They were thinking with their hearts and emotions rather than be rational and calculating. 'For a medium sized country you make the news a lot' should have been a warning sign. There's absolutely nothing honourable about making a lot of noise. The Japanese say the nail that sticks out gets hammered, and indeed we have been hammered
Not long after this they sided with the States and Saudi Arabia only to get snaked big time. None of the money or help they were promised was delivered.