Saudi Arabia and its allies have presented Qatar with a 13-point list of demands, incuding shutting the Al-Jazeera TV network, cutting back diplomatic ties with Iran, severing relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and ending the urkish military presence in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain issued the ultimatum on June 23 and gave Qatar 10 days to respond. This ultimatum amounts to calling for a total capitulation. If Qatar rejects it, the Saudi-led block may consider “other options” in solving the ongoing Qatar crisis. It may attempt to use a military force against the Arab nation or to implement a “cold war” approach against Doha.
On Saturday, Qatar confirmed that it is reviewing the presented demands.
“We are reviewing these demands out of respect for … regional security and there will be an official response from our ministry of foreign affairs,” Sheikh Saif al-Thani, the director of Qatar’s government communications office, said.
BBC reported:
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had asked the four countries to make their demands “reasonable and actionable”.
However, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, quoted by Al-Jazeera, said: “The US secretary of state recently called upon the blockading nations to produce a list of grievances that was ‘reasonable and actionable’.
“The British foreign secretary asked that the demands be ‘measured and realistic.’ This list does not satisfy that [sic] criteria.“
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have little options to step back following the release of their ultimatum to Qatar. If the Saudi-led block fails, this will lead to a dramatic fall of their public image and political influence in the Arab world.
It’s unlikely that Saudi Arabia and its allies didn’t consider various scenarious of conflict and hold consultations with the US before issuing of the ultimatum.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman appointed his son Mohammad Bin Salman as his successor instead of Mohammad Bin Nayef. This fact was very likely linked with the confrontation against Qatar.
The question is what kind of measures are the Saudis and their allies ready to implement? The Middle East is rapidly heading to another military conflict and a threat of another global war is growing with it.
According to the Qatari state-run media outlet Al-Jazeera, the list of demands includes:
1) Scale down diplomatic ties with Iran and close the Iranian diplomatic missions in Qatar, expel members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and cut off military and intelligence cooperation with Iran. Trade and commerce with Iran must comply with US and international sanctions in a manner that does not jeopardise the security of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
2) Immediately shut down the Turkish military base, which is currently under construction, and halt military cooperation with Turkey inside of Qatar.
3) Sever ties to all “terrorist, sectarian and ideological organisations,” specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIL, al-Qaeda, Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as the Nusra Front) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Formally declare these entities as terror groups as per the list announced by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt, and concur with all future updates of this list.
4) Stop all means of funding for individuals, groups or organisations that have been designated as terrorists by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, US and other countries.
5) Hand over “terrorist figures”, fugitives and wanted individuals from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to their countries of origin. Freeze their assets, and provide any desired information about their residency, movements and finances.
6) Shut down Al Jazeera and its affiliate stations.
7) End interference in sovereign countries’ internal affairs. Stop granting citizenship to wanted nationals from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. Revoke Qatari citizenship for nationals where such citizenship violates those countries’ laws.
8) Pay reparations and compensation for loss of life and other financial losses caused by Qatar’s policies in recent years. The sum will be determined in coordination with Qatar.
9) Align Qatar’s military, political, social and economic policies with the other Gulf and Arab countries, as well as on economic matters, as per the 2014 agreement reached with Saudi Arabia.
10) Cease contact with the political opposition in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. Hand over files detailing Qatar’s prior contact with and support for opposition groups, and submit details of their personal information and the support Qatar has provided them.
11) Shut down all news outlets funded directly and indirectly by Qatar, including Arabi21, Rassd, Al Araby Al Jadeed, Mekameleen and Middle East Eye, etc.
12) Agree to all the demands within 10 days of list being submitted to Qatar, or the list will become invalid.
13) Consent to monthly compliance audits in the first year after agreeing to the demands, followed by quarterly audits in the second year, and annual audits in the following 10 years.
Qatar must not capitulate and they must know that the US is behind this ultimatum since the US wants to destroy Iran. If Qatar wishes to remain asa sovereign state then they need to get rid of the US base on its’ territory.
Yes, this is a crucial time for Qatar when it must choose a side – and I think, and hope they will stay on team Iran/Russia/Syria/turkey/etc!
Those four still have a lot of convincing and soul-searching to do before anybody will think of them as a “team”. Remember, after Trumps cruise missile strike, Erdogan was cheerfuly calling for Assad’s head. And without China on board it’s still, let’s face it, a poor countries’ club compared to the West.
