Edwards' foreign policy for one America

Democrat John Edwards said the Bush administration's plan to sell $20 billion worth of weapons to friendly Arab states amounted to a foreign policy of convenience and he will take a tougher stance with Saudi Arabia if elected president.

Edwards said the United States should require the Saudi government to shut down the movement of terrorists across its borders, help stabilize the Iraqi government and participate more seriously in regional security before they are offered weapons.
(San Francisco Examiner, Associated Press)

Hmmm. Edwards wants to unilaterally push other countries around.

Seriously, if Edwards thinks that Iraq is a lost cause then what does he care if Saudi Arabians go to Iraq by the thousands? Does he just want to protect American lives and who cares about the Sunni minority in Iraq? How does that help Saudi Arabia if Edwards is going to make good on his promise to withdraw American troops?

Saudi Arabia is dominated by Sunnis. They have no desire to see an Iraq dominated by Shiites and even less so if Iraq is pulling the strings--and that's almost certainly what will happen if the U.S. leaves Iraq without establishing a unified Iraqi government representing each of the main factions.

So what does Edwards propose? Leave Saudi Arabia with its current armaments as a hostile Shia state cozies up next door? We'll sell them arms after Iran attacks? And they can train with the new equipment on-the-fly?

If the Democrats in Congress weren't intent on losing Iraq, then the arms deals for Saudi Arabia and Egypt wouldn't be so critical. An Iraq aligned against Iran's extremist tendencies provides Saudi Arabia a measure of security.

The threat of a U.S. pullout leading to a sectarian genocide in Iraq accentuates Saudi Arabian insecurity.

It's about that simple.