May 23, 209

Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.

Alleged Taliban fighters

The Obama administration's interest in showing patience and offering to open direct talks with Iran – to the consternation of Israel – may not only revolve around Tehran's nuclear development program.

Instead, Washington may be looking to Iran to allow U.S. supplies to cross its territory to reach American and other NATO troops in Afghanistan and to work together to defeat the Taliban. In 2001 and 2002, Iran helped the U.S. defeat the Taliban following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

U.S. inquiries with Iran to provide such assistance pose a conflict between American and Israeli perspectives. Israel has drawn a red line beyond which it will not tolerate Iran's nuclear development program. The Jewish state believes that the program is a cover for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and has threatened to bomb its nuclear facilities before it can produce a nuclear device.

The development also poses a conflict with Sunni Saudi Arabia, which is concerned about a resurgent Shiite Iran. Indeed, Saudi Arabia supports the Sunni Wahhabi Taliban in Afghanistan, to the consternation of the U.S.

Despite the fact that the U.S. and Saudis cooperate on other Middle East issues, the relationship between the two countries have been strained since the 9/11 attacks.

Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about critical developments around the globe with Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.

Indeed, the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is "crucial to our national interests," said Bob Baer, author of "Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude."

Baer, a former CIA field officer and a harsh critic of the Saudi government, noted the kingdom controls 25 percent of the world's oil reserves and is one of the largest suppliers of crude oil to the U.S. It has been adjusting production to maintain stable prices for oil sold to the U.S. in exchange for military protection, beginning with the threat from Saddam Hussein in 1990 after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait.

Alternative routes to the current passage of logistical supplies through Pakistan are limited. Tajikistan offers a viable alternative, but the government there has been unresponsive to U.S. requests to run supplies through the country. The concern by Tajik officials is the negative response from Russia to helping the U.S. create a presence in an area which Moscow regards as being in its sphere of influence.

www.worldnetdaily.com/