Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said, "From an American perspective, it seems like a trivialization of the tragedy of 9/11, and perhaps offensively so, but from a Saudi point of view it is a way of explaining their shock to Americans."
Given the participation of Saudi citizens -- though not its government -- in 9/11 there is some irony.
I can see why they would compare the destruction of half its oil production in this manner. The target of the terrorism on 9/11 was our stock market, our Pentagon, and our White House. They succeeded only in causing the stock market to close for about a week.
The malevolent media is trying to turn this comparison into a controversy.
The Daily Beast reported, "Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s special representative for Iran, made the 9/11 comparison during a telephone briefing on Capitol Hill about the administration’s latest thinking on the attack. Hook communicated the reaction from Riyadh and said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be headed to the country soon. Several individuals on the call said Hook’s update was thin, but the administration had made available to lawmakers intelligence about the attack that they could review under a classified setting.
"CNN first tweeted that Hook told congressional staffers that the Saudis view this as their 9/11."
Regardless of one's feelings about the comparison, the Saudi reaction appears to have learned from America's reaction. Certainly the Saudis do not wish to be stuck in Iran 18 years from now.
However this Muslim Civil War will not end soon.
Dr. Afshon Ostovar, a scholar at the Naval Postgraduate School, told the Daily Beast, "Riyadh's somewhat muted statements so far seem designed to to give it time and space to think through its options, both military and diplomatic.
"A military engagement with Iran would inexorably lead to more insecurity, a weak response would embolden the culprits. That’s the heart of the Saudi's dilemma. In some sense, that's also the dilemma for Washington."
The two Muslim powers have engaged in a proxy war in Yemen for some time with Democrats (and a few Republicans) siding with Iran by trying to tie President Trump's hands in helping Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has been an ally since the 1930s -- longer than Germany. The same people who wrongly attack President Trump for alienating allies want us to abandon the Saudis in their hour of need. The New York Times alleged, "Trump's Deference to Saudis in Setting Terms for How U.S. Should Respond to Attacks Touches a Nerve." Then there is Tulsi Gabbard calling the United States "Saudi Arabia's B****."
The Washington Establishment once again roots for an enemy. Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post wrote a column, "The Saudi-Iran crisis could end Trump's lucky streak on the economy."
Lucky streak. Anyone who believes today's peace and prosperity are beginner's luck has no understanding of capitalism. I trust she is just being disingenuous. Surely, and economics writer is not that stupid.
In choosing 9/11 to illustrate the drone attack on Saudi's oil fields, the Saudis also remind us of our failures in responding to 9/11.
In less than 4 years after Pearl Harbor, America had vanquished Imperial Japan.
18 years after 9/11 we are still in Afghanistan.
The struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran will not end soon nor decisively.
But there is another model that is more encouraging: the Cold War. The Soviet Empire lasted 45 years, but deaths numbered in the thousand not millions. That is the monument to Cold Warriors.
And maybe that should give encouragement to Saudi Arabia and our troops in Afghanistan.
At any rate, our hard feelings toward the Saudis for the involvement of their citizens in 9/11 should be leavened by the kingdom's history of being there when we needed them. When others wanted to spike oil prices by cutting production, the Saudis upped production.
Now they need us. We are there. And yes, the Saudis call the shot. Pray for wisdom.
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