Saudis fear tide of Syria war turning against their interests

Financial Times (FT.com) ^ | Oct 6, 2013 | Abeer Allam in Abu Dhabi

[PapaBear3625]

Until a few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia was riding high. Its regional policies, based on countering revolutionary fervour and containing Iran, appeared to be bearing fruit. Egypt’s army ousted the Islamist president, to plaudits and generous funding from Riyadh; the Syrian opposition elected a new pro-Saudi leadership; and the US seemed poised to launch military strikes on the regime in Damascus that Saudi Arabia has tried to dislodge.

...

As the challenges in Syria grow, there are fears in Riyadh that the war could drag on for more than a decade, draining Saudi coffers and destabilising the region. There are also concerns in Tehran that the proxy conflict between the two countries is getting out of control.

[struggle]

No, Al-Nusra is the group in Syria. They are Sunni mujadeen, that are both supported by Saudi Arabia and identify as AQ (or fundamentalists enforcing Sharia to its fullest).

[bert]

You confuse wealthy with government

[eleni121]

Bingo. The Turks are part of this twisted arrangement too. They endorse the caliphate.

[stonewall_jackson215]

how long until the (possible) muslim in the WH puts boots on the ground in syria to advance the interests of the jihadis in riyadh?

[PapaBear3625]

You confuse wealthy with government

You confuse Saudi Arabia with the average democratic state. The Saudi state IS the oligarchy.

A Saudi who acts in a way which displeases the Royal Family WILL die. Therefore, it can safely be assumed that Saudis supporting AQ are doing so with the tacit approval of the Royals.

[dfwgator]

Translation: Saudis want the US to protect their interests.

That's what we've been doing for the last 25 years. Every US military action has been to benefit the Saudis, from Kuwait, to Bosnia/Kosovo, to Iraq.

[steelhead_trout]

Tough Darts.

[1010RD]

How about just taking the lid off of all American energy resources? Coal is still viable in many regions, but wouldn’t it be great to have mini-nuclear reactors serving 10-20,000 homes/households? That kind of distributed power would end a lot of the risks of terror or cosmological damage to our power system. If each were built with a 100% over capacity you’d be well covered. Simply add additional buried units as a population expands and hook it up to the grid.

[Vigilanteman]

LOL! We can only hope.

But they would have to appear on more than Hillary's coffee table to have any chance of making the MSM.

[bert]

no

[PapaBear3625]

You’re welcome to your opinion.

[bert]

I know first hand.

[cherokee1]

I’ve said for decades that the corrupt, crookedass, Soddies are going to get their throats cut eventually. That’s what Osama wanted and the pendulum is still swinging.

[Cloverfarm]

Off topic: So ... what exactly is a jesus nut? Something that results in a disaster beyond duct tape’s ability to repair?

[bill1952]

Who here knows offhand what a Jesus but is? :)

[bill1952]

Pin that holds the rotor to the shaft

[hannibaal]

You seem to be defending Saudi Arabia a lot. Al Qaeda has nothing to do with Iran, Zawahiri even went as far as to declare war on Shiites saying they are the enemy just as much as we and Israel are. In Syria, they have been destroying and targeting Shiite holy sites as well as churches, in Iraq they have been bombing Shiite mosques, in Pakistan they have been attacking Shiite pilgrims.

So to simplify, their leader is vehemently against iran and Shiite islam, their actions are to openly target Shiites for being Shiite. Iran has militias in Syria fighting al Qaeda. Given these facts, your conclusion is that Iran is backing al Qaeda?
I can’t possibly believe that you are being genuine. Either you are a Sunni muslim, or a troll, or rather ignorant.

[mac_truck]

Lol...Saudi Arabia IS Al Queda, at least as far as money and shot calling goes.

[bert]

I recognize what you have said and acknowledge it was true sometime back. My belief now is that there might be some convergence in order to achieve the power over the current rulers. The fact is, I do not know that to be true or totally untrue.

I do know that the wrap of secrecy on the coalition attempting to end the Assad regime has come off. The coalition is attacking Syria to end the mischief perpetrated for Iran.

There is a belief here that Saudi Arabia is AQ. I do not believe that based on dealing with Saudis that have no interest in the radical path. If I were to accuse several here of being abortionists or gun haters or taxers it would seen ridiculous. But that is precisely the mind set of many. They attribute the thoughts and actions of a portion of the Saudi population to the whole and then extrapolate that to all of Islam. It is shallow.