Slider, I think that this assessment assume that SA does not know what really happened on the eve of Iraq invading its neighbor. The American press may not remember and the story was rapidly quelched at the time, but on the eve of that invasion, our lady ambassador had a chat with the Iraqis, and was told of their intentions, and told them that we, the US, would consider Iraq recapturing "territories in questions" an "internal affair". I doubt that such an important statement would originate from the ambassador, and as far as the Muslim world is concerned, it was a ploy to "reentrench" waning American influence in the region (and take the US public's mind from some minor internal economic problems at home). It was a master minded exercise to drag Iraq into a confrontation (for which the poor Kuaities paid a dear price), impose a threat on SA which will then force SA to call in "the Cavalry", and thus reestablish American influence in the region.
One thing you should not assume about the Arab leaders, they are not stupid, they remember that Bush Sr. first put them in that hot water so he can then "come to the rescue", and thus reestablish lost influence in the region. The last thing they want is to "say thank you" to the Bush family, IMHO.
Zeev |
