Middle East

[behappyalways]

空襲也門叛軍　疑用錯誤座標
沙地誤炸發電廠宿舍120死
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/internati ... 7/19233448

[winston]

Putin’s secret plan to own Middle East

https://thehornnews.com/putins-secret-p ... ddle-east/

[winston]

Saudis Risk Draining Financial Assets in 5 Years, IMF Says by Ahmed Feteha

The same is true of Bahrain and Oman in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, the IMF said in a report on Wednesday.

Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have relatively more financial assets that could support them for more than 20 years, the Washington-based lender said.

Source: Bloomberg


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... s-imf-says

[behappyalways]

'I changed Tunisia's history. I regret it all now'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMhmhxXTZO4

[winston]

Climate change could make North Africa and Middle East 'uninhabitable'

by Anmar Frangoul

Source: CNBC.com

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/climate- ... 284a1255a1

[winston]

Listen Closely: Donald Trump Proposes Big Mideast Strategy Shift

He signals a break from Obama and Bush: ‘We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments’

After wasting “$6 trillion” in Middle East fights, he said, “our goal is stability not chaos.”

On their face, these statements suggest:

-- An end to the effort to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for the effort to throw out Mr. Assad is nothing if not an effort to topple a regime.

-- A partnership with Russia in the region, for Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly has demonstrated he is “willing to join in the effort” to defeat Islamic State in Syria.

-- A warmer relationship with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, a strongman who has demonstrated an unmistakable ferocity in his own fight against Islamic extremism, while also being largely shunned by the Obama administration for shredding civil liberties in Egypt.

-- A policy toward Iran that doubtless will be hostile and include an attempt to dissolve the Obama-negotiated deal on nuclear arms, but one that won’t include regime change in Tehran as an explicit goal.

Source: WSJ

http://www.wsj.com/articles/listen-clos ... _enginlife

[behappyalways]

Little girl opens the world's eyes to Yemen conflict
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/201 ... al-shorts/

[behappyalways]

The future of Kurdistan

Almost everybody is against a Kurdish referendum

For once, America and Iran agree

by KIRKUK AND SULAYMANIYAH

AMERICA and Iran are not always at loggerheads. As the two dominant powers in Iraq since America’s invasion in 2003 they have repeatedly aligned their policies to keep the country together.

They agreed, for example, that Haider al-Abadi should emerge as prime minister from the jumble of coalitions produced by the election of 2014. They have shared the goal of crushing the so-called Islamic State (IS), indirectly co-ordinating ground and air campaigns against it. And they both want Iraq to be preserved as a unitary state.

That is why, on September 12th, General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force, Iran’s foreign legion, Douglas Silliman, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Brett McGurk, Donald Trump’s envoy to the coalition against IS, were all in Sulaymaniyah urging Kurdish leaders to defer the referendum on independence they have scheduled for September 25th.

These shared goals do not mean shared motives. America wants to bolster Mr Abadi’s standing in the run-up to Iraq’s election next spring. Iran wants to make sure that thoughts of secession do not spread to the Kurds and other minorities who live within its own territory.

It also wants to prevent an Israeli presence on its borders. Israel is the only country in the region to back a Kurdish state.

If the Kurds do vote for independence, the Iranians and Americans may be pushed closer to conflict. Disapprove though it may of the referendum, it is hard to see America abandoning the Kurdish autonomous enclave it fostered in 1991 and has backed ever since.

By contrast, Iranian officials sound increasingly anti-Kurdish. Some fear they will dam rivers, hold up pipelines and close border crossings. They could also withdraw their support for Kurdish rule of Iraqi territories beyond their official enclave. On September 10th Shia militiamen pulled down a Kurdish flag at Mandali in Diyala province.

The battle for Hawija, IS’s last enclave in central Iraq, could precipitate a showdown. The route to Hawija goes through Kirkuk, an oil-rich, multi-ethnic province that lies beyond the Kurdish enclave but is contentiously controlled by the Kurds.

Iraqi soldiers and militiamen, flying Iraqi flags and green Shia standards, could march into town just as Kurds are preparing to vote. “It could be a way to abort the referendum,” says Twana Othman, a Kurdish analyst in Sulaymaniyah.

The Kurdish president, Masoud Barzani, insists Kurds will fight to keep control of Kirkuk and is reinforcing it. Having seen off Sunni jihadists, the Kurds may soon be contending with Shia fighters.

Source: The Economist

[winston]

Is a Major War Coming To The Middle East?

People better start waking up and paying attention to what is happening in the Middle East, because the situation is becoming quite serious.

First, the kingdom squarely blamed Iran for a missile attack on Riyadh from Yemen that was thwarted by the U.S.-made Patriot anti-missile system.

The Saudis called that attack “direct military aggression by the Iranian regime and may be considered an act of war.”

Second, the Saudis accused Lebanon of — figuratively at least — declaring “war” against it because of aggression from Hezbollah.

That statement spurred even Saudi ally and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to publicly urge for calm.

As is already well-known, the Saudi and Israeli common cause against perceived Iranian influence and expansion in places like Syria, Lebanon and Iraq of late, has led the historic bitter enemies down a pragmatic path of unspoken cooperation as both seem to have placed the break up of the so-called “Shia crescent” as their primary policy goal in the region.

For Israel, Hezbollah has long been its greatest foe, which Israeli leaders see as an extension of Iran’s territorial presence right up against the Jewish state’s northern border.

But if full blown war breaks out directly between the two countries, it’s hard to see the U.S. being able to sit it out without at least some form increased weapons support and other aid. Then it will be up to Iran’s possible allies, like Russia and China to make the next move.

Source: The Economic Collapse Blog

http://www.thetradingreport.com/2017/11 ... ddle-east/

[winston]

Why Trump is so cozy with Saudi Arabia

by Nick Giambruno

For decades, the petrodollar system has allowed the US government and many Americans to live way beyond their means.

The US takes this unique position for granted. But it will disappear once the petrodollar system breaks down.

When that happens, I expect severe inflation.

Source: International Man

http://thecrux.com/the-secret-reason-tr ... di-arabia/