To destroy Muslim holy places would foreclose the option of installing a reformed Islam. If there actually are a significant number of moderate Muslims out there, this would turn them against us for sure. And besides, it makes us look petty.

Also, just because some people make a religion out of commerce doens't mean it should be regarded as such. Think of the impact on tax revenues!

If they had a revolution, they would in all likelihood stop selling oil.

It's usually a mistake to presume the other guy will act from rational self interest. The other guy isn't always playing with a full deck.

[link|http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20011010-69550313.htm|Now they're for us].

Excerpt:

Egypt became the first Arab state to back the U.S. and British strikes against the Taliban regime, with President Hosni Mubarak saying he supports "all U.S. measures to eradicate terrorism, because we have suffered from it."
Saudi Arabia acknowledged for the first time that there is clear evidence linking Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network to last month's attacks on New York and Washington, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

[link|http://www.thenewrepublic.com/102201/teitelbaum102201.html|They're there for us when they need us]

Excerpt:

The first thing that has changed for Saudi Arabia since the Gulf war is its relationship with its Muslim neighbors. In 1990 the hostility between Tehran and Riyadh that began with Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution had still not abated. The two governments insulted each other almost daily, clashes had broken out between Iranians and Saudis during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, and there were no direct flights between the two countries. Between 1980 and 1988, the Saudis even aided Saddam's war against Tehran. And so Saddam's subsequent invasion of Kuwait not only posed a military threat to the Saudis, but it was also seen as a terrible betrayal. With its former ally suddenly menacing its border, Saudi Arabia was desperate for help. King Fahd, the Saudi ruler, was personally inclined toward the United States, regularly vacationing in the West and presiding over large arms purchases from America. And so, finding itself at odds with both Iran and Iraq--the two other most powerful states in the region--Riyadh called in the Yanks.

Since then, however, Saudi Arabia's position in the neighborhood has improved. While Saddam remains in power, he now poses no immediate threat to the Saudis, thanks to his defeat in the Gulf war and the U.S. military's ongoing intervention in Iraq. Meanwhile the Saudi leadership has changed--and with it the kingdom's relationship to Iran. In 1995 a stroke debilitated Fahd, and his half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, essentially took charge of the kingdom. Abdullah, who is less comfortable among non-Muslims and does not vacation outside the Arab world, has a decidedly less pro-Western perspective. And, almost immediately, that included an aggressive effort to repair relations with Iran.

[link|http://sg.news.yahoo.com/011023/1/1l01n.html|Where they stand]

Excerpt:

Qatar's foreign minister condemned Tuesday the US-led military strikes on Afghanistan as "unacceptable", after talks in the Iranian capital.

"The attacks against Afghanistan are unacceptable and we have condemned them. It is our clear position," Sheikh Hamad bin-Jassem bin-Jabr al-Thani said.

He was speaking to reporters here after a meeting between Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and Iranian President Mohammed Khatami.

"What is happening in Afghanistan concerns the Islamic world, and we think that the culprits of the September 11 attacks, no matter who they are, should be tried justly. We think that the Afghan people should not be the victims of these attacks," the foreign minister said.

On October 8, the day after the air strikes began in retaliation for the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, the emir said that he regretted them.

"We wish it hadn't come to this," he said after talks in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac. "We are in principle opposed to wars, opposed to seeing more victims falling."

Two days later, the foreign minister said Qatar would not let the United States use its airport facilities for its military operation against Afghanistan.

Qatar currently heads the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), after succeeding heavyweight Iran last year. Next month it hosts a key ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation.