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| Could missiles like this soon be on their way to Saudi Arabia? |
Yesterday, a report on the BBC program Newsnight more or less confirmed speculation by many familiar with Pakistan's nuclear program that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a much larger stake in said program than previously thought. It was already known that the program had been aided by generous amounts of money from the Saudi royal family, what came as a surprise to many was that the Kingdom apparently has a deal with Pakistan to send some nuclear-armed missiles their way should they ever feel sufficiently threatened by a neighbor, namely a nuclear-armed Iran. This comes not long after the Saudi government refused a seat on the UN Security Council while lodging a protest against both International inaction regarding Syria, and what they saw as a "failure" on the part of the US and others to guarantee that the Mideast, including Israel, was nuke-free. It appears that this last-ditch, and somewhat clever, effort to circumvent the many arms treaties they're signatories to by funding a nuclear arsenal that was maintained and stored far outside their borders has given us a window into what the response by the House of Sa'ud to a nuclear Iran will be. Perhaps they've been reading up on the famous doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction? It will be a very interesting next few days in the region, at any rate.
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| Are Iranian F-14s getting buzzed by Aliens? |
Iran is very proud of the thirty-plus year-old fleet of F-14s they've kept up and running despite global arms embargoes, a war with Iraq where Saddam's air force tried to wipe them all out while they were still on the ground stealing a page from Israel in the Six Day War, and all manner of other impediments. Lately though, they've been facing a threat that in some way seems altogether otherworldy, and reminiscent of reports of "Foo Fighters" during World War Two. Iranian pilots are reporting visits from strange glowing objects that frequently cause mechanical problems for their aging jets, usually forcing them to land or return to base in the middle of exercises. These encounters also frequently occur in close proximity to one of Iran's nuclear facilities. I think the most likely explanation is that they're facing intrusions by a new type of drone aircraft, either orchestrated by the US/NATO, or their ever-cautious enemy Israel, who happens to be the world's number one drone manufacturer. As any long-term scholar of UFOs can tell you, though, stories of strange crafts appearing in the sky around military and nuclear facilities are nothing new. In the 1940s and '50s both the US and Russia were host to numerous reports of UFOs "buzzing" planes, causing power outages, and sometimes just floating around seeming to merely observe in the airspace around their bases, especially those that were heavily involved in their nuclear programs. Some of these reports seem to depict the exact same behavior these crafts being encountered by the Iranians seem to exhibit, even down to the electrical and mechanical failures. There were those in the 20th century who speculated that outside forces were monitoring our nuclear progress, perhaps preparing to intervene if the US and Soviet Union ever got to close to a nuclear war, and I'm sure as these reports continue to circulate some may speculate that these outsiders are now doing the same in the Mideast. The notion of a friendly alien power who would step in to keep part of our planet from being turned into a nuclear wasteland is somewhat comforting, unfortunately I believe these visits are from a power more Earthly in nature. Lockheed just unveiled the SR-72, don't be surprised if some sort of new drone with fancy EMP capabilities follows...
Source, from the excellent blog War Is Boring which I highly recommend: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/b9bded1d2580
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| This man wants your money, and your guns. |
Iraq is not a failed state. Iraq's current government, however, has proven itself incapable of abetting the sectarian violence again sweeping the country, and in some cases has actively contributed to it. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deftly skirted the issue of his own government's failings during a visit to Washington last week, his main talking point was that he needed F-16s, Apache helicopters, and other fancy new American weapons to put an end to the violence and discord in his home country. The Prime Minister continues to fail to acknowledge that his own party's status as little more than a Shia supremacist front engaging in widespread marginalization of Iraq's minority religious and ethnic groups is adding a lot of fuel to the fire. F-16s and Apaches won't allow him to pacify Iraq anymore than they allowed the US to, and the US government was astute enough to shoot down some of his requests. Still, we're tied to Mr. al-Maliki and his authoritarian ways whether we like it or not, at this point it seems the bulk of his opposition in Iraq is either militantly anti-Western, or so disorganized that working with them simply isn't an option. The only given in the situation seems to be that things will get worse in Iraq before they get better.
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