promotes The War On Yemen Where Al-Qaeda Is The Only Winner
Daniel Larison recaps the War on Yemen:
The Saudi-led intervention has been going on for over eleven months, and in that time it has failed in all of its stated objectives. The Houthis have not been driven from the capital, the former president has not be restored to power (not that most Yemenis would want him there now anyway), and the intervention certainly hasn’t produced the stability that the Saudis laughably claimed to be bringing.
...
Yemenis have been sorely deprived of basic necessities for almost an entire year thanks to the Saudi-led blockade, and the majority of the population is starving or at great risk of doing so. At least four-fifths of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance. The country’s health care system has all but collapsed, medical facilities are coming under repeated attack (including repeated bombings by coalition aircraft), medicine and fuel are in short supply, and the lack of access to clean water has made the spread of disease much worse. Every problem Yemen had before the intervention has grown far worse than it was, and the country’s infrastructure has been wrecked by the coalition bombing campaign that the U.S. supports.
...
Since the Saudis and their allies started pummeling Yemen with indiscriminate bombing and the use of inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions last March, the U.S. has been reliably backing the Saudis in this unnecessary and indefensible war with weapons, refueling, and intelligence. The U.S. has helped the Saudis to whitewash and obscure their crimes, and the Obama administration has done this despite credible reports from multiple human rights organizations and the U.N. that the Saudi-led coalition is likely guilty of war crimes and possibly even crimes against humanity.
The U.S. not only continues to whitewash the Saudi crimes but is still actively propagandizing and reinforcing the false Saudi claim that Iran is in cahoots with the Houthis. I have yet to see even one picture from the war in Yemen that shows any Iranian weapon or munition. There are lots of pictures though that show Houthis using weapons they pilfered from incompetent Saudi troops or their proxies.
The Australian navy today captured a weapon smuggling ship in the Arab sea. They reported:
The Australian Navy said that one of its ships patrolling the region, the HMAS Darwin, intercepted a small, stateless fishing vessel about 170 nautical miles off the coast of Oman when it made the discovery.On board they found more than 2,000 pieces of weaponry -- including 1,989 AK-47 assault rifles and 100 rocket-propelled grenades.
...
An Australian Defense Ministry spokesman told CNN there were 18 people of various nationalities on board the ship, but officials could not initially confirm that their identification documents were valid.Authorities believe the weapons were headed for Somalia based on interviews with crew members, but that information is preliminary and may change as the investigation continues, the spokesman said.
Someone bought 2,000 old AK47s and some RPGs, maybe in Iraq or elsewhere in the Gulf, to sell them in Somalia. That makes sense. There is an ongoing civil war in Somalia and selling weapons there has little risk.
But here is the U.S. Central Command making up nonsense about the Australian find:
According to a U.S. assessment, the weapons were believed to be initially sent from Iran and were likely intended for Houthi rebels in Yemen, Lt. Ian McConnaughey with the U.S. Navy told CNN.U.S. Central Command is still gathering more information to determine the arms' final destination, McConnaughey said.
There is zero evidence for that claim that these are weapons from Iran on their way to Yemen. Indeed the circumstances as reported by the Australians seem to make that unlikely. But the CNN report, from which the above is taken, is headlined Weapons seized by Australia may have come from Iran, intended for Houthis thus supporting the false Saudi claims.
Yemen is flooded with weapons. The Saudi have several times dropped thousands of new weapons to their proxy forces in south Yemen. Many of those weapons were seized by the Houthis and those that reached the Saudi proxies were immediately sold off to the highest bidder. Every modern assault rifle one might think of is available in Sanaa's weapon markets. Why would anyone ship old AK47 to Yemen where even the poorest households already have better weapons?
Remarks a Yemeni analyst:
Hisham Al-Omeisy @omeisySo Iran sent 1989 low grade AK47s & 100 RPGs to a #Yemen already flooded w/ better AK47s & RPGs! What am I missing?
And another one:
Haykal Bafana @BaFana32nd time the US is claiming that Somalia-bound arms are "Iran weapons to Houthis Yemen" delivery. Almost as if DC is prodding Saudi Arabia.
The war in Yemen can not be won by the Saudis or their proxies on the ground. The mercenary company Blackwater/Xe had been hired to provide a battalion of foreign fighters. These tried to capture Taiz from the Houthis but were routed. They were pulled out after taking too many casualties. Now the Saudis spend another $3 billion and hired Dyncorp to provide more cannon fodder. There is no way the Saudis or their mercenaries can win the war and no sane reason to give them any further support.
