Hawaiian

But Al Capone wasn't a president's son.

Are you implying the FBI whistleblowers are Trump supporters?

While Israel does not belong to NATO it has fostered a close bond with many members. Erdogan's economy is not well. With the election coming up soon he might interrupt the flow of oil as a distraction. But it may backfire if Israel's NATO friends institute a boycott on Turkish goods. No way, you may say. Crazier things have happened in today's crazy world.

IMO, MBS is all about business and while public sentiment may concern him, he is not going to let it get in his way. I think he considers Israel as necessary evil that serves a purpose and will not cut all ties with the country. The Iranians that I have done business with are as sneaky as can be. They lie with a straight face and have no compunction when caught in their lies. The present Iranian regime hasn't displayed much trustworthiness either. Thus my past comments. Iranians are Persians and not Arabs. They are also Shiites, whereas the Saudis are Sunni. The rivalry between the two sects may not be in the spotlight, but it's there and does cause friction. Saying Muslim is Muslim is almost like saying that Christianity is Christianity. It is only in recent times that the Catholics and Protestants get along. You may not agree with my analogy, but I think it's valid.

Although "Top Gun" and it's sequel were made for entertainment, there are some lessons to be learned. Piloting a state of the art fighter jet takes more than just realistic combat exercises to be a winner. Motivation and determination makes a big difference in whether there is mediocre performance or being a "top gun." A military can be armed to the teeth with the latest military hardware, but if they have a lousy battle plan with poor leadership, then forget about victory.

The present conflict started in 2015 and is still going on, albeit at on a limited scale. While not widely known, the Saudis do have a small contingent of special operation forces in Yemen. They have been operating with Bahraini soldiers. Although Saudi Arabia does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel, El Al planes are still allowed to transverse Saudi air space. To be safe El Al flight have been skirting the country and flying as far south as Somalia to avoid any "mishaps." The Saudis are no dummies. I would say they trust Israel more than they do Iran. As far as Muslims fighting Muslims, it's mostly Sunnis fighting Shiites and they don't need Israeli permission to do so.

The Saudi's are modernizing their Navy, having contracted both Spanish and U.S. shipbuilders. The multi-purpose littoral combat ships being built are supposedly to counter Iranian aggression in the gulf. These ships are designed for near shore operations and will have missile firing capability. They also could be used against the Houthis in Yemen.

A cheap shot? Really? You injected "just" just to prove a point. Who's being insensitive now? Typical of your antics, blowing things all out of proportion. Making mountains out of molehills comes to mind.

I have read of Hunter's excuse of turning to drugs because he could not handle the grief over his brother's, Beau, death. Using a dead relative as an excuse for drug addiction is another sorry and shameful excuse. Go ahead. Keep defending him.

Seems in this case the old saying, "There's one in every family," applies. Black sheep, that is.

What is so desperate about wanting to see justice served? I am a lifelong independent and far from being a "retrumplikan." As pointed out in the indictment, Hunter bragged about his opulent lifestyle while intentionally evading $1.4 million in income taxes. You are the desperate one, using what aboutism to defend this shameful crime. Shame on you. The Democrats control the DOJ. Why haven't they gone after blondy? When you make accusations, name real names or is it because you are confused about who's who?

I would think that Russia is quite hard pressed in keeping up their inventory that supplying any kind of armaments to ANYONE is highly unlikely. But, then again, maybe some posters have an intelligence source not available to us uninformed posters.

To all of you commenting on my "history of Yemen" post, I did state that Yemen has a complicated history. For you nitpickers concerned about my use of "protectorate" and "crown colony" the following link should clear up the confusion. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-short-history-of-the-aden-emergency Take note of the chronology: 1839, 1869, 1937 and 1967. There are other links out there that are confusing and contradict each other similar to some of the information provided on this forum.

As a long time stamp collector I remember stamps of the Protectorate of Aden, a crown colony of Great Britain. I recall stamps with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on them. Some time in the 1960's, Aden gained independence and changed its name to Yemen. For some reason I never collected stamps from Yemen. Out of curiosity I did a search on the history of Yemen. Like much of the Middle East it has a very ancient and complicated history. According to Wikipedia, the country has changed hands a few times by different warring factions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yemen

I was going post the same link. You beat me to it. Good to see participation by the French. Like you say, there will be more countries involved.

Well said.

I believe that was my post documenting my claim of human shields, etc. The link worked when tested, but failed to work when posted.

Interesting development. Netanyahu has just announced Israel will take on the Houthis in Yemen if the U.S. doesn't. Anyone care to comment?

Excellent advice. I am always suspicious when I receive any type of solicitation. AOL has been quite effective in sending these types of emails to my spam file. Then I make a quick check before deleting anything.

The French were wise in not going back. They did not want to be embarrassed again. This does not preclude them from offering a semblance of support for the U.S. and her allies if things boil over into a conflict with China. Much depends on who is the French president at the time.

Maybe you have not noticed the shift. More nations are in the process of decoupling from China with major corporations moving some of their operations to Viet Nam, India and elsewhere. Some have cut their ties entirely. The rift between Australia and China is nothing new. The iron ore and other minerals will not rot. Sooner or latter other buyers will show up. New Zealand has only themselves to blame. They have alienated many of their western-oriented allies.

South Korea's growing trade deficit with China is causing problems for the Yoon Suk Yeol government and China is not happy with South Korea's improving relationship with the U.S. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/whats-causing-rise-china-south-korea-tensions

Not just badly, but most likely a disaster. Even if an invasion were successful, the toll on its military would make it difficult to both maintain an effective occupation and maintain law and order back on the mainland. . Their economy would be in shambles with vital imports of foodstuffs seriously curtailed possibly causing anarchy among a hungry population. The Chinese economy is much worse shape than many realize. Many provincial government treasuries are depleted and they are saddled with an unbelievable amount of debt. Chances of the central government bailing them out are slim. China's BRI is not doing well either. Italy is pulling out. The CPEC highway servicing the Pakistani port of Gwadar is under attack by the Taliban. Back in Afghanistan, the Tailban are having second thoughts of cooperating with China. If you add this all up with the property sector defaults and commercial/shadow banking problems it doesn't look good for Xi and his CCP.

The U.S. will avoid a direct confrontation with Iran. The Mossad has been behind the recent assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and are most likely attempting to sabotage the infrastructure supporting Natanz. If China invades Taiwan, India might be bold enough to move on the disputed border area. You and I can make suppositions, but in the end that is all they are.

Some of these countries are not pushovers. https://www.businessinsider.com/ranked-world-most-powerful-militaries-2023-firepower-us-china-russia-2023-5?utm France gave up on Viet Nam after Dien Bien Phu. If I recall right South Korea sent in 350,000 troops and the Philippines sent medics. Japan has a beef with China over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands and know that Okinawa would be in harms way. Plus, the U.S. has a bunch of military bases scattered through out Japan. The U.S Seventh Fleet is headquartered in Yokosuka and Okinawa has Camp Butler and Kadena AFB.