Everyone is switching to the radicals, US included

By Ted Belman

Ahmadinejad enters Gulf states summit hall hand in hand with Saudi king Abdullah and Sultan Qaboos of Oman

The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leader was invited for the first time to the OCC meeting of six Gulf Cooperation Council leaders which opened in Doha Monday, Dec. 3. DEBKAfile: His warm welcome by the “moderate” Arab rulers further bankrupts Washington’s policy backed by Israel’s Olmert government, which attempts to draw a distinction between “radical” and “moderate” Middle East governments.

That’s it. Ball game over. The US has been trying to hold a non-existent coalition together by its finger tips.

Last year I speculated that the US ordered Abbas to take a dive in Gaza. The reason being to allow the peace process to go forward in the West Bank. It needed to separate Hamas from the government in Ramallah and so it began to undue the elections.

Saudi Arabia wasn’t happy and met in the beginning of this year with Iran. No break through was reported. But in February, Saudi Arabia stabbed the US in the back by engineering the Mecca Accords bringing them back together. That was a shocker.

Then in March, Ralph Peters warned US is wrong to bed with the Saudis

But the greater, long-term danger is one this column has highlighted before: The administration’s rush back into the arms of the Saudis and other America-hating Sunni Arab governments is a colossal strategic mistake.

The US had to beg Saudi Arabia to attend Annapolis and met most of its demands. Syria was invited and the Israelis were humiliated. Though Hamas was not invited as requested by the Saudi’s, Hamas rules with Saudi support. In effect, Hamas has a veto as does Syria.

If that wasn’t enough, the Saudi Arabia sided with Syria against the US in accepting a pro-Syrian Prime Minister for Lebanon as reported yesterday. Actually according to Caroline Glick, in Our friends the Syrians,

By inviting Syria to Annapolis, the Americans told the anti-Syrian forces in Lebanon all they needed to know. Bowing to the reality of America’s abandonment, they gave in and announced their support for Suleiman.

Suleiman’s ascension to the Lebanese presidency is disastrous to the US for two reasons. First, it destroys US credibility as an ally. Between Rice’s decision to put the squeeze on Israel for massive concessions to the terror-supporting Palestinians, to her lackadaisical attitude to Russia’s abuse of US allies in Ukraine and Poland, to her abandonment of Japan in favor of appeasing North Korea, to her neglect of pro-US political forces in Iraq, Rice’s preference for Syria over Lebanese democrats makes it clear that there is no advantage to be gained from being pro-American.

[..] The lethal force of a terror-ruled Lebanon, situated strategically on the Mediterranean coast presents an even greater threat to US national security

Today DEBKA reported that the US took the military option off the table vis-a-vis Iran. It also reported a Syrian al Qaeda operation in Gaza.

And now we have the Saudi King Abdullah walking hand in hand with Ahmedinejad.

Syrian attendance at Annapolis, thought by many to suggest tension between it and Iran, is of no consequence because Iran Says Ties With Syria Rock Solid

It would appear that the US has switched to the radicals to be on the winning side. For that matter everyone is switching to them, including Israel. Israel has appointed Russia as a mediator to arrange for a Syrian/Israel deal where Israel would give up the Golan.