[Culturechat] The Fall of the House of Saud
WesTexas@aol.com
WesTexas@aol.com
Wed, 21 May 2003 22:13:14 EDT
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The Fall of the House of Saud
By <A HREF="http://frontpagemag.com/articles/authors.asp?ID=1702">Robert Baer </A>
The Atlantic Monthly | May 19, 2003
<A HREF="http://frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=7892">Click here: FrontPage magazine.com</A>
http://frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=7892
Excerpts follow. Full article at above link.
Americans have long considered Saudi Arabia the one constant in the Arab
Middle East--a source of cheap oil, political stability, and lucrative business
relationships. But the country is run by an increasingly dysfunctional royal
family that has been funding militant Islamic movements abroad in an attempt to
protect itself from them at home. A former CIA operative argues, in an article
drawn from his new book, Sleeping With the Devil, that today's Saudi Arabia
can't last much longer--and the social and economic fallout of its demise could
be calamitous.
Not all the wishing in the world will change the basic reality of the
situation.
* Saudi Arabia controls the largest share of the world's oil and serves as
the market regulator for the global petroleum industry.
* No country consumes more oil, and is more dependent on Saudi oil, than the
United States.
* The United States and the rest of the industrialized world are therefore
absolutely dependent on Saudi Arabia's oil reserves, and will be for decades to
come.
* If the Saudi oil spigot is shut off, by terrorism or by political
revolution, the effect on the global economy, and particularly on the economy of the
United States, will be devastating.
* Saudi oil is controlled by an increasingly bankrupt, criminal,
dysfunctional, and out-of-touch royal family that is hated by the people it rules and by
the nations that surround its kingdom.
Signs of impending disaster are everywhere, but the House of Saud has chosen
to pray that the moment of reckoning will not come soon--and the United States
has chosen to look away. So nothing changes: the royal family continues to
exhaust the Saudi treasury, buying more and more arms and funneling more and
more "charity" money to the jihadists, all in a desperate and self-destructive
effort to protect itself.
The fact is that the West, especially the United States, has left the Saudis
little choice. Leading U.S. corporations hire and rehire known Saudi crooks
and known financiers of terrorism to represent their interests, so that they can
land the deals that will pay the commissions back in Saudi
Arabia--commissions that will further erode the budget and thus further divide the ruling class
from everyone else.
Former CIA directors serve on boards whose members have to hold their noses
to cut deals with Saudi companies--because that's business, that's the price of
entry, that's the way it's done. Ex-Presidents, former prime ministers,
onetime senators and congressmen, and Cabinet members walk around with their hands
out, acting as if they're doing something else but rarely slowing down,
because most of them know it's an endgame too. But sometime soon, one way or
another, the House of Saud is coming down.
Robert Baer served for twenty-one years with the CIA, primarily as a field
officer in the Middle East. He resigned from the agency in 1997 and was awarded
its Career Intelligence Medal in 1998. This article is adapted from the
forthcoming book Sleeping With the Devil (Crown Publishers), to be published in
June.
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><BODY BGCOLOR=3D"#ffffff"><FONT style=
=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Arial"=20=
LANG=3D"0">The Fall of the House of Saud<BR>
By <A HREF=3D"http://frontpagemag.com/articles/authors.asp?ID=3D1702">Robert=
Baer </A><BR>
The Atlantic Monthly | May 19, 2003<BR>
<A HREF=3D"http://frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=3D7892">Click=
here: FrontPage magazine.com</A> <BR>
http://frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=3D7892<BR>
<BR>
Excerpts follow. Full article at above link. <BR>
<BR>
Americans have long considered Saudi Arabia the one constant in the Arab Mid=
dle East--a source of cheap oil, political stability, and lucrative business=
relationships. But the country is run by an increasingly dysfunctional roya=
l family that has been funding militant Islamic movements abroad in an attem=
pt to protect itself from them at home. A former CIA operative argues, in an=
article drawn from his new book, Sleeping With the Devil, that today's Saud=
i Arabia can't last much longer--and the social and economic fallout of its=20=
demise could be calamitous.<BR>
<BR>
Not all the wishing in the world will change the basic reality of the situat=
ion. <BR>
<BR>
* Saudi Arabia controls the largest share of the world's oil and serves as t=
he market regulator for the global petroleum industry. <BR>
<BR>
* No country consumes more oil, and is more dependent on Saudi oil, than the=
United States.<BR>
<BR>
* The United States and the rest of the industrialized world are therefore a=
bsolutely dependent on Saudi Arabia's oil reserves, and will be for decades=20=
to come. <BR>
<BR>
* If the Saudi oil spigot is shut off, by terrorism or by political revoluti=
on, the effect on the global economy, and particularly on the economy of the=
United States, will be devastating. <BR>
<BR>
* Saudi oil is controlled by an increasingly bankrupt, criminal, dysfunction=
al, and out-of-touch royal family that is hated by the people it rules and b=
y the nations that surround its kingdom. <BR>
<BR>
Signs of impending disaster are everywhere, but the House of Saud has chosen=
to pray that the moment of reckoning will not come soon--and the United Sta=
tes has chosen to look away. So nothing changes: the royal family continues=20=
to exhaust the Saudi treasury, buying more and more arms and funneling more=20=
and more "charity" money to the jihadists, all in a desperate and self-destr=
uctive effort to protect itself. <BR>
<BR>
The fact is that the West, especially the United States, has left the Saudis=
little choice. Leading U.S. corporations hire and rehire known Saudi crooks=
and known financiers of terrorism to represent their interests, so that the=
y can land the deals that will pay the commissions back in Saudi Arabia--com=
missions that will further erode the budget and thus further divide the ruli=
ng class from everyone else. <BR>
<BR>
Former CIA directors serve on boards whose members have to hold their noses=20=
to cut deals with Saudi companies--because that's business, that's the price=
of entry, that's the way it's done. Ex-Presidents, former prime ministers,=20=
onetime senators and congressmen, and Cabinet members walk around with their=
hands out, acting as if they're doing something else but rarely slowing dow=
n, because most of them know it's an endgame too. But sometime soon, one way=
or another, the House of Saud is coming down. <BR>
<BR>
<B>Robert Baer served for twenty-one years with the CIA, primarily as a fiel=
d officer in the Middle East. He resigned from the agency in 1997 and was aw=
arded its Career Intelligence Medal in 1998. This article is adapted from th=
e forthcoming book Sleeping With the Devil (Crown Publishers), to be publish=
ed in June.</B> </FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #=
ffffff" SIZE=3D3 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0"><BR>
</FONT></HTML>
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