Posted on 07/29/2007 8:51:03 AM PDT by SJackson
DURING a high-level meeting in Riyadh in January, Saudi officials confronted a top American envoy with documents that seemed to suggest Iraq's prime minister could not be trusted.
One purported to be an early alert from the prime minister, Nouri Kamal al-Maliki, to radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, warning him to lie low during an American troops increase aimed in part at al-Sadr's militia. Another document purported to offer proof that Maliki was an agent of Iran.
The American envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, immediately protested to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, contending that the documents were forged. But the Saudis remained sceptical, adding to the deep rift between America's most powerful Sunni Arab ally and its predominantly Shi'ite neighbour, Iraq.
Now, Bush administration officials are voicing increasing anger at what they say has been Saudi Arabia's counter-productive role in the Iraq war. They say that, beyond regarding Maliki as an Iranian agent, the Saudis have offered financial support to Sunni groups inside Iraq. Of an estimated 60 to 80 foreign fighters who enter Iraq each month, American military and intelligence officials say nearly half are coming from Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudis have not done enough to stem the flow.
One senior administration official claims to have seen evidence that Saudi Arabia is providing financial support to opponents of Maliki.
Officials in Washington have long resisted blaming Saudi Arabia for the chaos and sectarian strife in Iraq, choosing instead to pin blame on Iran and Syria. Even now, military officials rarely talk publicly about the role of Saudi fighters among the insurgents in Iraq.
But the Bush administration's frustration has increased in recent months because it appears Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to undermine the Maliki government.
The Saudi government has hardly masked its intention to prop up Sunni groups in Iraq. For the past two years it has stressed the need to counterbalance the influence Iran has there. King Abdullah is said to have warned Vice-President Dick Cheney last autumn that Saudi Arabia might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against Iraq's Shi'ites if the United States pulled its troops out of Iraq.
Months ago, Saudi Arabia made a pitch to enlist other Persian Gulf countries to take a direct role in supporting Sunni tribal groups in Iraq, according to former US ambassador Edward W Gnehm, who has served in Kuwait and Jordan. He said that, during a recent trip to the region, he was told Saudi Arabia had pressed other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council - which includes Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman - to give financial support to Sunnis in Iraq.
The closest the administration has come to public criticism was an article about Iraq in the New York Times by Khalilzad, now the US ambassador to the United Nations. "Several of Iraq's neighbours - not only Syria and Iran but also some friends of the United States - are pursuing destabilising policies," he wrote.
Administration officials said Khalilzad was referring specifically to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
An adviser to the Saudi royal family said: "We have been active in having a united Arab front to, first, avoid further inter-Arab conflict, and at the same time build consensus to move towards a peace settlement between the Arabs and Israel. How others judge our motives is their problem."
The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve arms sales totalling $20bn over the next decade for Saudi Arabia and its neighbours, the New York Times reported yesterday.
The proposal for advanced weapons for Saudi Arabia has stoked concern in Israel and among its US backers. The package of weaponry includes satellite-guided bombs, upgrades for its fighters and new naval vessels.
Assurances from the Saudis about being more supportive in Iraq were not sought by the administration as part of the deal, according to the newspaper.
Officials said the plan was to bolster Gulf countries' militaries and contain Iran's growing strength and demonstrate Washington's commitment to its Arab allies. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates still planned to use their joint visit to Saudi Arabia next week to press for help with Iraq's government.
This article: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1181212007
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Our friends the Saudis.
I don’t trust him either. Why would he invite Iranians into the country? Why would he help out al Sadr?
U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia(worth 20 billion USD)
There is an old saying “keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer”
If this goes bad [like I think it will] we must be prepared to level mecca in one big explosion! Kind of like a mushroom cloud.........
All will be forgiven, then ignored.
After all, President Bush is fiercely loyal to his closest friends.
Until we drill more oil on our own territory (closely gaurding environmental safety, of course) and build more refineries, the Saudis have us by the cajones.
yes our friends the saudis who we propose to sell 20 billion of military equipment to. most of the foreign fighters in iraq are saudi’s.
And the Saudis keep their friends close, and their enemies even closer.
Majority of Saudis are Sunnis and majority of Iranians are Shiites. Who has the most to gain out of Iraq?
It’s because of the soccer game.
Insanity? No just geopolitics as usual. Never mind the House of Sodom is supporting the killing of Americans in Iraq and financing mega-mosques worldwide, with radical elements in control. The Saudis are loyal friends. They jsut happen to sit their fat lazy royal posteriors on a pile of black gold.
And those 911 guys, where were they from?
Why do we saddle this pig, and keep riding?
You can’t count on Bush and Cheney to do the right thing vis a vis Saudi Arabia. The disappoint again and again. They can’t be trusted with this.
Saudi officials confronted a top American envoy with documents that seemed to suggest Iraq’s prime minister could not be trusted.
Who can we trust?
Saudis seem to be on everybody’s list of would-not-be-missed.
IMO, there is NO ONE outside Israel in the ME that can be trusted.
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