Banks have stopped to certify letters of credit for food imports to Yemen and those few ships which still come to Yemen have to pay huge bribes to be allowed to unload. The famine in Yemen will intensify over the next months. More people will die.
Meanwhile Al-Qaeda is occupying more and more land in south Yemen and is winning the hearts and minds of the hungry locals:
Saudi Arabia needs all the possible help to come out of Yemen with less damage possible. It is accusing Iran of intervening in its backyard, raising tension between the two countries. The nervousness reached its peak when a video leaked to the Saudi, showing pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah Video [alternative source] training Houthis in Intelligence warfare inside Yemen, confirmed authentic to me by sources close to Hezbollah leadership. Therefore, it is not surprising to see reports on a collaboration between the Saudi-led coalition and Ansar al-Sharia (AQAP) for the battle against the Zaydi Houthis as the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran increases.
Ansar al-Sharia come out as the absolute winner, offering infrastructure support, “recruiting” through activities, public service and games to win the “hearts and the minds”.
Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, aka Ansar al-Sharia, is the only party winning in Yemen. It several times attempted to target U.S. civilians and is listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. It is fighting on the side of the Saudis.
But the U.S. military in the Gulf has nothing better to do than to promote the false Saudi narrative about the war on Yemen. For whom are these U.S. Central Command folks really working?
Posted by b on March 7, 2016 at 18:46 UTC | Permalink
As an Australian myself, any patrol in that region is most likely in service of the evil US Empire, since our duopoly political parties are spineless whores to larger US power.
Aussie PR would quickly change to suit the evil empire narrative of lies.
Posted by: tom | Mar 7 2016 19:23 utc | 2
If you look at the picture, the guns look mostly like shotguns to me. I didn't see one that I could identify as an AK-47. And what fool of a smuggler would carry that many guns without so much as tissue paper over them?
Clearly a bunch of horseshit being fed to asses.
Posted by: shh | Mar 7 2016 19:53 utc | 3
Funny! I saw this in News.au.com (a joke I know)and the picture they had up was mostly shotguns. I can't find the article on that rag anymore so what does that tell ya?
Posted by: shh | Mar 7 2016 19:57 utc | 4
Posting manipulative headlines then correcting them days later on page 50 is a win win for newspapers and governments alike.
1. The paper gets all the traffic for the original alarmist article and the veneer of 'credibility' by saying 'why look we corrected our honest mistake!'
2. The government gets the initial PR spin they want and gets plausible deniability since the article is written using anonymous government sources.
The only victims are the public and the truth. There is literally no downside!
Posted by: WG | Mar 7 2016 20:44 utc | 5
The photos at the first two linked articles show a huge pile of AK47s. I saw nothing that I could identify as shotguns.
Posted by: AntiSpin | Mar 7 2016 21:03 utc | 6
Saudi Arabia is desperately trying to pin something on the Iranians to justify their failure and the continuous war in Yemen.
They found a complacent ear with the US army commanders who need that to justify US's participation in the killings in Yemen.
These days, the most convenient scapegoat is still Iran who is "known" to support international terrorism.
Saudi Arabia, the mother of ISIS is a peace loving and law abiding country...
How long will that mascarade last?
Posted by: virgile | Mar 7 2016 21:10 utc | 7
For whom are these U.S. Central Command folks really working
for them to know this would require a leap of faith on their part.
they are adherents to born again (and again) psychosexual commandments.
the thrust of take-off from a vast heaving void...into another limitless blue...
...grainy visions of eruptions down below...
and then return to base...
with that warm feeling knowing you're on the winning side.
Posted by: john | Mar 7 2016 21:39 utc | 8
I am no expert on this topic.
That said, the Houthi rebels do not control the southern coast of Yemen. A ship smuggling arms to them would have to sail along the entire southern coast, through the narrow strait connecting the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, right past government controlled coast in Yemen, then continue north along Yemen's Red Sea coast, to be able to reach a port controlled by the Houthis. This strikes me as a very poor risk.
As for Somalia, according to the United Nations, it gets most of its smuggled weapons from Yemen and Ethiopia, and both the flow of weapons into Somalia as well as the accumulation, are quite large. There is nothing special in the interdicted shipment to suggest the need for such a smuggling mission or route.
The Yemeni government controls a small portion of the southern coast, but doesn't obtain arms this way.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula controls long sections of the southern coast of Yemen, but the type and quantity of weapons seems more useful to a smaller, less well provisioned group with fewer established connections, though I don't rule it out entirely. One must also remember that this may be merely one of many shipments.
