One of the most troublesome aspects of American foreign policy, and, indeed, of the lack of resolve and clarity displayed by most of our elected leadership, post-9/11, has been the seeming immunity given to Saudi Arabia.
The fact of heavy Saudi financial backing for everything from the bulk of the 9/11 attackers, to the Wahabist schools that preach anti-Western hatred, to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, worldwide, is not in doubt.
Of course, we all are well aware of the close ties Bush and Cheney share with the Saudi royals, but this latest p.r. blitz to link the Iranians to attacks on American forces in Iraq really begs the question.
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And here is the question:
If, indeed, the Iranians are funding, arming and training Shiite militias and we are threatening military action against Iran, then doesn't it logically follow that we should be threatening military action against Saudi Arabia which has been funding the Sunni insurgency, an insurgency that has killed far more Americans than the Shiite insurgency?
Why aren't our elected leaders and the press asking this question?
Asking the question will once again lay bare for the American public the incestuous links between the administration, the Republican Party and the Saudis. It would also continue to undercut the notion that Bush, et. al. "support the troops" in any way, shape or form, as they give a free pass to the Saudis who are supplying money and weaponry to those doing the most killing of Americans in Iraq.
I ask the question, above, not in an effort to expand the war, but, rather, as a means of exposing the hypocrisy and true intent of the ratcheted-up, neocon saber-rattling against Iran. (Keep in mind that the full neocon agenda has long included overthrowing regimes in Iraq, Iran and Syria. And Cheney and Bush seem intent on fulfilling that agenda, regardless of any protestations to the contrary.)
Why aren't leading Democrats highlighting this hypocrisy as a way of undercutting the adminstration's Iran war-mongering?
So a note to our Democratic presidential contenders: Here's an easy one that is just laying there. Pick it up and run with it.
Note to the press: Ask the question. You are not likely to get an answer from the criminals currently in charge of our government, but asking the question publicly will open the debate and display the hypocrisy of the current p.r. campaign designed to boost efforts to attack Iran.
Asking the question is the responsible thing to do.