There is some truth in that statement, but the reality is a bit more complex than that. The House of Saud is corrupt, make no mistake, but the only other "power that is" within the country are the radical Wahabbi clerics.
The situation within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is closely analogous to pre-revolutionary Iran. The House of Saud, for all its faults, warts, even running sores have attempted to bring their countrymen into the 20th century, but with only limited success. Because of their position of "Protectors of the Holy Place", the House of Saud must walk a tightrope when dealing with them, and many in the West fail to understand this.
For example, the West considers the Saudi form of capital punishment by beheading, publicly in the main square to be barbaric, but it was not so very long ago, that I read in an official U S Army information book, in preparation for my military tour of the country in 1980, that the punishment for the crime of highway robbery in the kingdom was death by crucifixion (the book was dated 1965, IIRC)...
It was the House of Saud who changed that little groteque barbarism, and instituted only one form of capital punishment, for any capital crime. Chnge comes but slowly there, and the House of Saud has been able to push only so far against the radical clerics, being itself not of one mind...
the infowarrior
For a contrarian view, you may want to read the peace plan proposed by Lowell Ponte at www.frontpagemag.com.
Excerpt:
Next, Saudi Arabia under the Ponte Plan would be partitioned. Its oil-saturated eastern sands and central regions would become the Kingdom of Saudi. Its western highlands, including the verdant farmlands of Asir and Islam’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina, would become a new country, the neutral and demilitarized Theocracy of Allahistan.
While I personally think the House of Saud should be deposed altogether, I think it is an interesting proposal.
Seize the Oil Fields. Destroy the House of Saud.