That leaves ISIS, which has a small but growing movement in Yemen and thus a need for basic arms for new recruits. None of the local powers is friendly to ISIS, so a shipment makes sense. ISIS has declared a "Lahej Province" which includes Aden on the southern coast.
http://www.vocativ.com/world/yemen-world/isis-yemen-houthis-hatwa/
The question is, where would such a shipment originate? Presumably the arms represent a private transfer in such a case, which complicates matters. It is also possible that Arab smugglers bound for ISIS in Yemen might invent a cover story designed to please whoever caught them, in exchange for immunity or easier treatment. This could include claims of smuggling to any number of other parties.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 7 2016 21:46 utc | 9
P.S. Here's a map showing who controls what in Yemen as of February 28, 2016:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2015%E2%80%93present)
Note that ISIS territories are aspirational and weak.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 7 2016 21:54 utc | 10
Frankly, al-Qa'ida is important in South Yemen, but they will never make progress in N. Yemen, against the Houthis.
Posted by: Laguerre | Mar 7 2016 22:03 utc | 11
Note also that ISIS has recently been active in a string of attacks in Aden, including a Catholic retirement home a few days ago and the assassination of a security official in January.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 7 2016 22:14 utc | 12
The U.S. has always had an inordinate amount of interest in military bases on Socotra, the Yemeni island near the N.E. tip of Somalia and across the Gulf of Aden from the southern coastline of Yemen. It has an air base there now (drones), is currently getting the UAE to build them a huge naval base, and will soon have a massive signals intelligence installation there. This is beyond psychopathy and as unconstitutional as any empire-building gets. Who is the U.S. to control the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea? Is this yet another guarantee of Israel's security - protecting their back door from their eternal Iranian boogy-men?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/yemen-and-the-militarization-of-strategic-waterways/17460
The U.S. will accept whatever number of dead Yememis it takes to get those bases built and control South Yemen. The U.S. is using AQAP in Yemen just like they use ISIS in Iraq and Syria. How many years has the U.S. supposedly been droning Yemeni AQAP, yet they continue to get stronger and stronger (just like ISIS)? In the end, the U.S. will stand silently by the slaughter of millions of Yemenis for a stupid military base that we have no business occupying.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Mar 7 2016 22:30 utc | 13
Thanks b, for the thread.
Paveway IV @ 13: Thanks for the link, it explains much. The operative sentence:
"The U.S. will accept whatever number of dead Yememis it takes to get those bases built and control South Yemen".
For me, case closed. More Geo-political strategy from the "Evil Empire".
Posted by: ben | Mar 8 2016 2:27 utc | 14
There's this:
/warsclerotic.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/massive-us-military-buildup-on-two-strategic-islands-socotra-and-masirah/
Posted by: ben | Mar 8 2016 2:33 utc | 15
Re 13: "Who is the U.S. to control the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea?"
The United States does not appear to be exclusive in such designs:
"The Socotra Archipelago is located off the Horn of Africa, 350 km to the south of the Arabian Peninsula. Its location makes it possible to control the navigation in the Gulf of Aden, towards the west, along the African coast to the south and along the Arabian Peninsular to the north-east..."
"... the implementation of the plans to revive foreign military bases will be one of the most successful projects of Russian foreign policy this century."
http://rusnavy.com/nowadays/concept/navyrole/bases.htm
Oops.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 2:43 utc | 18
Re Socotra:
Looks like the United States simply got there first:
http://rusnavy.com/nowadays/concept/navyrole/bases.htm
If press rumors are correct, it may also be the successor to Guantanamo Bay.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 2:48 utc | 19
Re 13:
Looks like the United States simply got there first. See "Military bases abroad: ambitions and opportunities" at RusNavy. I tried posting a link, twice, but the comments never appeared. Google should work. Add "Socotra" to be sure.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 2:53 utc | 20
To Emil Pulsifer regarding your comments at 9 and 10:
Don't forget that Yemen has been subject to a naval blockade by Saudi Arabia since early 2015. To believe that Iran would send out a fishing boat bearing secondhand AK-47s to Houthis, one would have to be ignorant of what the KSA has been doing to seal off all access to Yemen.
Posted by: Jen | Mar 8 2016 3:10 utc | 21
OFF TOPIC there is a comment re Nevada mineral rights sales to foreign countries with the BLM running interference for the criminals (Harry Reid) with involvement of Chelsea Clinton's husband. I tried to copy and paste this comment but was unable to.
source - http://investmentwatchblog.com/witness-an-american-awakening/
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 8 2016 3:16 utc | 22
I was actually curious why Yemenis do not run out of weapons and ammunition. Mind you, they do not resist tanks and armored vehicles of the Saudi coalition of AK-47's alone, and they scored a number of hits with missiles, including, according to their reports, sinking a number of KSA navy boats. The simplest answer has two parts.
