Gates seeks to reassure Saudis on Iraq, Iran

RIYADH (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to assure Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday that America was committed to stabilizing Iraq and to broader efforts to limit Iranian influence in the Gulf.

U.S. officials said Gates wanted to win Saudi leaders' support for President George W. Bush's plan to increase American troops in Iraq by more than 20,000 in a new drive to stop spiraling sectarian violence and insurgent attacks.

"He said the president is committed to see this through," a senior U.S. defense official traveling with Gates said after the Pentagon chief held talks with the king at his hunting lodge outside Riyadh. "They welcomed this."

The United States is keen to maintain strategic influence in the Gulf, the world's most important oil-producing region, with the help of traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia.

more;http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-01-17T232109Z_01_L17801423_RTRUKOC_0_US-GATES-SAUDI-IRAN.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1

statement if we give them to 'em, we can leave?

Do these assholes listen to each other? Do they think supporting this Shi'ite government run by al Sadr (i.e. in Wizard of Oz fashion, he's the man behind the curtain) is going to make the Saudis happy? I don't think so when the goal is to make the Sunnis disappear.

There is no way to make anyone, let alone everyone, happy in this fiasco. And the bush** administration can't keep up this juggling act up forever.

...Iraq with 20,000 addional troops, I doubt this will keep the Saudis from bankrolling the Sunni insurgency. As long as this happens, the carnage will continue.