(03-28-2026, 11:31 AM)quintessentone Wrote: It appears Saudi and UAE human rights violations are to be overlooked when desperation is the driving force in choosing allies.

"Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the world's most authoritarian regimes, with major human rights organizations documenting systematic abuses including arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials.  Freedom of expression is severely restricted, as the government uses counterterrorism and cybercrime laws to silence dissent, resulting in long prison sentences and executions for peaceful online criticism and association. 
Key violations include:

• Arbitrary Detention and Torture: Human rights defenders, activists, and migrants are frequently detained without charge, held incommunicado, and subjected to torture to extract confessions for unfair trials. 
  
• Unfair Trials and Executions: The Specialized Criminal Court convicts individuals based on coerced confessions for vague charges like "terrorism," leading to lengthy prison terms and executions for non-lethal offenses, including drug-related crimes and peaceful activism. 
  
• Discrimination and Migrant Abuse: Women continue to face legal discrimination under the male guardianship system, while migrant workers, particularly domestic staff, face forced labor, exploitation, and inhumane detention conditions under the kafala sponsorship system. 
  
• Crackdown on Dissent: The government targets critics both inside and outside the country, including forced evictions of communities (such as the Huwaitat tribe) and transnational repression against exiled dissidents." (LLM)
  
  
  https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/midd...di-arabia/
  

Don't forget, the Saudis were also responsible for 9/11.

(03-28-2026, 10:25 AM)Vermilion Wrote: Of course, why should anybody listen to the White House or western media when we can find out what’s really going on from all the anti American war college flunkies here posting IRGC propaganda doom porn.
Please continue to enlighten us to the gigantic US military strategic and tactical missteps and how Iran is stronger now than a few weeks ago.
I am entertained. LoL

This is a completely far point, we can argue the political, the diplomatic, and societal, but militarily so far it's better than expected. Thats from various sources, western and regional. Again yes there are hits, and those hits against Iran's Gulf State neighbors highlight how unstable Iran has grown.

Israel has absorbed the hits like a huge sponge and is running sorties daily in Lebanon and Iran

(03-28-2026, 10:08 AM)quintessentone Wrote: Newsflash: Major escalation in this war:

"Yemen's Houthi movement has officially joined the war against Iran, marking a major escalation as the group launched ballistic missiles at Israeli territory on Saturday, March 28, 2026.  This action, described by the Houthis as their first military operation since the current conflict began, signals their entry into the Israeli-U.S. war against Iran after weeks of holding back. 
The attack involved a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting sensitive military sites in southern Israel, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified and intercepted.  The Houthis stated their intervention would continue until all "aggression" against Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestinian territories ceases, effectively aligning with the "Axis of Jihad" against U.S. and Israeli operations. 

Key implications of this involvement include:

• Regional Escalation: The conflict now spans multiple fronts, with Iran striking UAE and Bahrain, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and now Yemen attacking Israel directly. 
  
• Shipping Risks: The Houthis have threatened to close the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb or the Strait of Hormuz, which could severely disrupt global oil flows and exacerbate the economic crisis, especially as Iran has already blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. 
  
• U.S. Casualties: The conflict has already resulted in 13 U.S. troop deaths and over 300 wounded since the war started on February 28, with Iran-aligned groups now actively engaging U.S. and Israeli targets. " (LLM)
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/yemen-houthis-e...l-11750815
  

---

"The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, known as the "Gate of Tears," is a 26-kilometer (16-mile) wide strategic chokepoint separating Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula from Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bab-el-Mandeb

[Image: https://denyignorance.com/uploader/image...c31fa.webp]

Don't worry, Trump has decimated them once, he can decimate them again. 

From one year ago:

Quote:"The Iran-backed Houthi Terrorists have been decimated by the relentless strikes over the past two weeks," Trump said in a post on his social media outlet Truth Social on Monday afternoon. "Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us." 

Link
 
For sure he will bomb them like they haven't been bombed since last year.

Definitely in the next 48 hours to 17 days.

(03-28-2026, 11:41 AM)Oldcarpy2 Wrote: Don't forget, the Saudis were also responsible for 9/11.

Yeah, there is nothing they can do to make it make sense.

(03-28-2026, 11:07 AM)cherokeetroy Wrote: There is the matter of trust

When the current person in office is a habitual liar

And grifter

Scepticism, criticism and overall lack of trust is going to be an issue

Politicians lie. Being President requires one to do it all the time; some are better at it than others but some suggest that with Trump's style, demeanor, and chutzpah, his lies are more transparent and obvious, therefore more honest than most.



Again, for a New York businessman, it's a survival mechanism.

read it learn it know it live it

(03-28-2026, 11:48 AM)IDELB2006 Wrote: Don't worry, Trump has decimated them once, he can decimate them again. 

From one year ago:

Link
 
For sure he will bomb them like they haven't been bombed since last year.

Probably in the next 48 hours to 17 days.

It is being said that the USA is fighting wars WWII style while others are fighting 21st Century warfare.

(03-28-2026, 11:31 AM)quintessentone Wrote: It appears Saudi and UAE human rights violations are to be overlooked when desperation is the driving force in choosing allies.

"Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the world's most authoritarian regimes, with major human rights organizations documenting systematic abuses including arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials.  Freedom of expression is severely restricted, as the government uses counterterrorism and cybercrime laws to silence dissent, resulting in long prison sentences and executions for peaceful online criticism and association. 
Key violations include:

• Arbitrary Detention and Torture: Human rights defenders, activists, and migrants are frequently detained without charge, held incommunicado, and subjected to torture to extract confessions for unfair trials. 
  
• Unfair Trials and Executions: The Specialized Criminal Court convicts individuals based on coerced confessions for vague charges like "terrorism," leading to lengthy prison terms and executions for non-lethal offenses, including drug-related crimes and peaceful activism. 
  
• Discrimination and Migrant Abuse: Women continue to face legal discrimination under the male guardianship system, while migrant workers, particularly domestic staff, face forced labor, exploitation, and inhumane detention conditions under the kafala sponsorship system. 
  
• Crackdown on Dissent: The government targets critics both inside and outside the country, including forced evictions of communities (such as the Huwaitat tribe) and transnational repression against exiled dissidents." (LLM)
  
  
  https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/midd...di-arabia/
  

"Iran throws gay people from rooftops!!"


Homosexuality and transgender behavior are illegal in Saudi Arabia, with punishments including the death penalty, imprisonment, fines, and severe punishments like flogging. While enforcement varies, LGBTQ+ individuals face extreme risks, including torture and community violence, and the country's legal system is based on strict interpretations of Sharia law.

(03-28-2026, 11:42 AM)putnam6 Wrote: This is a completely far point, we can argue the political, the diplomatic, and societal, but militarily so far it's better than expected. 

Better than expected:

(03-28-2026, 11:53 AM)cherokeetroy Wrote: "Iran throws gay people from rooftops!!"


Homosexuality and transgender behavior are illegal in Saudi Arabia, with punishments including the death penalty, imprisonment, fines, and severe punishments like flogging. While enforcement varies, LGBTQ+ individuals face extreme risks, including torture and community violence, and the country's legal system is based on strict interpretations of Sharia law.

I remember in the 80s in the Western societies where gays were deliberately stalked by others for beatings and/or to be killed.

"Violence against gay men surged globally during the 1980s, driven by a combination of anti-LGBT sentiment, the AIDS epidemic, and systemic police inaction.  In Sydney, Australia, a specific crime wave known as the Gay Gang Murders occurred between 1970 and 2010, with the peak activity from 1987 to 1999, where gangs of teenagers targeted gay men at beaches and parks, allegedly throwing victims off cliffs at Marks Park, Tamarama" (LLM)

"High-Profile Cases: The 1988 murder of Scott Johnson, an American mathematician, was a focal point; initially ruled a suicide, a 2017 inquest reclassified it as a hate crime and confirmed he was pushed off a cliff by a gang."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_gang_murders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ac...BTQ_people

Casting stones at others only.

(03-28-2026, 11:09 AM)putnam6 Wrote: You did see where the UAE and Saudi Arabia are now committed allies, UAE pledged 1.5 trillion in investments some will be in the defense sector if not a fair chunk. Congress dropped 200 Billion.

What does that signify? Some more missile and air strikes?? They been so effective so far. And  if the plan is using their ground forces, KSA got whooped so many times in Yemen by the sandal wearing desert boys. The Houthis liberated a whole chunk of Yemen while running a counter ISIS/Qaeda op under Saudi air strikes, and still succeeded. I posted scores of the videos on ATS during the ISIS war time. KSA sucks on the ground. Their FOB's would frequently get ambushed off guard and removed from the equations by dudes in sandals and no armored vehicles or air support. The UAE if they contribute any ground forces will likely be their foreign mercenaries as they  did in the Sudan with hiring Colombians when their stream of African and middle eastern mercs began to dry  up.

I do not see the KSA and UAE being involved in any kind of ground op. To be honest, now that Trump is speaking about Cuba, I think he will make a sudden pivot during a wind-down moment. Basically he will try to redirect attention on Cuba once a specific flashpoint happens there which is either being planned unnaturally or may  soon spark on its own. Either way what  will happen in the subsequent weeks once that begins is the  media will slowly switch coverage day  by day and will be noticeably  recordable through analytics and represented in percentage  changes. The hours dedicated to talking Iran just fluidly converge towards Cuba. 30 seconds  less for Iran stories one day, goes towards Cuba instead. Then a minute the next  day. Three minutes less the following week, etc.. etc..

Doing  it gradually ensures the cattle, zombies, proles,  regular people do not notice. Although it will first change in the algorithm as Cuba related stuff just  pops up more despite you not clicking related content. Suddenly sometime in the summer, we are cheering the liberation of Cuba, kinetic action in the middle east has slowed somewhat during talks nobody acknowledges having, and we all get redirected and distracted by synchronizing USA 250 anniversary with liberation of the newest  free people in the Western hemisphere, with the goal hoping they have mostly gotten people to forget  and ignore the Iran debacle the same way all those passionate Defend Ukraine folks just do not discuss Ukraine anymore, despite the fact it has not stopped.

This is of course a haphazard inference, but I feel it fits a pattern.