Saudi Arabia

Submitted by JC Collins via PhilosophyOfMetrics.com,

For the first time in a long time I feel concerned and worried about the prospect of war.  The reaction of Saudi Arabia to the Russian intervention in Syria has always been the wild card in the shifting geopolitical power base in the Middle East.  Turkey and Israel, along with Saudi Arabia are the three countries with the most to lose because of a strong alliance between Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia.

Tomorrow, John Kerry will meet Sergei Lavrov and several of his other counterparts from Europe and the Mid-East in Munich in a last ditch effort to revive Syrian peace talks, which fell apart amid an intense Russian air assault on rebel positions in Aleppo.

Hacktivist group Anonymous have urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Saudi Arabia from participating in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.  Anonymous released a video by their Operation Nimr branch, urging a ban on the Gulf Kingdom following the execution of 47 people last year. Sputniknews.com reports: The call to ban Saudi Arabia from this year’s summer Olympic Games comes in protest to the execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and several Arab Spring activists in early January.

NATO and Saudi Arabia are set to discuss Riyadh’s proposal for troop deployment to Syria under the pretext of fighting ISIS, according to reports. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have all expressed their readiness to send ground troops to Syria as part of the US led coalition. Press TV reports: Saudi media quoted NATO sources as saying on Monday that Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is scheduled to attend the Western military alliance’s meetings in Brussels this week to hold talks on Riyadh’s plan for ground intervention into Syria.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that it would be suicidal for Saudi Arabia to intervene militarily on the ground in Syria. They never will because they know that they will be defeated says the general. Saudi Arabia is willing to send special forces or ground troops into Syria if the U.S. led coalition to fight the so called Islamic State starts ground operations.