Freak all you like, fellas... its tough to stuff shaving cream back in the can. Look to your own houses... Arab House is afire, you won't be able to stunt the flames for very long - if at all. Look to your own Houses.
Right or wrong, fair or not - BHO, Cameron, Sarkozy, Merkel, Harper - none of these folks will survive the next election should the House of Saud fall. And if Egypt falls, the House of Saud is toast, as is the government of Yemen. Think Kuwait is safe? Think again. Wealth brings envy... and when envy meets up with ambition - LOOK OUT.
Iran must be nearly overcome with emotion from this extreme piece of luck... unless the Iranian regime catches fire, too. And that could easily happen there as well as in Pakistan. Oh, what tangled webs we weave...
I had this to say in my post of November 24, 2006:
Notice how I did not mention Saudi Arabia in my blow-by-blow country description? I am no diplomat; I have never worked in any foreign policy capacity. But, I will make a bet with you: Flip a coin as to what comes first – the peak in world Oil production or the collapse of the House of Saud. These 2 events are inevitable, and each event by itself will have a similar effect. Together, the compounded effect would be… well, disconcerting.On June 5, 2008 I posted:
Saudi Arabia, perhaps soon just Arabia, holds the world's economy in its hands. When, not if, the House of Saud falls, no one will hold what is left of the world's economy in its hands.Go back and look at all of the news releases over the past year... how many articles/stories about Radical Islam? Now count how many articles/stories about popular revolt in Tunisia and Egypt... it NEVER comes quite as expected, now does it?
If Mubarak meets his maker very soon (or even if he flees with his skin) The Boys From Saud are next.
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Dear Senator Rand Paul: This would be an excellent time to retract your idea of cutting foreign aid to Israel. If ever the U.S. needs Israel, it is now. I was a supporter of yours, and I want to support your efforts to dismantle the Department of Energy, Commerce, HUD, et al... but your timing could not have been worse, and I sincerely hope you beat a hasty retreat.
8 comments:
Thank you so much for keeping up with this. You analysis is really useful.
Kuwait is addressing the problem , perhaps not in the best way. But at least they are not so far removed as to be clueless.
Best,
Dan
This wont be the last time you have to ask a Libertarian to change his tune to better fit the real world. :)
Anyway, all the functions from a closed US Dept of Energy, Education, Commerce and HUD still have to be done. It would just get moved to other departments and agencies. Nuclear weapons still have to be decommissioned, loans and grants still have to be dispensed to students, public housing still has to be managed, the Census still has to be taken, etc. etc. etc.
So why waste our time and money closing departments that do provide relevant services to the public, with no cut in personnel?
If you REALLY want to cut government spending, you know what you have to do: cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, bond payments, Defense, services to the handicapped, elementary and secondary education and pensions to 35-year teachers. Thats 80-90% of Federal and state government spending right there.
But of course, the devil is in the details. Plus the electorate would run you out of town on a rail. :)
Great minds must think alike (referring to your newspaper shadowing of future events), today I was pondering what this was all about. Operatives start revolutions forcing western powers to take control of oil supplies just as peak oil starts to really show up. The military knows what is up, the CIA knows what is up, European governments with little gas/oil resources know what is up. Things this big don't happen now without the approval of the powerful. So back to narrative, the western powers step in to bring “freedom” which is similar to oil contracts to the western powers under threat of western navy’s. Jeffers you mentioned this “overthrown and "the people" seize power, those "people" might not be interested in Selling their Oil off as fast as possible.” We meaning the western nations know this and cannot let this happen because this might throw us in a death spiral. Or maybe this world is just completely irrational and we are really screwed. I am not going to lie, I would rather my scenario be true because it would protect the west from oil depletion for a few more yrs. The only problem is that at some point we expend more treasure/blood then we get in return from oil fields. If west Texas is correct on the export numbers this would only really help for what 8-10 yrs at most, then the oil thing goes ku-put.
Oh the irony,
Bush made the promotion of democracy a centerpiece of his second term. Then Obama cut the funding for the programs and BAM! The strongmen are all in the dock...
Best,
Dan
Dex,
It struck me a couple of years ago that free markets need not apply when our divisions were in Iraq, Afghanistan, and we had all of the ME producers encircled.
Best,
Dan
Orlov, but his blog commenters as well, have a lot to say about this developing situation....none of it good.
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/
I am puzzled by your comment that the US needs Israel? In strictly utilitarian terms, what benefit is Israel to the US?
There are about 7.5 million Israelis surrounded by 200 million hostile Muslims.
I would rather settle them in North Dakota or Alaska and avoid the horror show that is coming. It would probably be cheaper in treasure and blood.
The Muslim world is going through a Reformation not unlike the one the Christian world went through 400-500 years ago. It will take a long time and will probably be as nasty as the Christian one was.
And a lot of bystanders will die.
History Buff
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