WASHINGTON — For those eager to know what President Barack Obama will be telling King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia next month, comments Wednesday [Feb. 19] by Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns provided a likely preview.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Burns put forward a case for reducing US friction with the Saudis and other Sunni Arab powers, arguing that the US takes their concerns about Iran and Syria seriously and that “our Gulf partners know that no country or collection of countries can do for the Gulf states what the United States has done and continues to do.”