(a) Saudi coalition is not merely fighting "rebels" but also the regular army that made a deal with Houthis. And over the years the army stockpiled a considerable stash of weaponry, and, I guess, the stash is in high quality bunkers or tunnels.
(b) This is curiously low intensity war. The losses of civilian life are minuscule by Syrian or Iraqi standards, although they are perhaps under-reported, because other reports tell about a huge number of destroyed buildings etc. Basically, the mighty force of KSA coalition is not particularly mighty, and the number of attacks on "Houthis" that involve tanks and armored vehicles is small, so the stashed weapons can last long time. Quite sensibly (if not bravely) they try to delegate the fighting to local militias, including al-Qaeda by some reports.
Concerning the destination of the weapons, the weapon market in Africa is very extensive because of quite a large number of civil wars, Somalia and South Sudan being closest to Arabian Sea. If I were an arms trader I would make a partnership with Puntland pirates who probably dabble in more peaceful pursuit like smuggling and who may deliver the merchandise to assorted buyers, perhaps even including Yemen. However, running through the strait of Bab el Mandeb would be very risky for smugglers because KSA is patrolling on air and sea, sinking suspect boats without warning. Because of that, smuggling cheap and ubiquitous AK-47's and bazookas to Yemen makes little sense. Since they have plenty, they would not pay premium.
By the way, some details became more clear about the boat intercepted by the Greeks. While having Togo flag, it was owned by three Lebanese who "live in north Lebanon", according to al-Manar (Hezbollah TV with a website). The same source claimed that Greeks developed suspicions when the ship "stopped in the sea for a few days": presumably, after leaving Izmir, it was supplied from smaller boats. That seems pretty amateurish. First, ship ownership can be skillfully concealed using a web of shell companies, this is routine in most shady operations. Second, Turkish intelligence should be able to avoid all that trouble, either by commandeering the custom office in the port of Izmir and loading directly there, or by choosing a route for the ship that avoids any contact with Greek coastguard (although there may be problems with either approach: customs could have "guelinist moles" and a more direct route could be suspected by the Russians). To bad that NATO representatives did not illuminate us with their speculations.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 8 2016 3:20 utc | 23
test............
thanks for highlighting yemen b.. shining a light on the usa's role in all of it brings us back to the military industrial complex - mic - and the ongoing relationship with saudi arabia.. funny how israel's gotten so chummy with saudi arabia the past few years too... al qaeda - isis version 1.. the mic never saw an isis 1 or 2 that they didn't love for all the warmongering that goes hand in hand with it. the usa is one messed up country with a lot of other messed up one's right behind it vying for a position at the trough..
and in the ot dept.... Kirby: Erdogan's press assault & democratic principles. 07 Mar 2016
Posted by: james | Mar 8 2016 3:28 utc | 24
No matter what the facts the US must demonize Iran, Assad, Russia, and China. Single minded lunacy has become the operating principle of the Western mind.
Posted by: AriusArmenian | Mar 8 2016 3:31 utc | 25
Re 19:
Yes, good additional point. So far, we have international maritime interdiction efforts whose participants (e.g. Australia) support U.S. foreign policy goals in the region; Saudi Arabia; the Yemeni government at the choke-point between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea; and right across from the latter in Djibouti, we can add the watchful forces of the U.S., AFRICOM, and the U.S. Navy led facilities of Camp Lemonnier. Not to mention surveillance facilities overlooking the entrance to the same strait from Socotra.
So yes, it strikes me as a very poor risk to attempt to smuggle weapons to the Houthis that way. And as the blog correctly pointed out, Yemen is already overflowing with weapons like AK-47 rifles. Maritime smuggling FROM Yemen into Somalia used to be the main weapons route into Somalia, according to the United Nations. (Since the anti-piracy patrols and other foreign interventions, that may no longer be the case.)
The Houthi have access to local weapons stores and dealers. And AKs are hardy, long-lived rifles. AQAP no doubt has access to the local (Yemeni) weapons market also. But both parties, as well as the government, hate ISIS and exert pressure on the (well known) local black market dealers not to sell to them. And despite its high profile attacks, ISIS is still a minor player in Yemen. So they might well need to obtain basic arms for new recruits from foreign sources.
And Aden is contested territory. ISIS has a network of sympathizers there, which is why they can conduct operations there successfully. Aden is a major port and, so far as I know, still open to commercial traffic. It is not in Houthi controlled territory, so landings there are not automatically suspect.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 4:57 utc | 26
@ shh RE: #3
Note the circular trap door in the butt stock ends - that's where the AK 47 cleaning kit is stored. Also note the distinctive front sight, gas block, and gas tube that fairly scream AK 47 (or 74). Those aren't shotguns.
