Any invasion of Lebanon will meet with a response from both Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army. We have seen the unity of the Hashd Al Shaabi forces and the Iraqi Army against DAESH. A force to be reckoned with.
21st Century Wire says…
The Saudi generated cycle of insanity continues. Reports that are hard to confirm or deny are circulating on social media, spreading a degree of panic and reactionary responses from all concerned.
“Events in Saudi Arabia are unfolding at a blinding pace, with a radical shift taking place within the upper echelons of government. Last weekend, King Salman announced the set-up of a special anti-corruption force that wasted no time in rounding up more than a dozen government officials—both former and current—five members of the royal family, and several businessmen. Since then, the list has been growing, to more than 60 as of today.” ~ Oil Price – Kingdom of Fear
On fireworks night, Bahrain allegedly put out the following announcement:
BREAKING: #Bahrain calls its nationals not to travel to #Lebanon and Bahraini residents there to leave immediately. pic.twitter.com/g5yjMh8Zpa
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) November 5, 2017
Today, the 10th November, Kuwait is reported to have begun evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon:
"BREAKING: Kuwait begins to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon" @VanessaBeeley @21WIRE @NewsBud_ @EvaKBartlett @banoobux1 @Osman_Marwa1 @PressTV ➡ https://t.co/O4phH2b7Ll
— Anonymous For Safety (@anonymousafety) November 10, 2017
However before we all hit the panic button, here is some perspective:
Kuwait state media calls its citizens to leave. KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait. I expected the UAE to do so first, but hey…
NOTE: This is not the first time it's happened – it's happened on and off for several years now. #Hariri pic.twitter.com/o3IlQSZKws— Kareem Chehayeb (@chehayebk) November 9, 2017
The intent is to terrify us into submission. Neither Saudi nor Israel intend to attack Lebanon, so they are hoping to induce a state of mass panic that will plunge the country into sectarian warfare. All these desperate measures are substitutes for war, not harbingers of it. https://t.co/0cNx8mvEXb
— Amal Saad (@amalsaad_lb) November 9, 2017
Various more measured analysts pinpointed the potential for economic pressure to be brought to bear upon Lebanon by the Saudi theocracy:
#SaudiArabia is preparing a war against #Lebanon: hitting finance 1st, blocking air traffic exchange, inviting other Arab countries 2follow pic.twitter.com/es92jd9T6M
— Elijah J. Magnier (@ejmalrai) November 7, 2017
#Saudi might expel all lb employees inside the kingdom and force UAE & Bahrain to do same, creating an stressful economic atmosphere in lb
— Ali Mourad (@alihmourad) November 8, 2017
Lebanese prime minister in absentia, Saad Hariri is still in Saudi Arabia, again rumours abound that he is being detained against his will.
If that is not a confirmation by the US State Department that #Lebanon's PM Saad Hariri is being held by the Saudis, I don't know what is. #KSA #SaudiArabia #Hariri pic.twitter.com/ZLFbHJcqTO
— Walid (@walid970721) November 10, 2017
The following letter was written by a “concerned Lebanese citizen” Elie Fares at StateOfMind13:
“So dear Saudi Arabia,
We know it’s been hard for you. Trying to enable a new bratty prince is difficult, especially when his view of the world is so different from anything you’re used to that it’s sort of threatening everything you’ve known. Your clerics are angry, some of your ruling class are angry, a lot of your men are angry now that you’ve let your women drive (welcome to 2017). And then add in those low prices of oil. Have you tried a Prozac, perhaps? Xanax does wonders too.
We know you’ve been stretched too thin. A war in Yemen, a blockade that’s not working against Qatar, a feud with Iran that is not going your way, an American president who’s only concerned with wanting you to sell stocks in the New York Stock Exchange, but could you maybe have developed some hearing deficiency? I’m pretty sure you saying we declared war on you is way too similar to that kid in recess back during school days who’d beat up other kids and then go run to his mother saying it’s the other way around.
Look at the bright side though, you’re slowly becoming BFFs with Israel. Yes for new friends, isn’t that nice?
In the grand scheme of things, I wonder: are you okay? You seem to be more demanding than that ex we all have and despise. Do you want to talk about all those issues you keep piling up? Is letting women drive really causing your societies to unravel so much you can’t even get your shit together anymore and feel the need to declare war on small countries just so you can feel mighty?
