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Showing posts from August, 2026

The Houthis: a snake in the saucepan for Saudi Arabia.

In my language, there is a saying that goes: Semusota gwa'muntamu...   This   saying is about a difficult situation where one finds a live snake in his cooking pot. If they hit it, they don't cook as the the pot will be dirtened by the remains of the snake or even get broken. And yet, if they don't hit the snake, they still won't cook because there is no way one can use a pot when there is a snake breathing inside it.  This saying is used to describe a hard situation where one has very few options, and this seems to be the case with Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. The Houthis, officially known as  Ansar Allah , are a Zaydi Shia political and military organization that controls large parts of Yemen, including the capital city of Sanaa.  The group started in the 1990s in northern Yemen as a religious and cultural revival movement for the Zaydi Shia minority, led by the A l-Houthi family . [ 1 ,  2 ]  After years of local insurgencies, the Houthis...

The "Keibar Shekan": The Castle breaker!

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The  Keibar Shekan  (meaning " Castle Breaker ") is an Iranian medium-range, solid-fuel ballistic missile introduced in 2022.  It is known for its high mobility, satellite guidance and maneuverable re-entry vehicle designed to evade air defense systems. It has a range of approximately 1,450 to 1,500 kilometers (around 900 miles). [ 1 , 2 , ] This missile carries a 550 kg high-explosive.  It is  11.4 meters long and weighs roughly 4.5 tons.   It is launched on a Road-mobile launcher, requiring under 15 minutes to prepare and fire [ 1 , 2 , ] Strategic Impact Of The  Keibar Shekan. Evasion Capabilities: The missile  features terminal-phase maneuverability and movable fins to adjust flight paths, designed to confuse and bypass advanced interceptor shields. [ 1 ,] Cost Discrepancy: The Keibar Shekan is  cost-effective to produce, yet it has the capacity to pierce through the multi-million-dollar interceptor batteries (such as Patriot or T...

When war becomes a system of governance: Netanyahu is seeking a prolonged war that could help him stall elections.

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When Hamas launched its unprecedented attacks on Israel in the early October of 2023, what started off as the saddest moment in the history of modern Israel, turned out to be the greatest blessing in disguise for Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu .  To this man, this was an opportunity to genuinely dismantle Hamas and its military infrastructure, thereby permanently kill off the Gaza threat to Israeli security.  Moreso, the October 7 attacks gave Netanyahu a much revered opportunity to fuflill his dream of permanently driving the Palestinians off their remaining land.        Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Over the decades, Palestinians have lost control of these lands through systematic military confiscations, the rapid growth of strict bureaucratic zoning and physical barriers that fragment the territory. [ 1 ,]  Under the ...

Military battle for Hormus brewing? How much longer till the Iranians lose their patience over Trump's provocative claims over the strait?

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The U.S-Israel war against Iran has left the long time perception that the United States is the undisputed global military Superpower badly shattered. For a long time, U.S supremacy has been grounded on its monopoly over violence and destruction in addition to the Americans' reliance on their  European allies for every aggressive mission it undertakes.  For whatever reason however, this time round the U.S traditional allies i.e France, Germany and Britain held back from joining the U.S in its latest military mission in the Middle East. This has left the U.S completely stripped, alone and the reality of its real military standing exposed.  The limits of the Americans' military prowess to help them achieve their goals has also been tested.  The war which has gone on for six months so far, has had the U.S occassionally changing military strategies for the same war, in such a short period!  The U.S has also had to dramatically change misions of the war in this bri...

The U.S intends to maintain the blockade on Iran indifinitely: The U.S is on a self destruction mission.

Sometimes it is better to find an honorable exit out of a failed situation than to keep trying to prove that the situation isn't as bad as it seems. However, the United States of America seems not to be aware of this fact.  Having miserably failed with its latest military assault on Iran, the U.S, instead of swallowing a humble pie and seeking an honorable exit out of the situation, has gone completely berzerk.  With their Operation Epic Fury , the U.S and its closest ally Israel believed that with their combined effort, the Islamic Republic of Iran would finally crumble and get subdued into accepting the Israel-US hegemony. To their shock however, the Iranians effectively used the asymetric war fare tactics and put up an unprecedented fight against the aggressors that left the mighty Super power panting for missile interceptors, with its ally Israel curling its tail in fear of more brutal retaliatory attacks from Iran's missiles.  This war has truly shaken the U.S posi...