UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER QUESTION: So there's no, sort of, quid pro quo regarding Iraq support. These countries could get tremendous amount of U.S. military equipment but still not be supportive or even be the opposite with regard to Iraq?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: There are no formal quid pro quos at all behind this, but it stands to reason that given the fact that Iraq is the number-one American foreign policy interest globally, we would want our friends in the region to be supportive, not only of what the United States is doing in Iraq, but what the -- but of the Iraqi Government itself. And we've made that point, obviously, repeatedly to these countries and we'll -- that will continue to be a major emphasis on our part.
Q&A; from U.S. Aid and Military Support to the Middle East Region
R. Nicholas Burns Press Briefing
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Washington, DC
July 30, 2024
Call me naive, but I do believe Mr. Burns, and I also believe that the timing is important. This is the best strategic policy for the region for the United States of America given the options currently available. The United States can either demand regional players participation to the growing regional problems, or we can convince them that their best chance is to join us by choice. In my opinion the policy Burns is laying out, giving regional nations the choice, has a lower cost and is a lot less complex than the alternative of making demands of regional players. The media is asking for the US to make demands, but that is a difficult strategy that can be summarized as the "Obama Option."
Patience with the GCC and other nations the US needs assistance from in the region like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is starting to pay off. Tensions between the GCC and Iran have risen considerably in the last month, and Saudi Arabia is now facing a real possibility of US withdrawal from Iraq. While many of my conservative friends hate how Democrats call for withdrawal, the Democrat rhetoric is actually helping apply some political pressure to the region although I doubt that is the Democrats intention.
We all know where we have been in terms of the Middle East over the last 4+ years, but consider where we are in the region today and the effect it has on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran.
For Afghanistan, India and the US continue to build a relationship while Pakistan is now leading CTF-150. These two events taken together point to an emerging regional cooperation while at the same time put two rivals in the region invested in the shared interest of security. People say India isn't in the mix, but they are, and it starts with the Iranian pipeline to India which appears stalled despite comments otherwise.
For Iraq, Saudi Arabia can no longer ignore the challenges facing the United States, it continues to lose considerable prestige with the US for its OPEC driven intentional reduced oil output policy, its lack of obvious support for the US in Iraq, and its populations associations with the global war on terror. These points of contention with the United States are not timely for Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi's have now found themselves as the regional counterweight to Iran's growing influence in both the Persian Gulf and on the issue of Israel. This month Saudi Arabia will have dropped to #5 in oil exports to the United States, behind Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and a Nigeria that is at about half production. Saudi Arabia finds itself for the first time in decades as needing the US security blanket at least as much as the US needs Saudi Arabia's energy resources.
The rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is also having problems. Iranian influence and intimidation of Oman, Qatar, UAE, and in particular Bahrain has reached a fever pitch in Gulf, and Arab media editorials are lashing out against Iran's imperialistic ambitions. The tension between Bahrain and Iran over the last month alone has probably been more beneficial for US strategic policy with the GCC than any other single event in the Middle East since 9-11, including Iraq.
Review the link if you are scratching your head.
Patience with the GCC and other nations the US needs assistance from in the region like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is starting to pay off. Tensions between the GCC and Iran have risen considerably in the last month, and Saudi Arabia is now facing a real possibility of US withdrawal from Iraq. While many of my conservative friends hate how Democrats call for withdrawal, the Democrat rhetoric is actually helping apply some political pressure to the region although I doubt that is the Democrats intention.
We all know where we have been in terms of the Middle East over the last 4+ years, but consider where we are in the region today and the effect it has on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran.
For Afghanistan, India and the US continue to build a relationship while Pakistan is now leading CTF-150. These two events taken together point to an emerging regional cooperation while at the same time put two rivals in the region invested in the shared interest of security. People say India isn't in the mix, but they are, and it starts with the Iranian pipeline to India which appears stalled despite comments otherwise.
For Iraq, Saudi Arabia can no longer ignore the challenges facing the United States, it continues to lose considerable prestige with the US for its OPEC driven intentional reduced oil output policy, its lack of obvious support for the US in Iraq, and its populations associations with the global war on terror. These points of contention with the United States are not timely for Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi's have now found themselves as the regional counterweight to Iran's growing influence in both the Persian Gulf and on the issue of Israel. This month Saudi Arabia will have dropped to #5 in oil exports to the United States, behind Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and a Nigeria that is at about half production. Saudi Arabia finds itself for the first time in decades as needing the US security blanket at least as much as the US needs Saudi Arabia's energy resources.
The rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is also having problems. Iranian influence and intimidation of Oman, Qatar, UAE, and in particular Bahrain has reached a fever pitch in Gulf, and Arab media editorials are lashing out against Iran's imperialistic ambitions. The tension between Bahrain and Iran over the last month alone has probably been more beneficial for US strategic policy with the GCC than any other single event in the Middle East since 9-11, including Iraq.
Review the link if you are scratching your head.
Did Burns lie, is there a quid pro quos? Are the arms deals really a down payment for more regional cooperation with the United States, or have the stakes in the region changed? The arms deals are part of the Diplomatic Surge. To ask regional partners to share regional security responsibility, the US will have to empower those partners with the tools required to rise to the occasion. The sale of the Littoral Combat Ship is hardly the problem, anyone who feels that is more than a defensive weapon misunderstands its capabilities, but the JDAM has raised concerns. However, the JDAM is an important weapon, but we are not talking about F-22s to Japan here, the scale is much smaller.
The strategic and political environment in the Middle East is beginning to bring US and Western interests in line with regional partners, and the Diplomatic Surge is designed to build cooperation regionally regarding security similar to how the military surge in Iraq is designed to build cooperation locally regarding security. The US has an opportunity to position itself with a unified GCC in preparation for the coming challenges. To miss this opportunity because of domestic politics would be disastrous to regional US national interests, waste a moment of opportunity when the US has leverage, and leave the US with more expensive, more complex "Oboma Options."
The strategic and political environment in the Middle East is beginning to bring US and Western interests in line with regional partners, and the Diplomatic Surge is designed to build cooperation regionally regarding security similar to how the military surge in Iraq is designed to build cooperation locally regarding security. The US has an opportunity to position itself with a unified GCC in preparation for the coming challenges. To miss this opportunity because of domestic politics would be disastrous to regional US national interests, waste a moment of opportunity when the US has leverage, and leave the US with more expensive, more complex "Oboma Options."
