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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sylvester80 who wrote (43301)	4/20/2004 8:39:58 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

So when did you escape from the asylum? Or was it jail? Let me cite the whole article below. But first: It was noted BEFORE the war began that if we had secure bases in another country in the region, we could move our troops out of Saudi, a paranoid country if there ever was one, and relieve strain in the region. And your side was screaming, moaning, and yelling about the US presence in Saudi being an irritant and we ought to pull out. So we do. And you're STILL screaming, moaning, and yelling. You know, one could think that one might as well do as one pleases without regard to you because you will scream, moan, and yell regardless of what is done. I know you're not very smart, but read this SLOWLY and try to understand what is said this time. U.S. will pull out of Saudi Arabia By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The United States is ending an awkward but strategically important military presence in Saudi Arabia and will pull most troops and all aircraft out of a key Saudi base by the end of this summer, Defense officials said Tuesday. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, right, and Gen. Tommy Franks, left, are greeted by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan. By Luke Frazza, Reuters The Pentagon will relocate about 60 aircraft and several thousand airmen from Prince Sultan Air Base and leave a team of several hundred U.S. personnel to train the Saudi military, officials said. The announcement came during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is touring the region in the aftermath of the war in Iraq. The move is intended to ease tensions in the Arab world, where the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia — home to Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina — is seen as offensive by many Muslims. Some Muslims say non-Muslims should not be welcomed in land they consider sacred. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden cited the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia as a reason for attacks against the United States. U.S. forces remain in five Persian Gulf countries aside from Iraq: Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. A key U.S. air command center at Prince Sultan already has been transferred to Qatar, a move that should give the Pentagon greater flexibility in future military operations. The Saudi government routinely limited U.S. warplanes based at Prince Sultan to flying defensive missions only. Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said the departure of U.S. forces makes sense because Saddam Hussein's military is no longer a threat in the region. "It's time to go. The situation there was bad for us and bad for them," O'Hanlon said. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, and by law Saudi citizens must be Muslims. Before the invasion of Iraq began last month, the Saudi government issued a public statement saying that once the threat from Saddam was removed, the U.S. military should consider ending its 13-year stay, which began after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. A senior Defense official said Tuesday that both sides agreed to the move and are at pains to make it clear the decision was mutual. "We're trying to do this carefully," the official said. Since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Pentagon has typically based about 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia, primarily to conduct daily air patrols over the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq, where U.S. and British forces prohibited Iraqi military flights. The relationship with the Saudis has been defined by tensions bubbling under a veneer of polite agreement. The relationship was shaken in 1996, when terrorists used a truck bomb to kill 19 U.S. airmen in the Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran. U.S. forces then moved to Prince Sultan, an isolated and more easily secured desert air base about 60 miles south of Riyadh. U.S. troops stationed at Prince Sultan are barred from leaving the base for security reasons. usatoday.com

To: sylvester80 who wrote (43301)	4/21/2004 10:16:55 AM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

At least 10 people are feared dead and dozens injured after an explosion in the Saudi capital demolished a building used by security services. Islamist fighters who see the country as a US satrap have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia's security services. Five policemen died last week and army units defused three car bombs in the capital. Saudi-born Usama bin Ladin has also called for the removal of the country's monarch and his al-Qaida network is accused of killing nearly 50 people in the kingdom last year. english.aljazeera.net <font color=blue>It's been<font color=red> 947<font color=blue> days since Bush said he'd catch Osama bin Laden 'Dead or Alive!'