Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The Republican leadership in Congress has pressed President Barack Obama to improve U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia.

Leading Republican members of the House and Senate have called on the Obama administration to respond to Saudi concerns over Iran and Syria. They said the U.S. crisis with Riyad reflected the loss of confidence in Obama’s leadership.

“The United States is experiencing a serious failure of policy and loss of credibility in the Middle East,” two senior Republican senators wrote.

On Oct. 27, Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote a column in the Washington Post that criticized Obama’s policy toward U.S. allies in the Middle East.

“Events in the region are headed in a perilous direction, and there is little reason to feel confident that the Obama administration has a strategy to secure U.S. interests and values in this vitally important part of the world,” the two senators said.

The column marked a series of statements by Republicans on the Saudi
crisis with Washington. Media reports have quoted senior Saudi officials as
saying that the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom would conduct an
independent policy regarding Iran and Syria.

“Those are critical issues to the Saudis, to the Qataris, to the
Jordanians and to others in the Arab League that I think rattled their faith
in the administration’s ability to protect them in a very dangerous world,”
House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said.

In an interview with CNN, Rogers warned that Saudi Arabia retained
options to cooperate with allies other than the United States. He cited
reports that Riyad was working with France and Jordan.

“So what you see is that friction starting to take hold and we have to
repair this and repair it soon,” Rogers said. “They’re going to find other
friends. I argue that’s not good for the United States.”

  address ‘loss of credibility’ in Mideast, Arab League, GOP presses Obama to salvage Saudi ties, Graham point to Obama’s ‘serious failure of policy’ in Mideast, McCain, Rep. Mike Rogers, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Senate Armed Services Committee