[flamefront]

would ruin our credibility in the world

Now what would you say if the same scenario is played out AFTER Saudi is destabilized by terrorists, as OBL inteneded?

I think keeping the seizure option open could be the best thing both for our credibility and for the stability of the Middle East.

Same results, different starting point.

[Dog Gone]

If that scenario played out, we could easily justify intervening. I suspect that it would be at the invitation of the Royal family and all we would be doing is seizing the fields to protect them while the revolution was crushed.

In that case, the clerics and fundamentalists would be wiped out, probably with our help, and we could then return the fields to the Saudis.

The foreign criticism would be minimal, and the outcome quite positive.

It almost makes you hope for an attempted overthrow of the Saudi rulers, doesn't it?