The past two weeks have not been kind to Qatar. The strange little appendage off the Arabian Peninsula has had its landward side cut-off by everyone’s favorite neighbors, the Saudis. They also got a big middle finger up from Arab heavyweight Egypt, and other neighborhood states Bahrain, Yemen (such as it is) and the UAE. Mind you, this is a state that imports almost 100% of its food. So this is going to come to a head, quite rapidly.
Some of the oddities you will find about this place;
- 90% of the people there are NOT Qatari (which is why over a quarter of the population is Hindu or Christian – think imported labor).
- Only a bit over a quarter of the populace are women
- YUUUGE natural gas reserves
- Oh yeah, US CENTCOM happens to have an interest in the area (I was too stupid to take a 4 day pass and go there, when I was in Iraq in 2008)
This has all the elements of a perfectly toxic brew of regional influence struggles, a possible humanitarian disaster and all sorts of nasty knock-on effects.
I will have to say, I was quite surprised this came to a head so quickly. I think the Saudis are striking while the anti-Iran Trump iron is hot. The war in Yemen is not going well, so they figure it is time to snip off one supporter of the Houthi rebels.
Keep an eye on this one folks – it could get damned ugly, real fast if one side or the other doesn’t give, soon.
Comments
182 responses to “Qatar $#&*storm”
Speaking of which, when the Saudis tell you to ease up on the terror ties, you know things are really FUBAR.
Depends on which terrorist they are backing…
This does seem to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
When you are completely reliant on foreign labor, food, and markets, have one border with a country that is over 185 times your size, you’re a vassal state. Qatar should shut up and do what the Saudi’s tell them to do.
Not that the Saudi’s are correct, but from a practical standpoint I don’t see how Qatar thinks it has any real options.
Yeah, I mean this is “Do as we say or starve. Quickly.”
Qatar may be hoping that our presence in their country gives them some leverage in the matter. We’re pretty invested there I don’t think we can simply pull stakes and GTFO if things go bad.
We can share some MREs. Do they still have the pork patty meal?
God Be Praised, no.
You need to update your tastes and try the veggie omelet.
That’s awful. During basic they gave my flight cases of that….
It’s no surprise the Frenchies have the most interesting MREs.
Russians have some interesting ones to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgICbOwP7NQ
Italian. Combat. Rations.
I shoulda transfered.
Look. do you want your food to taste good or do you want your rifle to work, cause you don’t get both.
Yes indeed.
And it’s in the breakfast compartment!
“70 proof (40°)”
Does not compute. Is that an Italian thing?
Does not compute. Is that an Italian thing?
Metric?
(no surprise, since I’m highly suggestible, especially with food, I want to start collecting MREs. But apparently some of them are super expensive)
I think it would just be a transfer over to Ali AB in Kuwait, for the short term.
Wait I thought the guys name was Ali G?
*narrows gaze*
No, they can. Unless things have changed drastically since I was there last, a lot of the “Ops Town” side of the base is just remnants of the Camp Andy days, so they can reconstitute and move somewhere else in a matter of weeks. The other side of it, Coalition Compound, is just dormitories, the DEL, theater, gyms, BX etc, but that is where a lot of the investment went.
Incirlik AB in Turkey is built in a similar fashion. If things go south politically, they can pack up and go. It only takes 48 hours for the AF to get an operational airfield up and running.
I wonder if the specials are still there, with the installation lifts that sank into the floor of the hangers? Thought there was some hullaballoo about the Turks getting their hands on them—PALs or not—during the last Erdogan-sponsored riots. Maybe it made sense to keep them there during the bad old Soviet Union days, but jeez, airlift them to Diego Garcia or the States already.
Re Al Udeid, the Saudis and other Gulf countries haven’t tried to sea blockade Qatar, or its very large LNG terminal, so I think they’ve some breathing room for awhile. Strange that those countries are that pissed at Qatar, 1 billion dollar ransom to Iran or not, but I’ve long since thrown up my hands trying to predict what’ll happen in that part of the world. Wonder why Oman didn’t join in the 2 minutes of hate?
