The Mideast arms race
Old Trooper sent us this link from The Guardian in which the Saudis announce that if Iran builds nuclear weapons, they’ll do the same;
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, warned senior Nato military officials that the existence of such a device “would compel Saudi Arabia … to pursue policies which could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences”.
He did not state explicitly what these policies would be, but a senior official in Riyadh who is close to the prince said yesterday his message was clear.
“We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don’t. It’s as simple as that,” the official said. “If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit.”
Of course there will be no deterrence of Mutual Assured Destruction like we had during the Cold War. Two tribes of goat ropers still following a code born in the dark ages each with their itchy finger on the button – one steeped in the belief that their savior is just a man-inspired disaster away – well, that’s just a recipe for a nuclear war in the region. With our troops stuck somewhere in between.
Category: Terror War
Saudi Arabia has Mecca and Medina. Who needs nukes when you have the ultimate in Islamic hostages?
Interesting but having lived among them I see it very differently. This is more about Arab vs. Iranian as opposed to Sunni Muslim vs. Shite Muslim. Islam started with the Arabs. Iranians are the descendents of a people religiously conquered by Arabs during an early Jihad and as a result there is a subtle class distinction in the Middle East we Westerners don’t always recognize.
#2 Mr. Chiroux,
I don’t disagree with you – how does the House of Saud being, formerly, bedouin and not Arabs of the cities play into this Muslim caste system?
It’s interesting that the Sauds never feared Israeli nukes, but now feel compelled to upgun. Also wondering how this will impact our advisors to their National Guard.
Persians (which the Iranians are) have a MASSIVE supiority complex, about their history, but in a way they are culturally schizophrenic about that history because they were pagans at the time, and are following the “True Faith” now. They want the respect that they feel they are due, so they always attempt to out do the Arabs, who they see as Goat F**kers (quite literally)
The Arabs for their part KNOW that until Islam their contributions to the world were exactly zilch. They would like to believe that their history is rich in culture, but in truth, even the Caliphates weren’t as “great” as they like to think. The Ottoman Empire, which many Arabs might point to as the high point of Islam (interesting side note the Siege of Vienna was the absolute limit of the Islamic Empire’s expansion, and was lifted by the Poles on Sept 11 1683. Goes to show there was more to 9/11 than we thought) Wasn’t really because of Arabs, it was because of Turks.
Worse, for both, they have lagged behind, partially because of religious dogma, partially because of a feeling that their culture was fine the way it was, the West, starting with Greece, then Rome, and eventually America, have simply overshadowed them. Culturally, Economically, Technologically, Militarily, etc. The only real place the Middle East has any significant advantage is in birth rate, and that carries with it a string of its own problems.
The absolute best thing we as a country can do is prevent ANY Middle East nation from getting Nukes. With such a complicated and massive Superiority/Inferiority complex on a societal level, there’s no telling who they’d launch at or why. Worse still because of the religious fervor, the concept of MAD would be TOTALLY absent.
in re: #4; yep. Allowing Iran to pursue and obtain nuke technology was just the beginning and once they manufacture their first nuke weapon, it will be a massively destabilizing development for the region, because it will snowball from there as we are witnessing in comments from Saudi Arabia being the first, but not the last, to declare their intentions if/when Iran produces a nuke weapon.
what really scares me OT, is that we have no idea Who would launch first or why. With the US and USSR, there were methods in place on both sides to prevent such an occurrence, including but not limited to a direct hot-line. The cold War for all its proxy wars, was a two way struggle.
This looks in many ways like 1913 Europe, but with no clear distinction as to how alliances will fall, so perhaps more like a bad game of Risk. Whereas we could count on the Soviets to do what was in their own best interest, what about a madman that wants to bring about the 13th Imam? what then?
DaveO: Within Arab is the Bedouin and the city dwellers. To be exact Islam came out from the Bedouin. Having been around the Bedouin I would always suggest being respectful. You can infer pecking order from that.
Doc: I have been corrected many times by folks and it goes like this, “I am not Iranian, I am Persian”. My impression has always been “Persian” infers a sense of pre-Islamic identity while “Iranian” refers to their post conquest mixed ethnicity. My impression is certainly debatable but there is something there as far as a distinction between the two.
Common sense would indicate they will eventually get the bomb and use it. I can only hope we survive it and it knocks some sense in humanity, collectively. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
“Common sense would indicate they will eventually get the bomb and use it. I can only hope we survive it and it knocks some sense in humanity, collectively. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.”
Exactly, it’s not if, it’s when. We can only hope that the idiots running the current goat screw in D.C. are long gone when that time approaches.
Mr. Chiroux & Doc – thanks. I presumed the opposite – that being landless would’ve put the bedouin at a caste-disadvantage.
Unlike Iranian millenialism, Saud-sponsored Wahabism is global, and virulent. Seeing these two cultures clash is likely worth the price of popcorn.
Mr. Chiroux, thanks for your comments. I’ve seen the same thing with some who are very insistent that they are Persian. They are not Turk, Armenian, or Iranian, but Persian. Your comments on why are spot on based on what they’ve said to me. Good comment on the Bedouin as well, jives with what I’ve seen over there.
Sadly, I think you are quite correct on the last part: not if, when. And, where they use it. May we learn and respond in a positive way. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. It’s the only way to do disaster preparedness, and it works for most of life too.