[jscd3]

they were of the same line as the current kings of Jordan, who are hereditary sharifs of Mecca, thus rivals to the Wahabi rulers of Saudi Arabia

King Abdulla would, therefore, be sort of an interesting guy to promote into some position of authority in Iraq then, wouldn't you think? Especially if, as we are often reminded, we eventually need to deal with our "allies" in the House of Saud.

Again, just thinking outside of the box here...

[Argus]

Wheels within wheels...

I hope this turns out to be an instance of really smart, devious, machiavellian cunning on our part, and not just the prelude to a bugout.

[ellery]

There was lots of speculation about Jordan's king serving some role in Iraq before the war began. I seem to remember some meeting of Iraqi ex-pats that the king's son attended -- setting off some buzz along these lines.