Paris Shooting: 'Twelve people killed'

[wopphil]

Have any of watched video of any of the beheadings? I tried to once but just couldn't stick around.

No way. I find violence against living things to be disgusting and physically sickening. It blows my mind that human beings could treat each other that way.

[tdawg87]

No way. I find violence against living things to be disgusting and physically sickening. It blows my mind that human beings could treat each other that way.

 

Easy. They aren't human beings.

[arch stanton]

The moros couldn't afford new toothbrushes, much less weapons and ammo, if not for middle east oil money. Same goes for Al Shabab and Boko Haram. the greatest recruiting tool available to these groups is 3 meals a day.  We all know that oil money is not going away any time soon so maybe all the western governments should invest their spy time to chasing cash flow.

Edited January 14, 2015 by arch stanton

[ten ocho recon scout]

^very true.

One of the first things everyone has to understand is that we in the west tend to think of terrorists as all kind of having the same goals, on the same team so to speak. Couldnt be any more true than gangs having the same goal.

The problem is that there are several out there who recieve financing from wealthy shieks who get to have a tole in the jihad without getting their own hands dirty. That leads to blowback in terms of when these groups compete with others. A lot of these terror groups are puppets.

Hezbollah and hamas going to war against each other is pretty significant...im not one for prophecies, but to those whove said ww3 will start in the middle east could be spot on...that problem in syria isnt going away any time soon, and it wont stay 'there' forever

[ten ocho recon scout]

Arch, not aure how much contact you have with the locals or if youre more or less confined on post (assuming youre a contract worker), but if you do get out and about, whats the local feelings on ISIS. Are people worried they plan to press south?

[arch stanton]

Arch, not aure how much contact you have with the locals or if youre more or less confined on post (assuming youre a contract worker), but if you do get out and about, whats the local feelings on ISIS. Are people worried they plan to press south?

I live on a guarded compound but I'm out and about everyday and I work on the Saudi base. I drive back and forth to Bahrain at least twice a week. We try to avoid these subjects since we never know who we're talking to. I know the government is very concerned and they've worked hard to battle plenty of plots over the last several years. The local papers try to frame them as an enemy and threat. Most Saudi men are quite comfortable with their current situation and not too interested in moving backwards. I'm sure the women are even less thrilled about that. Bahrain is 60% Shia so that should answer that question.

 

The ruling forces here have to continually balance things between progress and hardliners. The exposure of the internet and social media is a big catalyst. They don't have fully open net but enough to see that the outside world isn't all that bad. The average Saudi drives a Tahoe, has an iphone, and is a huge fan of FCB. No time for fighting Jihads while the Asia Cup is underway.

[TobiasFunke]

dude from Iran definitely scored the goal of the tournament against Qatar

[arch stanton]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/16/belgium-terror-arrests-details/21851055/

 

Now they're getting serious all over Europe.

[Blarg]

They need to.

[Adam]

Is that broad still wanted in France? I thought I saw that they believed she escaped to Syria...

 

I bet they caught her and tortured the shit out of her to get the intel on all these other terror gnarns 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Good breakdown arch. Is Bahrain more or less the same as saudi in terms of conservatism? Im embarrased to admit but im not too familiar with bahrains govt. Are the shia also the ruling party or just the majority population? Do they seem to get along with the saudis or is it both sides have a handshake agreement to stay on their own lawn? Just wondering, i know saudi and iran arent the best of friends, i cant imagine the kingdom being too stoked to have a bunch of shiites next door (as well as up north)

[arch stanton]

The Bahraini royals are Sunnis who were inserted by the Brits a long time ago. They have married into the Saudi royal family to cement the friendship. In fact it was Saudi troops who basically squashed the Bahrain version of Arab Spring. There's still a lot of protests and battles between the police and the Shias but this constitutional monarchy isn't going anywhere since it hosts the US Navy 9th Fleet and just agreed to let the UK establish a permanent navy base. Bahrain is much less conservative overall and in fact is where Saudis go to cut loose with booze and hookers.

 

I think it's important when talking about the Arab nations to mention that every country in the GCC has a larger expat population than citizens. The majority are Muslims from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, east Africa,etc but also a lot of Filipinos and other Arab nationals. They aren't always treated very well but they can't afford to leave which tells you a lot about the conditions in the countries they come from. Good breeding ground for disgruntled soldiers of fortune.

Edited January 16, 2015 by arch stanton

[Gavin]

Arch, do you ever travel to Israel/Palestine? I ask because I dated a girl whose family lives in the West Bank. They are in the heavy minority as the family is Greek orthodox Christian. We would Skype a lot and to hear the Jets fly over and the stories that the family has to go through on a daily basis changed my outlook to a more moderate view on much of the Middle East.

