Will Hudson has a great piece on why a free Iran and a liberated Iraq will help isolate the Saudis and starve terrorist networks. He also mentions one of the major reasons why we’re not taking the hard line against the Saudis – while they provide 12% of our oil, our allies depend on them far more than we do.
What the Bush Administration appears to be pursuing is a kind of domino effect in the region – eliminating the Iraqi regime will relieve some pressure on the Iranian freedom movement, as the native Farsis who want a free society are currently under the whip of Iraqi mercenaries. That may be enough to reduce the power of the mullahs in Iran, which will isolate the Saudis even more. Eventually, as the free Iranian and Iraqi regimes will be able to offset the Saudis in oil production, eliminating the one thing that keeps the Saudis in power.
Granted, it’s a bit like a foreign policy Rube Goldberg machine, but there’s evidence that the Bush Administration is setting the stage for the House of Saud to lose its foundation, and free those enslaved under the the Iraqi and Iranian regimes.
“…a foreign policy Rube Goldberg machine…”
Brilliant!
The effect on the Saudis, though, may not be what one might expect. There definitely is an intricate connection between all three nations, though. Saddam Hussein and Baathist Iraq would never have amounted to anything had the Saudis not propped him up and pretended he was both good for Islam and also not a shepherd among princes, seeing him as their principle line of defence against the Islamic Revolution started by (and stalled in) Iran.