THE RATIONALE for invading Iraq in response to 9/11 has been widely questioned, suggesting that there was no cooperation between Iraq and Al Qaeda prior to 9/11. Iraq had always considered Al Qaeda as the enemy due to two reasons: the fact that the country was pro-Soviet and because the latter was a Sunni Muslim organisation.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark. US supplied the vast majority of the invading forces, but also received support from Kurdish troops in northern Iraq. We in India also played the fox, by quickly having a known business house ink a deal for oil exploration with the Kurds. The main reason for the Iraqi invasion had actually been the Saudi angle.
Saudi relations with Iraq had been problematic throughout the 1960s, till the early 1970s as Riyadh has suspected Baghdad of supporting political movements hostile to Saudi interests, not only in the Arabian Peninsula but also in other Middle Eastern countries.
After 1975, Iraq began to moderate its foreign policies which brought in a sea of change, one that significantly lessened tensions between Riyadh and Baghdad. Saudi Arabia's diplomatic relations with Iraq were relatively cordial by the time the Iranian Islamic Revolution erupted in 1979.
The revolution was a danger to Saudi throne supremacy in the region, causing the country to become hostile to Iran and supportive to Iraq, as it knew about Baghdad’s mistrust of Iranians and wanted to utilise it to attack Iran, killing two birds with one stone. The Saudis feared Ayatollah Khomeini and his prototypes were a threat and danger to their royalty. This view was also shared by the Americans. Libya was very much for Iran but had remained neutral.
The Saudis and Iraqis both felt threatened by the Iranian advocacy of exporting the Islamic revolution and this shared fear fostered an unprecedented degree of cooperation between the two countries. The Russians shifted their support towards Iran, as the Americans pulled out their support. Riyadh was ultimately successful in secretly fomenting the Iran – Iraq war.
It had declared its neutrality at the outset of the war, but covertly helped Baghdad in non-military ways, with American forces lending support to Iraq from its soil. Saudi Arabia provided Iraq with low-interest loans and grants, reserved for Iraqi customers as part of its production from oil fields in the Iraq-Saudi Arabian neutral zone and also assisted the construction of an oil pipeline to transport Iraqi oil across its territory.
Despite all their efforts and considerable financial investments in creating a political alliance with Iraq, Saudi Arabia failed to maintain a long-term friend. Baghdad realised that it had been used by Saudi Arabia and the Americans to fight Iran.
In August 1990, only two years after Baghdad and Tehran had agreed to cease hostilities, Iraqi forces unexpectedly invaded and occupied Kuwait. Saudi Arabia took action against Iraq, claiming its actions posed a serious threat to its security and requested the United States to bring troops into the kingdom to help confront Iraq.
Riyadh's fears concerning Baghdad's ultimate intentions prompted Saudi Arabia to become directly involved in the war against Iraq. Russians gave support to their old ally and Iran also agreed to lend a hand. This conflict marked the first time, since its invasion of Yemen in 1934, that Saudi Arabia fought against another Arab state.
Saudi leaders were relieved when Iraq was defeated, but they recognised that relations with Baghdad had been damaged forever. If America had not sent its forces, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would have seized to exist.
The Chinese now want access to Central Asia, Iran and the Arabian sea trade routes by making a super highway from Beijing to three separate routes - the Arabian Sea, Mediterranean sea and the Black and Ural sea, hence controlling the entire economy of the region and diluting American, Russian and Saudi influence in the region. It wants to do away with India which is the only road block they are facing, apart from Afghanistan, which is occupied by the Americans. As soon as the Americans leave, the territory would be wide open for them and with Pakistani help, they would consolidate the entire region.
They have started consolidating their presence in the whole of south and south east Asia by opening bases in countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, North Korea, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Soon, south and south East Asia would comprise only of china and its allies.
