'Saudis would let IAF jets fly over kingdom on Iran mission' (3 Viewers)

[JonathanM]

Mossad head Meir Dagan assured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia would allow Israeli Air Force jets to fly over their kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
According to the London daily, Dagan held talks with Saudi officials earlier this year on the topic. The Israeli media has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including former prime minister Ehud Olmert, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. Saudi officials denied the reports.
"The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia," a diplomatic source was quoted in the Times as saying last week.
While Israel has no formal diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, an Israeli source confirmed that the Mossad has "working relations" with the Saudis.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who recently visited the Gulf, said it was "entirely logical" for the Israelis to use Saudi airspace.
Bolton, who has talked to a number of Arab leaders, added: "None of them would say anything about it publicly but they would certainly acquiesce in an over-flight if the Israelis didn't trumpet it as a big success."


Arab states would publicly condemn a raid when they spoke at the UN but would be privately relieved to see the threat of an Iranian bomb removed, Bolton said.
Referring to the attack on an alleged Syrian nuclear facility in 2007 that Israel is rumored to have launched, Bolton added: "To this day, the Israelis haven't admitted the specifics but there's one less nuclear facility in Syria . . ."
Moderate Sunni Arab states are becoming increasingly concerned about the stability of the repressive Shi'ite regime in Tehran and it emerging as a belligerent nuclear power.
"The Saudis are very concerned about an Iranian nuclear bomb, even more than the Israelis," a former head of research in Israeli intelligence told the Times.

I'm actually awed at this lack of disunity. Win for the Western world though (imo). Irony of the situation is that wouldn't Israel have to use a nuclear armed bunker blaster to destroy the facility?

 

[bigboyjames01]

hahaha. Saudi Arabia is a desperate bitch.

For the love of God I hope one day Israel/USA bombs the fuck out of the Saudi Royal Palace. Just fucking nuke the country.

 

[sstr]

I dont think this comes as a major surprise to anyone. Israel and the Sunni Arab states have a mutual interest in seeing Iran's nuclear program eliminated.

 

[Lentern]

You're surprised by the lack of middle eastern unity? Are you serious? Read some of the speeches made by Gaddaffi about Abdullah.

 

[Riet]

I dont think this comes as a major surprise to anyone. Israel and the Sunni Arab states have a mutual interest in seeing Iran's nuclear program eliminated.

quite frankly I think it is in everyone's interest. Nothing good can come of Iran having nuclear weapons.

 

[bigboyjames01]

quite frankly I think it is in everyone's interest. Nothing good can come of Iran having nuclear weapons.

umm balance of power will shift more towards the equilibrium.

stop being a jew.

 

[banco55]

umm balance of power will shift more towards the equilibrium.

stop being a jew.

I think you need to look up the definition of "balance of power" and "equilibrium".

 

[Riet]

umm balance of power will shift more towards the equilibrium.

stop being a jew.

it will provoke a war.

 

[zstar]

YouTube - Bar Refaeli Black & White (NSFW)

I guess the Arabs changed their mind about Israel after fapping to this video.

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

Saudi Arabia has made a decision?!

Well it MUST be a morally sound and humane decision, because Saudi Arabia is the most morally sound and humane country IN THE WORLD!

tbh, I agree with the exact opposite of whatever happens or comes out of Saudi Arabia, because they're a bunch of savages.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

I'm actually awed at this lack of disunity. Win for the Western world though (imo). Irony of the situation is that wouldn't Israel have to use a nuclear armed bunker blaster to destroy the facility?

No surprise. Over half of the Arab world is neutral to or allied with Israel (it might be news to Neb, but you don't have to hate Israel to promote the Palestinian cause). Arabs also have a supreme distrust of the Iranian dictatorship because they like to impose their will (and religion) on others, namely Arabs. The irony is that over half the Middle East is itself run by often ruthless dictatorships, but at least they've got a decent track record of minding their own business.

This isn't Saudi Arabia saying "we support Israel", it's Saudi Arabia sending a thinly veilled threat at Iran.

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

Praise b 2 Saudi Arabia and its awesome human rights status!

*hangs a gay*
*stones a kid to death*

 

[JonathanM]

Praise b 2 Saudi Arabia and its awesome human rights status!

*hangs a gay*
*stones a kid to death*

Not that Iran are much better tho :/


I never said I was 'surprised' at the Arab disunity, I said I was awed by it. Seems amazing that they can meddle amongst themselves rather than unite towards a common cause. Always makes me larl when the Sunni's and Shiites blow each other up in Iraq but still call America the 'common' enemy.

 

[sstr]

Irony of the situation is that wouldn't Israel have to use a nuclear armed bunker blaster to destroy the facility?

An interesting paper I read a couple of years back suggests that isn't the case. It gave a breakdown of the known capabilities of both sides, which haven't substantially changed. You can read it here if you have the patience:

http://web.mit.edu/ssp/Publications/working_papers/wp_06-1.pdf

About the authors:

Whitney Raas is a doctoral candidate in Nuclear Engineering at MIT and a member of the Security Studies Program. Austin Long is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at MIT and a member of the Security Studies Program.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

I'm actually awed at this lack of disunity. Win for the Western world though (imo). Irony of the situation is that wouldn't Israel have to use a nuclear armed bunker blaster to destroy the facility?

You don't need nukes to destroy bunkers, Jonathan. Conventional weaponry today is approaching the same power as the first nukes dropped on Japan, and can be targeted much more accurately (no radioactive fallout) and probably built more cheaply (no plutonium or uranium).

Nuclear weapons work largely as a bogey man, but if it came down to a war between world powers, WITHOUT nukes, as many, if not more people would die, since there's no taboo like with nukes. Remember that the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany killed more people and in a shorter timeframe than the two nukes did in Japan.

 

[Ben Netanyahu]

Not that Iran are much better tho :/

Yes they are. You see, they hate Israel, and Israel is the most violent and unruly country in the Middle East.

Iran are the freedom fighters of the Middle East.

I love this "Israel is not the problem" thesis that has arisen here. Fking hilarious.

 

[bigboyjames01]

Israel is a jewish nation.

/thread

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

Yes they are. You see, they hate Israel, and Israel is the most violent and unruly country in the Middle East.

Iran are the freedom fighters of the Middle East.

I love this "Israel is not the problem" thesis that has arisen here. Fking hilarious.

Holy shit every time I think you can't get any more stupid, you outdo yourself. Fuck.

 

[loquasagacious]

Realistically it seems unlikely that Saudi Arabia would allow it, they already have a tenuous grip on power and enabling an Israeli strike on a muslim state would seem like an excellent call to action for hardline and even moderate Saudi's.

As far as nuclear weapons go proliferation is undeniably not in the interests of the world generally due to their potential for destabilisation and destruction.

However from the perspective of a state nuclear weapons are the shiz. They allow small states to punch above their weight and offer a serious deterrant to larger states. Sure as a tin-pot dictator you can buy russian hardware and maybe intimidate your neighbours but nuclear weapons are the real deal. Once you've got them other people have to listen. They make a state a mover and shaker in their region.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

However from the perspective of a state nuclear weapons are the shiz. They allow small states to punch above their weight and offer a serious deterrant to larger states. Sure as a tin-pot dictator you can buy russian hardware and maybe intimidate your neighbours but nuclear weapons are the real deal.

That's unfortunately true.

Once you've got them other people have to listen. They make a state a mover and shaker in their region.

Oh, kind of like North Korea?