Yes reason does seem to change over time.
The United States Is Not Acting Alone! These Are Our Allies. FreeRepublic | 2/12/2003 | DoughtyOne:
The UAE has already taken part in two peacekeeping operations, in Kosovo and Somalia, and is determined to show that its troops have the experience and high morale to make them valuable allies in any coming conflict.
An official said: "The UAE is committed to the protection of Kuwait and its sovereignty, and will do whatever is needed to carry this out." The GCC, which is comprised of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, was formed in 1986 in an attempt to give the region a common defence.
It played little military role during the 1991 Gulf War, but for several years has been looking at ways to increase the number of troops in its common defence force from 5,000 to 22,000. It has conducted intensive exercises recently.
The troops are due to arrive with Barhaini naval boats and Apache attack helicopters from the UAE within a few days. Kuwait did not announce the size or the national breakdown of the deployment but it is clearly the largest ever assembled by the six nations. The forces will come under the direct command of Kuwaiti military commanders.
Thanks for the post. I do consider the UAE leadership to be among the allies of the U.S. in the Middle-East. I also consider the leadership of Saudi Arabia to be one of our allies. I'm glad to count them as such.
The problem for me, is that their populace is either laced with Wahabis, or a significant presence of problematic individuals that we can not be certain there are not going to be sleeper cells amoung them.
In the old days, would we have allowed U.S.S.R. representatives to take over certain functions in the west? No, we wouldn't because their leadership was problematic. On another level, the peoples of Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. cause concern for much the same reasons, even though their leadership has shown a positive nature.
We talk of fighting this battle on foreign soil. I think most of us consider that to be the optimal situation. With regard to that, I also think that it's wise to utilize our allies in the battle over there, continue our business relationships and enhance them over there, even allow them to invest in the U.S. if they like. I do not think it advisable to allow them to gain control of certain enterprises, this port deal being one of them.
We have extended our hands to the Middle-Eatern nations for deacades via our purchase of their products. Did that prevent 09/11? No. We can flatter ourselves that we can change those nations via trade and business deals, but the facts are that didn't work in the past.
Continue the close relations in most regards. I support that. I do not support giving a Middle-Eastern nation as prominent a role as this in our ports.
Thanks again.