Before 1979 the U.S. could count on two key allies in the Gulf Iran and Saudi Arabia as enshrined in the Nixon doctrine over the course of the following decade it was forced to rely primarily on the Saudis. That moment laid the groundwork for the decades of war that have murderously destabilized the Middle East through the present day. The increasing military intervention has a lot to do with the end of the Cold War and of a broader quest to first of all you know forget the defeat first military defeat of the US army in Vietnam, says Peter Bergen.