The Middle East Conundrum

The Middle East: We’re looking in the wrong place!

Everybody’s talking about the Middle East but not much is being done about it. And while we are doing nothing, the larger picture gets more convoluted. Consider that overall what happens is with two of our allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan may decide the future of the entire region—or possibly change the world.

Here’s some of the things we do know:.

What we do know is that Saudi Arabia. despite holding hands with our president, is using the other hand to pursue its interests and those seem to have a lot to do with what's going on in Pakistan.

The Pakistani government sits on a knife's edge. It is damned if they "do" and damned if they "don't." In the end, any government to survive in Pakistan has to cater to the will of the majority and, clearly, that majority is now totally and irrevocably predisposed against the US. Don’t expect them to give up bin Laden any time soon…

If Mushariff is disposed, it will take approximately five minutes to show its Muslim predisposition to Holy War against the West. In case anyone has lost sight of this fact, the truth remains that Pakistan has 50 nuclear weapons and intermediate range missiles available. For the first time, the Tailiban will have the power as well as the influence among its neighbors.

Three attempts on Mushariff's life just this year have failed. Would you write a life insurance policy on him?

Of course not!

And the inventor of Wal-Marting nuclear weaponry, who now sits under house arrest as a bon-bon to the West, will resume his role as national hero.

Here's the other problem. It is rumored by informed sources that Saudi Arabia wants to buy a nuclear weapon or two from the Pakistanis. After all, they have been financing this effort in secret all along. Imagine the fundamentalist Saudis who underwrite terrorism actually with their own nuclear weapons….

What would happen to the Middle East if fundamentalist warlords obtain the ability to blow up the region? AND, UNFORTUNATELY, with our big gas guzzlers, we are indirectly underwriting Saudi Arabia's attempts to get the bomb and control all of the countries that potentially challenge its survival...

Egypt, too, has been angling for support but they are too poor to buy weapons outright; nevertheless, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are some of our closest allies in the region. The differences between Syria and Iran might become more pronounced if nuclear weapons further divide loyalties in the Middle East. And into this stew, throw North Korean capabilities with long range missiles which all sides want.

It’s my guess that if left alone, there would be one big desert in the Middle East if all of the Arabs were left to bomb each other out of existence…. But since we started this mess, we just can’t turn our backs at this point without adding to the misery and bloodshed of the innocents. It’s to them we have an obligation.

And that’s why I recommend that all of the morons and their families in Washington and environs, the lobbyists and the rest be outfitted with uniforms and shipped over there to apply their infinite knowledge of the area to the problem.


As subtext to the unsolvable dilemmas we face, consider that sitting in the middle of all this is emerging super power, India with its own stock of nuclear weapons.. What will India do if Pakistan is taken over by zealots and then what will happen if China reacts to India's intentions. The whole Middle East is essentially a tinder box just waiting to explode...

Les Aaron.