Here's yet another sign of the new order in the Middle East, and the growing closeness between our `eternal friends' the Saudis and Iran.
Today,IRNA confirmed that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had personally issued an invitation to Iran's President Ahmadinejad to come to Mecca to observe the religious festival of the Haj as his guest. This is the first time an Iranian leader has ever been invited to Mecca to partake in the Muslim pilgrimage. The Saudis have announced that the high point of the haj when pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca would take place on December 18th, and the Eid al-Adha marking the end of the pilgrimage would be celebrated the next day, the 19th.
The invitation was confirmed by Mohammad Hosseini, Iran's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Ahmadinejad is almost certain to go, and the meeting is rife with the symbolism of much closer ties between the Saudis and Iran.
Of course, that alliance has been in the works for quite some time. But regular members of Joshua's Army are aware of that.
It started with a private meeting in Riyadh between King Abdullah and Ahmadinejad, and continued at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh and the GCC conference in Doha. In later years, historians may compare these to the meetings between Hitler and Mussolini in the late 1930's.
The players change, but history rarely does.
Incidentally, I also noted in the same essay that Iran and our other Arab `ally', Egypt were preparing to resume relations for the first time in 27 years.That happened December 10th, when Egypt formally announced that it was sending an ambassador to Tehran for talks to finalize the resumption of relations.
Jordan may not be very far behind the Egyptians....and don't be surprised to see Iraq get on board as well.
This is an historic alignment of forces against the west,and one that we continue to ignore to our peril.
Odd and ironic indeed that the same people who continue to ignore this are dubbed `foreign policy realists.'
now how doew this work?
ReplyDeletea shia at a sunni shindig, or is it sunni at a shia shindig?
or is it all just one happy family now?
and i see these two pieces of excrement are holding hands.
just like another picture that will remain nameless.
pretty soon we may get a photog of all three pieces of excrement together.
i better cool it.
i just bet ff has his photoshop wheels turning as i write this and i don't want to give him any ideas.
........and i didn't use the r-word either.
Actually, it's part of the five deeds required by all Muslims, but since the Iranians shot up Mecca during the haj a few years ago, they haven't been so welcome.
ReplyDeleteHere's some additional food for thought. The Saudis have their own Shiite minority, all in the Persian Gulf part of the country WHERE THE OIL IS. The last thing they want is for them to get restless and cause problems with the cash flow..or to have to worry about Iran blocking the Straits of Hormuz, or firing missiles at the oil fields.
Add that the fact that the leaders both endorse jihad against the West, albeit by different strategies, and that Sunni and Shiites historically put aside their differences to make war against the infidel, and you see where this is going.
The next question, of course, is why Bush and the State Department haven't figured this out yet - but I think the answers' pretty self-evident.
Regards,
ff