The following seems to run directly against what I have been thinking about
in my previous posting. Plausible though it seems I have a couple of doubts
about it
1. If there's such a strong call within Saudi Arabis to help Iraqi Sunnis,
then surely it would have happened by now (that is, apart from allowing
young volunteers to go over the border.)
2. Huge though SA ol production is it can't be suddenly expanded enough to
halve the cost of oil world-wide.
It seems to me that the fact that SA is building a barrier between it and
Iraq means that it rather wants to isolate itself from Iraq -- that is, one
faction within the royal family wishes to.
Keith Hudson
US Withdrawal From Iraq May Prompt Saudi Action -Adviser
08:46 EST Wednesday, November 29, 2006
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A premature U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would
likely lead to a "massive Saudi intervention" to protect Iraqi Sunnis,
including boosting oil production to cut crude prices in half to curtail
Iranian funding of militias, according to an adviser to the Saudi government.
Nawaf Obaid, managing director of the Saudi National Security
Assessment Project, wrote in an opinion page item published in Wednesday's
Washington Post that "a chorus of voices" over the past year "has called
for Saudi Arabia to protect the Sunni community in Iraq" from
Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
He wrote that the calls have come from senior Iraqi tribal and
religious figures as well as the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and other Arab
and Muslim countries. All, he said, have petitioned the Saudi leadership to
provide Iraqi Sunnis with weapons and financial support.
In addition, according to Obaid, pressure from within Saudi Arabia
to intervene in Iraq is intense and a new generation of Saudi royals in
strategic government positions are "eager to see the kingdom play a more
muscular role in the region."
Obaid said with the growing potential of U.S. forces being withdrawn
from Iraq, King Abdullah may decide to strangle Iranian funding of the
militias by boosting oil production and cutting the price of oil in half,
which would be devastating to Iran.
Obaid said Saudi leadership is considering such options as providing
Sunni military leaders with funding, arms and logistical support and the
establishment of new Sunni brigades to combat the Iranian-backed militias.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-29-06 0845ET
Keith Hudson, Bath, England, <www.evolutionary-economics.org>
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