Posted by: Ageless Yankee | Mar 8 2016 15:12 utc | 27
Is it a US made trap when Saudi Arabia had fallen?
The war has done particular damage to infrastructure—including reservoirs, airports, electric power stations, bridges and roads, markets, factories, stadiums, and hospitals. The education sector has been hit especially hard, with 39 universities damaged, 810 primary and secondary schools damaged, and another 3,809 closed. About 85 percent of the population of 27 million is in dire need of food, water, medicine, and fuel. Over 2.5 million Yemenis are displaced, and the attacks have killed or injured more than 23,000 civilians—among them thousands of women and children—using internationally prohibited weapons such as cluster bombs, as documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.Despite this devastation, Riyadh has failed to achieve its strategic goals. Its primary targets, Abdelmalek al-Houthi and Ali Abdullah Saleh, remain unharmed and able to move about the country relatively freely, and almost all well-known Houthi leaders are still alive
Posted by: virgile | Mar 8 2016 16:08 utc | 28
Emil, you are such a fucking douche faggot did your mom tell you that?
I can dump more links than you and Oui together and still produce some interesting and informed comments in between. Take a break now "man"...
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8 2016 16:14 utc | 29
It's probably not useful to draw conclusions from one million dollar arms interdiction and if ME arms smuggling is anything like drug smuggling on the southern US border/gulf for every one interdiction there are nine shipments that reach their destination safely. Ammunition is what is needed most to feed this conflict so I was surprised there was no mention of it in this report.
Inferring that Ansar Allah is somehow growing their own arms in Yemen like Kat is specious and it is already known they rely on Hezbollah and possibly Muqtada al Sadr's group in Iraq for their arms and supplied so the connection with Iran is indirect.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 8 2016 16:15 utc | 30
Ukrainian sources arent suggesting they are Iranian weapons for the Houthis. Commenters on this site are taking the story to imply that Russia are arming Somalia. Two propaganda narratives for the price of one!
http://uatoday.tv/crime/australian-navy-seizes-huge-weapons-cache-headed-for-somalia-606071.html
Posted by: Bob | Mar 8 2016 17:17 utc | 31
...
I can dump more links than you and Oui together and still produce some interesting and informed comments in between. Take a break now "man"...
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8, 2016 11:14:16 AM | 27
I knew you'd say something like that one day, Narcissus.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 8 2016 17:27 utc | 32
Inferring that Ansar Allah is somehow growing their own arms in Yemen like Kat is specious and it is already known they rely on Hezbollah and possibly Muqtada al Sadr's group in Iraq for their arms and supplied so the connection with Iran is indirect.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 8, 2016 11:15:29 AM | 28
A lot was written about "looted Gaddafi arsenals". Saleh had a much smaller budget for buying arms, but apparently he did not waste them for flashy luxuries but stocked inexpensive but performing weapons from East Block, North Korea etc. The Saudi threat did not appear yesterday, as the Kingdom was rabidly sectarian since its inception 90+ years ago (the first Saudi massacre of the Shia was about 200 years ago, but that was "First Saudi kingdom").
Given durability of AK-47's, I would guess that Saleh-Houthi coalition has no shortage of them, and given paucity of attacks by armored troops of the "loyalists", they probably have still decent stock of anti-tank weapons, although that is more problematic: they are useful against any type of vehicles and buildings, and with higher unit costs, one can wonder how many thousands of them were stashed. In any case, such weapons were never intercepted in the region, either the Yemenis rely exclusively on their stocks or the smuggling operations are incredibly sophisticated. Iran could do it with North Korean help, Iran having contacts in the region, and North Korea having wealth of experience with clandestine maritime trade (and Saleh is their old customer). Why al Sadr would have anything to do with it? In any case, this is not what Australian have found.
The most suspicious part of Australian revelations is how they fit recent events. As the embargo of KSA was debated in European parliament, Hadi government suddenly discovered direct Hezbollah involvement proven with intercepted documents and bodies (not shown, surprise!). That ostensibly justified a major bruhaha with "cutting aid" (that was never delivered) and travel bans (probably more painful). However, a toothless EP resolution passed, to Saudi chagrin. While toothless, with enough bad press, there can be effective domestic pressure against sales to GCC in France, UK and USA, so one has to build a more solid case that aircraft and bombs are sorely needed lest the Kingdom succumbs to a pile of Kalashnikovs.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 8 2016 18:26 utc | 33
From a February 18, 2016 article on Aden in the British newspaper The Guardian:
"And some parts of the city function as they always have. Wooden dhows bring cattle from Somalia, passengers embark after a torturous 30-hour sea journey from Djibouti, and cargo ships empty cement on to the shore at what is now the country’s only functioning port.
