Leaked transcripts of a closed-door meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan shed an extraordinary light on the hard-nosed Realpolitik of the two sides.
Prince Bandar, head of Saudi intelligence, allegedly confronted the Kremlin with a mix of inducements and threats in a bid to break the deadlock over Syria. “Let us examine how to put together a unified Russian-Saudi strategy on the subject of oil. The aim is to agree on the price of oil and production quantities that keep the price stable in global oil markets,” he said at the four-hour meeting with Mr Putin. They met at Mr Putin’s dacha outside Moscow three weeks ago.
[…]
The Putin-Bandar meeting was stormy, replete with warnings of a “dramatic turn” in Syria. Mr Putin was unmoved by the Saudi offer, though western pressure has escalated since then. “Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters,” he said, referring to footage showing a Jihadist rebel eating the heart and liver of a Syrian soldier.
Prince Bandar in turn warned that there can be “no escape from the military option” if Russia declines the olive branch. Events are unfolding exactly as he foretold.
Via Zerohedge. (h/t Robert of Ottawa)
Yeah well, the principals of KSA are not as dim as they look.
They have been playing a tight rope act for about 30 years….controlling/appeasing the crazies and keeping the west onside….
A lotta territory and resources…without a lotta manpower…especially reliable manpower…..
An alliance with Israel would be logical, militarily, but that would be suicide…
Iran is close geographically and hostile….kept at bay by the KSA high tech military….for now…
Al Capone meets Lucky Luciano to carve up the territory of Bugsy Siegel.
all this posturing and threatening, but at the end of the day it comes down to how will Israel react, they hold the key. And as Israel can not depend on obumbles we are in interesting times.
Putin is patient and ruthless. No doubt the Saudis
find him at least logical and predictable. In sharp
contrast to the clueless Obama and his brain trust.
Anyone remember, on the Carol Burnette show, the unlucky schoolkid character played by Sammy Davis Jr?
Obama reminds me of him.
Meanwhile, President Zero dithers, having no clue about and no regard for the actual outcome of his actions, and hoping not for the best outcome for Syrians and for the West, but for the outcome that best serves him politically. Having him at the meeting would have been like inviting Charlie Sheen to a meeting between Einstein and Newton. They would be talking about the time/space continuum and Charlie would be talking about Tiger Blood.
Canada oil sands looking better all the time.
And now from the Media Party cheer leading section:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/08/28/NYT-column-bomb-syria-illegal
NYT Column: ‘Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal’
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/08/28/Time-Syria-Obama
Time: Obama Can ‘Strike Syria Unilaterally’
by Breitbart News 28 Aug 2013, 6:05 AM PDT 127
On Monday, Time ran an explanation by Mark Thompson why President Obama could “strike Syria unilaterally.” “For better or worse, there’s also very little doubt that President Obama – should he choose to do so – can retaliate against Syrian targets for their use without approval from the American people, or their elected representatives in Congress,” Thompson helpfully reported. “Just like he did in Libya two years ago.”
Thompson continued:
For Americans brought up to believe only Congress can declare—and pay for—war, it’s worth noting that such legal niceties have loopholes big enough to fly cruise missiles through. And that is apparently what the U.S. military has in mind, as it beefs up its fleet of Tomahawk-cruise-missile-carrying warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, a chip shot from dozens of military and government targets scattered across Syria.
I’m sure the “CODE PINK LINE” will be announcing their support any minute now…
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
“those liver eaters”
Is it George W. Obama or Barack Hussein Bush sitting in the POTUS Big Boy seat?
So difficult for progressives to tell these days.
Code Pink will react however Alinksy tells them to react, and if you listen carefully you will hear crickets.
Fred, yes, it must be hard, but I am sure they will find a way to blame W. or Harper.
I am so glad Obama’s in charge right now. I know this is a step up from the election issues (reproduction rights, voter fraud, Romney is a rich guy) but I am sure he can handle it.
I know the US is good for its debt as well, if they want to run up a couple billion on this regime change, they are good for it. Its probably nothing…
Obama, through ignorance or malice, wishes to destroy the US and Israel. He doesn’t care how it happens. Russia wants to still make a rouble out of Syria.
Russians have always had a knee-jerk aversion to cannibalism even though they usually precipitated the events that caused it.
I never thought I would see the day when I agreed with the Russians. Canada had better see the light and stay out of there!
Russia is no creampuff.
Militarily speaking, they are very capable. Couple that with a strong decisive leader that doesn’t dither and Russia would likely win in a dustup over Syria.
