Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup Wiz...I mean...Ed

[Ed Balzer]

Strong words from Ed the ball lover...

They don't call me 'opinionated' for nothing.

[AlabamAlum]

OpEd??

[AlabamAlum]

Well, that makes sense if it's true.

[Ed Balzer]

To the actual issue at hand, as hack continues to correctly point out, the embassy in Jerusalem thing has to be viewed with the Saudis in mind. Well, probably.

In the larger geopolitical space, a known pro-Israel country recognizing Jerusalem as the capital because, you know, it is has to be weighed against Saudi interests (and others) in the behemoth Shia power sitting across the gulf. My guess is that the Saudis still care way more about Iran then some symbolic stuff. Dem boys in Tehran ain't symbolic.

With the war winding down in Syria and Iraq, Yemen will continue to fester and Libya will soon escalate. I wouldn't be surprised to see the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan heat up.

But there will be no direct war between Iran (or Hiz b'Allah in Lebanon) and either Saudi Arabia or Israel. The Vlad and Donald brothers will see to that. The biggest problem the US faces is in keeping the Saudis completely in our orbit, as there has been distancing with Turkey and Qatar.

[Ed Balzer]

OpEd??

If ever seen, ban the bastage on the spot!

[AlabamAlum]

Are you Ed? I need you to affirm or deny. You were very pro Hezballah iirc.

[hack]

Hamas was the biggest impediment to peace in the 1990s. Once the possibility of it was destroyed, Israel started sharing that burden.

[hack]

The biggest problem the US faces is in keeping the Saudis completely in our orbit, as there has been distancing with Turkey and Qatar.

Who else are the Saudis going to turn to? It's hard to imagine.

IMO the bigger question for the US is which horse to back in the region. Saudi is a dead end and the rationale for the relationship in the first place is gone. Iran could be a real country one day, with regular people and a regular and diversified economy and a set of geopolitical interests that aren't so narrow or defined by its basic internal tension. I don't think we should formally walk away from the Saudis, but they aren't our friends, never have been, and pretending such makes other US policy goals more difficult.

[hack]

Are you Ed? I need you to affirm or deny. You were very pro Hezballah iirc.

Whoever the new guy is, he's weird. I like it. He says strange things that are hard to reconcile with other things in the very same post, and other things that are interesting.

[iam416]

Hamas was the biggest impediment to peace in the 1990s. Once the possibility of it was destroyed, Israel started sharing that burden.

Yep. With the moderate solution unreachable the drift toward less moderation was almost inevitable. And now Israel certainly does share the burden.

So, you're Mr. Geopolitical -- what's your sense on Palestine accepting a deal comparable to the one Clinton brokered? Is that still a dead letter? I honestly have no clue other than assuming they wouldn't be keen to acquiesce re EJ.

[Kapture1]

the late 70's called and want their foreign policy back lol

[AlabamAlum]

If it is Opinioned Ed from Worldcrossing, he's a great addition here.

[iam416]

What the fuck is wrong with you.

[Kapture1]

Al Gropen has announced he will resign in the coming weeks.