As the US pulls out it’s military from Cameroids Libyan campaign, you have to wonder whether they actually have some cunning plan for the Middle East or is it simply that they have no idea what to do next as their grip on desert politics fades away much like the British Empire experience in the late 1940’s.

The only certainty I can see in the short term is wallet pain at the petrol station as oil prices pass $120 a barrel which in itself makes a complete joke of Osbornes 1p per litre rebate in the recent budget.

As for the future, the tea leaves seem to be indicating that some new gulf conflict is imminent. Perhaps Israel has informed the US that it is going to play silly buggers and finally attack Iran though for now though we will have to read between the lines and make a guess as to what exactly the US is up to :

From Foreign Policy magazine :

Libya has bared an uncomfortable truth to Saudi King Abdullah (pictured right above), Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Kuwaiti Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (left), and the rest of the petro-autocrats of the world:

When politically expedient, Washington will help to push you out of power.

This sounds obvious, but it’s not how it was supposed to be. The United States has been allies with many such leaders as part of Pax Americana. For the most part, this hasn’t seemed cynical, but realistic — factually speaking, the United States and the rest of the West and the world require oil; there are diplomatic missions that only an Arab king or sheikh can fulfill; and the balance of power includes the support of autocratic leaders. Even the peace with Col. Moammar Qaddafi was well-intentioned — he has considerable blood on his hands, but  back in 2003 there was hope he had opted to reform; the most prevalently voiced opinion was that he was a potential template of the new possibilities of the age.

There is also this McClatchy article which gives more detail on just how strained US-Saudi relations have become in the last few weeks :

The United States and Saudi Arabia — whose conflicted relationship has survived oil shocks, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the U.S. invasion of Iraq — are drifting apart faster than at any time in recent history, according to diplomats, analysts and former U.S. officials.The breach, punctuated by a series of tense diplomatic incidents in the past two weeks, could have profound implications for the U.S. role in the Middle East, even as President Barack Obama juggles major Arab upheavals from Libya to Yemen.

The Saudi monarchy, which itself has been loathe to introduce democratic reforms, watched with deepening alarm as the White House backed Arab opposition movements and helped nudge from power former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, another long-time U.S. ally, according to U.S. and Arab officials.

That alarm turned to horror when the Obama administration demanded that the Saudi-backed monarchy of Bahrain negotiate with protesters representing the country’s majority Shiite Muslim population. To Saudi Arabia’s Sunni rulers, Bahrain’s Shiites are a proxy for Shiite Iran, its historic adversary.

Interesting times.