Saudi will intervene in Iraq if US withdraws-aide

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29311689.htm

Saudi will intervene in Iraq if US withdraws-aide

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq, a security adviser to the Saudi government said on Wednesday.

Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

"To be sure, Saudi engagement in Iraq carries great risks -- it could spark a regional war. So be it: The consequences of inaction are far worse," Obaid said.

The article said the opinions expressed were Obaid's own and not those of the Saudi government.

[ewagner]

1. Hmmmmm

this gets leaked just after Cheney's visit?

Did he cut a deal with the Saudi ruling family to "give" them Iraq?

:shrug: :shrug: oh yeah, and one of these :tinfoilhat:

[Donnachaidh]

2. yeah -- the intervention by all the hired mercenaries they can buy

We never really followed the trail of Saudi money involved in 9/11 did we?

[saigon68]

37. Those Mercenaries will get a well deserved Rose Petal Parade

Like these thug mercenaries did

[Flanker]

3. If they flood it won't that limit their ability to finance it as well?

nm

[mom cat]

22. It is an empty threat. They can't pump much more than they already are.

[evilgenius602]

25. ummm, they're richer than god..

[leveymg]

4. Will the Saudi Princes suit up in kevlar and chopper into Baghdad?

You've gotta know this was some 26-year-old AU student working at the Saudi Embassy who said this, and it's going to be retracted.

The Saudis are going to intervene in Iraq to stop the Shi'a . . . ROTFL . . . only if the Saudi Royal family wants to start lining up today at the Arlington, VA Asylum Office.

This is s-o-o-o rich. :spray:

[saigon68]

38. They will suit up in Durex Condoms and prowl the Coast of Monaco etc

Looking for hookers

[leveymg]

40. A realist.

[goclark]

5. Hey, let them do GW's work for him

and bring our children home!

[ileus]

27. Agreed!

[goclark]

31. Welcome to Du ileus nt

[Jacobin]

6. Get ready for the fit to hit the shan

This is about to get really really ghastly

[leveymg]

7. How's the Dow-30 doing today?

Dropped a little recently, hasn't it?

Check out the oil spot prices, also.

[bahrbearian]

10. Prince Bandar to Cheney: "How are we to pay for this?"

Cheney: " Easy, raise the price of Oil, its a win win situation for both of Us"

[Demeter]

12. So THAT"S Why Gas Went Up 15 Cents in an Hour?

I thought we'd bombed Iran.

[MaineDem]

8. Did Cheney work out this arrangement?

I'm not sure what to think about this.

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. Dick was hand delivering a check for that engagement

I wonder how much we're paying the Saudis for it.

[dipsydoodle]

11. flooding the oil market ?

Highly unlikely - they'd be real popular with the other producers, not including Iran , if they did that.

I think Obaid's opinion will be dismissed quickly.

[grytpype]

13. Saudi Arabia vs. Iran. Welcome to Dubya Dubya III.

[jazzjunkysue]

14. And if you thought they were making this war up as they went along,

before, you ain't seen nothing, yet.

This is gonna get wierder than a Seinfeld episode. Pieces are gonna move on this board and all the players are going to react. No one group will have all the information about anyone else's plans. There will be fatal misunderstandings and assumptions.

Lots of shoes have got to drop before we'll know the end game, or who will claim the spoils.

Right now the investors in this charade are cutting their losses and outing their sources. Mutiny on the PNAC pirate ship. Let the back stabbing begin.


This is where DU will become the most important news source on the planet. With our collective knowledge and insight, we'll figure out what's going on before most governments will.

Maybe we need one Iraq Endgame thread, to keep people in sequence. Something to consider.

[stubtoe]

28. Jazzjunkysue: DU already IS the most important news source on the planet!

It's long been my new source, anyway. This is the real deal right here.

[Tight_rope]

41. You are so damn right...this is the first place I come to for my news

[jazzjunkysue]

46. I stand corrected. Of course! n/t.

[cassiepriam]

34. Bingo. Sign me up for the endgame thread. Should be a doozy.

[jazzjunkysue]

45. My daughter's name is Cassie! Great name. n/t.

[cassiepriam]

47. Is it Cassandra or Cassie?

[jazzjunkysue]

48. Right. The whole name is Cassandra, but, she's called Cassie.

Or Cass. Great name! You're a Cassandra, right?

[cassiepriam]

52. Yes, Cassandra from Greek mythology. My alter ego... :)

[Virginia Dare]

15. Damn them and their evil conniving plans...

how many people are going to die or otherwise be destroyed because of their greed and arrogance--hang their treasonous hides...:mad:

[w4rma]

16. Fine. It's past time to withdraw. (nt)

[elehhhhna]

17. Are we giving Iraq to the Saudis?

[leveymg]

19. and to Iran, but the Turks will have to fight for

Kurdistan, and the Euros will fight us (in the shadows), the Israelis will fight Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Russian and Chinese and the multinational oil companies will clean up after the ashes settle in Saudi Arabia.

Got the picture?

[jpak]

18. If Saudi backs the Sunni - Iran will back the Shia

Gas will be $10 a gallon and the blood will flow.

You're doin' a heck of a job Chimpster...

[warrens]

20. Since the bastards started a lot of this mess

Sounds fair to me. They supported Al Qaeda, financed terrorist extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan to keep them away from the House of Saud, and egged on Dimson. Dump this in their lap and leave.

[leveymg]

21. Houston - we have a problem.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States supply a quarter of the world's oil. What do you think's going to happen to the price of energy if we wipe our hands and go home?

What do you think is going to happen to the price of oil if we send in the Marines? Same thing.

Either there's a comprehesive regional settlement, or we're all going to be cold and broke by the end of this Winter.

