[stupidcar]

The governments of these countries are in no sense “moderate”, and it is absurd to suggest that the only choice they face is between their incumbent autocratic regimes and fundamentalism Islamic ones. Extremists both secular and religious have prospered in the Middle East precisely because western backing for unrepresentative regimes has snuffed out moderate and democratic opposition.

This geopolitical calculus might have made sense when there was a real danger of such countries being swallowed up into the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence. But it would be much better now to disengage as much as possible with the governments of countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.