Saudi gagal melayani kepentingan AS dikawasan Arab...??!! >> Ada apa lagi.... wahai Tuan Besar AS sebagai Komandan Regime Penjajah Kriminal Internasional.. yang menjajah Negara Islam... dengan dukungan Saudi.. yang sudah begitu taat kepada Tuan2 Besar AS- yang didalamnya diatur dan dikendalikan oleh Loby2 Yahudi..???!!! .... Ada apa sebenarnya.... dinegara AS sendiri.. yang tidak pernah merasa puas dengan Kekejian-Kebengisan-dan Keserakahan Bangsa AS dan Yahudi2 AS -Eropa...???!!!...>>> Ada apa sesungguhnya...???? wahai Tuan2 Regime Penjajah Kriminal Internasional itu....???!!... Mereka sudah menjajah palestina-Irak-Afghanistan..dan menginjak-injak Bangsa Arab-Bangsa2 Arab Islam di Sekitar Teluk.. dan di Afrika Utara...???>> Ada apa gerangan Tuan2 Besar Para Regime Penjajah Kriminal Internasional itu...???!!!

AS: Saudi gagal melayani kepentingan AS dikawasan Arab

Siraaj

Selasa, 28 Februari 2012 22:11:45

TELUK PERSIA (Arrahmah.com) - http://arrahmah.com/read/2012/02/28/18434-as-saudi-gagal-melayani-kepentingan-as-dikawasan-arab.html

Sebuah laporan mengatakan bahwa Amerika Serikat (AS) dan sekutu-sekutu Baratnya sedang berusaha untuk "membagi" Arab Saudi karena kegagalan Saudi untuk melayani kepentingan AS di kawasan Arab. 

Menurut sebuah laporan terbaru yang diterbitkan oleh kantor berita berbahasa Arab, Nakhel, Washington tidak puas dengan peran Arab Saudi memainkan "tanggungjawab" untuk "perkembangan regional".

Laporan tersebut menambahkan bahwa Qatar yang kini telah menjadi corong resmi dari Amerika Serikat dan peran Doha yang lebih baik "bermain" sesuai dengan kepentingan AS juga menambah ketidakpuasannya terhadap Riyadh.

Nakhel juga menyebutkan bahwa Amerika Serikat sedang menunggu-nungi kematian Raja Saudi Abdullah dan menganggap itu akan menjadi akhir rezim Saudi. 

Otoritas Saudi telah menyatakan ketidakpuasan dengan posisi Qatar yang semakin berpengaruh dan penguasa Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani diantara para pejabat AS dan Israel, kata laporan itu. (siraaj/arrahmah.com)

Saudi Arabia – United States relations are bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The United States and Saudi Arabia have had full diplomatic relations since 1933.^[1]

The two nations have encountered obstacles in the path of a successful relationship since it first began. Eventually, the relationship reconstructed itself after each conflict and became stronger in some cases. To sum up, throughout the successful time line of the relationship, temporary obstacles had been impeded within the Arab-Israeli conflict, World War II, the Cold War, anti-communism strategy, Gulf War I and II, and the War on Terror.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Pre-9/11 relationship with the United States
• 2 Post 9/11 relationship with the United States
• 3 Principal U.S. and Saudi officials involved or had an impact on the bilateral relations
• 4 History
  • 4.1 Early history (recognition)
  • 4.2 Foundation of ARAMCO
  • 4.3 First conflict
  • 4.4 World War II
  • 4.5 After World War II (1945)
  • 4.6 King Saud came to power (1957)
  • 4.7 Cold War & Soviet Containment
  • 4.8 Oil embargo & the energy crises
  • 4.9 Government Purchases
  • 4.10 The Gulf War
  • 4.11 Child abduction
  • 4.12 Operation Southern Watch
  • 4.13 2010 U.S. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
• 5 9/11
  • 5.1 Funding terrorism
• 6 Diplomatic visits
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links

• Pre-9/11 relationship with the United States

  The United States recognized the government of King Ibn Saud in 1931, and two years later in 1933, Ibn Saud granted a concession to the US company, Standard Oil of California, allowing them to explore for oil in the country's Eastern Province, al-Hasa. The company gave the Saudi government £35,000 and also paid assorted rental fees and royalty payments.