Russia is in Syria at the behest of the Syrian government.
I hope Canada stays out of this, I don’t see any NATO obligation here.
The calm before the storm, as those who get out while they can…
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130828/183002858/Russia-Sends-Another-Plane-to-Evacuate-Citizens-From-Syria.html
Russia Sends Another Plane to Evacuate Citizens From Syria
MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – After nearly 90 Russians were evacuated from Syria on Tuesday, the emergencies ministry sent another plane for citizens willing to leave the war-torn country, a spokeswoman said.
“An Il-62 plane took off for Latakia. This special flight is for Russian and CIS nationals who had earlier expressed their determination to return to Moscow,” emergencies ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said.
A total of 89 people, mostly women and children, returned to Moscow onboard a plane which landed in the Domodedovo airport late on Tuesday.
Situation is Syria, where more than 100,000 people have been killed in a civil war since 2011, further deteriorated last week, following media reports of a chemical attack.
For me, the one consolation when Romney lost was that they would not be able to blame the Republicans when the US got involved in a war again. The left (Dems) will have to revise their thinking on this one. No more “Mr. Hope and Change” Too bad about that Nobel Peace Prize.
We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters,
He has the best grasp of it.
Why should we allow our people to die over Maniacs?
fanatics that say every day they want to kill us all.
People who are now infiltration our very governments to bring tier brand of 7th century Justice.
For Obama who is cosy with the MB or al-Quada? Who himself has declared that any enemy of the phoney prophet of Islam is an enemy to him. No matter how the winds of change blow.
Its pure nuttiness to be on any side in this out break of savagery from known enemies.
Let them resolve it themselves without a bullet or body from us.
Flexibility ………
Well, other than the price of gas at the pumps most likely going up, it will be interesting to see how this is going to turn out in the short run.
We know that in the long run we will have to fight the Islamists, and I suspect that Russia is well aware of this.
There is now winning in any of this, only degrees of losing. Russia is prepared to lose some of the Syrians but still wants a trading partner. It has the guts for this. The Arabs et al just don’t want a bloodbath in their particular backyards. Everyone else in the West is gambling. If they intervene, they will certainly be responsible for who comes after Assad, a tyrant but one of some dubious respectability.
Someone please tell me,
what the hell is a ‘limited strike?’
Oh, we are going to hit you,
but we are not going to hit you too hard.
We are going to hit some of your military, artillery sites with 3 cruise missiles apiece,
but not too hard,
you might want to move some of them before we hit you with a ‘limited strike.’
We will probably hit you with 3 cruise missiles, in 20 different places, August 31, at 11:42 AM.
–
Bambi/Valerie Jarrett might as well tell them,
“If you don’t stop, I’m gonna hit you with my purse.”
IDIOTS FORWARD !
Related: Interesting discussion about bombing Syria
I think that wuz obumbles talking to his self!!!!
Agreed, and the comments after were just as interesting considering they were in the New Yorker.
American influence in the middle east is evaporating faster than the scotch in my glass.
Imagine if Russia had helped the Viet Cong by firing missiles into South Viet Nam. It would have turned into WWIII and Russia would have been to blame.
It’s one thing to arm and train the insurgents, totally another to insert yourself into another country’s civil war and attack the government’s forces with your forces.
If Russian advisors are killed by an American attack that would be a casus belli.
Russia has plenty of oil and gas, NATO not so much.
Obama is going to regret selling off America’s strategic reserves that Bush built up.
Oz;
I believe there were Russian ‘volunteers’ in North Vietnam helping with their air defense. Some must have been killed by the bombing.
USA is flooded with oil right now. They actually import very little oil out of the ME. It is the Euros who should have their shorts in a knot. But then I do not expect them to do anything anyways. Even the USA options are pretty limited. Perhaps a few missles and increased military supplies to the same outfit who knocked the Towers down. It is a farce.
I was referring to Russian military personnel, not volunteers.
Let me give a better example: Suppose that instead of just sending American special forces into Afghanistan to equip, train, and advise the Mujahedeen who were fighting the Russian backed government of Afghanistan in the 1980’s, the U.S. had started to fire cruise missiles at government forces/installations and killed Russian soldiers along with Afghan forces too. What do you suppose would have happened then?
Or reverse it. What would happen if the Russians started firing cruise missiles into Afghanistan* today and ended up killing U.S. forces?
*not that the Russians would do that because they would be supporting Islamic Jihadis(pretty bad when the Russians are more moral than the Americans or NATO, Canada included)