Whitewashing Saudi Arabia time and again

By Olivier Guitta

After Andy�s post re the fundraising on Saudi TV for terrorists, one should or should not be surprised by Karen Hughes� statement while visiting Saudi King Abdullah.
She stated:
I salute the Kingdom�s efforts to work with us to combat terrorism. I am proud of the excellent relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States and the exceptional cooperation between the two countries. Despite occasional disagreements, we have much in common.
This echoed the memo from President Bush to Condi Rice indicating, �I attest to that Saudi Arabia is cooperating in the global war on terrorism.�
This stance is a major return to that sixty-year old policy of collusion with the royal family.

If that was not enough, the recent deal the US negotiated with Saudi Arabia regarding this country�s access to the WTO did not include two major clauses:
- Saudi Arabia would accept to stop the boycott of Israel
- Saudi Arabia would implement additionnal measures to fight terrorism and would stop all financial support to terrorism.

So, there you have it, Saudi Arabia got a free pass to continue its support of terrorism through its diverse charities. For instance, it is no coincidence that the hardliner Abdullah bin Saleh al-Obaid, ex-head of the Muslim World League, the largest Saudi quasi-governmental �charity� organization, was appointed Minister of Education back in February.
Also, to show Saudi Arabia�s �friendship�, here is what the Saudi daily Al Watan, very close to the Royal family, published as an editorial on September 11, 2005:
The September 11 attacks triggered a ruthless war against what the US calls �terrorism�. This word has been generalized to include in particular all Arabs but also all Muslims, thereby refusing to distinguish between Al Qaeda -which counts in its ranks Americans, Europeans and Asians- and Arab countries (including Saudi Arabia) where some citizens belong to Al Qaeda. Washington justifies this generalization by stating that most terrorists were Saudis, thereby forgetting that Saudi Arabia is working hard to eradicate Al Qaeda.

Our British allies are also quite good at whitewashing the Saudi regime. Writing on Saudi national day, Sir Shepard Cowper-Coles, British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia published an op-ed in Asharq Al Awsat where he wrote:
The Saudi government has shown great wisdom, investing the oil income with a prudent eye on the future, while confidently mounting successful campaigns against the men of violence and to equip young Saudis for the demands of the new century. As one of Saudi Arabia's oldest and closest friends, Britain will accompany Saudi Arabia on that journey to the future. We will be with you in the tough times as well as the good times, in the knowledge that true friendship means sticking together through thick and thin.

At the same time this widespread white washing is going on, some in Congress have kept their sanity. For instance, the Senate Judiciary Committee is going to start hearings at the end of October re the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act of 2005.

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