  CASOC Struck oil near Dhahran, but production over the next several years remained low - only about 42.5 million barrels between 1941 and 1945; less than 1% of the output in the United States over the same time period. US officials initially paid little attention, not sending a resident ambassador to the country until 1943. However, as World War II progressed, the United States began to believe that Saudi oil was of strategic importance. As a result, in the interest of national security, the US began to push for greater control over the CASOC concession. On February 16, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that "the defense of Saudi Arabia is vital to the defense of the United States", thereby making possible the extension of the Lend-Lease program to the kingdom. Later that year, the president approved the creation of the state-owned Petroleum Reserves Corporation, with the intent that it purchase all the stock of CASOC and thus gain control of Saudi oil reserves in the region. However, the plan was met by opposition, and ultimately failed. Roosevelt continued to court the government, however — on February 14, 1945, he met with King Ibn Saud aboard the USS Quincy for over five hours, discussing topics such as the countries' security relationship and the creation of a Jewish country in the Mandate of Palestine.

  CASOC was later renamed the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco). The agreement between the company and the Saudi kingdom was modified several times over the years. In 1950, Saudi Arabia and Aramco agreed to a 50–50 profit-sharing arrangement, and a series of agreements between 1973 and 1980 resulted in the Saudis' regaining full control of the company. In 1988, Fahd of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree establishing the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, known as Saudi Aramco, to replace Aramco.

  In 1951, under a mutual defense agreement, the US established a permanent US Military Training Mission in the kingdom and agreed to provide training support in the use of weapons and other security-related services to the Saudi armed forces. The US Army Corps of Engineers assisted in the construction of military installations in the kingdom. This agreement formed the basis of what grew into a longstanding security relationship. Two years later, King Abdel died and was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Saud, who was known for his reputation as a spendthrift. Under King Saud, the kingdom's treasury diminished rapidly and he was forced to turn over direct control of government affairs to his half-brother Faisal from 1958 to 1961. In 1964, the royal family and religious leadership forced Saud to abdicate in favor of Faisal.

  In October 2001, The Wall Street Journal reported that Crown Prince Abdullah sent a critical letter to .S President George W. Bush on August 29. He warned that Saudi Arabia was being put in an untenable position and reportedly wrote: "A time comes when peoples and nations part. We are at a crossroads. It is time for the United States and Saudi Arabia to look at their separate interests. Those governments that don't feel the pulse of their people and respond to it will suffer the fate of the Shah of Iran."

  
  

  Post 9/11 relationship with the United States

  Main article: September 11 attacks

  Saudi Arabia issued a statement on the day of the terrorist attacks on America's World Trade Center and Pentagon, calling them "regrettable and inhuman." Saudi recognition to the Taliban stopped and as of November 2001, the Bush administration continued to publicly praise Saudi support for the war on terrorism. However, published media reports have indicated US frustration with Saudi inaction. Although 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, publicly the Saudis were not cooperating with Americans wanting to look at background files of the hijackers or interview the hijackers' families.

  Saudi Arabia engaged the prominent Washington, D.C. lobbying firm of Patton Boggs, headed by Thomas Boggs (brother of Cokie Roberts of ABC News and National Public Radio), as registered foreign agents in the wake of the public relations disaster when knowledge of the identities of suspected hijackers became known. They also hired the PR and lobbying firm Qorvis for $14 million dollars a year. Qorvis engaged in a PR frenzy that publicized the "9/11 Commission finding that there was 'no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded [Al Qaeda]'—while omitting the report's conclusion that 'Saudi Arabia has been a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism.'"^[2][3]

  Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas in 2004 although it has always issued visas for Hajj pilgrims.