[Vincardog]

35. Do ya think that is why we need to free ourselves from the oil trap leveymg?

How much alternate energy do you think we could have developed for $300 BILLION?

[leveymg]

36. That's about $1,000 per American

That's not quite enough to get us there, but would be a start, particularly in R&D of alternative energy supply and conservation programs.

If we want to reduce subsidizing the military costs of America's addiction to ME oil, the most direct route would be to increase motor vehicle efficiency. The transportation sector, especially private automobiles and light trucks, are by far the largest consumers of petroleum imports.

The cost of protecting oil supplies since 9/11 is estimated at $2.2 trillion, according to the Joint Forces Quarterly: http://www.energybulletin.net/13461.html

Military operations to ensure en­ergy access and price stability have added an invisible subsidy to the true cost of imported oil. From 1991 to 2004, the average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas at a U.S. pump was as high as $2.28. When the $2.2 trillion cost of 9/11 and all Middle East/Cen­tral Asia operations since Desert Shield are factored into the 1.71 trillion gal­lons American consumers have used since 1991, the cost at the pump rises to $3.56 per gallon (see table). The current energy strategy understates these costs of seeking energy security through military action. The invisible hand of market forces, which should trigger oil conservation at a price of $3.56 per gallon, has been disrupted by the externalized military cost.

That's just about equal to the annual revenues of the world oil industry, $2.1 trillion. Ibid. Of that amount, the U.S. consumes about a 40 percent share, around $800 billion. The vast majority of that is consumed by motor vehicles.

That picture breaks down further, as follows:

Petroleum provides nearly 40 per­cent of all energy used in the United States, a share that is forecast to rise over the next 20 years. Increasing reli­ance on oil coupled with declining domestic production will trigger in­creasing demand for foreign oil. Today, imports comprise 62 percent of total petroleum consumption, predicted to rise to 70 percent by 2025.

The main users of petroleum are the transportation and industrial sec­tors. Oil provides 95 percent of the en­ergy for transportation and 20 percent for the industrial sector. Recognition that world oil supplies have reached Hubbert’s peak will have major impli­cations in the industrial world. World­wide consumption is rising 3 percent annually, with the greatest growth in China. The oil energy industry gener­ates annual revenues of $2.1 trillion. Most transportation technologies have useful lifetimes of 15 years or more. Transition to alternative technologies could thus render part or all of this investment worthless and will not be undertaken until the economic argu­ments are unimpeachable. Although rising prices and sagging supplies will eventually produce clear incentives to conserve and deploy alternative energy sources, in many cases these signals may not arrive until very late in the supply collapse, minimizing time for classic economic incentives to act.

The first barrier to solving this problem lies in public and policy­maker perceptions. Oil price shocks and fluctuations have been common since 1974, but each time the warnings proved false. For that reason alone, it may prove difficult to convince the public and policymakers that an era of permanently limited oil supplies has arrived.

[Raiden]

23. Bush is right not to call Iraq a "civil war"

Apparently it's becoming a regional war :nuke:

Imagine Iran vs. Saudi Arabia vs. Isral vs. Palestine vs. Syria vs. Lebanon vs. Turkey vs. Kurdistan :scared:

[Gregorian]

24. It's a chess game.

Don't the Saudi's own some of our debt? If so, I would bet there is some deal going on with that.

[jazzjunkysue]

50. And the Chinese own the rest. Our ass is grass, man. US for sale.

Clearance sale.

[buddysmellgood]

26. There seems to be a ready supply of people willing to strap bombs to their bodies and blow

themselves up. Financing is not going to be a big issue. The Saudis never get their hands dirty. They won't do anything themselves, but they'll pay to have it done.
How about having the Saudis finance an international peace-keeping force. A UN organized and trained force of private peace keepers. All volunteer and paid at Halliburton rates. The bigger portion of the money to individuals is given at the end of the tour as an incentive to stay and do the job.

[Tempest]

29. It would be the end of the Saudi monarchy

The Shiite majority in Saudi Arabia would rise up and overthrow the government.

Saudi Arabia can't flood the oil market for two reasons, (1) they are already producing at almost 100% and (2) OPEC nations wanting to limit Saudi's influence would cut back on production to keep prices from falling too far.

[jazzjunkysue]

51. Interesting. So, S. A. props up the Sunnis to keep their own mutiny

in check.

This is not about ideology and religion. This is not about conservative and moderate, just like it's not what's really going on in the US.

This is all about control.

We screwed up so bad.

[Solly Mack]

30. Report by Obaid on Saudi National Security - helps explain

http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/fact-book/documents/2006/060821-snsap-fractured-iraq.pdf

[sabra]

32. nice find

[leveymg]

42. That is interesting - thanks.

Not a bad overview of the many reasons we failed in Iraq. Why in the world the Saudis believe they can do any better is beyond me.

The only sane explanation is that the Saudis Royals are threatening us with their own extinction if they tried.

[Tight_rope]

43. No shit...where did you find that!

[Solly Mack]

49. While researching security fences

A couple of weeks back a news story of the Saudis building a security fence (to keep out what's happening in Iraq) - and came across the report

[NOLADEM]

33. I think we are seeing the tip of a plan

Cheney gave Iraq to Saudi Arabia at the meeting earlier this week. In exchange, they get to meter the oil out of the ground and in turn have to defend Iraq from itself and from Iran. Saudi Arabia gets more oilfields that aren't yet pumping at capacity.

[Tight_rope]

44. DING! DING! DING! YOU HAVE A BINGO!

[Miss Chybil]

39. And so the next step in "re-making" the M.E. is beginning to take shape. nt

[hollowdweller]

53. Good. Let's let them. They are funding Al Quaida anyway so they might have more success.

[sweetheart]

54. saudi lazy fat asses

Yea right... the saudi's will do *something*.. ha ha! good one.