Bush Is Said To Have Told Saudis: "America Will Not Withdraw From Iraq During His Presidency"

Cheney And the Saudis
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By David Ignatius
Wednesday, May 9, 2007; Page A17

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may make the headlines with her high-profile diplomatic missions to the Middle East. But for a glimpse at the hidden power plays, follow Vice President Cheney's trip this week to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi King Abdullah has emerged over the past nine months as the Bush administration's most important and strong-willed Arab ally. He launched an aggressive campaign last fall to contain Iranian influence in the Arab world and, in the process, buttress American interests in the region despite U.S. setbacks in Iraq. It's Cheney, whose blunt, unsmiling demeanor matches Saudi notions of American gravitas, who manages the Abdullah account.


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The ferment in the region is driven partly by the perception that U.S. troops are on the way out, no matter what the Bush administration says. To dampen such speculation, Bush is said to have told the Saudis that America will not withdraw from Iraq during his presidency. "That gives us 18 months to plan," said one Saudi source.

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Saudi Arabia once conducted its political machinations behind a veil, quietly doling out cash in an effort to buy peace. Perhaps the worst mistake made by Iran's firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is that he frightened the Saudis into abandoning their traditional reticence -- and into secret strategy councils with the hard-nosed Cheney

more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801581.html

He doesn't want to let down his buddies the saudis

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

To keep troops there until it becomes someone else's problem.

Thanks a pantload, Commander AWOL.

You and your republicon schemes for Nation Building far overseas,
leaves our American heartland undefended.

Just what we would expect from a pack of honor-free republicon chickenhawks.

this is the deal???

Do they want us to leave and pave the way for some grand Sunni army to reconquer Iraq or to stay and promote constant turmoil between Sunni and Shiite?

"During his presidency".

That's all that matters. Iraq could break out into peace tomorrow, but he could care less.

He's the Decidinator.

This fratboy needs to know who is working for. We cannot survive this administration no longer. Impeachment is our call.

Stops them from doing shadow diplomacy to advance what they believe is America's interests, at the cost of blood and money.

.

(and even before) Is this really surprising?

by guys in white coats.

...as long as he's escorted out and not on his own terms.

is a threat to our national security, couldn't we all start calling our Senators and Reps and say what a threat he is to us.

We have no such thing as HomeLand Security, and if we have another natural disaster such as a hurricane or tornado will serve to be more evidence for us that this administration does not give a sh$t about its citizens. Now if this stuff was happening in another country those who are responsible for such death and chaos would be gone!!!

Osama bin Laden wanted Saddam out of Iraq. bush/cheney obliged.

Seems to me that when roll call is taken for who is 'with the terraists' those bush/cheney kids are right in there polishing apples for bin Laden

Let us never forget that when Americans were grounded after 9-11, members of clan bin Laden had no trouble flying out of this country before any investigators got a chance to speak with them.

Again, just who's side is bush/cheney on? ;)

The next president won't pull out either - Democrat or Republican. We have got to get it through our heads that we (the People) do not control events in this country. We consume and react, that is all. If we can get a government into office that will treat the common peasants like human beings, that is the most we can hope for. As for anything else, our politicians just want our money and our silence. There are people right here on this "progressive" board who would willingly give their support to a Democratic president who in January '09 says, "We must stay in Iraq for this and that reason." And the next President will say that, and deep-down, most everyone here knows it...

beyond frightened that once American forces leave Iraq, the harden guerrillas will cross into Saudi Arabia and overthrow the Saud Regime.

his intention is to simply dump this disastrous war into the lap of his Democratic successor. The Democratic Congress can save the next Democratic President this problem by bringing the war to a conclusion NOW.

Bush and Cheney have seen to it they and their cronies will be raking in the dough from Iraq for decades. I'd love to know what secret arrangements there are from which the Bushies are profiting, too.