"...In the morning, long and narrow boats pull into the harbour, and fisherman toss giant hammerhead sharks, tuna and swordfish into the waves, where they float until young men swim out from the dock to collect them, their muscles tense and glistening. By noon, the small fish market on shore is packed with black crows nibbling on hundreds of butchered fish heads, shark fins and long red swordfish tongues."
The blog notes that the interdicted fishing boat was described as a "stateless vessel", but the raising of a flag before entering port could change that. If asked earlier they could claim to have been avoiding the attentions of pirates. Some fake papers and the right dock (manned by bribed officials or sympathizers) would grease the wheels.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 19:44 utc | 35
babak @ sst posted a link to ambassador chas freeman's comments here.. some might find it worthwhile reading, especially regarding saudi - usa relations..
here's a quote "Islam is inherently among the most tolerant and humane of faiths. But Saudi Islam is intolerant of other traditions within Islam, the other Abrahamic religions, and actively hostile to faiths not rooted in Judaism like Animism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Shintoism, Yazidism, or Zoroastrianism. And it is adamantly opposed to secularism and secular doctrines like Confucianism.
More to the point, Saudi Salafism – pejoratively labeled "Wahhabism" abroad – is kin to the xenophobic doctrines espoused by Islamist extremists, like Daesh or al Qaeda, even if it clearly lacks the zeal for bloody massacres that is their hallmark. This theological affinity makes Saudi Arabia either a reluctant opponent or even clandestine collaborator with Islamist extremists or the ideal partner to combat the perverted Salafism of Daesh. It has been hard for either Americans or Saudis to sort out which it is. That's a problem."
Posted by: james | Mar 8 2016 19:54 utc | 36
Re 29: "I can dump more links than you and Oui together"
Could be Crohn's Disease. I'd have it checked out.
"Emil, you are such a fucking douche faggot did your mom tell you that?"
Careful: I'll have you attested for hooliganism. They'll take away your potato-vodka long enough to sober up, and Vladimir the Cannibal will read you bedtime stories. You'll get very good at saying есть, гражданин начальник and the ventriloquist's hand you currently have up your ass will be replaced by something else.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 8 2016 20:20 utc | 37
AK-47s OR SHOTGUNS?
shh @3 and @4 may be seeing archive photos of Winchester SXP shotguns being smuggled from Turkey to Islamists. EU law enforcement has confiscated thousands of them on at least two occasions.
September 2015: Greece: Seized cargo ship Haddad 1 concealed 5,000 shotguns 'for Libya Islamists'
November 2015: Italian police find 800 rifles in a Dutch lorry
See our summary at A Closer Look on Syria: Turkish arms smuggling to Europe
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 8 2016 20:53 utc | 38
"hand you currently have up your ass will be replaced by something else."
Yup rufus. Emil sound like a link-dumping faggot to me too, can´t wait to hear what his partner, "Oui" has to say about this...
Posted by: wayoutwest | Mar 8 2016 21:06 utc | 39
"Ahhh," yes that 150 billion dollar stupid Obama, Kerry and Clinton gave to Iran our dumba-- move at work. We just gave them given them the weapons to kill us. "See ya in heaven."
Posted by: Laurice M. Tatum | Mar 8 2016 21:36 utc | 40
troll and hijacked names alert...the last one was pretty obvious!
Posted by: james | Mar 8 2016 22:39 utc | 41
Neocons say the darnedest things ...
http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/why-most-dangerous-group-syria-isn’t-isis
Posted by: D | Mar 8 2016 23:17 utc | 42
in re 29 --
Christ, are you people gullible. I talk a much more erudite smack.
in re 32 --
Disappointed? Don't hold your breath, Horsey.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 8 2016 23:23 utc | 43
I wouldn't make too much of a deal of the media calling the guns AK-47s. In fact I'd go so far as to say that whenever the media claims something is an AK-47 you can be pretty sure that the one thing it isn't is an Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947. Those haven't been made since the 1950s. They could be a lot of things: AKMs, AK-74s etc. There are a lot of guns that are based on the same basic mechanism, but more of the successor models were made than of the 1947 version. From the AK-74 on they aren't even chambered in the same caliber and the 47 and AKM.
At best AK-47 is a generic term used by the media, but frankly I think it's usually used for the same reason reporters can't tell the difference between an automatic rifle and a machine gun, or how they think all armored vehicles are tanks: they're idiots.
