Anyone with some geopolitical insight that can weigh in on this?

[ZERO THEORY]

Until the Saudi royal family is removed from power and no longer able to export their brand of Wahabist/Salafist Islam, this sort of shit will just continue. Sure, it's great that ISIS is getting beaten, but they're merely a symptom of the disease.

Quick primer for those who don't know/don't understand: Taliban's situation is more complicated, they're not directly Salafist, they're Deobandi - that said, the two are similar, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and a huge number of other really nasty groups all subscribe to a particular branch of Sunni Islam called Wahabism/Salafism (two names, same meaning - they don't like Wahabi as a name because it references the guy who came up with the school of thought IIRC). In short, they're violent, backwards mofos. The Saudi Royal Family also subscribe to this form of Islam - it's the official state religion in Saudi Arabia. Connecting the dots from there, especially when you read a few articles on about these folks, is pretty easy.

Saw this posted on Reddit, and thought there might be some folks on this board who could elaborate further or provide more anecdotal insight.

[Rucker61]

I'm no geopolitical expert, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi_movement

[ruthabagah]

Disclaimer: I am not an expert either, but I did research this topic recently.

Basically stating what everybody knows: the Al Saud monarchy is the root of all of the world problem.... and all of this because of oil. They have been financing jihad, wars and foreign government since WW2, and there is almost no end in sight.

Look at what they are doing right now: Dropping the price of oil, to put Putin out of a job, but also to kill the fracking economy in our country. I am affraid that this may trigger WW3, not because we run out of oil, but because it becomes too cheap and push some countries and economy over the edge.

My recommendation: Nuke Mecca.

[Rucker61]

Disclaimer: I am not an expert either, but I did research this topic recently.

Basically stating what everybody knows: the Al Saud monarchy is the root of all of the world problem.... and all of this because of oil. They have been financing jihad, wars and foreign government since WW2, and there is almost no end in sight.

Look at what they are doing right now: Dropping the price of oil, to put Putin out of a job, but also to kill the fracking economy in our country. I am affraid that this may trigger WW3, not because we run out of oil, but because it becomes too cheap and push some countries and economy over the edge.

My recommendation: Nuke Mecca.

Interesting news. The Saudi King just died, and his successor has dementia. Like someone mentioned on another forum, there goes any chance for an enlightened king to drag them into the 17th century.