Its just another combined looting job for US. Qatar is rich, plenty of gold and money in the bank, strategic mutual gas reserves with Iran and strategic to get close and make hostile tensions with Iran.
Yup; now that certain words have been spoken, raw greed will make it very hard to put the genie back into the bottle. In exile/jail/Paradise, Emir al-Thani may have time to reflect on the wisdom of “sovereignty for me but not for thee”.
All of which eventually applies to the House of Saud as well. I’m reminded of Max Payne 2, how did it go again: “The Inner Circle? Nothing special about them, even though they like to think so–just one step up the ladder of organized crime!”
true but i think turkey is now one of the good guys, at least for now. and china is on board too, even though it may not seem like it, they recently held naval exercises with iran
Qatar choosing a side is kinda irrelevant. The target here isn’t Qatar, Qatar is the scapegoat the US is using to capture the Straits of Hormuz and target Iran.
Once they control Hormuz they have effective military control of all the major land and sea trade routes between ‘the West’ and ‘the East’ ….and …. “Goods not traded in US dollars shall not pass!”
Been wondering what the US will do about that Russia/China “Own Currencies” stuff – let’s see what they do to counter this….. we live in interesting times – and they’re about to get more interesting.
for sure i just hope the good guys win and evil is destroyed for good :)))
All’s fair in love and war. And “good and evil” are for fantasy games and fairytales. For Russia and China it’s a matter of sovereignty and for the US it’s a matter of survival.
If the US can’t counter and reverse the growing international trend to trade in currencies other than the dollar then the US has two options: 1. Default 2. War
…Which would you prefer? ‘Cos if you’re American, the second option is likely better than the first. Who can and will bail out a debt of $20T? … A debt that will ruin more countries than “just the US.”
The US has it coming to them for their support of Israel and terrorism around the world, as an american, its the goddamn truth!
Oh make no mistake – I await the sight of US cities turning to rubble with bated breath. They’ve been bombing Other People daily for 16 years and won’t stop – IMO, they need to FEEL to understand.
But personal preferences shouldn’t blind us to what’s going on – and WHY it going on.
Russia and China aren’t trying to destroy the US or the Dollar – they’re trying to contain them and push them back within their own boundaries. Problem with that is the US can’t afford it.
An’ even if the US does blockade the trade routes, all Russia and China have to do is hang in there … and wait. Time’s on their side. Of course, how long the rest of us “can wait” might be another matter. (On the upside, things might be coming to a crunch – the US is doing some very serious penny-pinching and money-grubbing these days.)
All comments absolutely correct! ……….now let’s see what Qatar actually does!
And behind US is Israel that has created this crisis for its own reasons. US doesn’t create crises like this on its own.
Qatar has never existed as a sovereign state. I don’t think the example of Syria does much to convince them that life is so great outside the Empire. They’ll have to play some balancing act and who are you even to dictate otherwise to them. None us of will fight for their “sovereignty”–and they’ve done much to earn some suffering anyway.
Ordinarily I’d say it wouldn’t matter whether they acceded or not they’d be goners but Turkey building/expanding a military base there and prepared to defend Qatar makes things difficult for those conspirators. Bombing Qatar into Yemen II is one thing, them Turks bombing back is quite another.
But whether of not their presence will stop the US banning the Persian Gulf to Iranian ships “because they need to keep the oil route open and prevent Iran aiding aiding a terrorist nation” remains to be seen. ….The Qatari certainly are living “in interesting times.”
Disagree with you on that US base tho’. The Qatari should keep that status quo very ISQ. It will be very expensive to relocate it and where would they put it? …In the KSA? But they moved it to Qatar from the KSA because the KSA got iffy about some US war things. AND the US is doing some very serious money-grubbing and penny pinching in all possible places….. Besides, they could TELL the US to leave – but they can’t make them do so.
Still, look to see a name change on ‘western’ maps – Arabian Gulf.
Demanding US to leave and they refuse would be one of their biggest mistake, it will give the impression of imperialism and once allowed to occupy will be a major problem for states’ sovereignty which no country would accept.
Give the impression of imperialism? Infringe a nation’s sovereignty? …. What planet are you from?
Qatar should send the new prince whatever his name is a literal bag of dicks lmao
Does Turkey have the resources and the will to support Qatar ? Do they possess long range missile with which to bombard Saudi Arabia ? I know Iran has the resources but I doubt they would become militarily involved.
