Saudi Arabia

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is an amiable bloke, who at press conferences patiently answered the questions of the pack of assembled reporters. They annoyed me, and I felt sorry for him. A press conference last week changed that. A French Middle East specialist had given a talk at the Rand Corporation and had been asked to repeat it at the Pentagon. Somehow his remarks leaked out. He described Saudi Arabia as "America's most dangerous opponent" in the Middle East and recommended that it be given an ultimatum to stop backing terrorism or face seizure of its oil fields and financial assets. Obviously that is a scenario the Pentagon is considering, along with the attack on Iraq. Rumsfeld wiggled out of a discussion of it by saying that the expert spoke as a private individual and that relations with Saudi Arabia were excellent. The State Department reassured Saudi Arabia that the US had no such plans. I was left with the impression that US Middle East policy is oil-based, and I was glad that there were reporters on the job, however much the amiable bloke was embarrassed.

Ronald Hilton - 8/11/02