Houses of Cards

In January 1979, Iran's U.S.-backed monarch was driven from power by Islamic extremists. All U.S. military and material aid to Iran ultimately fell into the hands of an Islamic Republic under the command of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Now, Israeli media has reported that the Bush administration is considering a first-strike attack on Iran. Mr. Bush was clear in his NBC interview that his hostility towards Iran is due to concerns about the fundamentalist Islamic state obtaining enriched uranium -- "[O]ne thing is for certain – we need to prevent them from learning how to enrich uranium."

And speaking of enriched uranium and volatile, fundamentalist Islamic nations: The Bush White House announced that it had signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's U.S.-backed monarch on nuclear cooperation that would clear the way for Saudi Arabia to receive enriched uranium.

The Bush White House's plan to deliver enriched uranium to the Saudis means either one of two things:

• The Bush administration has no idea the depth of radical, anti-American, Wahhabist fundamentalism in Saudi Arabia, its ongoing threat to the Saudi monarchy and the self-evident risk of pumping enriched uranium into that nation, or

• The Bush administration fully understands the fragility of Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy -- but they also understand that supplying Saudi Arabia with the enriched uranium necessary for nuclear weapons would tie the hands of future administrations. Providing enriched uranium to the Saudi government ensures that the United States must do everything in its power to keep the House of Saud on the throne, lest a popular revolution result in a nuclear Islamic Republic.

That would certainly be quite a gift from George W. to the Saudi national security chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, aka "Bandar Bush".