Massive Fires In Saudi Arabia - Aramco Oil Facilities Hit By Drones

The reaction to developments in the region can never be understood apply any sense of fairness, justice or reciprocity or anything of the sort. What's more, while I have little doubt Iran allows (as it should) certain weapons to pass to the Houthis, I don't think Iran supplies the Houthis directly. Iran's support of the Houthis, at least until more recently, and until long after the Saudis invaded and attacked Yemen on such false pretenses, was minimal if any. Recently, Iran might have taken greater steps, or given a greater green light, to the Houthis receiving greater assistance in their fight against the Saudis.

 

The Saudis should settle with the Houthis and Yemenis, and end their aggression against those countries.

If the US had moral leadership anywhere in Washington DC, it should insist on a peace plan.

 

That would be terrific, wouldn't it? The Houthis are a tiny minority that overthrew the government. Yemen has become the "go to" place for all sorts of terrorists .. Al Qaeda moved in from Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago.. destroyed Yemen's small oil business and closed over 500 factories. Boko Haram and Al Shabaab have also made themselves at home in Yemen. Then there is also a few Somali pirates.

KSA has poured money into Yemen for over 50 years in the form of hospitals, clinics, schools, colleges, gasoline, food and medicine.

They are currently sheltering about a million Yemeni refugees.

 

No remote control, GPS control.
Next to every of those little China Quads have GPS, which can bring them automatically back to the spot were they started from, accurate to a few feet.
Or follow me function, they fly themselves, film you while ski or mountain bike or what ever.
They are programable.

 

Wow, KSA seems to follow the American lead--build hospitals and schools, and then bomb hell out of them.

 

Several ships carrying arms to Yemen from Iran have been intercepted over the past 4 years. Control of traffic thru the Bab al Mandab and the Straits of Hormuz hurts everyone. Iran doesn't care about Yemen. What have they ever done for Yemen in terms of humanitarian aid, clean water, healthcare or education?

 

Correct, the rebels in Syria have been using hand made wooden drones with bomblets to attack the Russian air base in Latakia that are found to be using GPS navigation.

 

You obviously haven't been following events in Yemen for the past 60 years. KSA has a unique perspective.. They don't want a failed state on their border. They want them to be healthy, peaceful and prosperous. They don't want them broken and bleeding, impoverished and illiterate..

 

And why were they attacking KSA in cross border raids. They had to have had a reason, so what was it?

 

Because the Saudis backed the elected government and because the Houthis are nuts.. Messianic gangsters like so many terrorist groups.

Critical Threats: Al Houthis | PoliticalForum.com - Forum ...
www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/critical-threats-al-houthis.178559
Mar 01, 2012 · Critical Threats: Al Houthis. ... While this conflict has not been heavily reported in the Western media, the Arab press has been increasingly critical Iran s interference, pointing to further disquiet about Iran s hegemonic ambitions in the region.

 

Some of the very large scale models need 2 or 3 people to carry them around. They are not built for efficiency, but to replicate a real existing plane. They fly for an hour or so.
If you built for efficiency and a one way trip, you can leave a lot of heavy stuff out, like landing gear. Launch with a catapult. 50lbs, maybe 100 lbs.
It does not need so much power when it is in the air, just maintain cruising speed and fly pretty much in a straight line.

 

Interesting, but I am sure the drones by the Houthis aren't based on the models you are talking about. In this particular case, the distance we are talking about is 1,500 km or thereabouts. And the payload needed to inflict such damage to several sites isn't minimal either. Indeed, for these reasons, the US has been trying to see whether it was in fact drones or cruise missiles that hit the Saudi installations -- and whether they were launched from somewhere closer (e.g. Iraq) as opposed to Yemen.

 

What you said, can and has been disputed by neutral sources. But regardless, some level of assistance to the Houthis to balance out what the Saudis receive openly from everywhere (they are the largest importer of arms in the world and have the 3rd largest military budget in the world), including direct military involvement by more than half a dozen other countries, is only fair and right.

 

What does Iran want? They should be fat, happy and prosperous straddling the oil corridor.

 

I have answered you asking the same question at least a dozen times. And I have been foolish enough to try to answer you as many times. Lets talk about the issue at hand and not get into another divert and distract issue that you seem to prefer when comes to Saudi Arabia.

 

1. Iranian ship convoy moves toward Yemen, alarming US ...
   https://thehill.com/policy/defense/239295-us-officials-concerned-about-iranian-convoy...
   Iran is sending an armada of seven to nine ships — some with weapons — toward Yemen in a potential attempt to resupply the Shia Houthi rebels, according to two U.S. defense officials.
   