I have no idea what exactly is there. My only knowledge of Turkey is what others who were stationed there told me. The use of BEAR assets on concrete pads and that “same-same” is well in effect is the extent of it.
Pretty much. This is about as stupid as Lesotho agitating South Africa. It isn’t as if Qatar is a paragon in the international community, so who the hell do they think will back them up? Sure, we have a base there, but for better or worse America isn’t Ken on upsetting the Saudi’s, especially over Qatar.
The politics in MENA are the only politics that could make the Balkans look sane.
I hope the World Cup bankrupts them. (Yeah, I know, fat chance of that.)
Odds it’s worse than South Korea or South Africa?
If the crisis doesn’t end quickly then FIFA will have to move the World Cup 2022. USA would be a natural choice.
You realize that this is all part of Trump’s master plan, don’t you?
Why the fuck did anyone think having a sporting event in one of the hottest nations on earth was a good idea?
Oh, wait. FIFA. $5,000,000 to each elector will produce a result.
The engineering sketches and requirements sound absolutely hilarious. Yeah, let’s do open air stadiums in 120 degree heat. I don’t care how air-conditioned you make it, how are you going to keep the players upright during that? Or the fans trying to get into the the stadiums?
Or the other proposal I heard was that they were going to try and bump the tournament to the winter, and ban hammer any leagues/teams that got pissy about sending their players.
Just give it back to the US; the ’94 Cup is still the tournament that’s made the most money and had the greatest attendance, IIRC.
I think they finally realized that was a bad idea. Instead of going back and re-doing the vote, they’re moving the World Cup to November/December that year.
They’re almost certainly planning to give the 2026 World Cup to a North American joint bid (majority of games in the US, some in Canada/Mexico) and the 2030 World Cup to a British Isles joint bid.
3 years before FIFA 2022, Qatar is scheduled to host the World Track & Field championships. Not nearly as big an event but it will still run 10 days and draw athletes from 180+ nations. They’ve got no real home-grown track stars aside from the world’s best high jumper but it’s another effort to stamp their brand on the world sporting stage. They’ve moved those dates to late September-early October (usually these take place in mid-August.) Still wouldn’t want to be a distance runner there.
If there are lots of Christians there, do you think they have any kind of ceremonies from time to time?
(Extreme Pun Warning.)
*PER Number.6 – do not click, look below instead*
/Edit Fairy
Ugh. BAD LINK above. Encourages user to go to clickbait site. Better link here.
I hate it when I fuck up a bad pun.
What’s worse, fucking up a good pun or a bad one?
They’re both hanging offenses.
Qatar? Who cares about that. Washington is having its Super Bowl tomorrow when Comey testifies and Trump is going to be live tweeting it, people.
CNN, meanwhile, is promising the testimony will be a “humdinger” and “yuge.” Even bigger than the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. CNN has the best nose for this stuff!
I can’t believe that this is actually a thing that’s going to happen.
CNN has a countdown on screen for Comey’s testimony. Last I saw was about 45 hours and counting. This is just absurd.
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/06/06/breaking-comey-wont-claim-trump-obstructed-investigation-abc-reports/
CNN hardest hit. Expect that countdown to end soon. Comey will apparently not insinuate that Trump obstructed the FBI investigation
Can you blame them? The sounds reverberating around in their echo chamber has them thoroughly convinced this hearing will be his undoing, at which point Trump will ritualistically strangled, drawn and quartered and his dismembered parts will be sent to the four corners of the midwest to serve as a warning to those who would defy their coastal overlords.
It’s even better when you remind said echo chamber dwellers that, even if you knock out Trump, you get to say hello to President Pence.
