Posted on 04/01/2011 3:03:39 PM PDT by FredDardick
This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya - the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
The revelation came from two different diplomats, a European and a member of the BRIC group, and was made separately to a US scholar and Asia Times Online. According to diplomatic protocol, their names cannot be disclosed. One of the diplomats said, "This is the reason why we could not support resolution 1973. We were arguing that Libya, Bahrain and Yemen were similar cases, and calling for a fact-finding mission. We maintain our official position that the resolution is not clear, and may be interpreted in a belligerent manner."
As Asia Times Online has reported, a full Arab League endorsement of a no-fly zone is a myth. Of the 22 full members, only 11 were present at the voting. Six of them were Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, the US-supported club of Gulf kingdoms/sheikhdoms, of which Saudi Arabia is the top dog. Syria and Algeria were against it. Saudi Arabia only had to "seduce" three other members to get the vote.
Translation: only nine out of 22 members of the Arab League voted for the no-fly zone. The vote was essentially a House of Saud-led operation, with Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa keen to polish his CV with Washington with an eye to become the next Egyptian President.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
oops... accidentally didn’t post the first line of the article: “You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.”
I read this earlier today. A bit conspiratorial. Doesn’t seem to fit Obama’s M-O.
But I’m all for a pro-western government assuming control of oil-rich Eastern Libya. MoMo can keep Tripoli.
Anyone got the picture of Obama bowing?
What pro-Western govt is that?
Whoopsie! Looks like the Hildebeest might have bitten off more than even she can chew this time, and when the hoo-rah really gets going, so might she.
This would be a great way for Premier Hussein to rid himself of at least one troublesome woman, and get himself out of an ill-advised operation in Libya. He can blame it all on Hillary, throw her under the bus and get someone into Foggy Bottom who really knows what HE’S doing....like Senator John F’in Kerry (D. Viet) for example....
It’s coming....
The list, ping
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Good point.
There are no pro-western governments, even in the west.
The Bahrain uprising needs to be put down. The Iranians are behind it and it most definitely is not a move towards any sort of Democracy.
Saudi Arabia dis not invade Bahrain. That is a pure lie.
They were invited. It is as if the Governor of Virginia asked the Governor of North Carolina to send in some MP’s to help out.
That actually happened when the governor of Alabama asked the Governor of North Carolina to send an MP unit to Tuskegee in 1995 to assist in controlling gangs of blacks looting the downtown after a hurricane.
“This would be a great way for Premier Hussein to rid himself of at least one troublesome woman”
As Michael Corleone said, “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”, it’s been invaluable for BO to have Hillary on staff. I doubt he wants her to go, because she could be on talk shows causing trouble for him.
I think this makes perfect sense, and fits with all the facts I’m aware of.
You'd think they could do better with the Mercenary-in-Chief considering how much we're borrowing from them.
Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya -- the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.Gosh, this sure sounds like nuanced foreign policy, and not just the US acting like unilaterally with Ghetto Diplomacy.
a full Arab League endorsement of a no-fly zone is a myth. Of the 22 full members, only 11 were present at the voting... only nine out of 22 members of the Arab League voted for the no-fly zone.
Good point.
There are no pro-western governments, even in the west.
And none worth a drop of American blood.
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