Condi's top priority: an Arab alliance against Iran

[muriel_volestrangler]

The purpose of Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East is becoming clear - to encourage Arab states to form an alliance against Iran

The idea is to form a "moderate" alliance in which Israel and some of the Arab countries (principally Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states) would join forces to combat Iranian influence, and Shia influence more generally.

This is partly motivated by American/Israeli desires to "get" Iran but also an attempt to repair damage from the 34-day war in which Israel accidentally bolstered the regional standing of Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hizbullah.
...
The Sunni Gulf rulers are nervous, too, because most have Shia communities of varying sizes in their midst which are marginalised at present but could stir up trouble under Iranian influence.

Well away from the Gulf, Jordan, whose indigenous Shia population is negligible, has suddenly (perhaps a little too conveniently) discovered a Shia "threat" of its own - apparently coming from Iraqis who have taken refuge there. In a press briefing on October 1, Ms Rice stated that Jordan "is making really great strides in its political evolution". If anyone has the foggiest idea what she was referring to, please let me know, but it's easy to see the beginnings of a claim that Jordan's giant strides under the unpopular King Abdullah are being sabotaged by militant Iranian-backed Shias.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2006/10/condis_big_deal.html

[MadMaddie]

1. Yea...because she just went to Iraq and told them that all the

killing is unacceptable and they better change their ways......

She is destroying what's left of the US power to effect change in other countries....

[filer]

5. "Killing is unacceptable"...

unless we're the ones doing it.
:sarcasm:

[EVDebs]

2. Maybe they can get Israel to stop selling arms to Iran too

I can't remember if any of our fine arms dealers stopped after the book Spider's Web was published (author Alan Friedman of Financial Times).

[thunder35]

3. doesn't make sense

[EVDebs]

7. Shackley's 'Third Option', in case you didn't get the memo

Arm both sides of a conflict, even against yourself apparently. Politics isn't supposed to 'make sense' silly. Only grease the right palms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Shackley

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Oh great regional war!

By the way an alliance including Israel is massively unlikely to take place and if it did it would further destabilize and likely cause the destruction of the Egyptian, Saudi, and Jordanian tyrannies.

[joemurphy]

6. She has about the same feel for foreign policy as

Mark Foley does for 16-year old boys.

[teryang]

8. Rice snubs big 6 meeting to get support from 3rd tier lackeys

Job one avoid the great powers that don't agree.

[Vidar]

9. If she sells a few more ports, maybe she can entice mighty Dubai.