I do occasionally wonder how easy it is to recruit people to the Saudi army and about the calibre of ground troops they have.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Thursday, 4 February 2016 21:25 (eight years ago) link
their military gets a really bad write-up obviouslyand despite hardware advantage they have been fairly crap fighting the houthisfrom a 20 yr old book about mercenaries (janice e thompson princeton 1994) i was reading the other day
Examples of nonstate actors exerting decision-making authority over state-owned resources (box 7) are more difficult to find. One possibility is certain nineteenth-century military expeditions that were mounted by private individuals and groups in the United States but that employed U.S. Army officers, soldiers, and equipment. The current arrangement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is perhaps another example. Pakistan provides troops to Saudi Arabia in exchange for economic aid, a practice that is not unusual. What is unusual, however, is that many of the Paki- stani troops are fully integrated into the Saudi forces, even wearing Saudi uniforms. Thus, Saudi Arabia exercises decision-making authority over labor resources that are owned by the Pakistani state.
if some of those looked perhaps more south asian than arab then that might explain the fetish balaclavas (other than 'security reasons' etc)
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 4 February 2016 22:25 (eight years ago) link
the CW i've heard is that they're excellent at maintaining rule by way of suppressing internal dissent but maybe not so good at fighting other countries
― Mordy, Thursday, 4 February 2016 22:39 (eight years ago) link
It wouldn't be a surprise if there were Pakistani troops there. I know they have served in the Air Force before.
UAE has reintroduced conscription to get round this and is currently sending the children of the relatively well-heeled into Yemen. It will be interesting to see how that works out. They are apparently badly trained and don't know what they are doing. I suspect it's partly an effort to get them to stay in school.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Thursday, 4 February 2016 22:42 (eight years ago) link
Synergy University Dubai Campus is a branch campus of Synergy University (Russian: Университет Синергия) or Moscow University for Industry and Finance “Synergy” (Russian: Московский финансово-промышленный университет «Синергия») based in Dubai.
Synergy University is an institution for higher education aimed at combining traditional academic teaching with fundamental knowledge & practical orientation, also Synergy University is one of the largest universities in Eastern Europe with 35000+ students, 40 regional units & wide international representation in different countries of the world, including United Arab Emirates and Russian Federation.[2]
It runs a in-house TV channel “Synergy TV” in Dubai while maintaining an internal publishing house “Synergy Press”.
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 4 February 2016 23:00 (eight years ago) link
that links to....
Synergy Television (Synergy TV) is the first music oriented channel, serving Trinidad and Tobago.
I might give them a ring tomorrow to see if I can set up a visit. I will report back if they say yes.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Thursday, 4 February 2016 23:07 (eight years ago) link
Dubai is producing music television for Trinidad and Tobago?
― Mordy, Thursday, 4 February 2016 23:14 (eight years ago) link
yes i think sv might be behind it somehow
― nakhchivan, Friday, 5 February 2016 00:56 (eight years ago) link
http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2016/06/the-return-of-bernard-lewis/
― nakhchivan, Friday, 3 June 2016 16:19 (seven years ago) link
BL: It is normal for human beings to judge others by ourselves. We are now in the 21st century of the Christian era. They are in the early fifteenth century of the Muslim era. It is a different religion based on entirely different historical experience, different message, different teaching, and it is therefore a grave error to do what people normally do, and that is judge others by ourselves. It does not work and it is dangerously misleading. If one looks at Islam from within and for that it is necessary to learn at least one Muslim language, something which many Middle East experts, in fact most Middle East experts in the West, for one reason or another are reluctant to do, if one learns he languages and reads what they say among themselves, and understands it in the context of their own history, their own culture, their own background, then I think I is not too difficult to understand what is happening.
― ogmor, Saturday, 4 June 2016 22:23 (seven years ago) link