Saudis Plan to End U.S. Presence

The New York Times ^ | 02/08/2003 (for editions of 02/09/2003) | Patrick E. Tyler

[dennisw]

It's the usual NYTIMES and Saudi bllsht. No one knows a thing until Iraq is taken care of.

[Cold Heat]

Bookmarked for reding after we kill Saddam.

[Loyalist]

I'd rather see the headline U.S. PLANS TO END SAUDI PRESENCE.

[Petronski]

Maybe this means the U.S. State Department won't have to run covering operations for their embassy-staff slaves.

[Reagan Man]

>>>Saudi Arabia's leaders have made far-reaching decisions to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States...

Should this happen, I predict the US will be involved in a military conflict against the Saudi's, within 5-10 years!

[MindBender26]

The Saud Family PR release de jour.

[Jim Noble]

>>Crown Prince Abdullah will ask President Bush to withdraw all American armed forces from the kingdom as soon as the campaign to disarm Iraq has concluded<<

Hey, Abdullah...

Who's there?

CANDYGRAM

[AntiGuv]

Sounds good to me. Hopefully they'll succeed, on all counts..

[elfman2]

"The senior prince added, "After the last shot is fired in Iraq, it will be a good time to say that we have won, and that we both agree there is no longer any need for American forces." He continued, "But the real politics of this is to win the hearts and minds of a majority of the people" in Saudi Arabia. "That is the way to really fight terrorism and the bad guys." "

But, but, but… I was told that our presence in Iraq "would destabilize the region!"

[VaBthang4]

It'll be interesting to see where this goes. I dont mind us leaving that demonic land...we'll be in Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait so big deal. As far as the desire to wrest influence from the Wahillbillies...that's cool.

I dont mind this plan...as presented...at all.

[Dog Gone]

This sounds like a plan we would have suggested to them. The truth is, after we finish with Iraq, there is no reason to have any troops in Saudi Arabia. We can dismantle the bases and move them to Iraq where we will have permanent bases for decades.

I hope this plan is implemented, although I can't imagine the clerics supporting it. It would end their religious tyranny.

[cake_crumb]

"If he issues the decrees, Abdullah will have to contend with those religious authorities who will resist reforms and a change in the fundamentalist contract that has empowered a clergy who practice one of Islam's most conservative interpretations, based on the teachings of Sheik Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab and sometimes referred to as Wahhabism"

Therin lies the problem. The house of Saud has allowed extremely narrow minded, cruel, bloodthirsty clerics far too much power for far too long. I sincerely hope that Saudi DOES adopt a form of representative government for it's people, but the attempt to move into the 18th century may have come too late.

[sharkdiver]

"they noted that the soldiers could return if the Saudi rulers faced a new threat." So Typical, Let the US send in 500,000 troops to kick Saddam out of Kuwait and end the threat of Saddam overrunning the Saudi's. We go in and do the dirty work and get our troops killed to overthrow Saddam and the Saudies say thanks now it is time for you to go. But, if the kingdom is threatened again we will have to ask you to come back and save our royal asses again. Time to develop our oil fields and let the middle east rot.

[elfman2]

"Should this happen, I predict the US will be involved in a military conflict against the Saudi's, within 5-10 years!"

I predict we'll have so much propositioned equipment around some nice new Iraqi airfields and ports that any conflict would be over in a heartbeat.

[VaBthang4]

"Should this happen, I predict the US will be involved in a military conflict against the Saudi's, within 5-10 years!"

I dunno.

The Saudi family has a pretty good grip on it's military. Where they [military] falls on this issue is all that matters. If they agree with purging the Wahillbillies from influence then I dont see any reason for us to become engaged militarily.

If the Saudi military sides with the clerics...then, I'd agree with you.

We'll see...eitherway...anything is better than the status quo.

If the military sides with the clerics...then we get to wipe the clerics from the table [by force].
If the Military stays loyal to the Saud's then all is well [relatively speaking].

I think we'd all agree on one thing where the middle east is concerned..."change is good".

If it developes into extremist change...then we are big steps closer to taking out the extremists [as long as GW is calling the shots].

[tessalu]

I have met some Islamics who say that King Fahd and King Abdullah of Jordan are not real Islamics, and they say that they need to be killed. If Saudi Arabia and Jordan know what some Muslims think if them, they will seek all of the protection from the USA that they can get.

[Nick Danger]

I dont mind this plan...as presented...at all.

I don't either. The more they move away from despotism and rule by 13th-century theocrats, the better off we'll all be. We don't need the military bases on their territory anyway, and having us pack up and leave voluntarily when asked sends a useful signal.

[cake_crumb]

"I have met some Islamics who say that King Fahd and King Abdullah of Jordan are not real Islamics, and they say that they need to be killed."

The Islamics you were talking to were terrorist sympathizers - or maybe terrorists. King Fahd and especially King Abdullah are Muslims...but not extremist Islamists which is what the terrorists are.

Personally, I'm wondering if this announcement is the Saudi reaction to the veiled threat coming from the extremists protesting their embassy (in the UK) the other day. Considering how many of the bad guys there ARE in Saudi, that was probably no idle threat and appears to have made the Saudi royal family nervous.

[HadEnough]

"Isn't it better if I do this now before I have to do it later?"

Translation. Better that we put SOME form of democracy in place now (which we can control) than when the Americans are crawling ALL OVER Iraq instituting the same thing!

I heard a quote on conservative talk radio the other day to the effect that ALL effective diplomatic actions are preceeded by the absolute guarantee of military actions.

More and more each day, I support the taking of Iraq by our military forces!!!