US experts: Iran closer to US interests than Saudi, Pakistan, Egypt
A series of recent books and interview by senior US intelligence and policy officials are increasingly placing Iran closer than Saudi, Pakistan and Egypt to America's interest at least in Afghanistan and Iraq. For example, in his new book "What We Won" and a series of candid lectures (videos below), Bruce Riedel, one of America's most seasoned intelligence experts provides an unprecedented and candid assessment of current security threats US faces in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Riedel makes a case that the new axis of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Egypt's El-sisi, are instrumental in making life difficult for Americans and moderate pro-democracy forces in Afghanistan.
Bruce Riedel is senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project. He retired in 2006, after 30 years of service, from the Central Intelligence Agency, including postings overseas. He was also a senior advisor on South Asia and the Middle East to the last four Presidents of the United States in the staff of the National Security Council at the White House.
Riedel has separately - in a recent interview with Charlie Rose, seen below- indicated Iran and Qatar could be counter forces to the Saudi, Pakistan, Egypt axis. Riedel also criticizes radical views of Netanyahu as not in the long term security interest of Israel.
In a conference at Hudson institute earlier this month (Video link on C-SPAN), a group of senior National security and Middle East policy experts also pointed out to the US and Iran's common strategic interests in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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