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Cracks Widen in Saudi-U.S. Friendship
Wednesday, January 23, 2002
By N Janardhan
Inter Press Service (IPS)

The ruling House of Saud is nervous about an internal revolt by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network and other extremists.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Source
No matter how well the diplomatic cover-up is executed on signs of tension between the United States and Saudi Arabia, the strain in their ties has finally come out of the closet.

Last week's remarks by US Senator Carl Levin that the US may pull its forces out of Saudi Arabia and find "a more hospitable" base in the region were followed by a report in The Washington Post quoting a senior Riyadh official about how his government may itself call for the Americans to leave.

While the official stance from both countries is that the subject has not been raised and that both maintain a strong and viable diplomatic bond, the possibility of US troops leaving their Saudi base according to a mutually acceptable timeframe is more likely to happen sooner than later, though not immediately.

From the time the alliance came into being when the kingdom was created 70 years ago and strengthened after US forces were invited to Saudi Arabia for security following Iraq's invasion of neighboring Kuwait in 1991, the US-Saudi Arabia tie-up has been rooted in strategic interests. The relationship has been perpetually tense and full of suspicion. It took the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the events thereafter to heighten them, make their policies come full circle and inch toward the realm of realpolitik.
(More: Asia Times Online News Source)
2002 © Inter Press Service.

I’m wondering which cabbage leaf ol’ Janardhan has been sleeping under that he missed all this over the past few months. Out of the closet? It’s been out of the closet and spilled across the living room carpet for a while now.

Dan