[arch stanton]

Arch, do you ever travel to Israel/Palestine? I ask because I dated a girl whose family lives in the West Bank. They are in the heavy minority as the family is Greek orthodox Christian. We would Skype a lot and to hear the Jets fly over and the stories that the family has to go through on a daily basis changed my outlook to a more moderate view on much of the Middle East.

Never been there. There's a definite adjustment involved with living in this part of the world.

[ten ocho recon scout]

The Bahraini royals are Sunnis who were inserted by the Brits a long time ago. They have married into the Saudi royal family to cement the friendship. In fact it was Saudi troops who basically squashed the Bahrain version of Arab Spring. There's still a lot of protests and battles between the police and the Shias but this constitutional monarchy isn't going anywhere since it hosts the US Navy 9th Fleet and just agreed to let the UK establish a permanent navy base. Bahrain is much less conservative overall and in fact is where Saudis go to cut loose with booze and hookers.

I think it's important when talking about the Arab nations to mention that every country in the GCC has a larger expat population than citizens. The majority are Muslims from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, east Africa,etc but also a lot of Filipinos and other Arab nationals. They aren't always treated very well but they can't afford to leave which tells you a lot about the conditions in the countries they come from. Good breeding ground for disgruntled soldiers of fortune.

reminds me of the movie syriana. I always thought the storyline in that movie about how the 2 young guys become radicalized was very realistic

[arch stanton]

Some questions I've been asked in my time here:

 

A Saudi military of the top enlisted rank who had been trained by Americans asked me very seriously if I thought The Green Mile was a true story.

 

When I told one of my younger trainees that I was going back to the US he asked if it was "So you can return to your drinking and dancing?". I didn't have the heart to tell him I drink a hell of a lot more in his country than I do in my own.

 

Was once asked if Americans really value the lives of their pigs and dogs more than they do their Muslim citizens. It can be tough to explain the relationship some Americans have with their dog but we don't really love our pigs until they've been cured, smoked, and sliced.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Did you tell yes, green mile was a documentary?

In terms of the rest of the gulf council, would you say uae and kuwait (aside from bahrain) are more liberal than saudi? I know uae has female fighter pilots....dont think that would fly in saudi.

[gotbeer]

Some questions I've been asked in my time here:

 

A Saudi military of the top enlisted rank who had been trained by Americans asked me very seriously if I thought The Green Mile was a true story.

 

When I told one of my younger trainees that I was going back to the US he asked if it was "So you can return to your drinking and dancing?". I didn't have the heart to tell him I drink a hell of a lot more in his country than I do in my own.

 

Was once asked if Americans really value the lives of their pigs and dogs more than they do their Muslim citizens. It can be tough to explain the relationship some Americans have with their dog but we don't really love our pigs until they've been cured, smoked, and sliced.

 

And at that moment, you didn't really f with them and say Forest Gump was a documentary?

[arch stanton]

Did you tell yes, green mile was a documentary?

In terms of the rest of the gulf council, would you say uae and kuwait (aside from bahrain) are more liberal than saudi? I know uae has female fighter pilots....dont think that would fly in saudi.

Kuwait is nearly as bad as Saudi and Qatar is in its own world. UAE is very progressive in some places but very backwards in others. Each of the 7 emirates has its own set of laws, some using Sharia law so you have to know when you cross over. In Dubai or Bahrain you can have a great time and in some instances forget where you are until you end up back in Saudi or one of the conservative emirates.

 

One thing I learned long ago is that sarcasm and puns are lost on wives or anyone speaking English as a second language. When the chief asked about The Green Mile I just tried to explain Stephen King to him but that just brought on more questions. It's hard to grasp the huge cultural chasms that exist between us and them until you see it first hand.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Did they have any questions about the adam sandler movie jack and jill?

I can almost see the the GCC pooling resources and combining a coalition type military. Youd think with their combined funds they could create a powerhouse that would render iran suddenly stepping back, as well as filling the power vacuum now that the baath party in syria/iraq is gone. Obviously theres a ton more politics behind it that make it maybe not even interesting for them to do it. But at some point theyre going to have to deal with iran.

[arch stanton]

Nationalism and coalition comes only with a real and demonstrated threat like IS. They have billions worth of weaponry but really not enough skilled operators of this hardware. That's where my colleagues and I come in. We train as many of them as we can and in return my daughter gets to attend med school at Northeastern with a minimum of student loan debt and I can still have a 6 bedroom house with a boat dock in a gated community in Pampanga.

[Blarg]

Do you get your own private lake and lighthouse?

[arch stanton]

It's a shared lake and lighthouse.

 

http://lakeshore.com.ph/

[Blarg]

I was just joking after Google image searching Pampanga that private community came up as a pic with the lighthouse. A little jealous except for the weather.

[arch stanton]

It wasn't my first choice but life tends to get in the way of your grand plans. The humidity can be pretty unbearable if you don't remember to powder up.