It's time to call Riyadh's bluff.
and a little less of this:
then I will believe that the U.S. leadership finally understands the nature of this war.
Support for the war stood at 82% when we began. If Iraq was a stepping stone to addressing the problem of wahabbisim and the source behind Osama and Co. then we need to to state so plainly because the decreasing support for the war in Iraq is not displeasure of the goal but of the method.
From the article"
Unfortunately, Washington's impulse will be to continue squandering the blood of our troops to preserve the - doomed - existing order in the Middle East, to keep borders intact and the region's miserable kings, sheikhs, emirs and presidents-for-life in power.
Our political leaders are lazy creatures of habit who default to yesteryear's failed theories in any crisis. New ideas just upset them.
So any attempt to disengage from our Sunni Arab enemies to back the ascendant Shia will hit plenty of roadblocks in D.C. The slam-on-the-brakes question will always be, "Do you want to strengthen Iran?" (Unless, of course, you're a congressman responsible for intelligence oversight, in which case all those pesky Sunni/Shia, Iran/Iraq details are beneath your notice.)
Equating "Shia" with "Iran," then writing off the Shia option would be strategic idiocy (in other words, business as usual). Instead, we need to ask ourselves how we can wean the region's Shia - including restive young Iranians - from Tehran's breast.
Some Iraqi Shia do feel an affinity for Iran - but many don't; Arabs find Persians racist and condescending.
Here's the critical issue: How do we channel the unstoppable rise of Shia power into a course that doesn't threaten us? (One answer: Don't pander to their deadly enemies, such as Iraq's Sunni insurgents.
And if the terrified Saudis want us to rescue their nasty backsides again, let's ask just what they plan to do for us in return - then let's see them actually do it.
But our response to any threat from Riyadh should be a public smackdown. Without our support, the Saudis are defenseless. Let's stop pretending we're the ones who need help.
We have to shift onto the winning side of history. Increasingly, that doesn't look "Sunni side up." Yes, face down Iran. But do it wisely, by cooperating with those Shia who fear Tehran's imperial ambitions - rather than alienating them for the sake of Jim Baker's Saudi friends.
We've tried to be fair, and we failed. Now let's concentrate on winning.
snip:
Sounds like a deal with the devil no matter which way we go.