What to call the new, Middle East-wide coalition that the Bushites are seeking to build in the Middle East (as described by David Ignatius in this fairly fawning account of an interview he had with Condi Rice recently)?
Moroccan-American writer Issandr el-Amrani has a good suggestion:
- I suggest that this new coalition be renamed to something less technocratic: the Sunni Arab-Dominated Dictatorships Against the Mullahs, or SADDAM. I have to confess I was inspired by historical precedent. In the 1980s, some of you may remember, there was another Saddam who proved rather useful against Iran. Saddam invaded Iran without provocation, sparking an eight-year-long war that was one of the 20th century’s deadliest. Along the way, the U.S. and the Arab states listed above provided much in funding, weapons and turning a blind eye when Saddam got carried away and used chemical weapons against Kurds (it did not raise that much of a fuss when he used them against Iranians, either).
By forming SADDAM, the Bush administration hopes to do several things. Firstly, encourage countries with ambivalent policies towards Israel to accept a new regional security arrangement with the Jewish state firmly as its center—the holy grail of the neo-conservatives who, despite reports to the contrary, continue to craft U.S. Middle East policy. (Otherwise, why would Elliott Abrams still have his job?) Secondly, it is securing the support of these countries against Iran, in preparation for a possible strike against its nuclear facilities or some other form of military action, or at least to ensure the recently announced United Nations sanctions against Iran are effective. One tactic is getting the oil-producing SADDAM countries to up production and bring the price of the oil barrel back to under $50, as Saudi Arabia is obviously doing by boycotting calls by fellow OPEC members to cut production.
At stake is limiting one of the biggest effects caused by the administration’s decision to invade Iraq (and subsequently failing to maintain order): the rise of Iran as a regional power…
This whole article is a fine, fine piece of analysis and of writing. I nominate it for whatever awards there are.
M. El Amrani is good enough to be worth arguing with, and I’ve argued with his interpretations elsewhere.
His facts are not to be contested, however. Certainly his “SADDAM” monster actually exists.
I wish we lived in the good old days when wars were punctiliously declared, and even an Axis of Evil or an Anti-Safavid Pact would always come with a document attached, and not just winks and nods. Even if the reader supposed such a document was all lies and propaganda, she could still attempt to work out per contra exactly what mutual undertakings bind together the Sunni International and the militant GOP extremists.
Happy days.
This is excellent! Thanks so much for sharing it, Helena.
One tactic is getting the oil-producing SADDAM countries to up production and bring the price of the oil barrel back to under $50, as Saudi Arabia is obviously doing by boycotting calls by fellow OPEC members to cut production.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/3atab.html
Note that Saudi Arabia is the only country within OPEC not producing at its maximum capacity. All ten member nations are exceeding their production quotas. I’m not sure what US coercion is likely to accomplish given this (obvious and longstanding) condition.
No, our Secretary of State would prefer that the new strategy be labeled CONDI: continued obfuscation to nullify Democratic irreverence. Describe each trash heap along the motorcade as a tentative recycling initiative. Each bombing is a pang in a birth process. Every jaw-dropping gaff committed by your boss is an act of sparkling inspiration. And it WILL work. Flattery and loyalty do get rewards. Come 2009, she will not want for prestigious appointments, money, or comfort.
I hope that the Arab countries have heard about the devide and conquer strategy. They will know just what to expect by joining a group that agrees to label and treat one of their own as a pariah…and then another and another….ruth