The imbalance of firepower and training is laughable. Even among our allies, we hardly take seriously any troops other than the British. Since it is unlikely that we will militarily engage with either the Russians or the Chinese at this point, there is no military rival of the United States. Of course, one could eventually emerge, especially a a function of alliances, in the future, but it is not likely.
This leaves no alternative but the use of guerilla or terrorist strategies, and/or the pursuit of WMDs, to those who would challenge us. Since it is unlikely that WMDs will be credible as a battlefield threat given the enormous counterweight of the firepower that could be used against someone who arouses the wrath of the United States, the delivery of such devices/materials makes more sense as a clandestine activity to make it difficult to retaliate.
This is what we are confronting: the possibility of terrorism gone "ballistic", as it were.
It is not in the interest of Saudi Arabia to have terrorists running around blowing up Riyadh or kidnapping contractors. It may be in the interest of Saudi Arabia to pay off groups to keep them safely occupied elsewhere, for example, Falloujah. But even Saudi Arabia is probably beginning to appreciate that bribing them for some peace is not going to be effective in the long run, not when they can easily take out thousands at a time. There is no alternative but to cooperate with the West on proliferation and terrorist issues....... |