Posted by: Plenue | Mar 9 2016 0:03 utc | 44
"According to a London-based newspaper, Saudi Arabia held direct secret talks with Yemen’s Houthis and agreed on more negotiations in the Jordanian capital."
"The alleged negotiations suggest Riyadh’s submission to Houthi demands. The group had long maintained that any talks must be held with the Saudis as their main adversary in the war, and not with Hadi,” a political analyst suggested."
It is also reported that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been supervising the talks which have excluded Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Hadi has resigned as president but Saudi Arabia has been carrying out attacks on Yemen from the air, ground and sea for a year now to restore him to power.
source - https://southfront.org/houthis-saudi-arabia-involved-in-secret-negotiations-report/
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 9 2016 0:46 utc | 45
Interesting that no seems to question who it is posting over rufus magister above. The Trojan Horse is open, disgorging the barbarian whored
Posted by: jfl | Mar 9 2016 1:01 utc | 46
Plenue@44 - Largest image of the seized weapons from the Australian Navy here: http://news.navy.gov.au/images/cms-image-000007170.jpg
There's actually a surprising number of Model 1 AK-47s in the picture and several with the Type 1 grips and plenty of Type 1/2 butt stocks with the bottom sling loops, but all the AK-47 gas blocks appear to be Model 3. So lots of pieces are from the original 1947-51 models if they're Russian. One of the AKMs has the funny marbled bakelite like the Romanian or Bulgarian version but there's a mixture of others as well. The whole lot is a mish-mash of re-armaments/rebuilds - they're not really all that beat up. This could have been East European black market stock going somewhere.
Iran has used a locally-manufactured version of a H&K G3 since Shah times. Whatever AKs might still be floating around wouldn't be in this condition. If it was used as PR to implicate the Iranians in some kind of arms smuggling scheme, then I would guess they may be PLO seizures from Israeli stock. A lot of these were sold as u-build kits in the U.S. a few years back (no longer legal, AFIK). Very popular because most parts were original vintage Russian ones.
No way the Yemenis would want this junk, except to kill a Saudi/Columbian/Blackwater guy to take his gun. In fact, both Israel and the CIA have given this kind of ancient stuff to the Peshmerga rather than supplying them with modern arms - something the Peshmerga are still pissed off about today. The old AKs work just fine, but when you need replacement parts you have to write to the Smithsonian for spares.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Mar 9 2016 3:41 utc | 47
Interesting that no seems to question who it is posting over rufus magister above. The Trojan Horse is open, disgorging the barbarian whored
Posted by: jfl | Mar 8, 2016 8:01:20 PM | 46
What that mean?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 9 2016 4:01 utc | 49
Re 43:
I was taken in by a troll? My apologies.
Not sure how I managed to write "attested" for "arrested". Adjacent keys, one supposes. Should have seen it in the preview, though.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Mar 9 2016 5:26 utc | 50
Hoarsewhisperer should follow the pun of his handle in interpreting "The Trojan Horse is open, disgorging the barbarian whored". I would discount "hoard" as a possibility in favor of "Full Definition of horde. 1 a : a political subdivision of central Asian nomads b : a people or tribe of nomadic life. 2 : a teeming crowd or throng : swarm."
More precisely, "central Asian political subdivision" started as Golden Horde which was more European than Asian, but dynastic infighting, Black Death and Tamerlane fragmented it.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 9 2016 11:58 utc | 52
Saudi Arabia Is Collapsing in Yemen
The Houthi forces recaptured Al-Kabeen region in Lahij province on Sunday night. Dozens of Saudi soldiers were killed and injured from the Yemeni forces’ assault. Meanwhile, the Yemeni army and popular forces made considerable advances in Marib province, killing a large number of Saudi forces and injuring many others.The Saudi strategy in Yemen is suffering a complete collapse. Whilst multiple enemies are defeating Saudi forces, Houthi-rebels are aiming to occupy the southern provinces of Saudi Arabia.
Not one of the Saudi’s strategical aims has been completed. Both Saleh and Houthi commanders are alive, and control large parts of Yemen, moving freely through the country. Houthi rebels use tactical ballistic missiles including SCUD, Tochka, and Qaher-1 against interventionist forces, hitting bases on Saudi territory and destroying the ships of the coalition. Jizan airport, Aramco oil installations, and the Faisal military base were all attacked.
Houthi-rebels, with the support of local tribes torn from Saudi Arabia, are now attacking the province of Najran, and have invaded Jizan, capturing another Saudi base. The forces of the Houthi-government and the army of former president Saleh continuously attack the outskirts of the capital of the province.
