Somebody wake up Congressman Reyes, this may be important!
It would appear that there is something of a cold war brewing between the Saudi's and Iran. From my vantage it appears that the Saudi's are no longer willing to sit idly by while Iran becomes Soviet Union-light and takes control of the region. All is not as peaceful and monolithic in Muslim-land as we once thought.
This is yet another in a series of stories where the Saudi's have looked passed Iraq and have seen a challenger to their leadership of the region, and they don't like it. If Iran gets nukes, they want nukes. If Iran is going to muck about in Iraq, then the Saudi's do as well. And now, while the Iranian's are saying that they'd be willing to stop stoking civil war if we left, the Saudi's are saying that they will stoke civil war even hotter if we leave.
Quite the pickle eh Congressman Reyes?
This may work to the west's advantage. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all of that. What we've wanted for a dog's age is for the Saudi's to stop funding terrorism around the world and work toward promoting tolerance of the Judeo-Christian West. If we can successfully employ the Saudi's in our war of words against Iran, we may also succeed in employing them further in an effort to halt the promulgation of Islamic terrorism. We're a ways off from that now but with time and strategic diplomacy, we may be able to split the difference in Muslims to our advantage.
Did you get all of that Congressman Reyes? We want to work with the Saudi's agaist Iran...Iran...the country between Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan...in the Middle East...where the oil is! Oh forget it, somebody call Charlie Rangel, at least he's paying attention.
Saudi Arabia has warned Washington it might provide financial aid to Iraqi Sunnis in any fighting against Shiites if the U.S. pulls its troops out of Iraq, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni country, has promised U.S. officials that it would not intervene to assist Iraq's Sunni insurgency, according to the report, which cited anonymous American and Arab diplomatic sources.
But that promise might not hold if U.S. troops leave Iraq, the newspaper said. The Bush administration has repeatedly said there are no plans for the immediate pullout of U.S. troops.
The Times reported that Saudi King Abdullah sent the warning to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during the vice president's visit to Riyadh. The message also emphasized the kingdom's displeasure with proposed talks between the U.S. government and Iran.
In Saudi Arabia, an official flatly denied the report. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.
The AP reported last week that private citizens in Saudi Arabia are funneling money to Sunni insurgents in Iraq, often through either charitable donations or carried by trucks carrying pilgrims and their luggage between the two countries.
Iran _ a majority Shiite country _ is believed to be providing military and financial support to Shiite elements. The recently released Iraq Study Group report suggested the Bush administration engage Iran and neighboring Syria in talks aimed at applying pressure on Iraqi Shiites to keep what some analysts are calling a civil war from spiraling into a regional conflict.
Saudi Arabia has expressed concern that once U.S. troops leave Iraq that the controlling Shiite majority could massacre the Sunni minority, believed to comprise a large faction of the deadly insurgency that has claimed thousands of Iraqi civilian and U.S. military lives.
Saudi Arabia's fears seemed to have been exacerbated by growing discussions in Washington aimed at accelerating the timeframe for bringing troops home.
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