Trump is a Mike Bloomberg who doesn’t hate guns, and could teach Kim Kardashian tricks about self-promotion. He isn’t the Tealiban warlord their propaganda’s made him out to be. Pence isn’t either, but IMHO he’s a hell of a lot closer.
I have it on good authority that Pence’s single minded mission in life is to round up all the gays and send them to re-education camps.
This is going to be just like Geraldo opening Capone’s vault!! I can barely stand the
excrementexcitement!Or Madcow unveiling Trump’s taxes. Some sad faces due.
I still remember watching that.
Not as good as the Geraldo autobiography, where he talks about hooking up with half his guests including Bette Midler.
You know who else was in for a big surprise?
Fergus in The Crying Game?
DAMN YOUR NIMBLE FINGERS
Martian customs enforcement?
+”Two Weeks”
Fergus?
I like the way you think
hillary on election night?
What the hell do they think Comey is going to say? He can’t say Trump tried to spike the Flynn investigation, because he previously testified under oath that he wasn’t asked or pressured to do that. And if he says someone tried to obstruct, he was obligated under the law to report it at that time.
What the hell do they think Comey is going to say?
Under advisement of legal counsel, I prefer to invoke my privilege under the 5th amendment.
Oh, please, let the recently fired FBI director plead the 5th on national TV. pleasepleaseplease.
That’s about the only reason I’m paying any attention to it at all. Maybe, just maybe it’ll be entertaining.
I can’t quite figure Comey out. Is he a marionette being controlled by…who? Or is he just a career Swamp Creature wild card?
The answer’s here is gonna be: yes?
Is the FBI still refusing to comply with the subpoena for his CYA memos?
If so, why isn’t the director of the FBI cooling his heels behind bars for contempt of Congress? It has always baffled me that Congress treats its own subpoenas as optional.
“No, fuck you, our subpoena said you will have your ass in the committee room by 9:00 am Wednesday. You either walk in, or you’ll be dragged in. Capisce?”
I am a big fan of Howard Hughs response to congressional subpoenas. Of course he wasn’t a government employee.
Some left wing rags have made the claim he’s going to say he didn’t realize it at the time, but thinking back on it he was totally being pressured by Trump.
Comey is just spineless enough that this seems possible.
So, the FBI Director version of college campus rape?
argh you win
Nice.
The few Republicans who called him out for saying he had previously claimed no pressure was put on the FBI by the White House probably led him to walk back that stupidity. I fully suspect that he took a few weeks to reflect on how awful he’d look and backed down.
The former FBI director claiming he didn’t know what obstruction of justice was at the time it was happening wouldn’t exactly bolster the case that he was wrongly fired for being incompetent.
So it was like sex with a women’s studies major on a college campus?
Only one quarter of the population is female?
I just assume there are a lot of undocument sex slaves, in Muslim tradition.
Those are some undocumented immigrants I could really get behind, in more ways than one.
You will apparently need to considering the female scarcity..
It’s ok Suthen, they have plenty of little boys to vent their surplus sexual energy.
10% of the population is Qatari. So assume 5% are Qatari men, who probably run the place. If 25% of the population is female, that means there are 5 women for every Qatari male. Islam only allows you to have 4 wives. The math works out (unless you are unlucky enough to be a non-Qatari male).
I thought you could have seven pleasure wives and three family wives, or something like that.
*Burns Qatari visa*
Do they have to be wives?
If they’ve imported a male labor force equal to the Qatari population, then that should make the population 1/4 women. And if 25% of the population is non-Muslim, then yes, they’ve imported a lot of labor.
“Trump says isolating Qatar could mark the “beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism” and backs Saudi Arabia and its allies. He suggests Qatar is funding extremism.”
I’ll admit to having little knowledge of Qatar. Is Trump right? I know Qatar has all kinds of oil riches. I wouldn’t be surprised if they funded extremist groups, but I don’t know if they do or not.
