cutthemdown
10-06-2011, 03:37 AM
http://www.sabaturproaudio.com/Electro-Voice-Sx-500-15-400-Watt-Loudspeaker_p_1070.html
In a blunt assessment, President Obama’s first national security adviser told a private audience this week that there is a “chasm” between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies that has yet to heal since the White House very publicly ushered Egypt’s president out of power in February.
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who served as national security adviser in 2009-10, told a private meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States’ Persian Gulf allies interpret the president’s handling of the Egyptian revolution as a sign that Washington will dump their monarchies or governments if enough demonstrators take to their streets, according to a recording of the speech reviewed by The Daily Beast.
“We have paid a price,” Jones said of the decision to call for Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. “Our policy with regard to Mubarak as interpreted by some of our closest Arab allies in the Gulf has not gone over well.”
“In their interpretation of our dumping President Mubarak very hastily, [it] answered the question of what we would be likely to do if that happened in their countries. So there is a chasm there that somehow has to be bridged,” he added.
Jones did not immediately return a call to his office seeking comment Tuesday.
The remarks from the former national security adviser, who left the White House last year, comprise one of the frankest assessments of the U.S. relationship with its oldest and most important Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have been aligned with the United States since the last Roosevelt administration, providing oil to the West in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S. military.
Over the years, the intelligence and security relationship in particular between the United States and Saudi Arabia has grown increasingly interconnected. At the same time, since the 1960s the Saudis also have supported a foreign policy to spread political Islam throughout the Muslim world, exacerbating tensions with Washington since the 9/11 attacks. Many of the al Qaeda attackers were of Saudi descent. Still, the Saudis remain a significant ally in the war on terror.
“In general, yes, there is that concern, certainly among the Gulf countries, that the United States does not stand by its friends in the region,” said Marwan Muasher, a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan. “In the case of the Saudis there is an additional point, which is a concern that the United States is not serious about the peace process.”
Since the fall of Mubarak, the Saudis have begun to bolster Arab governments that have not fallen to the Arab spring. In July, Saudi Arabia announced a $1 billion grant for Jordan. Meanwhile, the Saudis have provided logistical and military support to the government of Bahrain, which has sought to suppress popular unrest. The Saudi kingdom, however, has not supported the regimes in Libya or Syria during the Arab Spring.
According to some Egyptian observers, the Saudis also have sought to bolster political parties in Cairo ahead of the upcoming elections in Egypt.
This is exactly what I said would happen. By throwing Mubarak and Gaddaffi under the bus no ruler in the mideast or africa will ever believe America can be trusted. Obama turned his back on yrs of Egypt doing the best it could to stem violence with Israel. Now look at it, Israel and Egypt are fighting accross the border. Libya was warned give up nukes, for lifting of sanctions etc, they complied then we helped the rebels by firing cruise missiles. If I was the leader of some piss ant country in the mideast I would be looking to China to partner with now.
In a blunt assessment, President Obama’s first national security adviser told a private audience this week that there is a “chasm” between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies that has yet to heal since the White House very publicly ushered Egypt’s president out of power in February.
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who served as national security adviser in 2009-10, told a private meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the United States’ Persian Gulf allies interpret the president’s handling of the Egyptian revolution as a sign that Washington will dump their monarchies or governments if enough demonstrators take to their streets, according to a recording of the speech reviewed by The Daily Beast.
“We have paid a price,” Jones said of the decision to call for Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. “Our policy with regard to Mubarak as interpreted by some of our closest Arab allies in the Gulf has not gone over well.”
“In their interpretation of our dumping President Mubarak very hastily, [it] answered the question of what we would be likely to do if that happened in their countries. So there is a chasm there that somehow has to be bridged,” he added.
Jones did not immediately return a call to his office seeking comment Tuesday.
The remarks from the former national security adviser, who left the White House last year, comprise one of the frankest assessments of the U.S. relationship with its oldest and most important Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have been aligned with the United States since the last Roosevelt administration, providing oil to the West in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S. military.
Over the years, the intelligence and security relationship in particular between the United States and Saudi Arabia has grown increasingly interconnected. At the same time, since the 1960s the Saudis also have supported a foreign policy to spread political Islam throughout the Muslim world, exacerbating tensions with Washington since the 9/11 attacks. Many of the al Qaeda attackers were of Saudi descent. Still, the Saudis remain a significant ally in the war on terror.
“In general, yes, there is that concern, certainly among the Gulf countries, that the United States does not stand by its friends in the region,” said Marwan Muasher, a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan. “In the case of the Saudis there is an additional point, which is a concern that the United States is not serious about the peace process.”
Since the fall of Mubarak, the Saudis have begun to bolster Arab governments that have not fallen to the Arab spring. In July, Saudi Arabia announced a $1 billion grant for Jordan. Meanwhile, the Saudis have provided logistical and military support to the government of Bahrain, which has sought to suppress popular unrest. The Saudi kingdom, however, has not supported the regimes in Libya or Syria during the Arab Spring.
According to some Egyptian observers, the Saudis also have sought to bolster political parties in Cairo ahead of the upcoming elections in Egypt.
This is exactly what I said would happen. By throwing Mubarak and Gaddaffi under the bus no ruler in the mideast or africa will ever believe America can be trusted. Obama turned his back on yrs of Egypt doing the best it could to stem violence with Israel. Now look at it, Israel and Egypt are fighting accross the border. Libya was warned give up nukes, for lifting of sanctions etc, they complied then we helped the rebels by firing cruise missiles. If I was the leader of some piss ant country in the mideast I would be looking to China to partner with now.