U.S. President Barack Obama waves from the door of Air Force One as he ends his visit to Cuba, at Havana's international airport, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA
Reuters: With alliances strained, Obama seeks to reassure Gulf states on Iran
President Barack Obama travels to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday with a familiar message: the United States will not abandon its Gulf allies in their struggle against Iran, a regional power they fear is seeking to undermine their security.
Tired of what they see as a reduced commitment to old U.S. allies, riled by comments Obama made about them in a magazine interview last month and aware there will be a new president in January, Riyadh and its neighbors may not be ready to just take his word for it.
"We want to receive tangible reassurances from them," said a senior Gulf official briefed on preparations for the meeting.
Short of a formal defense treaty, an idea rejected before a previous summit, Riyadh and its allies hope to come away from their meeting with new missile defense systems. Obama wants to find a way for Gulf states and Iran to arrive at a "cold peace" that douses sectarian tensions around the region and curbs the spread of Islamist militancy.
Neither side is likely to get much more than partial satisfaction.
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WNU Editor: President Obama has alienated every major Middle Eastern ally in the past year .... this is not going to be an easy trip for him .... and for his hosts.
3 comments:
Who really cares??
Barack Obama? hmmmm
Reports of Obama's success will be coming.
They will less real than Rameses II's boast of victory at Kadesh.
Like other will point out this for home consumption and posterity (hopefully in his mind).
Our allies will be greatly discomfitted as always.
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