Also, fuck Saudi Arabia. I get the reasoning for the U.S. to ally with them against terrorist groups. They can throw a lot of weight around in the M.E. They are not our friend though. They fund their own brand of terrorism. If they help us successfully defeat ISIS, so what. that’s not gonna stop rich Saudis from creating new terror organizations.
My guess is that Trump knows as much about Qatar as you do and is simply parroting whatever his Top Men told him in the briefing. If Saudi Arabia is involved you know there’s no way its 100% on the level.
When I heard that the Saudis were accusing someone else of being sponsors of terror, I just had to laugh.
“Sponsors” seems like an odd word.
“This terrorist attack brought to you by the House of Saud! ”
“And now a word from our sponsor: BOOOM!”
I’d watch that show. I see that Europe is already broadcasting the reruns
It gets old by the second season.
They need some celebrity guests.
“Cat Stevens is that you?”
“Ahmed, you know my name is Yusuf Islam, now”
(audience applause)
“Whoops- I guess I can’t get anything right”
“Ahmed- you know that’s not true” (puts arm around Ahmed) “Now, let’s go get ourselves on a no fly list”
“Too, late”
(audience laughs)
“Ahmed”
So is the whole thing about gas, terrorism, ransom, or just power?
Dollars. Above all else, the Saudis must only sell oil in dollars
lol
i was going to post “THEY’RE MANIPULATING THE METALS MARKET!” but your response was better.
My niece’s husband is stationed in Qatar. They’ve got two boys and one in the oven. Yikes.
The chance that this is going to seriously endanger anyone of our boys, at least in the short term, is quite low. I doubt Qataris are crazy enough to piss us off after alienating everyone else in the region. Eventually if widespread starvation became a real thing people would try to raid the base but hopefully by that point we have either started humanitarian aid or evacuated the base.
They’re Jewish Nazis?
*applause*
BOOOO!!!!!!! HISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(((Nazis)))?
OT: Mr. Robot has his own YouTube channel, apparently.
I first read that as “Mr Roboto”. Now I’m disappointed.
Me too!
If they closed-looped the video, it’d be like a mecha- version of the Yule Log.
+1 Styx
Why does he wear lipstick and eye makeup?
One of our affiliated companies is slated to do major bidness with Qatar airlines. Oy vey.
Mind you, this is a state that imports almost 100% of its food
True story. I went to one of the malls there and paid over $20 for some Schwarma. It was alright.
At that price, it ought to have been.
Sure you weren’t in New York?
Let’s see,
– Nobody spoke English.
– It smelled funny. Like putting out a dumpster fire with sewage type of funny.
– Lots of tall, shiny buildings
– No Football team.
– Everyone was insanely rich or worked for the state.
– A seaport nearby.
Could’ve gone either way.
*thunderous ovation*
OT: With the recent legislation up in Canada regarding pushing transgenderism on children, does anyone else think we’re going to start seeing in the next few years a serious push for acceptance of pedophilia? I know there have already been a few places trying to normalize it, but could we start seeing stories in MSM with that angle?
Considering what they did to Milo for even suggesting that his personal experiences were not the worst thing ever I’m not sure how they would square that circle.
Like being consistent has ever stopped the left before.
Relatively easy. Modify age of consent to being based on physiological development.
Once a pubescent child can breed, they have agency over their reproductive rights, just like a ‘real’ adult. Done and done.
Milo? He’s only a deviant and damaged because he expresses wrongthink. Indeed, the fact he expresses wrongthink is proof that he’s a deviant and damaged. In a true progressive state, society would be protected from any breeding proclivities he might have now, or in the future. Milo’s going to have to work very hard to escape that Kafkatrap.
She may be only 4, but she identifies as 17.
(OMWC applauds!)
If Milo confined his offensive brand of trolling for Christians and white people he would be a hero of the left, no question about it.
Think? Nah.
Expect? Absolutely.
I won’t go all “John” on everyone, but it’ll happen. I don’t think it’ll be a push by the MSM directly in print and TV media, I think it’ll be pushed by the narrative in blog posts and social platforms.
