WHY WE INVADED IRAQ (AND LEFT SAUDI ARABIA)

[FlashHarry]

(Reposted from another thread)

Ok, bear with me. Saudi Arabia sits on the worlds largest oil reserves, Iraq on the second largest. Saudi Arabia is ruled by the Saud family, which is widely viewed by the people as corrupt and sybaritic--in addition to having been installed by the infidel British after WWI. Saudi Arabia is also home to Wahabi'ist Islam--a particularly nasty form of fundamentalist Islam that is subscribed to by Al Qaeda, Ansar-al-Islam and others. Saudi Arabia is also the funding source of many virulently anti-western madrassas in Pakistan, The UK and other places.

All-in-all, SA is a very unstable place that is looking more and more like Iran in 1978. I think that the whole PNAC crowd fears a revolution is imminent in Saudi Arabia. Think about it. What would be more frightening to the Oil folks than the Islamic Republic of Arabia?

So, what do we do? Well, we invade Iraq, who, thanks to 12 years of sanctions and a convenient bad guy at the helm, is an easy and easily justifiable target (so we thought). What do we get? Well, we get control of the world's 2nd largest oil reserves and a bulwark against encroaching Islamic fundamentalism--AND we can finally wash our hand of the moribund Saud family.

Questions? Comments? Or am I just being amazingly obvious?

Edited for a more provocative headline....

[wtmusic]

1. Saudia Arabia is just down the road

The demonizing process has already started. I give it five years.

[ET Awful]

7. Invading Saudi Arabia

Would be tantamount to actually declaring war on Islam.

You think terrorism is a problem now? Wait until someone is stupid enough to actually invade the country that contains Mecca and Medina.

EVERY muslim throughout the world would take umbrage at that, and you would see a jihad of proportions that are beyond "biblical" or "epic".

[dutchdemocrat]

2. Excellent perception

I think that, with the links of the Bush Cartel to the Bin Ladens that there must have been some back room dealing on this one.

Saudis take some heat for 9-11 in exchange for troop pullout to help sedate the Wahabi resistance.

The Saudis had no great love for Saddam's secular state at any rate. No love lost there.

Bush, Cheney, Oil, Money, Greed, Bin Ladens... tied together like a farking sky diving team tangled up en route to earth...

Let's hope.

[Wwagsthedog]

3. Saudi Arabia

Rather than input opinions and hearsay, why don't you do a simple google on Saudi Arabia so you can get your facts straight. Here is a bit of help:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22saudi+arabia%22&btnG=Google+Search

Please don't interpert my post to agree or disagree with what the USA is doing v/v the Saudis.

[FlashHarry]

11. Actually, it is opinion

I was merely positing a theory. Anyone should feel free to disagree. On edit: Which facts didn't I 'get straight,' by the way? Just curious.

[sujan]

4. invade S. Arabia

and wait for the official declaration of Jihad by the muslim populace around the world, which spells trouble...vietnam proved when you fight against organized human beings with organized modern technology, the human being win.

Imagine that in a larger scale. Provocations like that will surely bring forth a humanitarian disaster of appalling degree.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Sudi's have $7TT invested in the US.

They gave us the eviction notice as soon as we had secured Iraq's airfields.

They may be a future target, but I suspect that they are ready to declare economic war on the US by dumping their USD if we make overt moves on the Kingdom. Thank the Bush/Republican Party for this mess.

[Kbowe]

8. Just wain until they start divesting....

You think our economy is bad now. Las Vegas will surely go under if they stop going there.

[Brian Sweat]

9. What is $7TT

Is that supposed to be $7 trillion? Got proof?

[Old and In the Way]

12. Wish I did....

I'm pretty sure I got the factoid off the DU and it resonated with me because this would explain a whole bunch as to why this administration seems to pander to SA interests. If it's wrong, I'll gladly apologize, but I suspect that it's accurate.

[FlashHarry]

13. This mentions $750bn.

BBC News

On edit: So does this

<snip>
his threat comes as foreign investment in the US dries up because of business scandals, lower corporate earnings and the collapse of the technology boom. According to government figures, foreigners put $124 billion into the US last year, down from $301 billion in 2000.

Economists say the reluctance of wealthy outsiders to expand their business interests in America is a major threat to the world's largest economy.

Saudi investors have $750 billion in the US. A mass walkout would seriously impede the US's attempts to pull away from recession.
</snip>

[Brian Sweat]

14. $750 billion is a more reasonable number,

but still hard to believe considering the annual GDP of Saudi Arabia is only $250 billion.

[FlashHarry]

15. You mean the officially reported annual GDP?

Who knows what the real thing is. Plus, the $750bn, could be a figure that has accrued over the last 25 years.

[Old and In the Way]

18. Well, I have to apologize for putting out unsubstaniated numbers.

I've done some searching for the threads that I thought referred to this # and I can't locate. I guess it does appear high in retrospect, but I assumed this was aggregated oil revenue investments thay had appreaciated in value since the 70s....

[MaverickX]

6. Saudi Arabia..

Wasn't in violation of UN disarmament resolutions.

[never cry wolf]

10. But Israel is the record holder

for being in violation of UN resolutions, both in quantity and length of time. Israel also had as much to do with 9-11 in funding and manpower (ignoring some conspiracy theories) as Iraq, unlike Saudi Arabia.

By the way, Saudi Arabia has the largest KNOWN oil reserved identified. Iraq is believed to have a vast amount of oil as yet undiscovered that would easily vault it's reserves above SAs.

[FlashHarry]

17. I read somewhere that Canada may actually have the largest.

Who knows? We do know that there's plenty of 'Saudi Soda,' Kuwaiti Kool-Aid' and 'Persian Perrier' over there. (My apologies to SNL's 'Bel Aire-abs' skit.)

[MaverickX]

19. oh Lord...

Any evidence Israel was involved in 9-11?

[Aidoneus]

24. did you actually read his post?

it is subtle, but try it again..

Israel also had as much to do with 9-11 in funding and manpower (ignoring some conspiracy theories) as Iraq, unlike Saudi Arabia.

[greatauntoftriplets]

16. That is what I concluded in the fall of 2002.

It was about oil and real estate.

[jos]

20. Wolfowitz admitted as much

a while back. That this was one of the reasons for the war. It strikes me as plausible, but only one of several reasons, none of which had to with WMD or Sadaam Hussein.

[Aidoneus]

21. Saudi Arabia is already conquered territory

invading it again would just shatter the dependent client state set up across decades.

[Aidoneus]

23. sorry, dupe post..

received one of the strange error messages first time, didn't think it posted.

[Aidoneus]

22. Saudi Arabia is already conquered territory

invading it again would just shatter the dependent client state set up across decades.