I wonder how the Iranian apologists will spin this. Give Obama's security team credit. The job is getting done.
Then it could play coy by showing an ankle, then when the Iranian males get close, blow up and kill them.
Iran is actually a reliable balancer to Saudi Arabia, if we'd ever allow the Saudis to build their own weaponry. And they provide a backup to Pakistan so that Pakistan can defend its Indian border without worrying that the Persians are coming again. The wild card in the region is Egypt now - they are not likely to support the Saudis in a Sunni alliance, nor are they likely to play ball with the nondenominational Arab League. I would bet that Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, and (hopefully) Syria form a democratic (or quasi-democratic electoral) alliance against the monarchies in the region.
The Saudis don't build their own weaponry because they're incapable of doing so. I have never found anything ever marked "Made in Saudi Arabia." To get back on topic, this is the most peculiar thing about this operation. Why the Saudi Ambassador? Why not the Israeli? Interesting.
sort of related to this, it got me thinking: killing a US citizen with a drone aircraft in a foreign country, without a jury trial is ok. But a plot (allegedly) by Iran to use a Mexican drug cartel hired gun to kill the Saudi ambassador in the US is not? I smell a wee bit of hypocrisy going on here.
Surprised you didn't read the whole article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/justice/iran-saudi-plot/index.html
Yeah because that US citizen wasn't a member of say an organized terrorist organization that has already attacked the US before and is basically at war with the US. And it isn't like the guy was say overseas in a country that is known to house said terrorists or anything like that. On top of that the guy of course didn't tape messages and air them calling for attacks on the US or the killing of US citizens around the world.
I don't think a direct link between Awlaki and the actions taken by say the Ft. Hood shooter or any of the other terrorist acts he was tied to was ever established. The Government couldn't establish anything beyond some contacts between Awlaki and the perpetrators, where Awlaki encouraged them to struggle against the US, etc. So I don't think it's accurate to say that he himself attacked the US. and living in a country that is known for harboring terrorists? so we can just go an kill any member of al Queda or other groups we consider terrorist groups who live in countries that we consider as harboring terrorists?
Simply put. This is about power in the ME. Iran vs. Saudi Arabia. Shia vs. Sunni. As more oil is found outside the ME, you will see the US leave the region. What happens after we are gone is anybody's guess. I suspect a huge regional war.
I wouldn't count on it any time soon. if some oil is good, more oil is better - isn't it? besides, ME oil is by far the cheapest and most plentiful oil. there are no major new oil fields to be discovered out there. the only thing is that technology might improve to enable us to get at some of the previously unaccessible oil - but that will still make it more expensive than ME oil - unless of course you internalize all the externalities associated with ME oil - like two wars since 1990 and a regional military presence since 1990.
could this be just a wag the dog scenario? possibly to distract us from the growing momentum of the occupy wall street movement, from double digit unemployment, from the economy that's in the shitter, etc. I've been trying to figure out why Iran would do something like this. what would it have to gain from in politically. I can't come up with any satisfactory answers.
let's start asking some questions like who in Washington DC would benefit from an incident like this, from escalating tensions with Iran, from possibly war with Iran. I think answers to those questions might shed some light on this situation.
Well as an active member of AQ, which I don't think anyone is doubting, doesn't that alone make him an enemy combatant? By AQ's own words and actions they are at war with the US. So that makes him a legit target as he was in a leadership position of an organization that is at war with the US. And since AQ is not a nation state, where they are hiding is not an issue for me. I can seperate AQ from the nation they are hiding in.
Well now I'm completely confused. I thought....as Herman Cain told me....that the Occupy Wall Street protest was orchestrated by the Obama admin to distract us from the bad economy? You're saying now I'm being distracted from the OWS protest as well by Iranian shenanigans (putting aside whether anyone other than Irish can engage in shenanigans) that have also been orchestrated by the Obama admin?? Will there soon be another incident orchestrated by Obama and his prolific band of illuminati to distract me from this orchestrated-faux Iranian plot? Edit: I must offer a heartfelt apology to the Irish. After consulting my Etymology Dictionary, it appears that shenanigans is an Americanism of unknown origin, circa 1850s.
Likewise ask those same questions from Tehran's POV. Consider all the domestic issues that still abound in Iran over the stolen elections, not to mention there is a schism between dinner jacket and khomeni. So what way would the hardliners in iran have to unite the people behind them? A conflict with the Great Satan of course. Of course look up the 12th imam and dinner jackets remarks about him and see how that plays into this as well.
There is currently a reserve of oil in Colorado that is bigger than Saudi Arabia's entire reserves, in fact this one deposit is bigger than the entire reserves of the Middle East combined. It has been unaccessible due to technologic limitations, but technology to develop the shale deposit might just become a reality. Brazil meanwhile has just discovered two new fields that they think are home to 1.2 billion barrels of oil. That's only a small fraction of Saudi Arabia's 200 plus billion barrel reserves, but the news isn't that one find. The reason that it has become news is that Brazil is one of the leaders in developing deep seas oil extraction and the likelihood is that there are hundreds if not thousands of similar oil fields around the world that have not been developed.
bingo I did think that a war vs iran could be (in the mind of some fools) the ultimate card to try and maintain the status of only superpower but it would be suicidal it's bound to fail and china would be very happy. it would accelerate everything.
I don't know what Herman Cain told you. I didn't tell him to tell you that. In fact, I'm not even telling you anything in this thread. I'm just wondering and wandering and asking questions But I certainly would expect Obama and his illuminated band to come up with a new distraction to distract us from the previous distractions when he realizes they didn't work.
People really don't understand what is happening in the energy markets. It is just not Brazil, but the US as well when it comes to finding new sources of oil. The ME has huge amounts of conventional oil. No one is disputing that. However, the US is producing more oil. This is primarily caused by new technologies. As a matter of fact, since 2008, our production has been increasing every year and it will continue to grow until 2030. This change is not just happening in the US. Other countries are finding huge amounts of oil and natural gas in shale. Argentina has the 3rd largest known shale reserves behind the China and the US. Why do you think Iran and Russia are getting a bit antsy? They know their ability to use oil/natural gas as a weapon is being severely limited. The need to rely on the ME for oil is decreasing. Let's see if Iran and SA can place nice once we leave.
I live in CO and I haven't heard of this.I know CO has natural gas, and where there's natural gas, I know there's oil, but bigger that SA's?? where in CO are these reserves?