Editorial: Let’s stop appeasing the Saudis

Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

A briefing was given last month to a top Pentagon advisory panel in which Saudi Arabia was described as an enemy of the United States. The assessment by a Rand Corp. analyst urged the U.S. government to threaten the kingdom with a military takeover of its oil fields unless it stopped supporting terrorism. Military action, however, is not realistic today. There are plenty of nations that we could invade for sponsoring terrorism, but we don't because it's impractical or too dangerous. Those realities, however, shouldn't blind us to Saudi Arabia's complicity in fostering terrorism, including against the United States. Furthermore, the need for a substantive change in our current, friendly relationship was shown Wednesday after the kingdom said it will deny U.S. access to Saudi Arabia if we attack Iraq.

The Bush administration clings to the fiction that Saudi Arabia is a long-standing ally that has cooperated fully in the global war on terrorism. The reality is that Saudi Arabia hasn't worked with the United States to combat terrorism after Sept. 11. Also, it was the Saudis' refusal to counter Islamic radicalism that led to Sept. 11 in the first place. Saudi Arabia for years has encouraged Islamic fundamentalism, especially when it's coupled with the bashing of the United States and Israel and doesn't threaten the Saudi regime.

The Saudi kingdom also abuses human rights in crushing any voices of democracy, a situation tolerated by the Bush administration because of the Saudis' oil. President Bush did not hesitate to name Iraq, Iran and North Korea as outlaw nations, and he should no longer hesitate to speak truthfully about Saudi Arabia. We should no longer structure U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia as if the country is friendly to our interests. This is unacceptable morally as well as in practical terms. Such a policy will not motivate the Saudis to crack down on their extremists and, as a result, we will continue to be a target of terrorism.