I can not see Qatar standing up to this alone but may be I am wrong. I have nothing but a pathetic understanding of these matters, sadly it seems everyone else is little better place.
Don’t worry. We’re just mouthing off until someone calls us out on it; maybe not even so different from our world leaders. Feel welcome to join.
But now you ask: support Qatar–against what? A bunch of spoiled local princes who’ve never stepped outside the air conditioning? Or the full fury of the Armies of Mordor? I don’t think they’ll mount the barricades for real until they know what’s coming on the other side. And if the powers that be offered Turkey a sweet slice of the Qatar cake for playing ball, would Erdogan decline and fight because it’d be–unethical?
Qatar is located in a position that is enviable , five minutes from Iran by air , and nautically commands both ends of the Persian Gulf . US put its base there for just those reasons . I believe your suggestion is right , Turkey the self professed defender of Qatar, shows up yesterday with a few tanks etc..and has just over a hundred men . Now the royals can open their eyes and see they are about to get hit , or not . If they see it coming , a small Iranian island leased to them might make a safer summer home .
Wait weren’t you Dutch as well? As a small country next to a big one, your position is … nontrivial. If you get whacked, others’ envy will dissipate real quick. But yes, apart from that cool gas bubble, their geography makes them useful to the US as long as they’re willing to play ball. So I think that the people who’d potentially get shot at will be a lot less gung-ho than the laptop ninjas here–all as usual.
That small force… well there is such a thing as a tripwire formation, but that presupposes that there IS a cavalry that could follow up, plus the logistics to put them in the field before it’s all over. Until proven otherwise, I think the relevant model is how Turkey *and Iran* have defended the Palestinians, i.e. mostly hot air.
And I wouldn’t lose sleep over the royals’ holiday plans, guess they have a cozy getaway in each timezone already. Aren’t those sleazy sheikhs even mostly related, just like our sleazy royals in Europe? Some face-saving exile etc is usually available, that’s how it works after all when they depose their own dads. Come to think about it, much better than how Hillary dealt with Gadhafi–and why does Obama not share in the blame just for being less of an overt psycho.
Certainly won’t lose any sleep over these Salafist promoting jihadists , but I do think they are in a position , to change their mindframe . Considering that their enemy on the battlefield , Iran , gave them a “get out of jail card”, in their hour of need , they may realize that there is more than the “One Way” of the Salafist and Wahhabi ideology . If Qatar were to take a jump into Iran’s circle , at more than just an economic level , it would make the story much more interesting . Hard to know if they have the courage , but the motivation should be there . As Russell A. Wilson , (above) just mentioned , its all about the petro-dollar .
Well Qatar is something I have actually seen on the ground. Yes they’re scum who sponsor Salafi-jihadism abroad (nothing I wouldn’t say of my home region in fact), but they don’t impose Wahhabism at home because they don’t want to look like medieval apes, and because excessive sectarianism is deemed a stability risk. And to stick it to the Saudis I guess.
Again, protection means–protection against what. Iran got their back with the food boycott. Doesn’t imply that the Quds Forces will beat back the Dark Throne’s goons if worst comes to worst. And wasn’t it cool that the status quo ante maybe showed that you could deal with both Shia and Sunni worlds, and prosper? If Trump had been–well not Trump, he might have seen that as a role model.
Same with Ukraine of course; except they’ve screwed up from the beginning, bridge building exists only as a mirage in Nulandistan. In fact, only Pope Francis still seems to think outside zero-sum, and how many divisions has the Pope.
This is an astounding ultimatum and has the signature of the US Deep State and the Zionists all over it. Now, does Qatar have the cajones to stand up to Saudi Arabia and the US and garner the military, political and economic support of Russia, Iran, Syria and China? If it has it will need to move quickly.
Not really. It’s an ultimatum that’s designed and expected to be refused.
Agreed! ……….Machiavellian indeed!
Indeed …. but who’s starring in the role of Machiavelli?
How overstretched are the Saudi head-chopping perverts?
Qatar can not possibly comply and everyone else knows it. If they do comply Qatar will no longer be a sovereign state and will have their infrastructure still place. If they do not comply there will be complete destruction. How the US will play this out is unclear as we have Trump supporting the Saudi’s then Mathis turns around and sells Qatar some F-16’s. Is their anyone that is clearly in charge US?
