Washington Post: Pentagon group targets Saudi Arabia as an enemy
Saudi Arabia-USA, Politics, 8/8/2002

The US defense department (the Pentagon ) on Tuesday escaped a report prepared by its consultation council, including several former officials and published by the Washington Post paper. The report reflects views of the growing trend inside the American administration which classifies Saudi Arabia as an "enemy" and also calls for " targeting " its oil wells and investments in the US, unless the Saudis stop their support to " terrorism."

The US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied the report and said it does not reflect the official American police, and this was after an earlier denial made by the Pentagon which was careful to indicate that Saudi Arabia is " an old friend and an ally for the US."

To this effect the US secretary of state Colin Powell made a telephone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al- Faisal in which he stressed that what was stated in the meeting of the consultation committee at the ministry of defense does not represent the American policy.

A spokesman for the US state department stressed the good relations linking Washington to Riyadh, and the Kingdom's cooperation to fighting terrorism.

On Tuesday, the Washington Post issued a report extended by a researcher at the Rand Corporation research center to the consultation committee at the US defense department describing Saudi Arabia as "a foe" for the US. The memorandum which was prepared by one of the former consultants at the French defense ministry Laurent Murawiec said that Saudi Arabia supports US enemies and attacks US allies .

The memorandum described Saudi Arabia as a "nucleus of evil" and the most dangerous enemy, for the US in the Middle East. It considered that ""The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader." The memorandum was debated during a meeting for the consultation council of the defense policy on July 10th.

The paper said that the decision to debate the memorandum is linked to the growing discussions on plans of the US administration concerning Iraq. The chairman of the council is one of the former officials at the US defense department Richard Pearl ( under the reign of President Ronald Reagan ) and of the great supporters for invading Iraq.

The most dangerous thing is embodied in what the paper said is that this view point represents the views of a "growing" group of effective officials in the administration of the US President George Bush, especially the faction of the team which supports the American Vice President Dick Cheney and the civil leadership at the US defense department, in addition to the faction of writers and intellectuals of the "new conservative" trend which is close to the decision makers.

The Washington Post reported one administration official saying that opinion about Saudi Arabia is changing rapidly within the U.S. government. "People used to rationalize Saudi behavior," he said. "You don't hear that anymore. There's no doubt that people are recognizing reality and recognizing that Saudi Arabia is a problem." The official added "The road to the entire Middle East goes through Baghdad," said the administration official, who is "hawkish" on Iraq, noting thereby that installing a democratic authority in Iraq will bring in change in the region, the same the US did after the second world war in Germany and Japan.

Among other things stated during the discussions, Murawiec recommended Washington to ask Saudi Arabia to "halt financing the Islamic institutions in all parts of the world," and to put an end to its statements against the Americans and the Israelis. The paper indicated that Murawiec proposed that Washington should "target" the oil wells in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi overseas financial assets abroad, but without defining how this will be made, and this will be in case Saudi Arabia refuses to respond to the American desires.

The discussions also dealt with the idea of toppling the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the possibility that toppling Saddam Hussein will be conducive to making a change in Saudi Arabia -- which was described as the biggest problem because of its rule in financing and supporting extremist Islamic movements.

Meantime, the Washington Post quoted the Saudi ambassador to the US Prince Bandar Bin Sultan as saying that he does not take the report of the defense policies council seriously.

The advisor for the Saudi crown prince Adel al-Jubeir said this report on Saudi Arabia this idea is contrary to reality. He added that Saudi Arabia and the US are friends and allies since 60 years. Their relations had surpassed numerous storms and these relations are moving strongly.

The US is placing pressure on the Saudis to support a strike against Iraq. but the Washington Post reported yesterday that the Saudi foreign minister said that Saudi Arabia "has made clear to Washington, publicly and privately, that the U.S. military will not be allowed to use the kingdom's soil in any way for an attack on Iraq."

Previous Stories:
  Washington suspends Express Visa program for Saudis   (7/22/2002)
  US screening of Saudi Arabian citizens up dramatically   (7/22/2002)
  Bush receives al-Faisal; Powell denies American differences over the Palestinian state   (6/14/2002)
  A presumed military center in the Gulf instead of Prince Sultan base   (5/4/2002)
  Strongest criticism from a Saudi Prince to the US; Sultan Bin Turkey for joint Arab delegation   (5/3/2002)
  Saudi Arabia does not think of using oil as a weapon against the US   (4/26/2002)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search