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Deal With Saudis Paved Way for Syrian Airstrikes
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[size=16]Saudi Arabian air force pilots sit in the cockpit of a fighter jet at an undisclosed location on Tuesday after taking part strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria. [size=12]Saudi Press Agency/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
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The Americans knew a lot was riding on a Sept. 11 meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia at his summer palace on the Red Sea.
A year earlier, King Abdullah had fumed when President Barack Obama called off strikes against the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad. This time, the U.S. needed the king's commitment to support a different Syrian mission—against the extremist group Islamic State—knowing there was little hope of assembling an Arab front without it.
At the palace, Secretary of State John Kerry requested assistance up to and including air strikes, according to U.S. and Gulf officials. "We will provide any support you need," the king said.
That moment, more than any other, set in train the U.S. air campaign in Syria against Islamic State, according to U.S. and Gulf officials. Mr. Obama made clear he would only authorize strikes if regional allies agreed to join the effort. Few would likely go along if the Saudis sat on the sidelines.
[size=14]Western-backed rebels fear U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State and other extremists in Syria will ultimately favor President Bashar al-Assad's regime. WSJ's Sam Dagher reports. Photo: AP[/size]
Officials on both sides say the partnership could help rebuild trust between longtime allies whose relations have been deeply strained over the U.S.'s response to the Arab Spring uprisings and Mr. Obama's outreach to Saudi rival Iran. It was also a sign the Saudis might take on a greater security role in the region, something the U.S. has long pressed for.
Reaching that agreement, however, took months of behind-the-scenes work by the U.S. and Arab leaders, who agreed on the need to cooperate against Islamic State, but not how or when. The process gave the Saudis leverage to extract a fresh U.S. commitment to beef up training for rebels fighting Mr. Assad, whose demise the Saudis still see as a top priority.
Wary of a repeat of Mr. Obama's earlier reversal, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates decided on a strategy aimed at making it harder for Mr. Obama to change course. "Whatever they ask for, you say 'yes,'" an adviser to the Gulf bloc said of its strategy. "The goal was not to give them any reason to slow down or back out."
Arab participation in the strikes is of more symbolic than military value. The Americans have taken the lead and have dropped far more bombs than their Arab counterparts. But the show of support from a major Sunni state for a campaign against a Sunni militant group, U.S. officials said, made Mr. Obama comfortable with authorizing a campaign he had previously resisted.
[size=14]The latest user generated content from the ground in Syria following Tuesday's airstrikes against Islamic State. WSJ's Mark Kelly reports.[/size]
How the alliance fares will depend on how the two sides reconcile their fundamental differences over Syria and other issues. Saudi leaders and members of the moderate Syrian opposition are betting the U.S. could eventually be pulled in the direction of strikes supporting moderate rebel fighters against Mr. Assad in addition to Islamic State. U.S. officials say the administration has no intention of bombing Mr. Assad's forces.
There were obstacles to overcome before Islamic State's rise became an unlikely catalyst for U.S.-Saudi rapprochement. After Islamic State made startling gains in Iraq, Saudi officials told Mr. Kerry in June that Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite with close ties to Iran, needed to go, according to U.S officials. Once that happened, Riyadh would step up its role against Islamic State and work to bring other Gulf states onboard. The Obama administration had come to a similar conclusion and started to maneuver Mr. al-Maliki out of office.
U.S. planning accelerated after Islamic State beheaded American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and again after Mr. Obama's verbal slip when he said the U.S. didn't yet have a strategy to counter the group, U.S. officials said. After initially playing down the threat, government spokesmen started saying the U.S. was "at war" with the group and would eventually destroy it.
It remained unclear to Arab allies whether the tough talk would be matched militarily.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, had spent years trying to coax a reluctant Mr. Obama to play a more hands-on role in Syria. The king decided to give the Americans what they requested, diplomats said, adding that the last thing the Saudis wanted to do was give ammunition to those inside the administration who still opposed taking action.
For the Saudis, Syria had become a critical frontline in the battle for regional influence with Iran, an Assad ally. As Mr. Assad stepped up his domestic crackdown, the king decided to do whatever was needed to bring the Syrian leader down, Arab diplomats say.
In the last week of August, a U.S. military and State Department delegation flew to Riyadh to lay the ground for a military program to train the moderate Syrian opposition to fight both the Assad regime and Islamic State—something the Saudis have long requested. The U.S. team wanted permission to use Saudi facilities for the training. Top Saudi ministers, after consulting overnight with the king, agreed and offered to foot much of the bill. Mr. Jubeir went to Capitol Hill to pressed key lawmakers to approve legislation authorizing the training.
When Mr. Kerry touched down in Jeddah to meet with King Abdullah on Sept. 11, he didn't know for sure what else the Saudis were prepared to do. The Saudis had informed their American counterparts before the visit that they would be ready to commit air power—but only if they were convinced the Americans were serious about a sustained effort in Syria. The Saudis, for their part, weren't sure how far Mr. Obama would be willing to go, according to diplomats.
