A second thought on these sentiments:
“I cannot imagine what Chirac was thinking,” says a senior Saudi official on condition of anonymity. “How could he expect us to join him in preventing the Americans from solving our biggest problem which was the presence of Saddam Hussein in power in Baghdad?”
Another senior Arab diplomat, from Egypt, echoes the sentiment.
“The French did not understand that the Arabs desired the end of Saddam, although they had to pretend that this was not the case,” he says.
What they mean is that the US is now clearly perceived as the winner, the ascendent superpower in the Mideast, and the scared, brittle Arab regimes are anxious to follow the winner. The fear of Saddam which drove their pronouncements last year is gone. But had the French had their way, Saddam would still be in power, and every Arab diplomat would still be professing admiration of Saddam even off the record.
How to tell if the US has really gained clout? If all the Arab regimes start talking reform (SA is already), and if money to Hamas and PIJ dries up.
Iran's a separate case. Its position is staked out already, ideologically, through its support of Hizbullah, and esp. through its all-but-open aid to Al Qaida. |
