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Deep US-Saudi rift over Egypt: Abdullah stands by Mubarak, turns to Tehran
A senior Saudi source told the London Times that “Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated.”
Indeed, our sources add, the king at the age of 87 is fearful that in the event of a situation developing in Saudi Arabia like the uprising in Egypt, Washington would dump him just like Mubarak.
Debkafile’s intelligence sources add that replacement aid for Egypt was not the only card in Abdullah’s deck. He informed Obama that without waiting for events in Egypt to play out or America’s response, he had ordered the process set in train for raising the level of Riyadh’s diplomatic and military ties with Tehran. Invitations had gone out from Riyadh for Iranian delegations to visit the main Saudi cities.
Abdullah stressed he had more than one bone to pick with Obama. The king accused the US president of turning his back not only on Mubarak but on another beleaguered American ally, the former Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri, when he was toppled by Iran’s surrogate Hizballah.
Our sources in Washington report that all of President Obama’s efforts to pacify the Saudi king and explain his Egyptian policy fell on deaf ears. Arab sources in London reported Tuesday, Feb. 8, that a special US presidential emissary was dispatched to Morocco with a message of explanation for the king. He was turned away. This is not confirmed by US or Saudi sources.
The initiation of dialogue between Riyadh and Tehran is the most dramatic fallout in the region from the crisis in Egypt. Its is a boon for the ayatollahs who are treated the sight of pro-Western regimes either fading under the weight of domestic uprisings, or turning away from the US as Saudi Arabia is doing now.
This development is also of pivotal importance for Israel. Saudi Arabia’s close friendship with the Mubarak regime dovetailed neatly with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s alignment with Egypt and provided them with common policy denominators. The opening of the Saudi door to the Iranian push toward the Red Sea and Suez Canal tightens the Iranian siege ring around Israel.
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to be diaried – JVP leader is targeted ‘for Treason and Incitement against Jews’.
To shergald: do you have time to make a write-up?
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Oui, I’m trying to keep up on reading, but personal life issues have had my attention for the past few weeks and are still demanding my concentration. Be back soon, I hope.
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It was plain to see, in the early stages of the Egyptian revolt, Hillary Clinton was in sync with Bibi Netanyahu. Waiting for the shots to be called by Netanyahu and her concerns more about security for Israel than a just FP by the U.S. Plenty of fear was created by the opinion makers in Israel and lobby groups in the U.S. for the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama was compared to Carter and the overthrow of the Shah in Iran by Khomeiny. Cold war rhetoric of the worst kind. In a positive way, don’t underestimate the influence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on visit to Israel two weeks ago. Germany has a lot of economic sway in Egypt and is a close political ally of Israel. Merkel and Obama were in full sync on statements about Egypt and the path to follow.Hillary Clinton must believe what is good for Israel in the Middle-East is good for the U.S. Old FP and very damaging stance in the region as opportunity for democracy evolves. Hillary is a friend of Israel, not Obama and never wil as the right-wing politics of Netanyahu tries to avoid peace talks.
Mubarak listened to no one except his son Gamal when his Presidency was already lost.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hello, my friend! So sorry I haven’t been able to engage as I used to. At any rate, I’ve been so inspired by the Egyptian people. It’s been wonderful to see this history in the making in real time.
I don’t have anything to add but this–I just realized that not only are the Israelis currently in charge uninterested in peace, but it seems to me that Mubarak and the Saudi king are wholly uninterested in peace, too. They all profit by keeping us in fear of everything. It also seems that they are contemptuous of their own people–they prop up religious zealots and are surprised when some of the people follow them.
I also find curious what else is not discussed: That the other big loser in the revolution is Al Qaeda. Peaceful protest has done what all their bluster and terrorism couldn’t.
Funny how we’re not shouting about this from the rafters.
I don’t mean to suggest that we’ll all have a big “Kumbayah Moment” and that everything can be and will be roses and rainbows. But there’s a big difference between clear-eyed assessments and blatant fearmongering.
Especially when that fearmongering pays so handsomely.
And as far as the king in concerned, he can just go sit down somewhere. He’s just concerned that his own people might get the radical notion that nonviolent protest works–and could work well enough to retire him and his royal family.
Yesterday Israel’s defence (sic) minister said they may have to invade Lebanon again to remind Hezbollah of the beating it took in 2006. Apart form the fact that virtually every military analyst even in Israel saw the 2006 invasion as a humiliating defeat for Israel, that the expansionist state is again threatening a neighbor with invasion and the death of copious amount of civilians that the Israel always targets, where are the calls for restraint from the useless western governments that dont even really support risings against their own funded and armed facist dictatorships?
Of course this happens in a context of Israel losing control of its destiny as democracy comes to its neighbors, if allowed by the western backers of the facist regimes.
It is also crucial to note that there was no ideological cement that held the Egypt or other risings together, but largely unreported in English but easily confirmed by arab speakers, there was a commonality of anti-Israeli sentiment across them that was openly mouthed especially in insulting their own leaders. That hasnt been missed by Israel which needs a dramatic game changer. It also hasnt been missed by the other Arab regimes that are desperately scrambling to remember Palestinians and up the anti-Israel speeches as a way to head off their own downfalls. Whether democracy comes or not is one thing, but whether it comes or not Israel has already lost, and both it and its neigbors are openly aware of this.
For US policy even Hilary led pro-Zionist death policy makes little sense as you may as well just get on the good side as there is nothing you can do to bring back the relative advantage of the Zionists. That is all over.