"Everyone saw correctly that the Saudis were the linchpin," said a senior U.S. official who works with the Saudis.
Saudi players in attendance for the Sept. 11 meeting included Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who as the king's spymaster last year ran afoul of Mr. Kerry over Syria and Iraq policy. U.S. officials interpreted his presence as a sign the king wanted to make sure the court was united, U.S. officials said.
To break the ice, U.S. officials started off the meeting talking about how their ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joseph Westphal, had recently lost weight.
Mr. Kerry told the king that the Islamic State had created an opportunity for the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to get back on the same page. When the king said he was prepared to join the air strikes, Prince Bandar had a smile on his face, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. officials say the removal of Mr. Maliki's government cleared the way forward. The king told Mr. Kerry he would send a team to Baghdad to consider reopening the Saudi embassy.
The task of nailing down the details fell to Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. Over the summer, Gen. Austin sought to build Arab confidence by insisting the Pentagon not release names of countries that allowed their bases to be used for American strikes in Iraq, including Qatar and Jordan.
A week before the strikes, Mr. Jubeir met with Mr. Obama at the White House. What was scheduled to be a 10-minute meeting ended up running on for 45, discussing their joint military plans, U.S. officials said.
[size=14]British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to hold a parliamentary debate as early as Friday on whether the U.K. should participate in airstrikes against Islamic State. Cassell Bryan-Low reports.[/size]
Before briefing Mr. Obama on the war plans on Sept 17, Gen. Austin traveled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan. On the day before meeting Mr. Obama, he had two calls with Bahrain officials, including the king. By the time Mr. Obama arrived at the Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., Gen. Austin believed he had his Arab coalition in hand, a military official said.
Hours before the military campaign was set to begin, U.S. officials held a conference call to discuss final preparations. On the call, military officers raised last-minute questions about whether Qatar would take part and whether the countries would make their actions public.
Mr. Kerry was staying in a suite on the 34th floor of New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he was meeting leaders attending United Nations gatherings. He called his Gulf counterparts to make sure they were still onboard. They were.
The UAE, which some defense officials refer to as "Little Sparta" because of its outsized military strength, had the most robust role. One of the UAE's pilots was a woman. Two of the F-15 pilots were members of the Saudi royal family, including Prince Khaled bin Salman, son of the crown prince. In the third wave of the initial attack, half of the attack airplanes in the sky were from Arab countries.
—Ahmed al Omran contributed to this article.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/deal-with-saudis-paved-way-for-syrian-airstrikes-1411605329
Talks With Saudi Arabia Were Linchpin in U.S. Efforts to Get Arab States Into Fight Against Islamic State
By ADAM ENTOUS And JULIAN E. BARNES Sept. 24, 2014 8:35 p.m. ET
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[size=16]Saudi Arabian air force pilots sit in the cockpit of a fighter jet at an undisclosed location on Tuesday after taking part strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria. [size=12]Saudi Press Agency/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
[/size][/size]
The Americans knew a lot was riding on a Sept. 11 meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia at his summer palace on the Red Sea.
A year earlier, King Abdullah had fumed when President Barack Obama called off strikes against the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad. This time, the U.S. needed the king's commitment to support a different Syrian mission—against the extremist group Islamic State—knowing there was little hope of assembling an Arab front without it.
At the palace, Secretary of State John Kerry requested assistance up to and including air strikes, according to U.S. and Gulf officials. "We will provide any support you need," the king said.
That moment, more than any other, set in train the U.S. air campaign in Syria against Islamic State, according to U.S. and Gulf officials. Mr. Obama made clear he would only authorize strikes if regional allies agreed to join the effort. Few would likely go along if the Saudis sat on the sidelines.
[size=14]Western-backed rebels fear U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State and other extremists in Syria will ultimately favor President Bashar al-Assad's regime. WSJ's Sam Dagher reports. Photo: AP[/size]
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Officials on both sides say the partnership could help rebuild trust between longtime allies whose relations have been deeply strained over the U.S.'s response to the Arab Spring uprisings and Mr. Obama's outreach to Saudi rival Iran. It was also a sign the Saudis might take on a greater security role in the region, something the U.S. has long pressed for.
Reaching that agreement, however, took months of behind-the-scenes work by the U.S. and Arab leaders, who agreed on the need to cooperate against Islamic State, but not how or when. The process gave the Saudis leverage to extract a fresh U.S. commitment to beef up training for rebels fighting Mr. Assad, whose demise the Saudis still see as a top priority.
Wary of a repeat of Mr. Obama's earlier reversal, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates decided on a strategy aimed at making it harder for Mr. Obama to change course. "Whatever they ask for, you say 'yes,'" an adviser to the Gulf bloc said of its strategy. "The goal was not to give them any reason to slow down or back out."
Arab participation in the strikes is of more symbolic than military value. The Americans have taken the lead and have dropped far more bombs than their Arab counterparts. But the show of support from a major Sunni state for a campaign against a Sunni militant group, U.S. officials said, made Mr. Obama comfortable with authorizing a campaign he had previously resisted.
