Thursday, February 10, 2011

Saudi Arabia Warns President Obama To Not Humiliate Egyptian President Mubarak

President Obama and King Abdullah
Photo from The Royal Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington, D.C.


Source: Saudis Tell Obama Not to Humiliate Mubarak -- FOX News

WASHINGTON -- Saudi Arabia threatened to prop up President Hosni Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt, The Times of London reported Thursday.

The news came as testimony gathered by the Guardian newspaper claimed that the Egyptian military, despite maintaining an appearance of neutrality in the ongoing crisis, had secretly detained hundreds and possibly thousands of suspected government opponents since mass protests began weeks ago.

Read more ....

My Comment:
The paragraph that caught my attention was the following ....

.... "Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated," a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times.

Does the present White House administration understand this loyalty and why it is important in the Middle East? Considering how important Egypt is to U.S. foreign policy, and considering how important Saudi Arabia is to the U.S. economy .... the present paralysis by the White House on how to respond to the crisis in Egypt tells me that they are now (belatedly) beginning to appreciate the complexity to what is happening in the Middle East.

In short .... Saudi Arabia read the riot act to the White House .... and the White House is now scrambling to find a policy and position that would placate the Egyptian on the street as well as satisfying Saudi demands and concerns. Not surprisingly .... they are unwilling and/or incapable of finding that common ground.

1 comment:

Kenray said...

Saudis are gonna have plenty of problems of their own soon enough - Abdullah died yesterday. When they finally can't hide it anymore, the Saudi street is gonna go all Egypt on their Royals.