Much as Pakistan has been a problem child for us regionally--nukes and support of jihadis weighed against the need for Pakistan's geography to fight in Afghanistan and to watch said nukes--Saudi Arabia is a problem.
Saudi Arabia has geography and oil exports that make them a needed ally. And as the owners of Islam's holy sites, we need them to not actively work against us.
But on the other side, their form of Islam that they fund worldwide has been the primary generator of jihadis.
On the bright side, since we invaded Iraq and enraged jihadis enough for them to take on the Saudi government, the Saudis turned on the jihadis on the battlefield to prevent blowback on the royal family.
And now in Syria, Saudi Arabia is trying to make up for our lack of leadership to fight Iran and Assad:
Saudi Arabia is preparing to spend millions of dollars to arm and train thousands of Syrian fighters in a new national rebel force to help defeat Bashar al-Assad and act as a counterweight to increasingly powerful jihadi organisations.
Syrian, Arab and western sources say the intensifying Saudi effort is focused on Jaysh al-Islam (the Army of Islam or JAI), created in late September by a union of 43 Syrian groups. It is being billed as a significant new player on the fragmented rebel scene.
The force excludes al-Qaida affiliates such as the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, but embraces more non-jihadi Islamist and Salafi units.
Hopefully, this dovetails with our presence in Jordan.
Although I do not support lifting the ban on anti-aircraft missiles. Syrian air power just isn't decisive.
Assad's ground forces are his weak point and we should work on providing aid that strengthens rebel capacity to inflict casualties and take ground (including those air fields) with light cannons to shoot at helicopters.
So Saudi Arabia will act when we don't. In this case, I'm relieved. As imperfect as they are, the Saudis are acting like they are at war and want to win.
Don't disregard another way Saudi Arabia can act in the absence of our resolve.
It may be annoying that Saudi Arabia has complete control of the jihadi supply chain from generation to destruction, but it's a start. And the best we can probably get in the short run.
