
Where's Wal-Dick?
Let's see, the Iranian President is in Saudi Arabia Saturday. Then he's going to be in Baghdad later this month for a get-together between Iraq, Syria, France, Russia, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and...the United States. It's not a conference or anything, just, you know, a little get-together to celebrate Iraq's special "ness."
Dick Cheney, meanwhile, has been traveling abroad ever since the jury started deliberating over his former deputy Irving "Scooter" Libby's fate, visiting military bases and raising troop morale in Pearl Harbor, Guam, Japan, Pakistan, and Bagram, nearly getting blown up at the last stop. But where is he today? Maybe we should play a quick game of "Where's Wal-Dick?" Hmm, well...he's the last high-ranking American official to have negotiated with Iran, doing so routinely and illegally back when he was CEO of Halliburton, as Naj notes in her excellent post on her blog, Iran Facts. And the Saudis are doing a great job playing Mid-East Social Director now. Kinda left the US at the curb a little bit.
So my guess is...Waldick was in Riyadh, telling Prince Bandar what a troublesome man Ahmadenijad has been, prepping the Saudis for their meetings with him. A lot of Cheney's friends want democratic regime change in Iran. Cheney and the Saudis don't give a damn for democracy. They just want a big piece of Iran's oil and gas, and to build its pipelines and refineries.
Update: Waldick was back in Washington yesterday evening to speak at a Save The White Folks PAC, so more likely Saudi National Security Advisor Bandar is meeting with Cheney in Washington today. For Mid-East deals, Bandar is to Bush Junior what James Baker was to Bush Senior.