   
2. 4 Iranian arms shipments to Yemen stopped: US admiral ...
   https://www.businessinsider.com/afp-4-iranian-arms-shipments-to-yemen-stopped-us...
   Oct 27, 2016 · 4 Iranian arms shipments to Yemen have reportedly been stopped since April 2015 ... The arms seizures came after Iran in April 2015 tried in vain to send a convoy of seven ships…
   
   • Author: AFP

 

By the size of the drones shown in the pictures I doubt the 1500 km claim, 500 at the best. A target like a refinery needs just 1 lucky shot with 50lbs of modern explosives to create a real mess.

 

Iran has a war on its hands?

I seriously doubt Iran wants a war with an ally of the Republican party. While such a view is fashionable and politically correct among members of the far right, it is one that is baseless and in defiance of all manner of logic.

 

The issue of origin, source and nature of various weapons at the hands of the Houthis has been the subject of numerous UN investigations at the behest of the US and Saudi Arabia, which have commissioned experts in trying to find some of the relevant answers. Not that a weapon system having an origin in Radio Shack would prove it is supplied by the US or if it has an origin in some Iranian system it will prove Iran is directly supplying them either. There are dozens of Shia militia in Iraq and others in Syria which are openly armed by Iran to fight ISIS and, along with Hezbollah, they too would have much of the systems at issue.

But on this question, this short report discusses some of these issues.

https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2019/05/21/how-yemens-rebels-increasingly-deploy-drones/
How Yemen’s rebels increasingly deploy drones

While the United States uses American-made drones and the coalition has turned to Chinese suppliers, the manufacturer of the Houthis’ drones in both the air and the sea has been a contentious question.

Here are some key details about the rebels' drones:

The Iran link

A 2018 report by a United Nations panel of experts on Yemen looked particularly at the Houthis' Qatef-1 drone.

The report said that although the rebel media announced the Houthis had manufactured the drone, "in reality they are assembled from components supplied by an outside source and shipped into Yemen."

The Qatef, or "Striker," it added, "is virtually identical in design, dimensions and capability to that of the Ababil-T, manufactured by the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries."

The Ababil-T can deliver up to a 45-kilogram (100-pound) warhead up to 150 kilometers (95 miles) away.

A research group called Conflict Armament Research, with the permission of the United Arab Emirates' elite Presidential Guard, also examined seized drones used by the Houthis and their allies to crash into Patriot missile batteries in Saudi Arabia.

The research group similarly said those drones share "near-identical design and construction characteristics" of Iranian drones.

The drone boat

Saudi-led coalition forces last year also showed journalists a Houthi "drone boat," filled with explosives that had failed to detonate.

The officials also shared black-and-white images they said came from the "drone boat." They said the pictures and associated data from the boat's computer showed Iranians building components for its guidance system in eastern Tehran, with a hat in the background of one picture bearing the symbol of Iran's hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces.

They said those involved in building the components probably believed it would be destroyed in the blast, so they didn’t wipe the computer’s hard drive.

For its part, Iran repeatedly has denied supplying the Houthis with drone or ballistic missile technology. However, Iran would have an interest in seeing Saudi Arabia, its archrival in the region, tied down in a bloody, protracted conflict with no clear end in sight.

 

Flying at night makes sense, too. A low tech drone flying at maybe 300 feet, would have cool and dense air, more lift and the heat turbulences during daylight are gone.

 

I confess I dont know the bad actors from the really, really bad actors over their

So I have very little to say about it

 

So they bomb them into the stone age and commit genocide?

 

There are basically two separate issues when it comes to Houthi attacks against Saudi targets. One is whether they are being supplied their weapons directly from Iran? The likely answer to that is No. The other issue is whether these attacks show clear vulnerabilities in US supplied air defense systems? The answer to that is clearly Yes.

Leave aside the drones. The Houthis also assemble a cruise missile that seems modeled around Iran's Soumar Cruise Missile. That missile, used in some of the Houthis more recent attacks, has evaded Saudi air defenses and hit its targets, hitting among other targets Saudi airports.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/12/middleeast/saudi-airport-houthi-missile-intl/index.html

 

And here come the conspiracy theories. Lol

 

The SAG is not partisan at all. Their alliance with the US goes back to the late 1930s. They're pro-America not Republican nor Democrat... They take the long view and are committed to the progress and prosperity of the Saudi people.