The Mad Kingdom: Saudi Raises the Stakes
By: Ibrahim al-Amin
Published Friday, November 15, 2013
Saudi Arabia asked the United States for additional time in Syria after agreeing with the “principle” of attending Geneva II on the condition that it is not held anytime soon, giving the lunatics running the kingdom an opportunity to tip the scales in the opposition’s favor.
The man running the show for the Saudi royals is their chief spook Bandar bin Sultan. He’s a man without a soul or conscience – his overwhelming desire is to get his way at any cost. When Bandar was given the Syria file a few months ago, he agreed with the Americans, French, and British intelligence services, and with the help of the Emirates and Jordan, to carry out the following steps:
– Radically restructure the Free Syrian Army and form a “national army,” to which France nominated the breakaway General Manaf Tlass as a possible commander. The Saudis did not even need to object, as a chorus disapproval rang out from the ranks of the opposition’s armed groups.
– Bandar agreed with the Americans to isolate those forces fighting under al-Qaeda’s banner, and in return, won Washington’s approval to get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood’s militias, in addition to armed groups working independently, who the Saudis saw as agents of Qatar and Turkey.
remainder: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mad-kingdom-saudi-raises-stakes
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Saudis have been our allies for a long time. Calling Prince Bandar "a man without a soul or conscience" raises serious red flags for me.
-Laelth
Even that doesn't take away his soul in my book, unless this picture is accurate.
Either way you look at it, the writer of the piece you posted has an agenda about which the author is quite honest.
-Laelth
I don't agree with SA's position or with Israel's official position in this case. They were mad we backed off on Syria. I think we made the right move on that, and I have said so, even if it meant we ticked off some allies. With the Iran deal, we're ticking off those same allies again. That's the downside of this deal. We should acknowledge the downside and not pretend it doesn't exist.
That said, peace is better than war, and this appears to be a step toward peace, but we must be clear that our ticking off Israel and SA could lead to more conflict. On that, only time will tell.
Iran sells most of its oil to China. Just as the TPP is a move to isolate China, so this peace deal is a move to threaten China's oil supply. It's part of the pivot, and it is belligerent in that sense.
I am still harrowed by this map:
Our plan to isolate and, perhaps, destroy Iran has been in place for a long time, and I am glad we are backing away from said plan, but it does carry some cost that we would be foolish to ignore.
Frankly, I could care less whether or not the Prince has a soul. I was merely pointing out that the source was not objective.
-Laelth
Let's see, the Joint Congressional Inquiry found Saudi intel financed and directed 9/11, they funded al Qaida to the tune of hundreds of millions a year, and way back during the Lebanon debacle, Casey asked Bandar to carbomb a sheik for us. Currently in Iraq, most of the foreign fighters coming in and doing the car and mosque-bombings that stir up sectarian violence are Saudi. And the Bush administration does nothing about it.
http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2008/02/bandar-bushs-terror-threat-to-britain.html
with Bandar's despicable history.