Colleges. The cancer of Western Civilization is found on the university campus
Yeah, University campuses will likely be the first mainstream place to start such an acceptance movement. Brainwash the young before they can know better.
Oh, that’ll be where it starts. But I wouldn’t be surprised when it starts slowly creeping into the MSM narrative. Start with covering such things as an oddity that “brings up interesting points.” End up with, “who are we to judge?”
https://youtu.be/rRLwV2xafpk
To be sure.
Yes we will. I have no doubt that the Left must invent some new aggrieved group to further their objectives. Pedophiles will probably be last, though
NAMBLA applauds!
National Marlon Brando Lookalike Association?
I’m going to give you a narrowed gaze you cannot refuse.
*narrows gaze*
That seems grotesquely beyond the pale even for them. So yeah, probably. My guess= it will start as excused but not accepted behavior for certain groups that the left likes. For instance, groups that already get excused for forcing a strict dress code on women and female genital mutilation.
it will start as excused but not accepted behavior for certain groups that the left likes.
Like, Hollywood directors?
Lena Dunham’s pedophilia was dismissed by her accolytes, IIRC.
“The kid was askin’ for it”
no.
i do think i see where you’re coming at this. the mistake you’re making is trying to be logical when the issue is anything but.
one thing that’s very notable about the very-public celebration of transgender conversions of children is how utterly divorced they are from actual *teen sexuality*
Meaning, i think this shit is only getting public support because everyone sees the issue as nothing more than “little billy wants to dress like a girl”. When little billy is ‘less little’ and ends up pulling a train with a bunch of other little boys, i think the love-affair with trans-ness will start to sour pretty damn quick.
basically, people have managed to dance around the reality of “how kids sex lives are going to develop as a consequence”, and instead kept the issue boxed in this very-silly “just call my boy a girl and everything will be fine” fantasy world.
Qatar – polyp or appendix?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Goiter.
Skin tag
^THIS^
Like Florida, then
I was a finalist to be the boss lawyer for the huge new Qatari medical complex several years ago; the money was . . adequate. Then the new CEO decided to bring in one of his cronies for the job. I’ve wondered what that would have been like and how different my life would have been.
Just today, I saw a listing for a lawyer at the big Saudi medical complex. Pass.
Money would have had to be more than adequate to get me over there. I would need ‘live like Tony Montana’ at the very minimum.
When I said “adequate”, I meant “Holy shit. That’s not a typo?”
Probably wouldn’t have happened anyway – Mrs. Dean’s career/business oppos in Qatar were effectively zero. One of the interesting things about the job, to me, was that there was a definite implication that they didn’t want just a technician/legal expert; they were looking for somebody who could be a fixer as well.
Better call Saul, amiright?
Or Ray Donovan?
“You make my pussy hurt!” /Boston accent
See for that kinda money I would have done it for a year or two, paid off my bills, stacked my bread, and bailed out for greener pastures.
That was kinda my plan, if it happened. As I saw it, even without whatever I was going to bank on the side, I’d be pretty much set to retire after 3 – 4 years.
Wow, they will literally outsource everything to TCN.
Where do I go to score a gig like that?
Mrs. Dean didna want to be a woman of leisure for a few years?
“Prisoner of Doha”
When Mrs. Dean doesn’t have a demanding project to hand, she remembers that she lives with a demanding project.
Probably wouldn’t have happened anyway – Mrs. Dean’s career/business oppos in Qatar were effectively zero.
I thought she married you for the money.
You chose wisely. The summer in Qa’tar is hell on earth; I say that as a Phoenix native.
Re the summer in Qatar, the highest heat index ever measured on Earth was on July 2003, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, about 100 miles north west from Al Udeid as the crow flies. It was 178 degrees, or 108 degrees air temperature, dew point 95 degrees.
