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General Middle East & North Africa Thread

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Okay, every topic that has even remotely to do with the middle east keeps getting more general news put into it which removes focus from the original topic.

As such, I'm creating this thread as a general middle east and north africa topic. That means anything to do with the Arab Spring, Israel or Palestine should be kept to those threads and anything to do with more generic news (for example, new Saudi regulations on the number of foreign workers or the Lebanese elections next year, etc.) should be posted here.

I hope the mods will find this a clear enough statement of intent to open the thread.

Mod edit: The Israel and Palestine thread has been locked since October 2023. Discussion about Palestine and/or Israel remains off-topic for this thread. This also bans discussion of any military conflict, terrorism or extrajudicial actions involving one of them and a third country (e.g. Israel's air strikes in Yemen).

Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 28th 2024 at 12:26:59 PM

rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#1551: Jun 3rd 2019 at 11:54:14 AM

Considering how the rest of the article goes I'd say the latter.

EDIT: Pagetopper.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jun 3rd 2019 at 2:55:08 PM

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1552: Jun 13th 2019 at 12:42:25 AM

Two tankers struck in suspected attacks in Gulf of Oman: sources

DUBAI (Reuters) - Two tankers were hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman and the crew have been evacuated, shipping sources said on Thursday, a month after a similar incident in which four tankers in the region were struck.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#1553: Jun 13th 2019 at 7:41:24 AM

[up] Has anyone here watched Countdown to Looking Glass? Because this is how the crisis in Countdown kicked into high gear.

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1554: Jun 13th 2019 at 4:02:43 PM

Anyone think that some pro-war faction in Iran could be staging these attacks?

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1555: Jun 13th 2019 at 5:21:26 PM

That or MBZ/MBS is gaslighting the US into a war against Iran.....

Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#1556: Jun 14th 2019 at 6:02:32 AM

A video has been released of an Iranian vessel covertly removing what appears to be a second unexploded mine from the tanker. I doubt that they would've done it had the country not known about the attack beforehand. Still, absolutely not a worthy reason for all-out war.

Life is unfair...
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#1557: Jun 14th 2019 at 4:22:15 PM

Who has identified the vessel as Iranian and what it’s removing as a mine? Right now I’m not trusting any of the sources with an agenda here.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#1558: Jun 17th 2019 at 9:16:10 AM

Not sure this is the right thread for this or not:

Egypt's former president Mursi dies: state television

Former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi has died in court, state television reported on Monday.

https://reut.rs/2wVIR1s

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#1559: Jun 17th 2019 at 10:52:34 AM

Sounds kinda fishy and makes me wonder if some kind of suicide pill was involved.

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1560: Jun 17th 2019 at 6:13:10 PM

Some new information about the recent shipping attack has been released. [1]

The new timelines seem to show much more aggressive behavior by IRGC ships. The hi-res images of the damage also seem to suggest that two different kinds of weapons were used, and we now know that the remains of a mine were left on the ship and match a mine of Iranian make. The US is also now claiming Iran had a hand in last week’s MQ-9 shootdown as well.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 17th 2019 at 6:14:31 AM

They should have sent a poet.
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#1561: Jun 17th 2019 at 8:19:17 PM

I need another country to confirm this. I trust zero info from the US at the moment, given their current inclinations.

TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1562: Jun 18th 2019 at 11:19:37 AM

Germany says there is 'strong evidence' Iran behind tanker attacks

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said there is "strong evidence" Iran carried out attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. She also warned Iran of consequences if it violated the 2015 international nuclear deal.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1564: Jun 18th 2019 at 1:34:53 PM

I'd wait. There's a lot of questions still.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1565: Jun 18th 2019 at 3:14:00 PM

I’ll point out that Iran being behind these attacks doesn’t automatically mean war.

I don’t think there’s the political will for all-out war at this point, especially when you consider that it’s most likely the IRGC carried out these attacks and the Iranian government proper doesn’t seem to have all that much control over them.

They should have sent a poet.
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#1566: Jun 19th 2019 at 11:07:04 PM

What would they stand to gain from provoking the US? It's one thing to play Littlefinger and fuck up the status quo in hopes of advancing one's station, it's another to openly invite the Dragon Army to come torch the whole place down.

TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#1567: Jun 19th 2019 at 11:19:41 PM

They've been doing this for decades to show resolve and to remind everyone that they can make life uncomfortable.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1568: Jun 20th 2019 at 3:07:51 AM

Iran has shot down a US aircraft, an MQ-4C surveillance drone, that was flying in international airspace. [1]

This is a pretty significant escalation, Tritons are technologically advanced and few in number, and they operate at very high altitudes which means Iran could easily threaten lower-flying combat aircraft with whatever system they used to shoot it down.

This situation is just getting stranger and stranger.

They should have sent a poet.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#1569: Jun 20th 2019 at 4:31:21 AM

Indeed it is. Shooting down a drone is considered an offensive gesture in Middle Eastern cultures.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#1570: Jun 20th 2019 at 4:41:42 AM

Wait, spy drones seem a bit young to have had cultural practices developed around themselves.

Edited by Oruka on Jun 20th 2019 at 5:50:59 AM

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#1571: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:22:56 AM

[up]That part of the world has had them buzzing about since before they looked like the close cousins of the Mir space station.

A culture can easily develop in, oh, a good 50 or 60 years of being exposed to every damned stage of a technology's development.

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#1572: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:23:20 AM

[up][up][up] I believe shooting down aircraft is considered an offensive gesture most places.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jun 20th 2019 at 5:23:36 AM

They should have sent a poet.
Kevan from Somewhere, like most. Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
#1573: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:49:48 AM

It's gonna be complicated to judge. Of course, the all thing could be a false flag, and nobody would be surprised if Trump's gang sunk that low. But Iran, despite recent negociations to reintegrate the mainstream international community, is still a theocratic authoritarian regime with just as much interventionism in store as classic troublemakers like France or the UK.

As for why they would provoke the US, maybe they understood that for all the boasting and bullying, the current American administration is quite a bit spineless. Taking the careless maniac stance did wonders for Putin the last decade.

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#1574: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:52:54 AM

On a slightly more serious note, when I first saw that headline, I brushed it off as a legacy Predator in UAE service going down over Yemen or something. Shooting down an MQ-4 over international airspace would've taken a long-range SAM and sounds like a pretty loud warning shot against the involvement of US air power.

[up] The IRGC has already admitted it.

Edited by eagleoftheninth on Jun 20th 2019 at 5:54:21 AM

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#1575: Jun 20th 2019 at 5:56:55 AM

On a completely tangential note, anyone seen A Private War? Here's the Rotten Tomatoes page. It's about this American BBC war correspondent, Marie Colvin who covered Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers (losing an eye in the process), Lybia's Ghaddhafi, Iraq's mass graves, and, ultimately, gave the lie to the claims by Assad that he was just bombing terrorists in Homs in 2012, through a live interview on CNN. Hours later, she was bombed dead along with everyone else.

Her tragedy (and it's a really classical Hamartia-based tragedy) seems like a drop in the ocean compared to the shit her subjects are going through, and her privilege makes her practically a modern day Gentleman Adventurer.

I think the scene that annoyed me most in the film is her interview of Ghaddhafi. He was acting like a fool, but she brimmed with condescension and was writing up her divinations of international policy as fact in a rather clumsy attempt to provoke a pride rebuttal.

By the way, does India count as Middle East? Does the subcontinent as a whole? Or does the Middle East end in Pakistan?

Edited by Oruka on Jun 20th 2019 at 5:58:13 AM


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