You already have our prime minister in knots around your fingers. His allegiance is literally with you, and not his country. He escaped to you in the moment you declared war on the country he was governing. What more do you want from us? Is Saad not enough? I mean look at him! He looks so happy to be there, with his fancy smartwatch.
https://twitter.com/2flamesburning1/status/928806697690390528
Mohammed bin Salman has buried Saudi Arabia and its allies in the quagmire of a failed war in Yemen. Perhaps in a final attempt at political leverage against the Yemeni people, Yemen has been put on total lock down by the Saudi coalition. Even UN planes are not being allowed in. Wheat and oil deliveries to the capital Sanaa have been halted. Humanitarian supplies via Hodeida port are being fully prevented. Thousands are reported to be queueing for the dwindling fuel supplies. Ansarullah have issued a threat to target ALL Saudi coaltion shipping in the straits of Bab El Mandeb and missiles are reported to have been transported to Hodeida in readiness:
Riyadh since Monday has prevented aid agencies from landing planes in the country and docking at #Yemen's ports, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock says.#OpenAccesstoYemen
— Fatik Al-Rodaini (@Fatikr) November 9, 2017
While the US administration is ominously quiet over the curious case of Saad Hariri and the Saudi “declaration of war” against Lebanon, or perhaps more precisely, Hezbollah, or was it Iran, it has however been surreptitiously supplying arms to the Lebanese army:
https://twitter.com/2flamesburning1/status/928810520572039168
As the report from Oil Price explains, the situation is rapidly spinning out of control and causing mass consternation among watchers of the Middle East region:
“Speculation abounds and there is growing worry that the situation could spiral out of control. There is a constant flow of new information coming from Saudi Arabia, such as that one of the Arab world’s leading broadcasters, MBC, has been put under government control. Part of its management was removed and the owner detained. News is also emerging that even the former Saudi Energy Minister Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s media face for decades, has been forcibly confined to his quarters.
There is talk that a travel ban has been issued for a number of government officials, including executives from Aramco. That’s on top of reports that Aramco board member Ibrahim al-Assaf, a former Finance Minister in the Kingdom, was also among those arrested.
Naturally, in oil industry circles this raises the question over the safety of Aramco’s IPO and, more than that, what will happen to oil prices if the instability intensifies. For now, the news is all bullish for prices. The purge is widely seen as a pre-emptive strike and power grab by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, head of the new anti-corruption agency and heir to the throne, as well as the champion of the Vision 2030 reform program.
The Crown Prince is also the driving force behind the Aramco IPO, which should provide the funds for the reform program. Now, for the IPO to be as successful as Prince Mohammed wants it to be, global oil prices need to be high, perhaps higher than they are now.
Any political instability in the Kingdom is naturally fueling bullish sentiment. Now there are reports that some royals fleeing prosecution from the new anti-corruption agency have been offered asylum in Yemen by the Houthi rebels that are backed by Saudi Arabia’s arch-enemy, Iran. This is nothing short of astounding, since Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis for two years now, with Prince Mohammed at the spearhead of the conflict.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of direct aggression, citing the missile attack the Houthis launched on Riyadh, which was intercepted by the Kingdom’s defense system.
It is difficult to predict where all this will lead. Some, like Dennis Gartman, warn that although the immediate impact of the latest Saudi events is positive for prices, it will turn negative in the longer run as this sort of instability is unsustainable. Others, such as Morgan Stanley’s commodity analysts, are revising upwards their oil price forecasts, encouraged by these same events. OPEC’s Vienna meeting, where the cartel will discuss the extension of the oil production cut it agreed almost a year ago, is less than a month away. There are voices suggesting that Saudi Arabia could make a U-turn on its support for the deal in light of the now higher prices resulting from its internal tumult and the spike in tensions with Iran.
In the meantime, the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh is fully booked until February, as per the hotel’s website, and all guests were asked to leave or had their reservations cancelled.”
NEW MAP: The last days of so called #IslamicState" in #Syria and #Iraq: #SAA liberated the last remaining #ISIS stronghold Al- #Bukamal. pic.twitter.com/a1NhULnREM
— Peto Lucem (@PetoLucem) November 10, 2017
With the Syrian Arab Army announcing the full and final defeat of ISIS in Syria…it is easy to speculate that the US driven war machine is turning its steering wheel in the direction of Lebanon, fuelled by Israel’s insecurity over the illegally annexed Golan Heights and a battle-hardened, bristling nemesis called Hezbollah and with Iran in the US coalition crosshairs.
“Perpetual war for perpetual peace”
“Best part of Nasrallah’s speech is that he didn’t even threaten Saudi, only Israel, and in so doing, completely dismissed Saudi as a viable military threat to Lebanon, given that it’s relying on Israel to fight on its behalf. Nasrallah’s speech also reveals a big irony: it is the very non-state actor which is accused of marginalizing Sunnis and undermining the Lebanese state, that is today defending Lebanon’s constitution and procedural legitimacy, while championing the Sunnis’ right to their leader.” ~ Amal Saad
Breaking:
Sayed Hasan Nasrallah: We have proof that Saudi Arabia asked Israel to bomb Lebanon, offering Israel billions of dollars in return.— Rana Harbi (@RanaHarbi) November 10, 2017
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READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria Files
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