US Envoy Criticizes Saudi Arabia on Iraq

The timing is pointed and obviously significant. At a time when Gates and Rice are flying into the region to offer to bolster Saudi Arabia's defence, Zalmay Khalilzad - the US ambassador to the United Nations - has accused Saudi Arabia of undermining the US efforts in Iraq.

Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said an opinion column he wrote for The New York Times this month accusing U.S. allies of pursuing destabilizing policies toward Iraq referred in part to Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries are not doing all they can to help us in Iraq," he said Sunday. "At times, some of them are not only not helping, but they are doing things that is undermining the effort to make progress."

U.S. officials have stepped up public criticism of Saudi Arabia but remain cautious in dealing with a crucial ally in the region.

This is what I mean when I say that the Bush regime no longer have a plan. It is obvious from Khalizad's remarks that the Bush regime hope that by bolstering Saudi Arabia's defences against an emerging Iranian regional superpower, that they can somehow persuade Saudi Arabia - a Sunni country - to back the Maliki Shi'ia government of Iraq.

On their trip, Rice and Gates are expected to ask Saudi King Abdullah for greater cooperation in Iraq. The United States says it will push for forgiving millions in Iraqi debt dating to the Saddam Hussein era and security help for the government of Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

It's very strange that whenever American politicians stray into this region they seem to forget that the leaders that they are dealing with also have the opinions of their particular Arab street to consider. American politicians always seem to consider that their interests are paramount and appear genuinely puzzled when others fail to share their viewpoint.

The notion that King Abdullah can back a Shi'ia government which is engaged in civil war against it's Sunni citizens is bonkers, and yet that really is Bush's new "big plan".

House Republican leader, Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, summed up the American position perfectly when he stated:

"But on these issues regarding Saudi Arabia, we have a bigger problem in the House all the time, because of the disappointments with the Saudis, who have traditionally been good friends of ours, who have been allies in the region, but continually seem to not understand the situation we're in right now," Blunt said.

That cuts two ways, of course. It equally appears that the United States have simply no idea of how unpopular their intervention into Iraq has played in a Sunni country like Saudi Arabia. According to a 2006 poll 49% of Saudi Arabians want the US to withdraw with only 4% wanting the US to stay until Iraq is stable and only 7% wanting the US to stay until asked to leave by the Iraqi government. The poll also reveals that 49% of Saudis believe the threat of terrorism has increased since the invasion of Iraq with only 2% believing it has decreased. That's an overwhelming amount of resistance.

And now the US are sailing into Saudi Arabia and asking King Abdullah to commit political suicide.

Nor can one say that the Saudis didn't make their opposition to this war clear from the outset. Before the war the Saudi Foreign Minister made it very clear that US bases in Saudi Arabia could not be used for any attack on Iraq, even if the US managed to get the famed second UN resolution. Indeed, Prince Saud al-Faisal made it very clear to President Bush that, in his opinion, Bush would be "solving one problem and creating five more" if he removed Saddam Hussein by force.

Bush did not listen. And now Rice and Gates are asking Abdullah to go against everything he has previously stated and aid them in the war that Saudi Arabia advised them not to fight.

The worry for Saudi Arabians is that the 15-20% of Iraqis who are Sunnis will be massacred in any forthcoming civil war, it was this worry which caused them to advise against US intervention to forcibly remove Saddam.

Nor are Rice and Gates arriving with an offer that is anywhere near secure. The Israelis have made their opposition to this arms deal very well known and some Democrats are already talking of introducing legislation to prevent it from going ahead.

Two House Democrats, Reps. Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said Sunday they would introduce legislation to block the Saudi arms deal.

"We need to send a crystal clear message to the Saudi Arabian government that their tacit approval of terrorism can't go unpunished," Weiner said at a news conference in New York. "Saudi Arabia should not get an ounce of military support from the U.S. until they unequivocally denounced terrorism and take tangible steps to prevent it."

Weiner and Nadler noted that that 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001 were Saudi citizens.

It is in the middle of this poisonous atmosphere that Bush hopes to gain Saudi approval and backing for a war which they have always opposed.

I've said it before, the Bushites simply don't have a plan anymore, they certainly don't have one that makes any kind of sense.

They were warned not to take the lid off of this particular box, but - in their arrogance - they took it off anyway. Now they are demanding that everyone else helps them to put the lid back on. It's mindboggling.

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Tags: Bush, Saudi Arabia, Iraq war, arms deals, King Abdullah