The General Political Thread

[StevenChilton]

BC can do no wrong, they have the word 'British' in the title 

[Theodin]

BC can do no wrong, they have the word 'British' in the title 

True I forgot

[Furrnox]

Saudi Arabia one of the most oppressive countries in the middle east and ally to the USA "the land of the free".

They aren't a great country and SA funds a lot of Sunni terrorists but they're a major trade ally and military ally in the region. It's better to have a friend, however bad he may be, then be alone when you charge in. 

From what I've heard there is a massive trade deal that is/went down but I'd be interested to see if Trump could get SA to take in Syrian refugees so Europe can stop cucking itself over them

Besides, it's better to have Saudia Arabia as a stable ally in the Middle East, with Iraq and Syria in shambles and Iran as a religious state.
You realize those states don't accept refugees because those countries already repress political liberty, right? Taking in refugees from an active rebellion in a close country doesn't seem like the best move for your political stability. They also control OPEC (which fucked Canada, by the way) and as Steven said, they aren't hellbent on destroying Israel. Doesn't make them a 10/10 ally but it's more like 7/10, and in the mid east you take what you can get

Edit: Holy shit, anyone else see the deals reaching in Saudi Arabia? this is truly history

Like Saudi Arabia isn't a religious state..
Saudi Arabia is worse towards women than even Iran is.

Iran is even more democratic then Saudi Arabia and that's saying something.

[Theodin]

Saudi Arabia one of the most oppressive countries in the middle east and ally to the USA "the land of the free".

They aren't a great country and SA funds a lot of Sunni terrorists but they're a major trade ally and military ally in the region. It's better to have a friend, however bad he may be, then be alone when you charge in. 

From what I've heard there is a massive trade deal that is/went down but I'd be interested to see if Trump could get SA to take in Syrian refugees so Europe can stop cucking itself over them

Besides, it's better to have Saudia Arabia as a stable ally in the Middle East, with Iraq and Syria in shambles and Iran as a religious state.
You realize those states don't accept refugees because those countries already repress political liberty, right? Taking in refugees from an active rebellion in a close country doesn't seem like the best move for your political stability. They also control OPEC (which fucked Canada, by the way) and as Steven said, they aren't hellbent on destroying Israel. Doesn't make them a 10/10 ally but it's more like 7/10, and in the mid east you take what you can get

Edit: Holy shit, anyone else see the deals reaching in Saudi Arabia? this is truly history

Like Saudi Arabia isn't a religious state..
Saudi Arabia is worse towards women than even Iran is.

Where did I say that Saudi Arabia wasn't? Of course they're a religious state, but the difference is Iran believes in the destruction of infidelity, and Saudi Arabia doesn't. There's difference between a religious fanatic state and a religious state

[Furrnox]

Okay dude in one of the countries you get lashed for spending to much time with a person of the opposite sex if you're not related. Guess which one does that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34513278/what-you-can-be-flogged-for-in-saudi-arabia

That list is pretty cool over all.

True 7/10 ally.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263646/lashing-and-flogging-islam-and-iran-dr-majid-rafizadeh

Iran is pretty bad to though.

[Theodin]

No one is denying the justice practiced in Iran and Saudia Arabia is terrible and cruel. But again, Saudia Arabia's foreign policy goals are NOT the destruction of Israel and worldwide Islam by force if need be. Moreover, they cooperate with the US diplomatically and militarily and at least attempt to cut funding to terror groups in the region. Iran gets a total of 0/3 with those. That's why Saudia Arabia is an ally - who else in the region can say they do those three things?

[Furrnox]

"While Saudi Arabia is often a secondary source of funds and support for terror movements who can find more motivated and ideologically invested benefactors (e.g. Qatar), Saudi Arabia arguably remains the most prolific sponsor of international Islamist terrorism, allegedly supporting groups as disparate as the Afghanistan Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Al-Nusra Front."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-sponsored_terrorism

There's also this but that's only allegations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_Saudi_role_in_September_11_attacks

I think no democratic nation should ally itself with a nation like Saudi Arabia who have no democratic ideals and treat about 50% of their population like shit.

[Olafson]

Please. Any country should be friends with them. They have oil.

[Cazasar]

I just want to point out that while Irans Goverment might have some weird ideas, the difference to Saudia Arabia is that most Iranian People do NOT agree with them and would rather see the country more open and free (look at the last election, or speak to People from Iran). My father visits Iran quite often due to work, and tbh its not nearly as shitty as you make it out to be. I advice you look up how for example the young adults of Iran behave/party, they just arent very religious at all. Iran > Saudi Wahabism Arabia anyday fam

[Furrnox]

True the Sweden hijab controversy opened my eyes to a liberal movement in Iran.
I applaud them for their efforts and the criticism they gave to our government.

[William]

People forget that Iran used to be incredibly secular under the rule of the Shaw. Here's a good visual representation
http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-before-the-revolution-in-photos-2015-4/#ese-reforms-included-the-structuring-of-iran-around-a-central-persian-identity-the-often-brutal-suppression-of-tribes-and-their-laws-in-exchange-for-strong-a-central-government-and-the-expansion-of-womans-rights-7

[Furrnox]

Well yeah I think that's a big reason to why there's such a large liberal movement in Iran.

[Riddlez]

That, and the internet.

[William]

In my opinion, I personally prefer a secular Iran to that of a Wahhabi state such as Saudi Arabia but the U.S.  will never ally with Iran because of the revolution and its aftermath, and their alliance with Russia and the strong North Korean connection. Hopefully if a liberal movement does show up, it will propel Iran forward in a positive manner, or so we can hope. I don't think a Conservative U.S. President would be the person to extend the peace flag though so Iran is going to be in the dust for quite some time

[Furrnox]

Of course it's always better to be a secular state but very few countries in the world actually are just look at the Republicans in the US.
They want to pass so many laws based on religious "morals" it's insanity.

Now I'm not saying that the US isn't a secular nation, but what I am saying is that there's politicians in most countries secular or not who take their god into consideration before making a decision which is bad.