  
  

  

  The founder of modern Saudi Arabia,King Abdul Aziz, converses with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board a ship returning from the Yalta Conference in 1945

  Principal U.S. and Saudi officials involved or had an impact on the bilateral relations

  
  

  • US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia—Ford Fraker
  • Deputy Chief of Mission—Michael Gfoeller
  • Counselor for Consular Affairs—Kathleen Riley
  • Counselor for Economic Affairs—Robert Murphy
  • Counselor for Political Affair—David Rundell
  • Counselor for Political-Military Affairs—Clarence Hudson
  • Counselor for Public Affairs—Susan Ziadeh
  • Consul General, Dhahran—John Kincannon
  • Consul General, Jeddah—Tatiana C. Gfoeller
  • US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
  • Former US Secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice
  • Saudi Ambassador to the US – Adel Al-Jubair
  • Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister, Prince Saud Al Faisal
  • Saudi Former Ambassador to the US, Prince Turki Al Faisal

  History

  From the early 1930s the US-Saudi relations began to form. At first, before the discovery of oil, the American policy toward Saudi Arabia was handled by few US individuals due to the Saudi’s small interest toward the US (Grayson, 1982). During the discovery of large capacities of oil in Saudi Arabia, America’s foreign interest was simultaneously drifting toward Saudi Arabia. America’s continuous demand on oil and the Saudis need of a balanced economy had greatly resulted in a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia, which could be the strongest they both encountered (Wafa, 2005). A major obstacle between the two ties was World War II with the US’s large involvement in the war, which resulted in great negative impact toward the establishment of a strong complete relationship with Saudi Arabia. Also, the US support to the establishment of an Israeli state in the Middle East resulted in an arguing conflict between the ties and it was the relations first conflict but it was later resolved.
  
  

  Early history (recognition)

  Although King Abdulaziz Al Saud, Bin Saud as an appellation, the founder of Saudi Arabia in 1901, had an excellent relationship with theBritish who defended Saudi Arabia from the Turks, he eventually developed even closer ties with the US. After unifying his country, on September 28, 1928, Bin Saud set about gaining international recognition for Saudi Arabia. Britain was the first country to recognize Saudi Arabia as independent state, as the British had provided protection of Saudi territories from the Turks for many years(Wafa, 2005). Saud also hoped to be recognized by the US, which at that time had no interest in Saudi Arabia. Initially, his efforts were rebuffed, but Washington eventually came around, promoted by the fact that Al Saud had obtained recognition from many nations. In May 1931 the US officially recognized Saudi Arabia by extending full diplomatic recognition (Grayson, 1982). In November 1931, a treaty was signed by both nations which included favored nation status. The relationship was still weak, however, as America did not have an interest in establishing missions in Saudi Arabia: at the time, Saudi affairs were handled by the US delegation in Egypt, Cairo (Grayson, 1982).

  Foundation of ARAMCO

  After the promises that had been made by American oil explorers that Saudi Arabia could have a very good chance of finding oil, Al Saudaccepted the American offer of exploration, because he was hoping that his land could have valuable materials that would support the country's economy. In May 1933 the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, later called the Arab American Company (ARAMCO), had started the exploration in the country with large area to explore (Alnabrab, 2008). Although the imported oil was not very important for the US at the time, Washington seemed hungry for the Saudi oil since their confidence in finding oil in Saudi Arabia had greatly grown, which resulted in stronger relations with Saudi Arabia. (Irvine, 1981)

  
  

