Reply #214: Iraq: A Failure Without Borders

[bemildred]

It seemed this belonged here too ...

How are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan going?
Perhaps the best way to answer that question is to
look at what is happening in Saudi Arabia. Until
about a year ago, Saudi Arabia was one of the safest
countries on earth. Crime was rare, and everyone,
including Americans, was secure almost anywhere in
the kingdom. In a world where the most important
distinction will increasingly be that between centers
of order and centers of disorder, Saudi Arabia was a
center of order.

That is no longer true. War has come to Saudi
Arabia, Fourth Generation war waged by Islamic
non-state forces. Battles are almost a daily
occurrence. Foreigners, on whom the Saudi oil
industry heavily depends, are frequent targets for
assassination. A number of incidents suggest the
Fourth Generation forces have penetrated Saudi
security forces - not surprising in a strict Islamic
country where the non-state elements represent an
even stricter Islam. They have the moral high ground.

In Washington, the "bouffesphere" whispers
nervously about Saudi Arabia's future. It is obvious
that the trend-line is not favorable. When will the
House of Saud fall? What will replace it? Will the
cheap oil on which America depends continue to
flow? Schemes abound - send the Marines to "secure"
the oil fields and exporting facilities, impose
democracy (including, of course, feminism) on the
Saudi monarchy, give Mecca and Medina back to the
Hashemites - but the debacle in Iraq effectively
makes it impossible for us to act elsewhere. Plus,
invading the homeland of Wahhabism would make
Iraq seem like a walk in the park. What Washington
cannot understand is that the crumbling of Saudi
Arabia is part of the war in Iraq, and that in
Afghanistan as well. We still think of wars as
delineated by state boundaries, because we still
envision a world made up of states.

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