Wars have been started for less.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
They don't seem able to do squat in Yemen so I don't give them any hope unless we do it for them.

Proof that it is the men/women flying the planes that matter, not just the high tech planes themselves.

In other words, Saudis aren't exactly tactical gurus in the use of Airpower - or any power, for that matter.

I did flight school with a bunch of Saudis - they were pre-ordained to pass and become pilots / WSOs. Didn't matter how many times they busted a sim / flight evaluation, they were going to graduate and get wings. The only ones that were worth a shit were the few 'non-royalty' ones, ie the regular joes.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
Wars have been started for less.

Yeah, but they Saudis have to actually fight (which they aren't good at), or find more expat / Mercenaries to do it for them.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
They don't seem able to do squat in Yemen so I don't give them any hope unless we do it for them.

Proof that it is the men/women flying the planes that matter, not just the high tech planes themselves.

True, but it's also true you can't win a ground war with only air assets.

Agree here with Rhino


Saudi Arabia became a rich country during the 1970s, but it remains vulnerable. Even though the Saudi weapons arsenal largely consists of cutting-edge Western technology, the royal army alone could hardly ward off a larger attack. And without the Americans' support, the military is almost useless. When a Saudi F-15 fighter jet takes off from King Khalid Air Base in southwest Saudi Arabia for a sortie over Yemen, the aircraft and the bombs come from the U.S. American mechanics maintain the fighter jet and carry out repairs on the ground. And American technicians also update targeting software and other encrypted technologies, which the Saudis aren't even allowed to touch. The pilot has also likely been trained by the United States Air Force.

I wonder if Prince Bandar is still involved behind the scenes.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
True, but it's also true you can't win a ground war with only air assets.

I'm sure the Saudis suck at ground combat too.

I mean yeah, they are probably a bit better than others, especially with all the tanks and shit we sold them, but in the end they have to fight it out.

Fact is if they didn't have a shit pot of oil to pump and sell, they'd be a hot, dry version of Afghanistan - a poor, backwards people, who fuck each other over whenever possible.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
They don't seem able to do squat in Yemen so I don't give them any hope unless we do it for them.

Proof that it is the men/women flying the planes that matter, not just the high tech planes themselves.

In other words, Saudis aren't exactly tactical gurus in the use of Airpower - or any power, for that matter.

I did flight school with a bunch of Saudis - they were pre-ordained to pass and become pilots / WSOs. Didn't matter how many times they busted a sim / flight evaluation, they were going to graduate and get wings. The only ones that were worth a shit were the few 'non-royalty' ones, ie the regular joes.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
Wars have been started for less.

Yeah, but they Saudis have to actually fight (which they aren't good at), or find more expat / Mercenaries to do it for them.

...and the Bushes aren't in power so the House of Saud can't use Americans...I hope anyway.

The Iranians and their allies seem to have no problem slaughtering all the mercenaries from Sudan and Somalia that the Family Saud, with all there money, can hire . Battlefield reports suggest the Iranian reverse engineered TOW rockets are nearly equal in effectiveness to the US supplied ones. It looks like the Kingdom is on borrowed time. I hope we plan for that. After all these decades of supporting the Royal Family , the deal they made with there hard line clerics, the oppression of political dissenters, the internet, ect , post revolution anti west sentiment on the Arabian peninsula is going to make what happened in Iran in 1979 seem like a bad weekend with the inlaws.

Of course.

Around here, gas prices have dropped about 25 cents in the past 10-12 days.

I’m sure they will go right back up past that.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
With all of the Military shit we have sold the Saudis I think they can take are of themselves.
BONUS: reorders of Military shit.

Oil prices still skyrocket and Iran still wins.

Maybe it will, maybe it won't but so what?
If we are energy independent then why should we care?
It's going to hurt them waayyy more than us, if at all.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
With all of the Military shit we have sold the Saudis I think they can take are of themselves.
BONUS: reorders of Military shit.

Oil prices still skyrocket and Iran still wins.

Maybe it will, maybe it won't but so what?
If we are energy independent then why should we care?
It's going to hurt them waayyy more than us, if at all.

Because if oil prices triple, what do you think the odds they will shore up the retirement funds or fund nuclear weapons to further disrupt oil production?

Don't think so myopic and think more centuries based.

Fuck the Saudis. Fuck them.

Fuck the Iranians. Fuck them.

Not to start a ruckus, but this is the exact sort of thing Bolton was warning about for years before his dismissal.

Not going to say the two are connected, but there's some vindication for a man both sides love to hate.

When it comes to who loses..why not both?

No good can come from this. I wish people could just be more tolerant and have internet/social media flame wars, not light up oil refineries in flames.

quote:

Originally posted by PD:
It’s very likely that with a wink and a nod the Saudis will allow authorize air space to the IDF

...it's a seekrit...

It's happened before. The Saudi government is not as hostile to Israel as people might think (however, this says nothing about what the general Saudi public thinks.)

quote:

Originally posted by PD:
It’s very likely that with a wink and a nod the Saudis will allow authorize air space to the IDF

How about this idea. We (the US) stir the pot hard with both and aim them at each other with the promise of support in terms of ordinance. Sell weapons to both and encourage them to lay waste to each other. Keep upping the anty on ordinance to insure both sides inflict maximum devastation on the other. When the time arrives where one is vanquished and the other is severely damaged and weakened, we roll in the troops and quickly annex both countries. Call them BFE1 and BFE2 and make them American territories. Problem solved, and a few key benefits realized.

quote:

quickly annex both countries. Call them BFE1 and BFE2 and make them American territories. Problem solved, and a few key benefits realized.

....been hallucinating much lately???

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:

quote:

quickly annex both countries. Call them BFE1 and BFE2 and make them American territories. Problem solved, and a few key benefits realized.

....been hallucinating much lately???

Pretty sure he is engaging in a bit of whimsy