Tuesday, July 21, 2015

In Which Life Imitates Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea; a continuing series...

One of the subplots of Israel Strikes and Israel Strikes: War of the Red sea is the actions of the Saudis in relation to the war between Israel and Iran.

In Israel Strikes, Saudi Arabia allows IAF jets to overfly their territory en route to Iran, while in War of the Red Sea the Saudis, led by a reform minded prince....well, let us not give away any plot points.

Lo and behold the Saudis are saying they will take against Iran:

In the first public criticism of the P5+Iran deal by a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family, Prince Bandar bin Sultan told Lebanon’s Daily Star the deal would allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb and would “wreak havoc in the region." Covered in The Times of London, the prince also told Daily Star, "Saudi Arabia and the Gulf powers are prepared to take military action without American support after the Iran nuclear deal"

Now that could be an interesting military conflict, no?

The Saudi armed forces posses sophisticated weapons such as M-1 Tanks, F-15 Fighters and Patriot Missile batteries. The kingdom also boasts the largest navy in the region. The Iranians, in contrast are still flying F-5 Tigers and F-14 Tomcats.

So let us assume the Saudis have a technical edge.

Of course, the Saudi's contributed forces during Operation Desert Storm. Like all Arab armies these moved slowly, lethargically and fought badly. Saudi troops weren't given much responsibility, anyway, simply to hold Iraqi troops in Kuwait while the Americans and British executed the right hook into Iraq.

Whether or not the Saudi armed forces have improved in the last 25 years is anybody's guess. We may find out, though.

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