Lol. The short answer is no, there is no one clearly in charge.
The (((Central Bankers))) are in charge but they’re confused and desperate since all of their plans have failed and their system is near collapse so their puppets shill are all over the place and acting erratically
Sorry I forgot about follow the money. You are correct as there has been talk of Qatar accepting the Yuan ( not sure if this is already happening) which makes sense why this whole thing blew up in the first place. Protect the petro-dollar at all costs.
Well they were F-15’s which are even more expensive I think. But never mind that, as if we don’t know how bad-cop / good-cop works. It may have been in part a timing coincidence, but the optics were that Trump pulled off a $12bn heist from Qatar’s piggy bank without breaking a sweat. All these years of “US = dumb lolz” and they still sit on top, while poor Vlad keeps wondering why he can’t get any love from the actors that count.
Totally true! US/Israel are the masters of all the situation since the beginning of the Arab Spring. Everything is going according to the plan to balkanize the Middle East pushing Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds against each other perpetualy! Israel is also already preparing to a new war against Hamas and Hesbollah which will remove those both disturbing neighboors from its doors.
In spite of how I mouth off sometimes, I do think that Israelis are people too who have faced threats of their own, which they wanted to survive. Over 65 years, many of the competing narratives can easily be simultaneously true and nobody came out looking clean.
That said, it’s never been less true that Arabs are united in plotting to drive our kosher partners into the sea. Hamas do much to confirm the stereotype of Palestinian fuckups. AFAIK Assad’s always been good to them, so naturally they dumped him first chance they could, and went with the hapless Morsi because he talked muslim stuff I guess. Hezbollah may be overstretched due to the Syria campaign. It may be … optimistic to think that Qatar will re-emerge stronger than ever any time soon. So the stars may be well aligned for Israel to raise a little hell in its back yard, it’s not like they fear Big Vlad looking over their shoulder any more.
Russia is so sure it’s doing the right thing in Syria, and winning where it counts due to their long-term outlook. But Syria got whacked off-balance to say the least, and the Empire’s impunity “don’t mess with us or else” was only reinforced further. Not all details may work out, but it sounds like all of Iran’s regional allies get whacked, while Russia’s been successfully intimidated. Wonder what that leads up to?
Qatar is not supposed to comply. Qatar is supposed to reject them and in doing so declare herself a terrorist state. This would allow the KSA to defend themselves against terrorists by doing a Yemen on Qatar. Of course, Iran would support the Qatari terrorists (just like they do the Yemeni terrorists) which would make them a state terrorist supporter that’s a real, clear and present danger to the world’s major oil lane.
BINGO!
We now have to remove that threat by regime-changing Iran with the “rest of the world in our coalition” supporting it! But then those horrid Turkeys went and phucked up the nicely planned clusterphuck.
The US is playing it all very nicely, diplomatically and politely – one guy says one thing, another says something else and “demands should be reasonable” with not even a ‘must’ in there) ….. Their nicely planned orgy could still work, but it’s now a rather long drawn out could. There’ll be no Saudis bombing terry-Qatar ‘cos those bloody emus they’ve got will bomb right back and it’s going to be difficult to get NATO support with Turkey against it. (The rest of those NATO wimps only need One Member to stand against another ME war for them all to hop on the “not another ME war” bandwagon not to mention all those Iranian shiite refugees that will come flooding into Europe to mess with all their sunny ones and Turkey is mighty pissed off with the US about those Kurds they’re supporting right on Turkey’s border. Will they do a deal: “No Kurds in return for Qatar?”)
All in all, the US is playing a far cleverer and more sophisticated game than their usual bull bombs the china shop approach. Still – this is just the latest attempt to get (7 countries in 5 years) Iran out the P/Gulf and ultimately regime-changed into a US ally or Syria-chaos and we’ll see how things sit in 6 months time.
Yah might have noticed…. US is getting very war-anxious these days and Russia, China and Iran are all being Very-Careful not to say a thing that might provoke some Russia aggression, Iran is building nukes or Chinese manipulation…. In fact, they all kinda shuddup altogether.
Finally someone who understands how smart and blood thirsty, i.e. DANGEROUS, the US of A are. Nobody can defeat them save perhaps the Yellowstone caldera; but let’s take these things one step at a time when *stopping* them would suffice. No single country could do that either, but Russia-Iran-China standing shoulder to shoulder, saying “enough is enough” and showing they mean it–I think they have a fair shot, especially given that some of the poodles are starting to wobble.
