The U.S. was in a dilemma because Saudi Arabia was protecting the value of the petrodollar. Even if Saudi Arabia attacked the U.S., it was not worth underminin

The U.S. was in a dilemma because Saudi Arabia was protecting the value of the petrodollar. Even if Saudi Arabia attacked the U.S., it was not worth undermining the U.S. Dollar as the world fiat reserve currency. Hussein, Gadhafi, al-Assad and Iran all moved away from the U.S. Dollar, and had to be dealt with accordingly.