Was just saying this to some Lib friends last night who were spouting the "it's all about oil" mantra. If it were indeed about oil, we'd take out the Saudis first as they are the weakest militarily and richest oil-wise.
It is the Iraqis who posess the only viable military presence in the ME and must be disarmed first before the rest of the Islamist hornet's nest can be eliminated with a minimum amount of 'sting'. .
I believe that the ayatollahs in Iran will fall internally next and we will then move on to Syria, et. al.
Actually Habs the Saudis are the biggest singular threat in the world today! And if you want to rank the greatest threats in the globe they are first of all the Saudis, followed by the Pakistanis, and then thirdly the North Koreans. To be perfectly honest with you when it comes to the global complex of the proliferation of terror, and a viable opportunity to ease the spread of WMDs, Iraq does not even figure into the equation when compared to the above three!
Anyways let us look at Saudi Arabia! That nation is the prime source of terror as we know it today! If you were to meticulously delve into the proliferation of terror around the globe (the whole globe by the way, from the FARC in S. America to the muraleen Arabs in the Sudan in Africa, to the Chechnyans in Russia) you will notice one interesting thing ...Saudi money plus Saudi demagogic influence! It is was a Saudi source that started to bankroll the FARC (including paying for the IRA to train them for a mortar bomb assasination attempt against the Argentine president). It is Saudi Arabia that has been helping the Sudanese north in its oppression (and murder, rape, and slavery) of the Dinka Christians in Southern Sudan! In Chechnya since 1995 it was a Saudi demagogue that made the Chechnyans take up arms again against Russia (there had been a volatile ceasefire until then), and that was also the same time the same Saudi source that influenced the Chechnyans to invade the neighboring region of Dagestan to try and forcibly convert it into an Islamic republic (the Russian army swooped in and kicked the Chechies out, but you get the point)!
In Asia the abu Sayyef terro group, which has links to Al Queda, is partly funded from Saudi Arabia! One of the major contributors to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Israel, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, is from Saudi Arabia. And the lisy goes on ad infinitum!
In essence the major threat from the Saudis is not from its military strength (hence negating your point that it has a 'weak military')! Its major ability is the exportation of ideological demagogues (like the spread of Wahhabism to places like the Sudan), and most importantly the financing of terror activities (usually subtly or by proxy, but almost all traceable to Saudi Arabia).
Hence that is why Swarthyguy was right in saying Riyadh is not a US ally but quite possibly the greatest threat to face the US since Kruschev (at least Kruschev, and the USSR at large, were intelligent enough and cared about their kids unlike extremist islamic scum who seem to care only about death and destruction).
As for Pakistan the danger inherent in it is that it is an Islamic nation, with a very large radical element, and a nuclear arsenal! Add to this volatile mix the fact that the ISI (the Pakistani CIA) is in essence not controlled by the president, and in its autonomy it has been known to engage in terrorist logistics, especially in attacks against India (where they finance and train terrorists). Also add to this the fact that certain Pakistani commanders openly call for surprise nuclear attacks on India! However the biggest threat is that in the event of an India-Pakistan war (which all paradigms show India would win) that Pakistan would not only launch nukes against India, it would also give some nuclear material to terror groups to sue against the west which 'abandoned Pakistan.'
This is why the British Foreign secretary said Pakistan is the biggest single terror threat in the globe (although personally i would say the Saudis are first, but that's me).
As for North Korea just look at the reports of what they did TODAY! The news reports for today say a ship from N. Korea was caught transporting Scud missiles. Another said that N. Korea is the world's biggest supplier of Ballistic missile technology! A third said that N. Korea was in the process of taking delivery of certain nuclear weapons tech from China! All this was from todays news, and that is just the stuff i had the time to delve into. N. Korea is a big threat, yet for some reason the international community (apart from Japan and S. Korea which are in dire straits and are thus very concerned) seem to be totally oblivious to the major threat boded by N. Korea!
In comparison to the above three Iraq is analogically tantamount to being a little scorpion with a tiny venomous sting, while the above three are super-lethal vipers and cobras! The scorpion is indeed a threat, however if trapped in a tiny room i would personally tackle the cobras and the vipers before i even took a second look at the scorpion. I believe the word is prioritization!
Iraq is a danger, and it needs to be negated as a threat! However assuming that Iraq is the biggest 'naughty boy' and being oblivious to the Saudis and their cash and ideology; the Pakistani and their nukes, ISI, and radical islamic base; and N. Korea and its vagrant violation of international rules, plus its nuclear program and weapon sales ....that is just sheer stupidity!
We should go after Iraq if need be ..however i hope we will not accept what the Saudi obfuscator (oops, i mean the guy who came on telly last week and said Saudi arabia is a 'misunderstood American ally') as the end of story for Saudi arabia!
And if the Saudis did not have oil, and they did what they are currently doing, i would willingly bet that US B-1Bs and B-2s would be dropping JDAMS over Riyadh as we speak!