The offensive was developed strictly in accordance with the precepts of Houthi (Zaydi) Imams who have always believed that Ismaili Najran and Jizan are parts of greater Yemen.
The Saudi army uses cluster bombs against its own population in a desperate attempt to stop the Yemen offensive.
Saudi Arabia is forecasted to lose the war. The impasse that is the Yemeni war could be the beginning of the collapse of the kingdom. This could lead to drastic changes in the region.
According to Yemeni army spokesman Brigadier-General Sharaf Ghalib Luqman, further attacks on Saudi provinces would be considered a political decision, not a military one, and the principal decision will be made in Tehran, not Sanaa.
Posted by: jfl | Mar 9 2016 12:50 utc | 53
For the record, my only beef about anyone's links is when they post them bare. Like this. http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/george-martin-producer-and-arranger-for-the-beatles-dies-at-90/ar-AAgy6z7?ocid=ansmsnent11
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 9 2016 13:10 utc | 54
JFL@52
You would be correct JFL It's not me and you have to wonder who is allowing this seemingly clever hack of certain commenters here?
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 9 2016 14:02 utc | 55
Najran was annexed by the Saudis in 1934 so it has nothing to do with a "greater Yemen vision"
Posted by: Mina | Mar 9 2016 14:37 utc | 56
Just for the record and most of you of course know that, 56 above is not me but (LOL) he is a reasonable good stand-in, i must say that.
BTW, JFL, what language are you talking? It´s hard to make any sense of almost anything you say...
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 9 2016 15:02 utc | 57
@55
"For the record, my only beef about anyone's links...."
ROFL, Faggot, you just did it yourself...
Posted by: jfl | Mar 9 2016 15:07 utc | 58
12;sheesh.AlnUSrA,IsUS and AlCIAda are all word salad for the same bunch of heretical thugs feasting on the remains of zions depredations.
And of course CC is under some stupid malevolent entity.The zionist infiltrated CIA and State dept.,with a rudderless,feckless gumby at the top.But hey,he's in better shape physically than last year!Better for left handed layups,against toady underlings.
Posted by: dahoit | Mar 9 2016 16:55 utc | 59
PS;That attack on the nuns sure reverberated throughout the MSM eh?Unbelievable the naked aims of the MSM.
Posted by: dahoit | Mar 9 2016 16:57 utc | 60
@54, the principal decision is to be made in Tehran? Not sure about that, more like Sanaa. Yemen is on its own unfortunately it seems and I dont believe Iran will dictate the course of actions..
Posted by: Lozion | Mar 9 2016 17:44 utc | 61
in re 59 --
I'm thinking that its our serial impostor. And I'm thinking she/he/it is not too bright. Most sentient life forms would recognize "like this" as signalling an example.
emil at 50 --
Don't sweat it, you've not been here long, I did not have you in mind.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 10 2016 1:09 utc | 62
@63
Very cleaver Rufus. No you´v got your alibi for calling people here anything you want, or do you?
I´m not buying it. Call me a faggot if you want, asshole....
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 10 2016 9:39 utc | 63
I meant "clever" and "now", obviously, but a cleaver wouldn´t make Rufus any smarter...
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Mar 10 2016 9:42 utc | 64
Imho, the US is very embarassed, even dismayed, alarmed, by the Saudi excursion in Yemen. (Too blatant independence, wild inconsidered actions, what happens next, etc.)
So opinions fly back and forth under the radar. The media report little or nothing to keep the lid on and Joe-6 unaware.
Sure the US cannot and *will not* abandon its partner KSA (petrodollar, in FIRST place, ginormous arms sales, all about money, against ‘socialism’, for dictators of a certain stripe, not agressive > Israel) it will continue to support KSA. All the stuff about bases in Yemen is not really germane, just rationales for the support?
Inevitably.. gasp…after so much useless destruction deaths etc., KSA borrows and mirrors the US playbook, kill, kill, imagining the US will award it brownie points! This conflict will wind down, as there are no winners on the horizon (what was there to win?) and KSA will back off.
KSA (now run by one / few person(s) vs. previously by Royal committee) imagined that it could - old story - bypass internal problems by attacks to the outside. On one of the poorest countries on Earth.
Posted by: Noirette | Mar 10 2016 17:11 utc | 65
The comments to this entry are closed.
The US is ready, willing, and able to commit crime after crime in order to keep the MIC up and running. There is no leadership in the USA, just a puppet who'll put lipstick on the pigs' latest atrocities, and a line of 'hopefuls' trying out for the puppet role when the incumbent retires to his infernal reward.
Posted by: jfl | Mar 7 2016 19:04 utc | 1