MadMacs wrote: ↑Wed Sep 18, 2019 6:55 pm
Yes it did, it was one of the pages that came up in my search when things didn't add up with regard to this incident and double checking RT.
Your claim was "This idea was first pedalled by the NYT." That is quite different from saying that the NYT article came up when you did a Google search.
So you're telling me that you have all the data and radar plots and satellite images of this whole incident and yet you cannot categorically prove where those cruise missiles came from?
No, read it again. I said we have verifiable evidence from
past attacks on Saudi infrastructure by the Houthis, which notably both the Houthis and Saudis have confirmed. Which means that this incident, where we don't yet have verifiable evidence, should still be evaluated in line with past events.
You say that they smuggled the drones into Saudi with all the equipment and bombs, yet the SAS failed to do the same thing in Iraq - remember Bravo 20? , a highly skilled and well trained team, yet we are to believe some rebels succeeded.
I'm saying they have done so before, not that we know for certain it was done in this case. It would not be the first time either: Militants have managed to penetrate Saudi border defences on a number of occasions over the past decade. It's a larger country than Iraq, less easily defended, and Saudi military prowess is not the greatest.
In this case there are some interesting claims of a launch from Iran, especially as Saudi's Patriot missile batteries were moved and oriented south toward Yemen and don't have 360º coverage.
Looking at the satellite images, the damage doesn't seem consistent with any of the weapons mentioned, hence why I'm wary of the mainstream media reports.
As I mentioned in another thread, it is my gut instinct and technical background that tells me something is fishy, I dont have proof but I'm very seldom wrong. I know you work for the military establishment and might have to think and work accordingly to their rules, I have no problem with that and after all this is only my amateur opinion.
Hence the claims of Iranian cruise missiles.
I think you're misreading what I'm saying here.
We're all agreed that this strike is highly unusual. It's far from the Yemeni border and beyond what we know the Houthis to be capable of, both in terms of distance and accuracy.
Where we differ is on assigning
plausible (not guaranteed) explanations for this. I see a steadily increasing pattern of Iranian escalation both versus the Saudis and in the Straits of Hormuz, probably designed to exploit what its leaders believe is American weakness and inexperience. With Bolton out the main voice calling for a military strike against them is gone, and while Trump is full of bluster it's rather clear he's prevaricating. At the same time Iran's support to the Houthis has been steadily more and more overt and intensive, to the point where they've transferred actual cruise missiles in the form of the Samour/Quds.
So what's more likely? That this is some weird Saudi/US false flag attack on a Saudi facility, or that it's the next step in the existing pattern of conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia?
