The Saudi royal family has always played this balancing game between itself and the fundamentalist establishment. This alliance goes back hundreds of years. This is why the Saudis maintain the National Guard (which rivals the Army in size) under direct command of the King and independent of the Defense Ministry. KSA is an inherently unstable state and I would not be surprised if there is concern about the reliability of the armed forces to maintain the royal family's security in the event of a major fundamentalist offensive.
I think this is one of the few times you and I are not in disagreement. Let's break out the champagne. We're already in cahoots with fundamentalist regime in Saudi Arabia and historically there's been no hesitation in supporting fundamentalist movements, so Iran seems like a good as an ally as any. It's also a larger, more stable, and more populous country than KSA - not to mention it's form of fundamentalism is more tame than Wahhabism. At some point in the near future it will be important for the US to make amends with Iran and develop an effective relationship - the instability in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan make that a necessity.Originally Posted by Carl
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