Saudis to help Sunnis in Iraq

Hey, didn't I say this would happen? Didn't I??

See the NYT's "Saudis Give a Grim What If Should U.S. Opt to Leave Iraq":

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia conveyed that message to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Mr. Cheney’s whirlwind visit to Riyadh, the officials said. During the visit, King Abdullah also expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, and pushed for Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Bush administration officials said.

The Saudi warning reflects fears among America’s Sunni Arab allies about Iran’s rising influence in Iraq, coupled with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. King Abdullah II of Jordan has also expressed concern about rising Shiite influence, and about the prospect that the Shiite-dominated government would use Iraqi troops against the Sunni population.

And compare that with what I said here. Particularly this part:

While it is possible that the warring factions in Iraq will see the danger that faces them as the US withdraws (and this withdrawal might therefore force them to the negotiating table), this scenario seems less likely because outside forces will push for war. Iraq’s neighbors will not silently watch this drama unfold. Sunni/Wahhabi jihadists (many of them foreign) will continue a terror campaign against Iraq’s Shi’ite communities in order to forestall a Shi’ite-dominated Iraq. Iran, by contrast, will see an Iraqi civil war (and the absence of American troops) as their single greatest opportunity to dominate the region, and they will lend their full support behind the Shi’ite Iraqi side. Iraq has been Iran’s most significant regional enemy, even before the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, and even though the majority of Iraq’s citizens are members of the same Muslim denomination as the Iranians (Shia’ism), the ethnic divide should not be underestimated. Iran will prefer to see a unified Iraq under Iranian control, but they will prefer to see a divided Iraq over a unified, but independent country. We can also expect that the Sunni Arab states will recognize this Iranian opportunity for what it is, and will use their wealth and military resources to help ensure that Iran does not achieve its goal — even if that means supporting jihadists. At a minimum, this will mean that, absent US troops, a full-scale Iraqi civil war will be very difficult to avert, and likely will be extremely bloody. In a worst-case scenario, an Iraqi civil war could spark an all-out war between Iran and the Sunni Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and even Egypt.

Why doesn't anyone listen to me?