OK Qatar has done nothing to earn such a commitment. But beyond this one incident, the only joint action these three are apparently able to take is cowering under the bed. Pathetic.
Americans aren’t smart – just a hammer hitting nails. Above is just a slightly more interesting version of Saddam has WMD and Asaad used CW ON HIS OWN PEOPLE! Their EU allies have a major problem – Iran is literally Russia + China’s backyard vs. all Europe is extensively occupied by US military – what happens if they refuse to help?
Don’t give up on R+C yet… Because of US behavior we’ve all more or less come to see war as political solution – so yay – go bomb America – burn the bastards! But they aren’t doing that. Essentially, they aren’t fighting the fire with fire – they’re cutting off it’s oxygen supply.
The talking began round 2010, but it was in Sept 2012 that China opened that first tap of helium. They declared all ready for anyone in the world to trade oil in yuan + Russia jumped in the very next day. (In cahoots!) This was VERY-BIG – and completely ignored by the MSM. Just 5 years on and now 40% of the world’s GDP (half its people) is now dealing in “own currencies” between themselves. IOW. They’re no longer buying dollars to import plastic cups from their neighbour. When Russia lends, say Brazil $10m they’re creating $10m in rubles, lending it in rubles – and Brazil is buying rubles to pay the interest’n loan. …BRICS NDB CIS AIIB SCO whole lorryload these days.
Every int. loan/transaction creates or earns currency, currency only the US got when all the world used USD-only, currency the US-ONLY is no longer getting because “own currencies” are. (AND, it’s cheaper to trade in yuan than USD) When the amount the US earns in USD falls short of the amount they need to … pay the interest on their nat.debt, CA, military, CIA, NSA, salaries, roads, police, etc, etc – they are … financially phucked and their world as they know it ends… not with a bang but with a wimper. And the way they’re privatising govt services ‘n grubbing for dollars round the world these days says “Crunch time is near.”
Sure. It’s a slower process and it doesn’t quite generate the satisfaction a pretty mushroom cloud over Washington would BUT… it leaves only one country in chaos and the Americans with the realisation “America is NOT the world.” They’ll have … tax at 80%, massive food/services riots, states breaking away… the rest of us will barely feel it. Perhaps we’ll sympathise – but probably we won’t. Nobody in the world can afford to “bail America out,” and well … nobody wants too.
That’s what the US has to avoid – she’s trying to force the world back onto the dollar and her only weapon is war. So whenever you see the Russians “backing down” from the Americans, or the Chinese sitting back and “not getting involved” remember this – they are smiling. All is fair in love and war – and this is war.
In the words of an old Chinese strategist: “For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
Most of these have been clear for years already, but your pointing out US penny-pinching is eye opening. I just wouldn’t underestimate their own agency. On the one hand, they’re speeding dedollarization along with the endless threats, sanctions, and increasingly bold asset grabs. They forgot Nimzovitch, “the threat is stronger than the execution”. Goodies parked in the US or even elsewhere but USD-denominated are just waiting to be frozen–and it could happen to *everyone* not belonging to… that other country favored by god.
I don’t mean Brazil specifically – just an example of countries trading between themselves in “own currencies” instead of US dollars. This global financial/banking system is a weird animal. Far as I can see it goes like this (jump in where I’m wrong).
Australia buys lamb from New Zealand: Australia buys US dollars (9% transaction fee) and pays New Zealand in USD. New Zealand then converts the USD to NZD (again, a 9% fee.) That 9%+9% fee is in USD, ie the US gets it.)
Now when Russia sells oil to China that’s a 5% transaction fee (cheaper than USD) gained by the currency the deal is in (either Y or R) benefiting the country that owns the currency used, not-the-US.
The US lends Ukraine $50B: They don’t take physical USD already in circulation and send it on to the Ukes, it’s merely a ‘bookkeeping entry.’ $50B is just added to the economy on both sides. That’s $50B the Ukes get (which they have to pay to convert to hryvnia AND then have to pay to convert hryvnia to USD to pay the interest on in USD) and maybe oneday pay back the loan (and pay again to convert to USD), …. but it’s also $50B created out of thin air for the US economy – they can now print this money and put it into circulation, ie., ‘just print more.’ It’s a fantastic phucking rip-off scheme – for the Yanks.
