BATTLE LINES DRAWN FOR SAUDI AND IRAN.

With the official announcement of US forces withdrawing from Iraq, Saudi may have the "proxy" battlefield it needs to confront Iran.

Now, most of us realize the border of Iraq and Kuwait will continue to be what it has been since 1990; an ammo dump and jump off point for US forces if needed.

It's is also well known the US and Allied forces have kept the confrontation between Sunni and Shia in Iraq under control for several years now, even as Saudi tried to keep the fire burning.

Saudi has had ample time to build it's plan for confrontation in Iraq and I am sure this plan, whatever it may be, will  go into operational mode by the end of the year.

For all the talk of how Iran will  " call the shots" in Iraq, Saudi will not sit back and let Iran have it's way.

Saudi will not allow Iran to open a Two Front Campaign on Saudi, Yemen and Iraq.

If Saudi's resolve was somewhat passive, that all but died when  the US exposed the alleged plot to assassinate  Saudi's Ambassador.

And finally, the  possible new future leadership of Saudi, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz will see Iran as far more of a threat than even the current leadership.

None of this is taking place in a vacuum, or you would hope it's not!

What will be difficult for the US and the West is not letting this future proxy conflict get too far out of control or lead to actual regional war.

When you stack this Saudi, Iranian growing tension on top of the issues of social unrest and weekend state governments, it's easy to see just how volatile the whole region remains.

As for the Iranian leadership, if they, and I don't think the two of them are doing a great deal of joint strategizing right now, believe for a minute the Iranian plans for Iraq are going to execute as planned,  then they are sucking on the Shisha pipe too hard!

I will go back to my comments last week about Saudi and Syria.

Assad knows all too well how the alleged plot on the Saudi Ambassador will impact his survival.

He and Syria are " Target Number One" for Saudi.

Iran's worries are only going to get worse.