Phun and Gamez in the Med

With the upcoming fun and games in Club Med, I thought I'd start a thread so we can keep track of it all. This thing is like watching a ball game, you can't tell who the players are without a program. So, from zerohedge, reposted from The Financial Times,

"A Short Guide To The Middle East"

From K-N Al-Sabah, posted in the FT:
Sir, Iran is backing Assad. Gulf states are against Assad!
Assad is against Muslim Brotherhood. Muslim Brotherhood and Obama are against General Sisi [General Sisi, current military head of Egypt - Ed].
But Gulf states are pro Sisi! Which means they are against Muslim Brotherhood!
Iran is pro Hamas, but Hamas is backing Muslim Brotherhood!
Obama is backing Muslim Brotherhood, yet Hamas is against the US!
Gulf states are pro US. But Turkey is with Gulf states against Assad; yet Turkey is pro Muslim
Brotherhood against General Sisi. And General Sisi is being backed by the Gulf states!

 Welcome to the Middle East and have a nice day.

There. I hope that clears up who is who in this one. Next up, Why there will be (moar) bloodshed: Because our government (led by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, just to make it official) has been planning it for at least 2 years: wikileak here. You don't plan something for years and then back out at the last minute. See Iraq as an example. There's more references to things like Cyprus' English military base getting a whole bunch of hardware recently, various US carriers and guided missile destroyers parking out there, the Russians pulling their people out, etc.

Note that I'm not picking a side on this one. Assad is a SOB from a family of SOB's that have been robbing that country for decades. The people of Syria wanted him out and started this off during the orchestrated "Arab Spring" event. Then things got out of hand and now Syria has become the new Vietnam. All the big playaz are playing there, each for their own reason, and none of those reasons has anything to do with the people of Syria.

And now for a timeline. I'm going out on a limb here, but I think the Steel Rain starts after 4PM Eastern Friday. Holiday weekends are prime time for Big Things and the market closes at 4, so that's my prediction.

It sounds like good reason to stay out of this one. Big O isn't going to do more that throw a few cruise missiles their way ala Slick willy. The key will be how China and Russia react.

Yeah, it's part of a bigger game. Iran is a real target here, not so much Syria. Syria is about the only "BFF" Iran has left, besides maybe the NorKs, and the NorKs are really nobody's friend. China and India get their oil from Iran; rumor has it in exchange for Gold, not Dollars. So China especially doesn't want to see their oil supplier have issues because of that.

Russia, well, that one is interesting. See the Ruskies have these gas pipelines to Europe. Piss the Russians off and they'll just turn off your gas in the middle of winter and see how you like that. They've done it before and/or threatened it a few times. Qatar and Saudia Arabia have a butt load of gas, but no way to get it to a market. Now they just happened to be building a pipeline into Europe, where they can get top dollar for their gas. It's done from Turkey northwest. And I think it's either done or in advanced planning/building stages on the way up to Turkey, except for one little piss-ant country that says "No, no gas pipeline through here." And that country is... wait for it... Syria with their buddies Russia saying "we'll back you up on this, you just keep up the no-pipeline rhetoric. Here's another SAM battery at rock bottom pricing." Qatar and the Saudis are big backers of the "rebels" in Syria. Who would-a-thunk that one? The Russians are also buddies with Iran, selling them nuclear reactors and weapons.

Your initial post would read a bit less like a Hannity shock/rant piece if you replace "Obama" with "US".

F...ck Yeah!!!

Sometimes people are just a-holes.... sometimes those a-holes fight... it can be hard to want to stop that fight...

"If your going to break up a dog fight expect to get bit" - unknown

aircooled wrote: Your initial post would read a bit less like a Hannity shock/rant piece if you replace "Obama" with "US".

Re, the OP's reference to Obama and the M-Brohood - I'm thinking that right now, a "stable" Egypt under military control is a more attractive alternative than the Morsi thugs' overreach that caused a popular revolt. Syria is very different as any action against Assad will be limited in effectiveness and risks deeper involvement and support from his allies.

aircooled wrote: Sometimes people are just a-holes.... sometimes those a-holes fight... it can be hard to want to stop that fight...

Yes, it should be hard. And the President should never have made any mention of crossing a line. But he did and now he's pushed himself into a corner. If he waffles (again) and tries to re-define the line, he looks weak(er). If he "mans-up", he's going to PO a lot more people than those who voted for him.

An awful lot of those people would love nothing better than to poke sticks in the US's eyes.

My understanding of the Middle East.

Stick your ass in there, it's going to get bit.

ZH

Gordian knot.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

um yeah that clears it all up....

please do not mess up my plans to retire to Malta

Dr. Hess wrote: I think the Steel Rain starts after 4PM Eastern Friday. Holiday weekends are prime time for Big Things and the market closes at 4, so that's my prediction.

Looks like UN inspectors will be leaving on Saturday, a day earlier than scheduled. I will say the operation begins Sunday.

So how many cross retaliation threats are floating out there now because of this?

Stay. The. Hell. Out.

rebelgtp wrote: So how many cross retaliation threats are floating out there now because of this?

Is it strange when I read "cross" I thought of this?:

Debka was saying Friday evening or night local time. Humm, what time is that in NYC? I don't get CNN. Do they have "correspondents" on the ground in Damascus with live feeds this time, like the last couple of times?

aircooled wrote:

rebelgtp wrote: So how many cross retaliation threats are floating out there now because of this?

Is it strange when I read "cross" I thought of this?:

Nope as I am sure that is where it will lead for many.

The mid-east has been in some sort of conflict within itself since day one. Anyone who thinks they are going to step in and 'fix' it is fooling themselves.

leave it alone.

I think it's wrong what happened in Syria. Whatever it was.

I don't think we should get involved over there, again. Come to think of it I can't think of a single person who does think we should attack Syria. I'm betting it's because I don't know any corporations personally.

People forget why it is that we're the ones called into these messes. It isn't because we are war mongerers or because we don't like the world. We are the only ones with the capabilities to do so. How many years did the genocide continue in Yugoslavia/bosnia before we ended up there(backing a weak UN presence)

For further explaination, please watch "The World Without US" Its a good eye opener.

Xceler8x wrote: I think it's wrong what happened in Syria. Whatever it was. I don't think we should get involved over there, again. Come to think of it I can't think of a single person who does think we should attack Syria. I'm betting it's because I don't know any corporations personally.

The only reason we aren't already there is because there aren't any natural resources to liberate, Iraq for Oil, Afghanistan for a pipeline and $1trillion + in minerals etc.

They don't have a central bank though, so that's a good reason to go in.

Ugh. Hearing about this has my stomach in knots. One of my best friends/old roomie is doing his first tour in the Med. He just joined the Marines. While I whole heartedly support his decision(he's doing VERY well in the Marines), I don't know what I'd do without the guy.

100% against this. There's too much going on domestically that the guvmint should be focusing on. I love how "they" don't have to answer to the people "they" are supposedly listening to.

I'm moving to Canada.

beans wrote: 100% against this. There's too much going on domestically that the guvmint should be focusing on. I love how "they" don't have to answer to the people "they" are supposedly listening to. I'm moving to Canada.

Yeah I have not spoken with a single person that is in favor of us getting involved in Syria.

I hope for the best with your friend. I have lucked out and all of my family and friends that were military are back home.