Gird your loins: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Dies

[Oberon]

So the push-back against Irans ambitions begins, Saudi Arabia is scared of losing its hegemony in the Middle East. Time will tell who will win out of this one, but my money is not on Saudi Arabia...

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Oberon

So the push-back against Irans ambitions begins, Saudi Arabia is scared of losing its hegemony in the Middle East. Time will tell who will win out of this one, but my money is not on Saudi Arabia...

I don't know, Saudi Arabia has had a better relationship with the U.S. and Israel the last 50 years than it has with Iran. I can't see either of them leaving the kingdom to contend with Iran on its own. In fact in my conspiratorial little brain I would even go so far as to say the three are at this very moment working together to regin in Iran.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I don't know, Saudi Arabia has had a better relationship with the U.S. and Israel the last 50 years than it has with Iran. I can't see either of them leaving the kingdom to contend with Iran on its own. In fact in my conspiratorial little brain I would even go so far as to say the three are at this very moment working together to regin in Iran.

Definitely, the snag is how far they can go without themselves becoming stuck in the mire. Iran is pushing big in Iraq and Syria, and the US and Israel are both reluctant to get deeply involved militarily in either. So Iran is doing the ground-work while the US bombs from above.
Yemen is a different matter, Iran is a bit extended there, they might be able to push Iran out of Yemen, but Yemen is really a side-show for Iran, an opportunity for expansion if possible but the main theatre is really Iraq/Syria, and Saudi Arabia is struggling to keep up with events there.

It's really a matter of how much the US wants to stay involved in the Middle East, there's a heavy push-back against US involvement post-Afghanistan and Iraq from both the general public of the US and several of its political powerbases. Israel is going to be facing internal and external problems from its strategy with Palestine. I think the post-Gulf wars malaise is going to give Iran a lot of opportunities in the region, and I think that in the long run it's going to result in the sort of Iran that used to be called Persia back in the 1800s.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Definitely, the snag is how far they can go without themselves becoming stuck in the mire. Iran is pushing big in Iraq and Syria, and the US and Israel are both reluctant to get deeply involved militarily in either. So Iran is doing the ground-work while the US bombs from above.
Yemen is a different matter, Iran is a bit extended there, they might be able to push Iran out of Yemen, but Yemen is really a side-show for Iran, an opportunity for expansion if possible but the main theatre is really Iraq/Syria, and Saudi Arabia is struggling to keep up with events there.

It's really a matter of how much the US wants to stay involved in the Middle East, there's a heavy push-back against US involvement post-Afghanistan and Iraq from both the general public of the US and several of its political powerbases. Israel is going to be facing internal and external problems from its strategy with Palestine. I think the post-Gulf wars malaise is going to give Iran a lot of opportunities in the region, and I think that in the long run it's going to result in the sort of Iran that used to be called Persia back in the 1800s.

I believe its imperative the US stay in the middle east. If anything to maintain good order and discipline, something that region hasnt seen since Muhammad flew away on his My Little Pony to never never land. How the US stays in the game is what I think we see developing right now. Its doing so without a direct conflict. Imposing sanctions, the drop in oil prices in particular can cripple a middle eastern regime and behind the scenes support of the Saudi's

I also think the tensions between Obama and Netanyahu were staged to help Netanyahu. As well as the perception that the U.S. has strong desire to negotiate could be for the consumption of the Iranian public to show that the US is really trying to find a peaceful way and preventing Iranian officials from blaming the US for all their woes. And right now four nations US, Egypt, Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are working on a common goal. Iran maybe percieved as pushing back 'big' but it may be more akin to the actions of a cornered rat than a big gorilla.

Anyways me thinks we're there to stay I just dont see another Mission Accomplished banner being hung anytime soon.

[STEED]

King Abdullah is that a Saudi Big Mac?

[Onkel Neal]

US moves a carrier into the gulf

US aircraft carrier sent to block Iranian arms shipments to Yemen rebels

US aircraft carrier sent to block Iranian arms shipments to Yemen rebels

Well, it sounds risky. What's to keep an Iranian sub from creeping up on that carrier and sending a couple of fish into it?

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Well, it sounds risky. What's to keep an Iranian sub from creeping up on that carrier and sending a couple of fish into it?

A US sub ???