Dahr Jamail: The Royal Treatment: Saudi Involvement in Iraq Overlooked

[babylonsister]

The Royal Treatment: Saudi Involvement in Iraq Overlooked
by Dahr Jamail

Reporting on Iraqi benchmarks in mid-September, Bush and his team of Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker sought to pin some of the blame on Iran. Eschewing diplomatic language during his testimony, Crocker boldly said, “Iran plays a harmful role in Iraq.” Gen. David Petraeus added that Iran is fighting a “proxy war” in Iraq by aiding Shiite extremists and providing weapons that are killing American troops.

Anyone doubting that Bush is not serious about taking on Tehran should note his words from last month: “We will confront this danger before it is too late.” On September 17 the Telegraph reported that the Pentagon has already drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 2,000 targets across Iran.

The great irony is that while of these accusations towards Tehran are supported by thin evidence, plenty of evidence does exist that another of Iraq’s neighbors, U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia, is supporting resistance groups in Iraq, and intends to continue to do so.

A Neighborly Mess: Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia

“Saudi Arabia has both the means and the religious responsibility to intervene ,” wrote Nawaf Obaid, neoconservative ally and a former security advisor to the Saudi government, in a shockingly frank editorial for a Washington Post last November. He warned the Bush administration, sinking ever deeper into the quagmire of Iraq: “America must not ignore the counsel of Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. If it does, one of the first consequences will be massive Saudi intervention to stop Iranian-backed Shiite militias from butchering Iraqi Sunnis.”

Obaid’s warning, in response to talk of a possible U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, noted the current Saudi political stance “I am my brothers’ keeper” towards fellow Sunni Arabs in Iraq. Clearly the Saudis do not consider all Iraqis their brothers, particularly the Shia.

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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/19/3946/