First conflict

While the US-Saudi relationship was growing, their first conflict began when the disorder broke between the Jews and Arabs in April 1936 in the British-administrated Palestine mandate. The US favored the establishment of an independent Israeli state, but Saudi Arabia on the other hand, the leading nation in the Islamic and Arab world were supporting the Arab position which sparked up their first conflict. In other words the US oil interest in Saudi Arabia could be held hostage depending on the circumstances of the conflict (Grayson, 1982). US president Franklin D. Roosevelt sent the king a letter indicating that it is true that the US supports the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, but it is not in any way responsible for the establishment (Alnabrab, 2008). Bin Saud was convinced by the message that the US-Saudi relations had begun to run smooth again. Moreover, in March 1938, CASCO made a big oil discovery in Saudi Arabia booming the oil industry in the country and coincidentally the US became more interested in Saudi oil. As a result, on February 4, 1940, as theWorld War II was approaching, the US had established a diplomatic presence in Saudi Arabia to have closer relations with the Saudis and to protect it from enemy hand; Bert Fish, former ambassador in Egypt was elected as the US ambassador in Jeddah. (Metz 1993)

World War II

As the US-Saudi relationship was growing slowly, World War II was beginning its first phase. The US was deeply involved in World War II, and as a result US-Saudi relations were put on the 'back burner'. This negligence left Saudi Arabia vulnerable to attack. Italy, an Axispower, bombed a CASCO oil installation in Dhahran crippling Saudi Arabia's oil production (Grayson, 1982). This attack left Bin Saud scrambling for to find an external power that would protect the country, fearing further attacks that would most likely cease the country’s oil production and the flow of pilgrims coming into Mecca to perform Hajj, the base of the Saudi power and economy at that time (Wafa, 2005).

Bin Saud therefore approved the US’s request to allow the US air force to fly over and construct airfields in Saudi Arabia. The oil installations were rebuilt and protected by the US (Grayson, 1982), the pilgrims’ routes were protected (Wafa, 2005), and the US gained a much needed direct route for military aircraft heading to Iran and the Soviet Union (Grayson, 1982).

After World War II (1945)

In 1945, after World War II, Saudi citizens began to feel uncomfortable with US forces still operating in Dhahran. In contrast, Saudi government and officials saw the US forces as a major component of the Saudi military defense strategy (Pollack, 2002). As a result Bin Saud balanced the two conflicts by increasing the demands on US forces in Dhahran when the region was highly threatened and lowering it when the danger declined (Alnabrab, 1994). At this time, due to the start of the Cold War, the US was greatly concerned about Soviet communism and devised a strategy of 'containing' the spread of communism within Arabian Peninsula, putting Saudi security at the top of Washington’s list of priorities. (Metz, 1992) Harry S. Truman’s administration also promised Bin Saud that he would protect Saudi Arabia from Soviet influence. Therefore, the US increased its presence in the region to protect its interest and its allies (Pollack, 2002). The security relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US was therefore greatly strengthened at the start of the 'cold war' (Metz, 1993).

King Saud came to power (1957)

In the late 1950s, King Saud, the eldest son of King Abdulaziz, came to power after his father’s death. During Saud’s time the US-Saudi relations had faced many obstacles concerning the anti-communism strategy. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s new anti-Soviet alliance combined most of “the kingdom’s regional rivals and foes”, which rose the Saudi suspicions. (Grayson, 1982). For this reason, in October 1955, Saud had joined the pro-Soviet strategy with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (Pollack, 2002). Furthermore, Saud dismissed the US forces and replaced them by Egyptian forces. Thus, this act had sparked and innovated a new and a large conflict in the relationship. But in 1956, during the Suez crisis, Saud began to cooperate with the US again after Eisenhower’s opposition of the Israeli, British, and French plan to seize the canal. Eisenhower opposed the plan because of anti-Soviet purposes, but King Saud had admired the act and decided to start cooperating with the US (Pollack, 2002). As a result Egyptian power greatly declined while US-Saudi relations were simultaneously improving.

