Homeland Security

DATE=December 30, 2003

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-38194

TITLE=U-S Saudi Relations after 9/11

BYLINE=Judith Latham

TELEPHONE=619-3464

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Pat Bodnar

CONTENT=

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

INTRO: Since 9/11, U-S Saudi relations have undergone a profound re-evaluation. Although the two countries have been bound in a close, stable relationship for many years, recent events have challenged that stability. Some analysts argue that relations have deteriorated, while others disagree. Today's Dateline explores the complexity of the U-S Saudi relationship. Here's Judith Latham.

TEXT: Khalid Al-Dakhil, professor of political sociology at King Saud University and a columnist for a number of Arab newspapers, is a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He says it is a widely held perception in the United States that US-Saudi relations are deteriorating.

TAPE: CUT #1: AL-DAKHIL [FM LATHAM]

"Those who subscribe to this perception are mainly the neo-conservatives. And they have a vested interest in advancing such a perception. By propagating the theme of deteriorating relations between the U-S and its allies in the region, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, they hope to mount enough pressure on those regimes to nudge them in the direction of democracy."

JL: A number of factors seem to support the neo-conservative position, Professor Al-Dakhil says. They include the conflict between U-S and Saudi cultural and political values, the charge that the Saudis are not cooperating enough in the fight against terrorism, and the large percentage of Saudi nationals 15 out of 19 among the 9/11 hijackers. Other arguments include the withdrawal last August of American forces from Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia's refusal to back the U-S invasion of Iraq, and the dispute between Saudis and Americans over the issue of charitable donations to Muslim organizations and Saudi-supported religious schools overseas. But, perhaps most important, Khalil Al-Dahkil thinks, is the belief that after 9/11 the political status quo in Arab world is part of the problem.

TAPE: CUT #2: AL-DAHKIL [FM LATHAM]

"President Bush adopted this position explicitly when he stressed that the 'freedom deficit' in the Middle East has terrible consequences for the people of the Middle East and for the world. It has the potential for putting the U-S on a collision course with countries like Saudi Arabia."

JL: However, other officials and regional specialists view the U-S Saudi relationship from a different perspective. Khalid Al-Dahkil says they emphasize the notion of "security interests" and what they call Realpolitik, as opposed to ideology.

According to Professor Al-Dahkil, oil and security are the twin pillars of the U-S Saudi relationship.

TAPE: CUT #4: AL-DAHKIL [FM LATHAM]

"The need for oil, whether in the U-S or around the world, is expanding, not shrinking. Saudi Arabia still has the largest oil reserves in the world and is the largest oil producer. The question of Saudi security, the other pillar of U-S relations, is more complicated. Clearly, a significant factor has been the continuing expansion of the U-S military presence in the region and the U-S invasion and occupation of Iraq. Events are in a state of flux now. We should not conclude that the U-S Saudi relationship has not changed or is not in trouble. But there is nothing decisive to prove that it is deteriorating."

JL: Another major consideration is what some analysts call the "Wahhabi connection." The strict Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia supports the Saudi royal family. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was born in Saudi Arabia but was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994, is presumed by many people to be a Wahhabi. But Professor Al-Dahkil says that is highly questionable.

TAPE: CUT #5: AL-DAHKIL [FM LATHAM]

One of the two pillars of the Wahhabi movement is a distinction between religion and politics. Politics is the exclusive prerogative of the ruler. This has been the case for the last 300 years. The second pillar is that the Wahhabis prohibit taking arms against the ruler. They consider that to be strictly against Islam. And Osama bin Laden's declared objective is to destroy the Saudi government. Don't get me wrong. You can criticize Saudi Arabia for so many things. It's not democratic. There is no tolerance. There is no freedom of expression, and we have a long way to go on these issues. That's true, and we are working on that."

JL: Richard Murphy, former U-S Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs, says he agrees that the United States and Saudi Arabia have vital common "interests." Also a former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Murphy is now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He says the rise of militant Islamic groups in the Middle East and Central Asia at the end of the Cold War is an important component in the changed political climate.

TAPE: CUT #6: MURPHY [FM LATHAM]

"When the Soviets were moved from the equation, there was space for a new enemy, and some have accused us of going out of our way to create that enemy as a threat to American values. We played a part and Americans don't like to dwell on it in the only jihad in modern times, which was the war in Afghanistan. And it was worth $600 million a year for us, and we pushed the Saudis to produce the same amount of money for several years during the Afghanistan war in support of the mujahediin. So I think it's foolish if we don't acknowledge the American role in helping light the flame that continued to burn and has burned us."

JL: But Ambassador Murphy says whether or not the United States and Saudi Arabia consider themselves "friends," their economic and strategic interests will continue to overlap.

TAPE: CUT #7: MURPHY [FM LATHAM]

There is no cheaper oil than Saudi oil. We'll have to stay in the role of protector of oil as a global commodity."

JL: Ambassador Murphy says the issue of political reform in Saudi Arabia and other autocratic states is now a hot topic in both Washington and Riyadh.

TAPE: CUT #8: MURPHY [FM LATHAM]

"There is a great deal of talk now in Riyadh now about reform, and there is a specific on the table. Within one year, 50 percent of the municipal councils will be elected. There are limits to our pressure, conditioned by our concern about the alternatives to the royal family. And the alternatives are not anything Jeffersonian or any other dream we might have. They will have to move carefully."

JL: Richard Murphy says Saudi Arabia is now cooperating with the United States in trying to track funds, especially charitable donations, that might end up in the hands of terrorists.

TAPE: CUT #9: MURPHY [FM LATHAM]

"It's a tough job the way money can flip around the world electronically in seconds. Let's be honest. It was slow to get the cooperation started between our government and the Saudi government. But it has grown steadily. It shows a determination that has certainly been enhanced by the bombings in Riyadh last May the realization that the enemy is within. One of the most serious charges is that the Saudis were engaging in bribery of Osama. 'You stay away from here. We don't care what you do, and we'll help you elsewhere.' Not a scrap of evidence exists, I am told, in our intelligence network on those grounds.

JL: Ambassador Richard Murphy and Professor Khalid Al-Dahkil recently spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. They agreed that the Saudi system does not tolerate opposition, and it is sometimes very oppressive. But they cautioned that the alternatives may be politically risky.

For Dateline, I'm Judith Latham.

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