Oh great -- just when you thought it was safe to crawl out of your bunker, more troublke is brewing in the Middle East. According to a Saudi security adviser, the Saudi Arabian government said they will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims after the United States leaves Iraq. This is exactly what we don't want to happen, particularly in view of the fact that Saudi Arabia is primarily Sunni, whereas Iraq is a mix of Shi'ite and Kurds with a few Sunni thrown into the mix (Hussein was Sunni, for example).
Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance Shi'ite militias in Iraq.
"To be sure, Saudi engagement in Iraq carries great risks -- it could spark a regional war. So be it: The consequences of inaction are far worse," Obaid said. [italics mine]
Cited story.
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Don't forget that Turkey are just as likely to intervene to protect Iraqi Turkmens and to ensure the Kurds don't get a state of their own which can be used as a base for PKK. Then Iran intervenes to protect the Shias and Syria send in troops just not to be left outside. The smaller states may not send troops but are likely to pick a side too. Jordan may be to busy to deal with all the refugees to get into the war, and Israel won't be able to decide if it likes that its enemies kill each other or if it should fear what may become the result.
Then all we need are for a few oil tankers to be blown up to bring in the superpowers again to protect their oil supply.