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| India-Pakistan |
| Yemen's quagmire |
| 2015-04-09 |
| [DAWN] HERE are some questions not being asked about our potential participation in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's military campaign in Yemen. What exactly is the objective of the Saudi intervention there? Is it simply to pave the way for the return of Hadi's government? If so, how long can that government last on its own? Will the Saudis, after paving the way for the return of Hadi, commit themselves to a long-term state-building enterprise in Yemen? If so, how long will the occupation last? Secondly, if we assume for a moment that Pakistain is indeed to commit troops for a ground operation, what will be their rules of engagement? What will be their instructions on how to tell friend from foe? What legal cover will they be given, in the event they are drawn into a firefight that results in the deaths of large numbers of non-combatants? What will be their chain of command? Who will direct them on where to go and who to fight? If the chain of command is to remain entirely within the Pakistain Army, then how will it be coordinated with the other forces involved in the air campaign? Simply put, it looks like the Saudis have launched an ill-conceived campaign that has plenty of precedents from the recent past. Air campaigns against militia forces on the ground have not yielded results to brag about. The Americans tried it in Libya and look at what they created. They tried it in Kosovo, but ultimately had to settle for an agreement the terms of which were practically identical to the terms offered by Milosevic before the start of the campaign. The Saudis don't have the military wherewithal to sustain this type of a campaign for very long, and no clear exit strategy either. It would be folly of tremendous proportions to join in. Collapsing state power, of which Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is only the latest example, is presenting us with unique challenges to which nobody appears to have found any credible solution. Supporting one militia against another risks making one a party to the atavistic hatreds that typically fuel such conflicts. Going in with overwhelming force, and committing to a large state-making function has been tried by the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hasn't worked. The Soddies have invested a lot of money in Pakistain and now the Paks don't want to pay the piper. It's gonna cost them down the road and it doesn't seem like they realize it yet. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 why is Saudi Arabia treated like an ally instead of what it is: an enemy. Saudi money has spread Islamofascism around the world and this is a deep and existential threat even in our own Western homes. I have just witnessed my own country deal out a $500 fine to a man who, dedicated to Sharia as spread by Saudi Arabia, presided over the pedophile "wedding" of a 12-year-old girl to an adult man. In Australia. Why was this man not charged with sedition or treason for following Sharia over Australia's secular laws? Because our governments are busy committing social and political suicide so as not to tread on the Islamofascist toes. Why? Why aren't we letting Saudi Arabia just collapse. then seal off the borders until they can civilise themselves? surely we have enough oil and gas now with fracking to do this. |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-04-09 00:44 |