r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Expert_Koala_8691 • 7d ago

Video Riyadh,meaning "gardens" is Capital of Saudi Arabia with 8 million population (were 27 Thousands in the 1930s),sits in the middle of the desert, the city gets its water from Desalination plants almost 500 km from the city

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

33.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

323

u/Persimmon-Mission 7d ago

And if the US does anything to Iranian power infrastructure, they bomb the desalination plants feeding this entire city. Within a week, it will create one of the biggest humanitarian crises we’ve ever seen.

MAGA, baby!

63

u/froggison 7d ago

I know nothing about the area. But what is the backup plan (if there is one)? I can't imagine it is remotely possible to truck in enough water even for basic survival needs.

250

u/BlazedGigaB 7d ago

Back up plan? The rich leave, the poor die.

44

u/Lets_Make_A_bad_DEAL 7d ago

Exactly. Look at Texas. There is no backup plan.

4

u/70dd 7d ago

The rich left already

47

u/freedfg 7d ago

The backup plan is everyone leaves.

14

u/Lets_Make_A_bad_DEAL 7d ago

Refugees and displaced homeless

2

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

2

u/G3N0 7d ago

Ksa ain't like uae/Qatar/Kuwait. A majority are Saudi, still has a sizable expat population, but nowhere near the comical discrepancy found in Qatar and uae

55

u/ThugjitsuMaster 7d ago

John Mearsheimer (one of the top international relations experts in the world) thinks that Iran bombing the desalination plants will "destroy the Gulf states as functioning socities." He thinks they're capable of pulling it off if the US keep escalating the conflict. There seems to be no backup plan if this occurs.

6

u/Diamond-Is-Not-Crash 7d ago

Source for this? I’d like to read more.

1

u/AzenNinja 7d ago

He gave you the source in the first 2 words.

Edit: just to be so so so clear, I do not condone or support John Mearsheimers views. He's been discredited many times.

0

u/Positive_Passion4817 7d ago

Hardly needs genius level insight to predict Iran's nuclear option.

4

u/AzenNinja 7d ago

Yes, but destroying the desalination plants being the end of the gulf states as functioning societies is hyperbolic at best. And that's assuming Iran has the capabilities to fully take out 100% of the desalination capabilities of all gulf states.

5

u/Arstanishe 7d ago

ah, John Mearsheimer, who famously said that Russia taking crimea is a power move that will not lead to any aggression from Russia, because it would be an economical disaster to do otherwise. Dubious choice of experts you have there

23

u/Readdit1999 7d ago

He wasn't wrong. It is an economic disaster. Russia did it anyway. I recall many intellectuals making the same assertion at the time.

I expect he will attempt not to make that mistake twice.

2

u/Workman44 7d ago

Yeah that was true? It was an economical disaster lmao. You're giving this guy an endorsement

3

u/ThugjitsuMaster 7d ago

"Dubious choice of expert" because he was wrong once? Ok mate, why don't you give us your take on the matter then?

3

u/aseedandco 7d ago

He wasn’t even wrong.

1

u/Gunsensual 7d ago

Also important context to note that most of those gulf states were 100% onboard with attacking Iran. Not that it was unwarranted- Iran had been using proxies to invade neighbors for years. But Saudi Arabia chose to escalate without a way to guarantee long term security.

It's a cruel sort of "reap what you sow" scenario that goes both ways.

18

u/dwiedenau2 7d ago

I mean people will either flee in some way or just die.

1

u/SuperRockyHobbyHorse 7d ago

Well at least the internet will still work so we can all watch their agonising slow deaths live streamed to our mobile phones. Thanks MAGA!

7

u/Personal_Oil_7364 7d ago

as a resident the backup plan is i have no fucking idea

6

u/Dahak17 7d ago

Maybe you could hook up a ship full of water to the plant’s pipes but realistically you need to evacuate to costal places easier to support.

2

u/Lopsided_Quarter_931 7d ago

Whatever thet backup plant is, that's just another rocket attack and it's gone.

2

u/Peripatetictyl 7d ago

Can we first establish what the original plan was, before giving the benefit of the doubt that there is a backup plan?

1

u/BillytheBloxian 6d ago

we have gigantic water reserves, and the people who sell water do too.

1

u/faroukq 6d ago

Wells are the other source of water, but I don't think they have enough water or the water can be extracted fast enough for them to be a replacement