[size=14]The latest user generated content from the ground in Syria following Tuesday's airstrikes against Islamic State. WSJ's Mark Kelly reports.[/size]
How the alliance fares will depend on how the two sides reconcile their fundamental differences over Syria and other issues. Saudi leaders and members of the moderate Syrian opposition are betting the U.S. could eventually be pulled in the direction of strikes supporting moderate rebel fighters against Mr. Assad in addition to Islamic State. U.S. officials say the administration has no intention of bombing Mr. Assad's forces.
There were obstacles to overcome before Islamic State's rise became an unlikely catalyst for U.S.-Saudi rapprochement. After Islamic State made startling gains in Iraq, Saudi officials told Mr. Kerry in June that Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite with close ties to Iran, needed to go, according to U.S officials. Once that happened, Riyadh would step up its role against Islamic State and work to bring other Gulf states onboard. The Obama administration had come to a similar conclusion and started to maneuver Mr. al-Maliki out of office.
U.S. planning accelerated after Islamic State beheaded American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and again after Mr. Obama's verbal slip when he said the U.S. didn't yet have a strategy to counter the group, U.S. officials said. After initially playing down the threat, government spokesmen started saying the U.S. was "at war" with the group and would eventually destroy it.
It remained unclear to Arab allies whether the tough talk would be matched militarily.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, had spent years trying to coax a reluctant Mr. Obama to play a more hands-on role in Syria. The king decided to give the Americans what they requested, diplomats said, adding that the last thing the Saudis wanted to do was give ammunition to those inside the administration who still opposed taking action.
For the Saudis, Syria had become a critical frontline in the battle for regional influence with Iran, an Assad ally. As Mr. Assad stepped up his domestic crackdown, the king decided to do whatever was needed to bring the Syrian leader down, Arab diplomats say.
In the last week of August, a U.S. military and State Department delegation flew to Riyadh to lay the ground for a military program to train the moderate Syrian opposition to fight both the Assad regime and Islamic State—something the Saudis have long requested. The U.S. team wanted permission to use Saudi facilities for the training. Top Saudi ministers, after consulting overnight with the king, agreed and offered to foot much of the bill. Mr. Jubeir went to Capitol Hill to pressed key lawmakers to approve legislation authorizing the training.
When Mr. Kerry touched down in Jeddah to meet with King Abdullah on Sept. 11, he didn't know for sure what else the Saudis were prepared to do. The Saudis had informed their American counterparts before the visit that they would be ready to commit air power—but only if they were convinced the Americans were serious about a sustained effort in Syria. The Saudis, for their part, weren't sure how far Mr. Obama would be willing to go, according to diplomats.
"Everyone saw correctly that the Saudis were the linchpin," said a senior U.S. official who works with the Saudis.
Saudi players in attendance for the Sept. 11 meeting included Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who as the king's spymaster last year ran afoul of Mr. Kerry over Syria and Iraq policy. U.S. officials interpreted his presence as a sign the king wanted to make sure the court was united, U.S. officials said.
To break the ice, U.S. officials started off the meeting talking about how their ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joseph Westphal, had recently lost weight.
Mr. Kerry told the king that the Islamic State had created an opportunity for the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to get back on the same page. When the king said he was prepared to join the air strikes, Prince Bandar had a smile on his face, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. officials say the removal of Mr. Maliki's government cleared the way forward. The king told Mr. Kerry he would send a team to Baghdad to consider reopening the Saudi embassy.
The task of nailing down the details fell to Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. Over the summer, Gen. Austin sought to build Arab confidence by insisting the Pentagon not release names of countries that allowed their bases to be used for American strikes in Iraq, including Qatar and Jordan.
A week before the strikes, Mr. Jubeir met with Mr. Obama at the White House. What was scheduled to be a 10-minute meeting ended up running on for 45, discussing their joint military plans, U.S. officials said.
[size=14]British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to hold a parliamentary debate as early as Friday on whether the U.K. should participate in airstrikes against Islamic State. Cassell Bryan-Low reports.[/size]
Before briefing Mr. Obama on the war plans on Sept 17, Gen. Austin traveled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan. On the day before meeting Mr. Obama, he had two calls with Bahrain officials, including the king. By the time Mr. Obama arrived at the Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., Gen. Austin believed he had his Arab coalition in hand, a military official said.
Hours before the military campaign was set to begin, U.S. officials held a conference call to discuss final preparations. On the call, military officers raised last-minute questions about whether Qatar would take part and whether the countries would make their actions public.
Mr. Kerry was staying in a suite on the 34th floor of New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he was meeting leaders attending United Nations gatherings. He called his Gulf counterparts to make sure they were still onboard. They were.
The UAE, which some defense officials refer to as "Little Sparta" because of its outsized military strength, had the most robust role. One of the UAE's pilots was a woman. Two of the F-15 pilots were members of the Saudi royal family, including Prince Khaled bin Salman, son of the crown prince. In the third wave of the initial attack, half of the attack airplanes in the sky were from Arab countries.
—Ahmed al Omran contributed to this article.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/deal-with-saudis-paved-way-for-syrian-airstrikes-1411605329
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