You do know that the Saudis and Israel are somewhat aligned right? Especially since both see Iran as the big danger in the region right now?
Non-Muslims, including Jews can go to the Kingdom, no problem. Non-Muslims aren’t allowed in Mecca and Medina, but that has nothing to do with the rest of the country. Native non-conforming Muslims and Shias have more problems in the country than do people, especially diplomats, visiting from the West.
To be fair, this is not new. We’ve been friendly with them for decades. We’re backing their famine, illness inducing war in Yemen. I guess maybe the price tag here is the novel part, but we’ve been selling arms to the Saudis for a very long time now.
At the expense of many people in their countries, of course.
Yes, but how do you really feel about them?
To be honest, that’s one of my problems with the deal.
Well other than that, I suppose I feel like we made friends with one of the worst nations on Earth.
If I catch this thread anywhere near the How Much Would a Star Destroyer Cost thread, I’m BBS-Cards-Against-Humanity-ing them so hard…
Sure. We should not deal with regimes like this at all. I totally agree.
The weirdest thing is that Iranian civil society is a relative liberal paradise in comparison. Isn’t a Saudi on the UN human rights commission?
I believe it’s covered by the words “helped clinch” in Xeni’s post, and is certainly covered by the NYT article that did not say Kuchner was the only one working on the deal nor that it was done in the past few months but talked about how he called the CEO of a private corporation as a government representative telling them to drop the price in front of foreign dignitaries. Such a move is only considered technically legal in the corporate world because Lockheed was the sole manufacturer, let alone in public contracts.
The meat of the article was about the contrast of approaches between administration, Trump looking to reverse Obama’s condemnation of human rights issues in favor of selling more military infrastructure to patrol the red sea and keep pressure against Iran. Not that Obama’s own stance wasn’t just much a public one or anything, just that there’s not even a vaneer anymore.
OK, old joke. Two people at a diplomatic dinner, one is a new diplomat. The first one says “After a bit you notice that the more impressive the uniform, the least impressive the job.”
At this point someone enters in what looks like an admiral’s uniform covered in ribbons and scrambled egg. “So who’s that?”
“The Swiss naval attaché.”
And now a man enters covered in gold and white robes, with an enormous headscarf, gold chains round his neck and a pair of bodyguards carrying scimitars. “And who’s that?”
“The Saudi justice minister.”
It’s good to be BFFs with America!
There’s hyperbole, and then there’s ridiculous hyperbole.
Depending upon who you believe, Israel has between 80 and 200 plutonium spheres on the top of IRBMs that mean that Iran doesn’t have a hope of defeating it. Even if Iran managed to produce a warhead or two, MAD would still be all on Israel’s side.
The biggest threat to Israel is perhaps the way the US protects right wing governments in the region - including that of Netanyahu - and ensures that there are plenty of conflicts to keep the arms money flowing. Perhaps if Iran didn’t feel itself under constant threat and had an Israel which showed the least signs of negotiating ability, the pressure might start to reduce.
It is true that Israel has a nuclear capability. That threat has at least kept Israel’s enemies from launching large scale military assaults. It would not be rational to attempt to destroy Israel. If rationality always prevailed, there would be fewer wars.
Do you think a nation that paints the statement “Israel must be wiped out” on their missiles takes a rational view on Israel? Iran is also a direct sponsor of Hezbollah and Hamas.
“The range of our missiles covers all of Israel today. That means the fall of the Zionist regime, which will certainly come soon.”
Sabre rattling. What other options do they have? If the current treaty winds up in the trash, the only thing that will be proven to the Iranians is there is nothing they can do to end US sanctions.
Do you think the ayatollahs and the generals aren’t aware that are under active target? Israel wouldn’t even need to use their own nukes, you can bet we got 'em covered. Not to get started with the fact that this kinda scenario would indeed set off ww3.
I’ve read and listened to enough threats from politicians around the world to assume that hyperbole isn’t confined to one side.
I just read that the arms deal might be illegal under US law because of the Saudi/Yemen war.
Yeah. I understand there has been a cooling of relations between them, but officially they don’t recognize each other diplomatically, so my understanding is that Israeli passports get denied entry as a matter of course.
However I also realized later I made a typical goyem mistake and equated all Jews with Israel, when non-Israeli Jews can get entry to Saudi Arabia for business.
The Right Honourable Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, FRIC (née Margaret Hilda Roberts), was apparently a very nasty piece of work indeed. Within a life spanning 87 years, she has accomplished the grand total of four feats I will give her credit for.
But yes, her dad, Alfred Roberts, was a (Wesleyan) Methodist local preacher. Maybe he skipped the odd bit about being nice to people during young Hilda’s formative years; he was a busy man.
Enoch Powell actually said to a Conservative meeting that being a Christian (which he apparently fantasised that he was) did not mean being nice to people.
If Conservatives did not exist, it would not be necessary to invent them.
Some 40 years old. Still depressingly accurate:
