I had a deer tick bite a couple weeks ago and I was hoping that it wouldn’t develop into lyme disease. Alas, I’ve had no such luck. I’ve got all the symptoms now and will begin taking powerful antibiotics today. I’m achy, feverish, have a headache, a stomach ache, my shoulder is red, itchy, sore, inflamed, and burning. I can’t concentrate, and I just want to sleep.
That makes it difficult to read and write. However, I have managed to read the papers this morning. And, as I suspected, there appears to be a rift opening in U.S./Saudi relations. As far as I can tell there are two major problems. The first problem is that the Saudis object to any talk of us pulling out of Iraq because they fear the Shi’ite majority will commit genocide on the Sunni minority. The second problem is related. They object to many of the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations, including any plans to open diplomatic talks with Iran. In recent days, the Saudis have announced plans to develop nuclear weapons, have threatened to intervene on the Sunni’s side in Iraq, and their ambassador has quit.
This is a new element that we will have to take seriously as we try to muddle forward with a strategy. FUBAR seems to describe the situation.
