Saudi Arabia and 20 other countries to stage maneuvers
AFP reports that 20 nations are gathering portions of their armed forces in the north of Saudi Arabia to stage their maneuvers they’ve named “Thunder of the North”;
The “Thunder of the North” exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a “clear message” that Riyadh and its allies “stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region”, SPA said.
Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in its southern neighbour Yemen. Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight “terrorism” in Islamic countries.
Yeah, because “clear messages” is what the war against ISIS has been lacking up until now. From Arab News, more clear messages news;
The planned “North Thunder” military exercise is a clear message to Iran and the countries in the region it supports that any hostile intentions and actions will be firmly dealt with, an expert has said.
The military drill is scheduled to be held in the northern region of Saudi Arabia in the next few days and a number of countries will be participating in it, local media reported on Tuesday.
Military experts have warned that the next probable threat to the Gulf states is likely to come from the northern areas, after Iran demographically occupies Iraq and uses that country as its military arm to meddle in the affairs of neighboring countries and drain Gulf states’ resources.
Oh, so the “clear message” is for Iran. That wasn’t clear. I was sure they needed to send a message to ISIS, you know the clear and present danger in the region. So, I guess the Sunni Saudis consider the Shi’ite Iranians to be a bigger threat than the Sunni ISIS. I mean, if the Saudis really want to test their coalition, they should have a real live-fire maneuver against ISIS and actually accomplish something. But, no, because politics is more important than security. Blank Firing Adapter politics by other means.
Category: Terror War
“So, I guess the Sunni Saudis consider the Shi’ite Iranians to be a bigger threat than the Sunni ISIS.”
Exactly. The Saudis see Iran and the Shia as an existential threat. This is a Sunni-Shia / Arab-Persian fight, and always has been. The fight in Syria/Iraq is really a proxy war between the Saudis/Pakistanis and the Iranians, just like the Iran Iraq war was before that.
The Saudis and the Pakistanis have essentially fostered and bankrolled the groups and individuals that make ISIS possible, and have done so since the Islamic revolution in Iran.
Both would rather see their dangerous radicals fighting Shia oversees than have them at home overthrowing the royal family and military government, respectively.
Go back to 1979: The Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the Ayatollahs took over in Iran (and seized our embassy), and a fundamentalist group seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Iran-Iraq war started the next year, with Iraq being funded in large part by the Saudis and the Gulf states.
That was when the Saudis decided that they needed a pressure valve to get all the radical islamists out of their country. Afghanistan was the perfect place. It was on the other side of Iran, and it created a fundamentalist Sunni proxy army that kept the Ayatollahs boxed in.
The Pakistanis thought it was a great idea, so the ISI started the groups we know today as the Taliban.
Well consider the Syria “civil war” started as a response by the Saudi Sunnis due to Shiite gains during the Arab Spring in Egypt and a failed take over of Bahrain it makes perfect sense they give zero fucks. The fighters they brought in went completely blood lust though and they lost control their control of them. The US trained and supplied these fuckers known as ISIS because I guess it’s legit for democrats to train and arm terrorists then constantly lie about it.
Obama admin the most incompetent jackoffs on the face of the earth.
That’s alright, I read the end of the book, and Jesus destroys the “armies of the north with the words of his mouth”!
In fairness to the House of Saud, the Iranians are the ones closest to acquiring a nuclear weapon (until ISIS makes further inroads in Pakistan, that is).
It does seem like everyone in the region is waiting for someone else to take the lead against ISIS-the Jordanians did get decidedly pissed off following the atrocity against their downed pilot, but they are hardly in a position to lead the fight.
Maybe it’ll be the Russians who actually accomplish something-I saw something recently about how much more ordnance they are delivering to the battlefield (might have been how many more sorties)-they, at least, appear to be serious.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
— Matthew 24:6-13
I knew this was going to happen. And it is not going away.
Yep!
Saudi Arabia can’t even handle a border war in Yemen against tribal militias.
What are they going to do in Syria at the end of a 1000 km long supply pipeline?
Use more camels, perhaps?
Pretty hilarious considering they have some of our most high tech weaponry such as Apache gunships. Just goes to show how incapable some cultures are I guess.
I have actually seen a blank adapter work its way onto a firing range.
Young Private + young, green Buck Sergeant + old, hung over (mean) 1SG = Holy Shit!
I moved rapidly away from the “kill zone” and potential danger close.
I miss the “peacetime Army”.
At least they are doing something.
Trying to get on the same GD page.
Not much faith on this end, but maybe a start….
I agree with the political angle, but they are about to have some serious skin in the game.
Especially after we bumped up Iran’s cash drop.
I bookmarked the Arab News site and will visit it from time to time. How can I not when it carries stories of girls being accosted and one being beaten up for “irregularities.” The irregularity was that the girls had uncovered faces. The girls ran but one was caught and beaten. Authorities took “appropriate action” (whatever that means) against the men and pointed out that the girls were at fault. Nice.