If you ask President Obama, who has in all practical terms abandoned the Middle East, he will probably give some lame lip service as to how these events are up to the citizens of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis, who are the Sunni Muslim super power in the region, have thrown down the gauntlet against the Shiite Muslim super power in the region, Iran. With the U.S. firmly entrenched on the sidelines in the Middle East currently, the Saudis rightly have concluded that they are on their own.
We may indeed see a shooting war erupt between these two Muslim nations, with maybe even nukes involved, as we have seen proxy wars between the two sects for some time now in Syria, and more recently in Yemen and Iraq.
But how will all of this turmoil affect us? If we all remember, we had a reliable ally in the region 36 years ago in Tehran under the Shah Riza Pahlavi's rule. He was an unsavory ally to be sure, and his excesses and disregard for his people are for sure the stuff of legend. But he was an ally, who sided with the U.S. on virtually every issue within the region.
Enter Jimmy Carter, who unilaterally decided that we could live without the Shah, and threw him under the bus. With the Shah rendered toothless by the U.S., the madmen mullahs under the leadership of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promptly deposed the Shah, stormed our embassy, kept our diplomats hostage for well over a year, and established the most disruptive and evil force in the region for the next half century or so. Well done, Jimmy.
With the potential fall of the House of Saud should the agents of Tehran prevail in this latest kerfuffle, we can expect that whoever fills the vacuum after the Saudis vacate their palaces in Riyad will most definitely not be friendly to U.S. interests. I can't say that I will feel sorry for these rotten potentates spawned from ol' Ib'n Saud's loins, not really. They deserve every bad thing that happens to them, and more.
But like Iran in 1979, we should perhaps learn from history: it's preferable to deal with the devil you know, than with the devil you don't know.
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11 comments:
And most people don't attribute the current situation to Jimmy, but to Bush (either).
It's true that the 911 hijacking plot was brought to fruition by Saudis and they are friends of ours by necessity. I'm sure that the Russians and Chinese will step into our shoes for the oil if for nothing else.
Nation states act in their own self-interest. We need to take allies where we find them. Donald Trump proposes defending the Saudis for a fee (mercenary action) that will pay down the national debt. The liberal elite scream at such a scheme, but we've been doing it for free since Standard Oil set up shop there. I say that we need to take a page from the Donald's play book:
- Charge the Saudis for protection
- Encourage the Russians to kill ISIS off to the extent they are willing.
- Encourage Jordan, Pakistan and Egypt to put troops into Iraq to push the Shiites out to the extent possible and de-fang them there. Arm the Kurds, whether the Turks like it or not. Who really cares about Syria? If the Iraq government objects, topple it. The USA used to have people who did that. Dust some of the old men off and send them to teach the children how to do it.
There is a good reason why the Saudis and Egyptians don't want Syrian refugees...
Ed: only brain dead liberals attribute our current Middle East mess to Bush. These same brain dead liberals try to discount the disastrous Carter administration's finger prints on this disaster, when anyone with half a brain can clearly see that Jimmy let loose this evil genie out of their Persian bottle.
LL: ah, yes. The good ol' days when men were men. And those manly men toppled regimes for nothing more than simply missing a protection payment. Nobody messed with us back then.
Ahhh, those were the days.
We should send the Saudis an invoice for oh, say, a trillion dollars, payable net 20 days. Once their check clears, then we can dispatch a fleet or two of B-52's their way. I would think they would be scrambling over each other in their rush to get their ink pens and their check books...in reality, they have a trillion or two dollars laying around in cookie jars lining their palace hallways. They won't even miss it.
Fredd, seems like this: "He was an unsavory ally to be sure, and his excesses and disregard for his people are for sure the stuff of legend. But he was an ally, who sided with the U.S. on virtually every issue within the region." has been repeated all OVER that region, doesn't it.
We should have left them ALL IN POWER...the people hated them but they had better lives under them, oddly enough. MUCH BETTER. Particularly in Teheran and Afghanistan!
It's so typically American to play THE LONE RANGER when nobody wants him...
We have TONS of Persians who came after the Shah's ouster; smart, attractive, wealthy, successful here, probably many are muslims but would laugh at the idea of wearing hijabs or supporting terror. GOOD people. They all left for HERE when trouble started. Sadly, now we're getting the dredges ...people who'll NEVER have jobs here and we'll be paying for centuries and centuries more for them and their progeny.
tough times. And nobody willing to be tough. Trump doesn't count; talking tough isn't enough.
War is a racket, Fredd. Is now and always was. If the Saudis need protection, why not charge them for it?
Z: I agree, talking tough is way easier than being tough.
LL: Trump says this all the time. He's been saying that since before he was running for president. Long before.
The Boy Queen and his college chums in the White House have been "nation building" behind the scenes for quite awhile now. He's failed everywhere he's pointed his finger. A different president is needed sooner than later.
I hope for a difference between protecting our interests and being a gun for hire.
At lest Kerry didn’t bring in James Taylor to sing “Kumbaya” or “You’ve got a friend”
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