But nowadays when China lends South Africa $10B in Yuan, China gets to do the ‘just print more’ – not the US. Etc.
Now maybe it doesn’t sound like such a big deal but consider this: Global trade is estimated at about $74T. Previously the US earned all the fees on that. They were raking in nearly $2T a year just because countries were trading. But now, 40% of the world is doing their trade in not-USD where they can. That’s at least a 30%+ cut into that nice US ‘just print more’ freebie. And that figure gets bigger with every ‘own currencies’ deal BRICS, SCO, CIS etc etc make.
Then on top of that there’s all this int. lending going on – the NBD and AIIB have their fingers in here lending in (and therefore creating currency in) “own currencies” instead of US dollars. (Their terms are better; they’re purely financial and there’s none of this toe our Foreign Policy hegemony or buy into our idea of democracy and uproot your own social structure to get the loan.)
Then add this to the picture. Last year the interest on the US nat. debt was $285B, so this year it will exceed $300B, their defense budget has just gone up to $672B. Just those 2 items out of their entire spending come to about $1T US dollars. PS. Their current account deficit for 2016 was $481T! WTF is the interest on that?
Russia and China are strangling the US. All wars are bankers wars – they don’t have to fight, they only have to wait.
Demands made by (((Saudi Arabia)))
https://theuglytruth.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/isis2.jpg?w=620
In a way, there is one single war: the Empire’s war for hegemony, about which they are dead serious. It is open-ended and you bet it is “global”; it could indeed expand further. The rest is football hooliganism in comparison. This is why I ask what the loyalists think they can “win” by letting the US get away with ravaging and Balkanizing Syria with utter impunity. That just means you’re going to do it all over again someplace else, and soon. Sometimes I wonder if Russia is quietly OK with that.
As long as the target nation bans abortion, then I am okay with it and it looks like Russia is too. But North Korea doesn’t.
What?
Saudi Arabia’s reserves are dwindling as the result of low oil prices and expensive meaningless wars, US and Saudis need each other to defend the petro dollar and manipulate oil prices with the intent of harming Russia and Iran economically. Qatar exports LNG, which is a lot more expensive than piped natural gas, US trying to corner the market of LNG and offer it to the Europeans as an alternative to piped natural gas from Russia. Qatar should stand firm and tell Saudi Arabia to get lost and pound sand.
I don’t know whether Iran is ready for another bloody war, but the fact is that the US cannot win a war against Iran. If the US tries to invade Iran, it would be a combination of Galipolli with Vietnam, and US losses would be even bigger than in Vietnam. The US may try to destroy as many economic assets of Iran as possible, but the important military assets may be beyond reach. On the other hand, Iran would have been stupid not to have prepared for quickly building nuclear weapons. By now they must have all the necessary know-how, and their industrial basis must be prepared to tackle such a problem. I doubt it would take longer than six months for Iran to have a workable nuclear deterrent. And Russia doesn’t even have to intervene, besides supplying Iran with the military hardware it needs. Qatar may be the trigger to a global war on the Gulf, and the US will forever be sorry to have started it.
“destroy as many economic assets of Iran as possible” sounds about right; Bibi is a smiling man for a reason, if he stays out of the slammer that is. It’s not about “taking” this or that asset folks, Uncle Sam got plenty of those at home. By unleashing bloody hell you “take” AWAY from your rivals, so it’s all good.
Starting a breakneck nuke program would be the worst option: “stupid Yankees” would have it on CNN before month 1 is over, instantly solving all their political problems. No, if they are serious, Russia and/or China should give the real deal to Tehran. Given that Tillerson has pulled his gun already, how about tomorrow. Instead “Putin’s Russia” (God I hate that term but it’s appropriate here) is likely to say “make the best of your trip back to the Stone Age, fighting back would make things so much worse”. With friends like these…
Why should they be sorry? US spent 25 years in Iraq making massacres, torture prisons and bombing the country to the stone age, and they are still not sorry.
I agree no ground war into Iran would work… However I am worried about a purely air war. Like a 300 day air war of bombing Iran would hurt Iranians a lot, while only some low unimportant US solders would loose their lives. Israel would go unharmed as they have so far in spite of bombing Syria monthly.
