Comments on: The Iran-Saudi Arabia Cold War http://themoderatevoice.com/24350/the-iran-saudi-arabia-cold-war/ An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:08:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: daveinboca http://themoderatevoice.com/24350/the-iran-saudi-arabia-cold-war/comment-page-1/#comment-164104 daveinboca Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:46:59 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/religion/islam/muslims/24350/the-iran-saudi-arabia-cold-war/#comment-164104 Back when I was Political Officer in Jidda in the last days of the Shah, Iran was furiously jockeying for regional hegemony in the PERSIAN Gulf [the Arabs call it "Arabian"] and Kissinger had nixed lower oil prices [and thus supported the Shah's bid to keep OPEC prices high] by not conveying the Saudi agreement for a lower OPEC oil price to the Shah. Kissinger worked hand in hand with the Shah and the Saudis always resented his pro-Shah stance. When Amb. Jim Akins refused to support HtheK's pro-Shah tilt, Akins was out the door. The Saudis no longer suspect the USA, but do not feel a deep gratitude for our efforts against Iran. GHWB famously did not follow through in 1991 to Baghdad largely on his reaction to Saudi fears of a Shi'ite ascendancy in Iraq, which is now more or less the case.<br><br>A quiescent moderate Taliban in Afghanistan is hard to imagine, as these fellows are natural Wahhabi fanatics, very much in line with the Saudi ideology which conquered the Arabian peninsula in the early 1900s. The Saudi Minister of the Interior Al-Naif & his brother Ahmad the Vice Minister of Int are both big Taliban fans inside the top-royal-family circles and have means to support the Taliban independently of King Abdullah. The problem is that Saudi foreign policy has never been concentrated in the Foreign Minister or even the King's jurisdiction, but is "farmed out" to Royals with special interests in certain countries. Even a place as important as Afghanistan is not immune from Saudi Royals' meddling at cross-purposes with official Saudi policy. <br><br>BTW, Benazir Bhutto's mother was of Iranian origin and she always had a soft spot for Iranian policy, which could have been a factor in her assassination early this year. My guess is that the Barelvi sect [just like the Ahmadiyya sect in Pakistan] is outlawed by Saudi Wahhabis , making the Pak/Taliban conflict more important in Saudi eyes. Religious issues always trump geopolitics in the Saudi world view, except perhaps in oil. Back when I was Political Officer in Jidda in the last days of the Shah, Iran was furiously jockeying for regional hegemony in the PERSIAN Gulf [the Arabs call it "Arabian"] and Kissinger had nixed lower oil prices [and thus supported the Shah's bid to keep OPEC prices high] by not conveying the Saudi agreement for a lower OPEC oil price to the Shah. Kissinger worked hand in hand with the Shah and the Saudis always resented his pro-Shah stance. When Amb. Jim Akins refused to support HtheK's pro-Shah tilt, Akins was out the door. The Saudis no longer suspect the USA, but do not feel a deep gratitude for our efforts against Iran. GHWB famously did not follow through in 1991 to Baghdad largely on his reaction to Saudi fears of a Shi'ite ascendancy in Iraq, which is now more or less the case.

A quiescent moderate Taliban in Afghanistan is hard to imagine, as these fellows are natural Wahhabi fanatics, very much in line with the Saudi ideology which conquered the Arabian peninsula in the early 1900s. The Saudi Minister of the Interior Al-Naif & his brother Ahmad the Vice Minister of Int are both big Taliban fans inside the top-royal-family circles and have means to support the Taliban independently of King Abdullah. The problem is that Saudi foreign policy has never been concentrated in the Foreign Minister or even the King's jurisdiction, but is “farmed out” to Royals with special interests in certain countries. Even a place as important as Afghanistan is not immune from Saudi Royals' meddling at cross-purposes with official Saudi policy.

BTW, Benazir Bhutto's mother was of Iranian origin and she always had a soft spot for Iranian policy, which could have been a factor in her assassination early this year. My guess is that the Barelvi sect [just like the Ahmadiyya sect in Pakistan] is outlawed by Saudi Wahhabis , making the Pak/Taliban conflict more important in Saudi eyes. Religious issues always trump geopolitics in the Saudi world view, except perhaps in oil.

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