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Axis of Evil
Arab League head sez "Don't whack Iraq!"
2002-02-15
  • Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said that all efforts were being exerted to head off a US military attack on Iraq, warning Washington that such a venture would risk destabilizing the entire Middle East. Speaking in Beirut after talks with President Emile Lahoud and other Lebanese leaders, Moussa said an American strike on Iraq would generate anger and create a “totally new situation in the region.” He expressed hope that Arab diplomacy would succeed in avoiding what would increase tension in the Middle East, describing the situation in the region as “very, very, very bad.”
    Hmmm... Yassss. That's correct. Destabilization of the Muddle East could result in any number of tin-hat dictators falling from their thrones the universal approbation of their people. That would definitely be "a totally new situation in the region." The lemmings Arab Street would no doubt erupt, as it always seems to do. Luckily, it doesn't have a very long attention span and most of the buildings damaged and autos burned belong to locals. The West, or at least the USA, by this point has discounted catering to the whims of the Arab Street.

    That leaves us free to take a clear look at what our objectives might be. The foremost would be disposing of the unpleasant Sammy and replacing him and his equally unpleasant family with someone with a capacity for thinking rationally. The fallout from that single act would change the entire political and economic landscape of the Muddle East, putting a pro-American state on either side of Iran. The eventual subsequent collapse of the ayatollahs' regime would lead to a resurgent Persia, which would serve as a cultural (and religious) counterbalance to Wahhabi Arabia. It would also turn two intransigient enemies into willing receipients of US dollars in return for oil, which would mean we could stop putting money into Wahhabi pockets.

    Wahhabi Arabia is already on a shaky financial footing, with the spoils income from the oil business going into the princes' pockets instead of into the economy. A bit of economic pressure and just the right covert action diplomatic push could convert "Saudi" Arabia into the Confederacy of Arabian Emirates - some run by raving nut jobs, others happily pulling in the dough and being friends with the USA, a la Dubai and Bahrain.

    The disadvantage to the USA of taking action against Sammy lies in the expenditure of men and materiel it will take to dispose of him. Even though I have no illusions it would be an Adelman-style "cakewalk," it's still a foregone conclusion: when we go in, Sammy goes out.
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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