The Saudis Should Shut Up And Enjoy Their "Kingdom", While It Lasts

I'm a realist when it comes to foreign policy, and as such have developed a certain tolerance for the distasteful deeds and repugnant characters necessary to insure our national security. This doesn't, however, mean that I relish thinking about them or kid myself into believing the tasks are pleasant or that the people are noble. But when they feign morality, spout indignantly and castigate the United States from the gutter in which they dwell, cold rationalizations are a bit difficult to maintain.

We all know why it is we continued to deal with Saudi Arabia, and it is not because of any benevolent, peace loving ways. Their archaic nation sits atop an ocean of oil and, for the time being, the global economy is dependant on that subterranean opiate. No one with a grasp on reality is under any illusions that they are our allies in the classic sense of the word or that they are now, or have at anytime, been interested in fighting terrorism directed at the west. Moreover, if there is anything that is known about Islamic terrorism, it is that it flows from Saudi soil as freely as oil. This is why the recent "poor little me" Saudi road show has even we realpolitikers fuming and reaching for a vomit bag.

In a condescending tone that made Tom Daschle seem like a rank amateur (no simple feat), Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal condemned a congressional report that suggested their complicity in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He railed,

"How can Saudi Arabia be the main country fighting terrorism now and exchanging information that saved lives of people in the United States and at the same time assist terrorism? How is that possible?"

During a visit to the White House last week, Prince Saud asked President Bush to declassify parts of the report and complained his country was being judged without reason,

"Where are the facts, where is the evidence? If they want to hide the truth, make false accusations and write unpublished documents here and there, we cannot deal with that..."

Judgmental Americans? It looks more to me like citizens of the United States have fallen all over themselves to appear "nonjudgmental", avoided taking reasonable precautions lest they be condemned for "profiling", and accused each other of "hate crimes" at the mere utterance of an off-color remark or generalized statement.

Maybe the kindly prince is confused. Perhaps he thinks Islam is denigrated here in a manner familiar to him. Perhaps he thinks followers of the Qur'an, attempting to spread the word are imprisoned, as are the believers in the Christian Bible in his own country. Or maybe he believes the crescent moon and star, the recognized symbol of the Islamic faith, has been outlawed as the Saudi's have done with the Star of David.

Maybe it is "unfair" that Americans continue to ask why fifteen of the nineteen Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudis.

This may indeed seem unfair to a spokesman for a dictatorial government that maintains tight control over its media, but we tend to value little tidbits of information like that. The question is relevant because 15 out of 19 were Saudis. But lets suppose for a moment that the numbers were less damning. Had all the perpetrators been Fijian, that wouldn't change the fact that Saudi Arabia finances and exports one of the most virulently anti-western strains of Islam and that they were the acknowledged benefactors of the Taliban. As for the poor misunderstood Saudi education system, it extends across the globe to include the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America which distribute texts that condemn Judaism and Christianity as "deviant religions" and forbids the taking of Jews and Christians as friends. Their other educational endeavors have included the distribution, free of charge, of the Protocols of the Learned Elder of Zion, a proven fraud many times over that speaks of a Jewish world conspiracy and has inspired anti-Semitic bigots, including Adolf Hitler, for a century.

Despite the exasperation, the Saudi government has done little to convince Americans that they do anything but embrace terrorism and propagate hatred. Their refusal to label Palestinian suicide bombers as murderers and a well-publicized government telethon that raised nearly $100 million dollars to support the families of "martyrs" didn't help either. There was scarcely a reaction to western outrage when the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, Ghazi Algosaibi, composed a poem honoring suicide bomber Ayat Akhras, which stated she "died to honour God's word" and that the "doors of heaven are opened for her".

The Royal family has spoken out of both sides of their collective face as a matter of policy. While supposedly coming to New York to grieve for the victims of 9/11, a representative cast the blame for the tragedy on the United States. When speaking to the west they claim to be "partners" in the effort to destroy al-Qaida, but when speaking to the Muslim world they steadfastly exonerate them and instead accuse "Zionists" for the attacks. Though ostensibly working with the U.S. in the war on terrorism, they've obstructed investigations into al-Qaida activities within Saudi Arabia and designed their regional policies to impede our efforts to depose Saddam Hussein. By the day new information of their connections to Islamic terrorists appears in the American press, and intelligence sources indicate that Saudi money helped move Osama bin Laden's organization from Afghanistan to Lebanon and Gaza, thus clearing any ambiguity in its relationship with Palestinian terrorist groups.

I've taken more than my fair share of shots at the inattention and generally low level of knowledge on the part of the American people, but not even Joe Six Pack is buying what the Saudis are selling. Growing American hostility may chafe them, but their ridiculous claims of purity and declarations of friendship in the face of limitless evidence to the contrary aren't helping matters. For decades they have danced on the edge of a razor and gotten away with it because of their value as an oil-provider, but the ball may soon be ending. The free flow of oil from a liberated Iraq could signal "Last Call."

Though the harsh realities of foreign policy may necessitate unappealing associations, it's not the smartest move to continually remind us whom we're dealing with. When recently commenting on the subject, I placed military intervention into Saudi Arabia, and the occupations of Mecca and Medina that would go along with it, "way down on the list" of preferable strategies. Potentially inflaming the whole of the Islamic world to secure access to their oilfields I considered too risky a course of action. But the more the "Royal Family" talks, the more doable the proposition becomes. I suggest they stop kidding themselves that they have anyone fooled and enjoy their remaining time in the sun. Thanks to their duplicity and big mouths the clock is ticking.

In May 2001, four months before 9/11 I was at a dinner party when the discussion turned to the Middle East and who could force Arafat to bargain in good faith. Someone suggested Syria, another Iran, and a third Saudi Arabia. I made the statement that Saudi Arabia was not our friend or ally and that the Saud family had nothing to offer that we couldn't get from someone else being in charge. The assembled guests were the usual mix of liberal sheep and appeared stunned that even an old cold warrior like me would make such a statement. Except for one woman about sixty years of age who smiled sweetly at me and said, "All of the Saud family are rat bastards and have been since they came to power." She then proceeded to tell the group of her experiences in the State Department and the various indignities female diplomatic employees faced while in S.A. and their poor treatment by Saudi dips at the U.N.
Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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