Iran can stop any shipping using the straight of Hormuz and can destroy most of Saudi oil production facilities. I don’t think that the US would want to risk that.
but the fact is that the US cannot win a war against Iran.” ————- Did the US “win the war” against Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria? They don’t have to “win the war” – all they have to do is get the US-led coalition to agree to deny the Persian Gulf to Iranian ships.
They do that then they have military control over all the world’s major trade routes: no nation that trades with any other nation in a currency other than USD will send or receive anything via those routes. …. The world is back on the US dollar as the only viable reserve currency – and the US can get back to printing dollars instead grubbing for them with bogus court cases, foreign fines and decade long arms deals etc.
It’s called: “Make America great again.”
The US cannot deny the Persian Gulf to Iranian ships without Iran denying it to all other countries. The US would be the major loser.
Unless …. the US and it’s US-led Coalition of NATO and Others Eager to Obey the Almighty US warn the terrorist nation of Iran supporting the terrorist nation of Qatar to cease and desist and when they don’t they drop bombs and missiles on their ships. (Of course, we’ll have to take US’s word for it that Iran is supporting, arming and supplying The Terrorists – but her word has always been The Law to her friends and allies.)
A teensy problem, they first have to get that difficult and irritating Flightless Bird to do that ceasing and desisting terrie-thingie…. Can’t bomb Iran for taking food … Ooops I means weapons, terrorists and throw in some nukes and chemical weapons to terry-Qatar if the 2nd largest member of NATO and just itching for some fighting is doing so as well.
All very interesting and a great deal of fun. But you’re right about the loser thingie. However this plays out, in the long run, the US loses. … Tho’ Qatar and Iran could suffer substantial damage in the waiting.
The coming war will not be against Qatar. The coming war is the super-Empires vs Palestine and Lebanon. And all Monotheist must join hands together in UNITY to defeat the coming Atheist invasion of Lebanon and Gaza strip.
The first sentence in #7 is rather ironic – considering the nature of these demands: 7) End interference in sovereign countries’ internal affairs.
Sounds like a list of demands from Israel. If Qatar complies with them, it might as well give up its sovereignty, as many have already pointed out. The countries around the Middle East need to gather around and take out that prick, Saudi Arabia. Way to go making yourself the heat shield for Israel.
Israel has plans to ditch Saudi as soon as they get everything they want from them. They’ll suddenly find a file that says Saudi financed the 19 Arabs who were named in the 9/11 attacks. Of course the 19 Arabs didn’t do the attacks, even if they were recruited into the Al Qaeda organization by Mossad agents, but the patriotards in the US don’t know that. There’s so much hate for Saudis right now, the truth won’t matter. The people there are ready to hang the Saudis. The takedown of the Saudis will be easy when it’s time to do it. After the Saudis are gone, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt and the rest of the gang will fall rapidly.
How the Middle East is divided up right now: on one side are Iran, Iraq (half of it is in a mess), Lebanon, Turkey, Syria (but this is in chaos right now) and Yemen (also in chaos) and ?Qatar.
On the other side: Saudi, Jordan, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain. Saudis and Egypt are the ones with the big armies. They will be assisted by the US and Israel.
Qatar is in strife. It’s been funding Muslim Brotherhood, which makes up a lot of the non-Kurdish rebel groups fighting in Syria, and some of the ISIS. FSA is being hit by SAA. FSA is fighting with the Afrin Kurds. FSA militants are assisting the Turkish side.
If Qatar stops funding ISIS, they’re going to be mad. They’ll feel betrayed. They won’t have anyone supporting them financially any more. Israel will give them some token support, like medical aid, but it won’t be enough.
By now ISIS have got to realize they have been used. USA, Israel’s backer, is supporting the SDF to attack them. If they had any nous, they’ll see that Israel has been supporting THEM and their opposition – that is, supporting both sides, as the Zionists frequently do in conflicts.
ISIS have got to be the dumbest people on earth. Why do they think Israel was supporting them, taking their wounded to Israeli hospitals? Did they think the Israelis would do that just because they hate Assad too? Did they really think that they, without state support, would be allowed to hang onto Syria? Do they think in their wildest dreams they would be allowed to keep the parts they captured?
Zionist media has turned them into the most hated terrorist group, if not people, in the world. ISIS is giving Islam a bad name. People have stopped talking about the atrocities done to the Palestinians by the Zionists, and are talking about the brutal behavior of these Muslims. While Zionists rush to rescue wounded ISIS militants, and take them to Israeli hospitals, and are called “angels” by these people, OTHER Zionists are working the presses, whipping up anti-ISIS (and anti-Islam) hysteria among the Western public.
