In late August 2010, Qatar, one of the strongest allies of Washington, expressed its dismay over the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Khalid Al Sayed, editor of the state-controlled Peninsula daily, wrote in a front-page editorial that Obama was leaving Iraq in shambles, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Leaving Iraq without a strong government will not only add to the problems within Iraq, but also throughout the Middle East," Al Sayed said.

The sources said similar messages were relayed to the Obama administration by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They said the Saudi royal family has been particularly alarmed by the repercussions of a U.S. withdrawal on Saudi-origin tribes in western Iraq.

"All these messages fell on deaf ears," the official said. "Washington wants out of Iraq at any cost, and now Iran will take control."

The sources said the U.S. pullout has emboldened Iran and its effort to destabilize Gulf Arab states. They said the GCC expects increased Iranian infiltration in such countries as Bahrain and Kuwait.

The U.S. withdrawal has also sparked fears in the GCC that Iraq could become a launching pad for Iranian intelligence and sabotage operations throughout the Gulf. Without U.S. supervision, the sources said, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could use Iraq for attacks that could not be traced to Teheran.

"The situation is very worrisome, and the Americans did not take any of this into consideration," a GCC diplomat said.

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