Saudis May Ask U.S. to Leave

[Sprayber]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's rulers are growing more uncomfortable with the U.S. military presence in their country and may soon ask that it end, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Citing a senior Saudi official, the newspaper said senior Saudi rulers believe the United States has ``overstayed its welcome'' and its forces have become a political liability.

The official told the newspaper that Saudi Arabia would prefer a less conspicuous military cooperation once the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan (news - web sites) is over.

If asked to leave, the United States would no longer have regular use of the Prince Sultan Air Base, where American forces have maintained a presence since the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).

Washington's relationship with Saudi rulers has been strained by the Sept. 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States that killed about 3,100 people and were blamed by the United States on Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). Most of the 19 suspected hijackers were Saudi citizens.

The presence of U.S. military forces in Saudi Arabia -- currently numbering about 5,000 -- has been repeatedly cited by bin Laden as a key reason for his violent opposition to Saudi rulers.

The Post said among the reasons Saudis give for deciding that it may be time for the Americans to go is that they do not want to appear to be dependent on U.S. military support.

The American presence has become a political liability in domestic politics and in the Arab world, Saudi officials told the newspaper. The Post said the Saudi government has also become increasingly uncomfortable with a role in U.S. efforts to contain Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

The Post said Pentagon (news - web sites) spokeswoman Victoria Clarke declined to answer when asked whether Saudi Arabia has told the United States it will ask for an American withdrawal.

``We have a very good relationship with the Saudis,'' she told the newspaper on Thursday night, and ``we will continue to work with them in as cooperative a fashion as possible as we go forward.''

Saudi officials who spoke about a U.S. withdrawal told The Washington Post that nothing would be done precipitously. They said Crown Prince Abdullah -- the kingdom's effective ruler given the frail health of King Fahd -- did not want to create the impression that he was responding to pressure from bin Laden.

-----------------------------------------

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020118/ts/attack_saudi_report_dc.html

Now they ask us to leave after all the **** that has went down because of them. We should have left them to their fate long ago.

[SlowwHand]

and we should ask them to move their ass over.
We're staying.

[chequita guevara]

If it were only ever about protecting Saudia Arabia we would have. It's about protecting oil and projecting our power into the region. It was never about the Saudi's per se.

Anyways, good riddence. They aren't our friends. They fund our enemies. They have an evil and retrograde civilization, they are a corrupt and brutal dictatorship. I won't shed any tears when they go up against the wall. However, what's likely to replace them may make the Taliban seem tame.

[faded glory]

Hey Hey!!! Saddam, old buddy ole' pale. What say we bury the hatchette old friend?

[Az]

imagine all that oil funding a war machine ! oh wait ,that already happened in Iraq...

so I guess we will have to hold our asses tight even more if they go down .


Slowwhand : how exactly are you planning to do this ? conquer the peninsula ?

[Kyle]

In the unlikely event that they do ask us to leave, the military better bulldoze every building we put up there, including that multimillion dollar command center.


A simple fostering, on our part, of democratic spirit in Saudi Arabia could bring down their little regime. You'd think the Saudis would know that.

[David Floyd]

and we should ask them to move their ass over.
We're staying.

See, that's called an invasion, otherwise known as an act of war. It would make us no better than Osama bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein - in fact, if we stayed even if the Saudis ordered us out, I'd have problems opposing people who attacked the US because of that.

[Andrew1999]

Well, there was a suggestion from some columnist that we should set up an old-style colonial administration in the parts of the Gulf we like. Let the Sauds have Mecca and Medina, we'll take the rest.

Probably not too difficult militarily since we're already set up in the area we'd want to conquer.

[Sprayber]

Maybe Osama will go home. That way, scores could be settled all around.

[David Floyd]

Probably not too difficult militarily since we're already set up in the area we'd want to conquer.

Harder than you might think, actually. We'd end up facing a coalition of Arab States, with under 10,000 troops in the region, with the Saudis and Kuwaitis and other Gulf States possessing a large quantity of modern US-built tanks and warplanes.

Then, when Iran closed the Straits of Hormuz through mines, it'd take a lot of time for us to break through with close-by resources. We'd end up losing whatever troops we had in-theater, more than likely, be cut off from Middle Eastern oil, and our only POSSIBLY bases in the area would be Israel and Turkey, although Turkey would probably tell us to go **** ourselves.

So it would come down to, I'd imagine, the Arab Coalition invading Israel after taking down the US ground presence in Saudi and Kuwait, and the US and Israel fighting against both them and world opinion.

[Eli]

In the unlikely event that they do ask us to leave, the military better bulldoze every building we put up there, including that multimillion dollar command center.

Dont forget to take the damn planes you gave them.

[Az]

US backed arab countries have repeatedly showed their utter helplessness in combat . during the gulf war , M1 were defeated by the older versions of T72 that would stand mo chance , usually.

let's say that a new government takes place in the arab peninsula. an extremist government . what would be the reactions of the world powers , namely US , China ,Russia , EU , Britain?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Eli
Dont forget to take the damn planes you gave them.

Why? They bought them fair and square. If you want them gone, feel free to destroy the export versions of our hardware yourselves.

[David Floyd]

Dont forget to take the damn planes you gave them.

As soon as we take back every scrap of military hardware Israel bought with our money, Eli.

US backed arab countries have repeatedly showed their utter helplessness in combat . during the gulf war , M1 were defeated by the older versions of T72 that would stand mo chance , usually.

let's say that a new government takes place in the arab peninsula. an extremist government . what would be the reactions of the world powers , namely US , China ,Russia , EU , Britain?

True, but if they throw enough stuff at 5000 US troops, I guarantee you they will win. Hell, all they really have to do is not let supplies through, blockade them in their bases and it's all over.

And we aren't talking about an extremist government, we're talking about the US, basically, invading Saudi Arabia.

[Eli]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Why? They bought them fair and square. If you want them gone, feel free to destroy the export versions of our hardware yourselves.

And this is exactly what we'll have to do if you're leaving.

As soon as we take back every scrap of military hardware Israel bought with our money, Eli.

You seem to be forgetting who your true allies are.