The U.S. Intelligence Community And Saudi Arabia Are Aligned Against Russian President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin © Michael Klimentyev / Sputnik

Stephen Sestanovich, WSJ: The Pentagon, the CIA, and the Saudis vs. Vladimir Putin

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, last week was one of the best in a very long time. He got an agreement with Saudi Arabia to freeze oil production at current levels, and he got an agreement with the U.S., largely on his terms, for a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria.

Then came this week. On both energy prices and the Syrian civil war, Mr. Putin has been reminded of how fleeting policy success can be. The Wall Street Journal’s front page Wednesday told the bad news.

An energy setback was, of course, predictable. Russia’s understanding with Saudi Arabia had to be accepted by other producers, and when Iran’s oil minister called the idea of a production freeze “ridiculous,” prices resumed their downward slide. What Mr. Putin probably didn’t expect was how tough the Saudi response would be. Within hours, Ali al-Naimi, the kingdom’s petroleum minister, warned publicly that his country was ready to let the price of oil sink to $20 a barrel if necessary to put high-cost energy producers out of business. It would be hard to imagine worse news for Russia than oil at $20.

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WNU Editor: For as long as I can remember the U.S. intel community and its allies in both Congress and in the Middle East have been pushing for greater U.S. involvement in Syria. President Obama .... to his credit .... has limited this engagement, but it looks like we are now entering a new phase where the lobbying to get more involved is about to start.