Given that, I can believe stories of people going to Riyadh in the summertime because the coast was too hot.
No offer to be Counsel for Islamabad General then?
Just today, I saw a listing for a lawyer at the big Saudi medical complex. Pass.
Good, otherwise I’d ask you to read Saudi Arabia v. Nelson, 507 U.S. 349 (1993). Prepare to be enraged if you do.
Got a link?
Well, shit; I SF’d the link. Try this one: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/507/349/case.html
The gist of it is that Nelson went to Saudi in the 1980s to help run a hospital’s facilities there. He saw safety defects, warned Saudi authorities, who told him to shut up. He whistleblew, elements of the Saudi government threw him into jail and tortured him, while telling his wife they’d let him go if she fucked one of them, and the U.S. pretty much blew him off until a U.S. Senator got wind of it. They let Nelson go, and both tried to sue for personal injury when he got back to the States. Supreme Court chucked the case on Foreign Sovereign Immunity grounds.
What the Saudis did was shitty, but I don’t think the Nelsons should have been able to sue in a US court.
I meant to the job posting, but this also works. Good read.
I think this may actually be the US switching sides in the Shia/Sunni, Iran/Saudi faceoff. Obama was clearly a strong supporter of Iran; looks like Trump may have decided to pick the other team.
Of course, it just raises the eternal question “Why can’t they both lose?”
I’m staking everything on the Nation of Islam.
GO TEAM FARRAKHAN
I keep waiting for the Iranians to finally develop that IRBM nuclear deterrent they’ve been chasing for the last 15 years. Then the Saudis will openly admit they’ve had them for the past 20 years. And then both sides will end up nuking each other.
There are too many countries on earth anyway. What’s the point of Andorra anyway?
What’s the point of Andorra anyway?
We need our conjunctions.
*swerves off of road*
*blinks rapidly…stands to begin thunderous and prolonged ovation*
Nice:)
Why? What’s their function?
Great tax-free shopping? So I’ve been told.
The Pyrenees are supposed to be pretty, anyway.
hey, just like a Steelers/Patriots game.
These are actual biology courses at Evergreen State
That poor bio professor. How could he have ever seen the little Maoists coming?
vectors of power
I love these made up terms that the proggies have. It’s a race amongst themselves to invent new words that are essentially meaningless but seem descriptive of some nefarious thing.
That was a kids’ show back in the early 80s.
Just like brutal technical death metal album names
Vectors of power?
I think they slipped in a little patriarchy there,
I had a “bio” class called Evolution vs. Creationism. It was OK. We didn’t talk too much about creationism.
I bet the didn’t even cover the fact that the Earth rests on the back of a giant sea turtle swimming through the ether.
+ turtles all the way down
You left out the elephants.
That would be absurd.
It was a way for this liberal arts major to get through the science requirement. If I had to do it over, I’d-a taken an astronomy class instead. But it’s kind of interesting a university on the path to SJW DOOM would even offer a class like that. But this was in the early 90’s, before retardation took full effect.
Something something white males bad something something. There, I just wrote the Cliff Notes of every assigned reading for the course.
Quit mansummarizing!
I hate to make light of such a serious issue, but…
Will a champion emerge to defend Quatar? A Quatar Hero, if you will?
Expert with blunt weapons.
A Qatar Pounder
Spare Us the Qatar
At that other place.
“Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has picked a civil libertarian activist as deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs.”
Children, minorities, women, men, otherkin hardest hit.
So, is it true that the Saudis, about eight hours ago, gave the Qataris a 10 point ultimatum including things like: cease broadcasting Al Jazeera, break diplomatic relations with Iran, and expel Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas members from Qatar? https://twitter.com/faisaledroos?lang=en , who evidently is some reporter at Al Jazeera. http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/faisal-edroos.html
OTOH, he put up a tweet an hour ago claiming one of his sources says the 10 point demand thing is bunk, so who knows?
In other news, Iran looks like they’re having some difficulty…