| After a review of this very forum -
(http://www.strategypage.com/messageboards/messages/40-173.asp)
- is there any doubt regarding the humor in the statement "as good as the Saudi Air Force is" (as posted in the "Not Good" reply to the Saudi Nuke thread).
Remember just one simple fact about the RSAF: It only flies because it it maintained by contract personnel from the U.S. and U.K.
Brit workers actually loaded munitions on RSAF planes in strikes against Yemen years ago - but I doubt even their salaries would be worth much if they attempted to do so in strikes against Israel.
The incompetence of the Saudi military may explain why those mid-range missiles bought from China are deteriorating out in a remote site - most likely becoming an environmental hazard due to the leaking fuel. And their Abrams tanks need Vinnell maintenance contracts to remain operational as well.
Come to think of those deteriorating Chinese missiles - the Gulf War Syndrome may have come about due to the decades old practice of dumping hazardous waste from the oil industry out in the desert. Some of those concoctions are just as deadly as some WMD.
But back on my rambling track.
While so much of our effort has gone into "regime change" in Baghdad, would we invest the same to protect the Saud family from a regime change coming (no doubt its coming) in Riyadh?
I think the recent "memo" that Rumsfeld put out in the Pentagon finally shows some of the same concern that I've had. With all the attention given to Iraq, what about Al Queda?
If Bin Laden has an ultimate strategy to bring down the House of Saud this war in Iraq has only served to bring that goal much closer.
But so what? An Al Queda government in Riyadh will either sell us the oil or face being isolated from the Eastern Province. A single carrier task force using a fraction of the ground forces we now have in Iraq could take an hold the oil fields - all paid for without any American tax money. And my guess is the Shiites in the region (who are the only Saudis who actually have any hands-on working knowledge of the oil production facilities)would be a bigger help than they are giving in Iraq now.
Could there be a Saud plan to get a nuke and bargain with it to stay in power with American backing. Certainly their Washington (White House) bedfellows are already so inbred with Saudi money, what's a nuke or two between friends. But the fear of Al Queda having nukes, now that's a camel of a different color. And hey, the N. Koreans and Iranians are showing the world how to play the nuke bargaining chip game - and don't think the camel traders of Arabia aren't watching this game with interest. |