Are these ISIS people capable of thinking beyond the next five minutes? Why are so many Muslim people allowing themselves to be manipulated by Israel?
Same with Qatar. Now that the USA has entered the war and is helping SDF take over formerly ISIS-held towns, their dream of a Sunni-led caliphate ruling over most of Syria is falling apart. They put up with allying with the detested Israel because they thought Israel hated Assad so much that they didn’t care who ruled Syria so long as it wasn’t him. Qatar mistakenly thought it was a Sunni-Shiite thing too – that Israelis wanted the Shiites out and so they didn’t mind if people like ISIS took their place. They just didn’t want an Iran-backed government in place. Now they realize they got it all wrong. Israel doesn’t want an Iranian ally in power, but neither do they want a Qatar-backed Sunni government in power.
How did this situation come about? Sensing that a weak leader like Assad made Syria vulnerable and less able to defend itself when attacked, the Sunni allies of Qatar (and Turkey) moved in for the kill, under US-Israel’s encouragement, and decided to take over Syria for themselves. They even allied with israel who looked keen to remove Assad.
But as the war progressed, it became clear that their ambitions to rule Syria with their proxies were not going to be realized.
First, Turkey broke away from this plan when the US started grooming the Kurds in the north to take a bigger role in the war. They switched sides. After this, it was a given that Qatar would start wavering, being Turkey’s ally. The forces it backed could be fighting Turkey, which they didn’t want to see happening, and it was becoming more and more obvious that the Coalition forces had no intention of letting ISIS hang onto the towns they held.
So now these Arab nations, one-by-one, are starting to understand the cost of allying with Israel: betrayal and exploitation. Qatar was used for its money and its influence among certain groups, and Turkey was used for its military power and strategic position, including to let the ISIS militants in. Israel is even turning Qatar into a pariah state in the Gulf. The next step will be the other nations in the GCS threatening military action against it. It will be Qatar’s turn to fight for its life.
How foolish these nations were. Israel doesn’t care about Assad the person. There’s nothing personal about his removal. it’s all strategic. Rather than merely wanting an Iran-ally out as head of the government, they also care about who controls Syria after him, and it’s not a bunch of fanatical Sunnis that they want.
With Trump flexing US muscle in Syria and showing there’s a new sheriff in town, Doha has had to do a quick reevaluation. Things aren’t going well at all for them – ISIS is losing land swiftly and is being hammered on all sides. It’s only a matter of time before SDF and Assad take over all the ISIS towns.
After the partitioning of Syria, there will be no room for Qatar’s proteges Sunni Muslim Brotherhood to have any significant power in Syria.
With its maneuvering in Syria, Qatar has pissed off a lot of nations. Qatar alienated Egypt with its support of the Muslim Brotherhood. Assad isn’t happy with it after MB-affiliated Hamas turned their backs on him.
Qatar has made a fine mess for itself, falling into the trap that the Zionists set for it. ISIS is getting more and more irrelevant as time goes on. Turkey is not assured of defeating the Kurdish in the north either. This area may be the next phase of US operations.
No sovereign nation can accept those demands any more than Serbia could in 1914. about half of them are negotiable.
It’s impossible to “Align Qatar’s military, political, social and economic policies with the other Gulf and Arab countries,” when Bahrain defends abortion rights and Saudi Arabia bans abortion. Qatar can’t align with both diametrically opposed social policies.
Qatar should make nice with North Korea, chuck out the American base, and get some short range ICBMs and surface-to-air missiles, and sit pretty. Then it should say, “We should do WHAT? And how are you gonna make me?” And keep selling oil to the rest of the world using the Iran-Pakistan-China route. It’s becoming a more bipolar world. Small states can defend themselves if they have the right gear. Qatar’s enemies are only a stone’s throw away. Its missiles can reach them. It will be MAD if a war breaks out. Iran too can supply it and get more money. Got to break the dollar stranglehold in the mean time. Get rid of the terrorist tag too – stop funding ISIS and just break off all relations with the rebel groups in Syria. Tell them to ask for truce with Assad. As for MB, stop funding them too. No more funding Sunni militia groups from now on –– they only get used by Israel-USA who hypocritically disavow them later after they’ve run out of usefulness and start calling them “terrorists” and not “freedom fighters”.