If and when Bush's "surge" fails, the Saudis will send troops into Iraq.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal made no effort to mask his skepticism Tuesday about President Bush’s proposal to send 21,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq to stem sectarian fighting.

“We agree with the full objectives set by the new plan,” Saud said at a joint news conference in Riyadh with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is traveling in the region selling Bush’s plan. “We are hoping these objectives can be accomplished, but the means are not in our hands. They are in the hands of the Iraqis themselves.”

This is bad. If the Saudis did that, the Iranians would probably do the same, and turkey might do the same as well. So effectively a partitioned Sunni-Shiite-Kurdish Iraq would be consumed by Sunni-Shiite-Kurdish neighbours. I wonder what Juan Cole will have to say about this (he knows the area better than me, so on issues like this I keep my thoughts to myself and trust a proven expert who does not pander to the powers-that-be).