Cold War & Soviet Containment

In 1957, Saud decided to renew the US base in Dhahran. In less than a year, after the Egyptian-Syrian unification in 1958, Egypt’s pro-Soviet strategy had returned to power. Saud had once again joined their alliance, which declined the US-Saudi relationship to a fairly low point especially after he announced in 1961 that he changed his mind on renewing the US base (Hart 1998). In 1962, however, Egypt attacked Saudi Arabia from bases in Yemen during the Yemeni revolution because of Saudi Arabia’s Anti-revolution propaganda, which made Saud seek the US support. President John F. Kennedy immediately responded to Saud’s request by sending US war planes in July 1963 to the war zone to stop the attack which was putting US interests in risk. (Pollack, 2002). At the end of the war, shortly before Prince Faisal became king, the relationship rebuilt itself to become healthy again. (Hart 1998)

Oil embargo & the energy crises

In November 1964, Faisal became the new king after the conflicts he had with his brother Saud, the erstwhile king. The US, on the other hand was not sure about the outcome of such unplanned change in the Saudi monarchy. King Faisal was cooperating neatly with the US until October 20, 1973; it was the relationship’s largest obstacle before 9/11. King Faisal had decided to contribute in an oil embargo against the United States and Europe in favor of the Arab position in the Yom Kippur War causing an energy crisis in the US. “America’s complete Israel support against the Arabs makes it extremely difficult for us to continue to supply the United States with oil, or even remain friends with the United States” King Faisal in an interview with international media. By 1974, after a lot of changes that happened at that era, Saudi Arabia started pumping oil to the US again. Although the embargo was not running for a long time, it truly had a great impact on the world’s foreign policies and the US-Saudi relations (Kaiser & Ottaway 2002). Since the oil embargo, the US-Saudi relations had been in the process of rebuilding another healthy relationship. The Saudis increase of oil production to stabilize the oil price and the support of anti-communism have all contributed to closer relations with the US (Hart, 1998). In January 1979, the US sent F-15 fighters to Saudi Arabia for further protection from communism (Hart, 1998).Furthermore, the US and Saudi Arabia were both supporting the anti-communism groups in Afghanistan and struggling countries, the groups later became known as Al-Qaida terrorist organization (Steven Coll, 2004). As we see the US-Saudi relations during the Cold War had highs and lows with little time in between but it eventually enhanced again after the cooperation against communism.

Government Purchases

After the Cold War the US-Saudi relations were improving. The US and US companies were actively engaged and paid handsomely for preparing and administrating the rebuilding of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia transferred $100 billion (US) to the United States for administration, construction, weapons, and in the 1970s and 1980s higher education scholarships to the US (Kaiser & Ottaway 2002). During that era the US built and administrated numerous military academies, navy ports, and Air Force airfields. Many of these military facilities were influenced by the US, with the needs of cold war aircraft and deployment strategies in mind. Also the Saudis purchased a great deal of weapons that varied from F-16 war planes to main battle tanks that later proved useful during the Gulf War (Kaiser & Ottaway 2002). The US pursued a policy of building up and training the Saudi military as a counterweight to Shiite extremism and revolution following the revolution in Iran. The US provided top of the line equipment and training, and consulted the Saudi government frequently, acknowledging them as the most important Islamic leader in that part of the world, and key player in the US security strategy.

The Gulf War

Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 had sparked the beginning of another bloody war, the Gulf War. During the Gulf War, the security relationship had greatly increased and strengthened. After the invasion, Fahad, the king of Saudi Arabia at that time, had officially declared war against Iraq. Also, President George H. W. Bush had declared war against Saddam Hussein who invaded an ally nation and risked the oil interests in the nation. Also the US was concerned about the safety of Saudi Arabia against Saddam's intention to invade and control the oil reserves in the region. As a result, President Bush sent a great number of troops to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraqi invasion after Fahad’s approval; this operation was called Desert Shield. Furthermore, the US had sent additional troops in operation Desert Storm with nearly 100,000 Saudi troops sent by Fahad to form a US-Saudi army alliance and including other troops from allies’ countries to attack Iraqi troops in Kuwait to stop further invasion (Rashid, 1992). During the Operation Desert Storm, Iraqi troops were defeated easily within four days of the operation causing the Iraqis to flee back to Iraq.

Child abduction

Further information: International child abduction in the United States

The international abduction of American children to Saudi Arabia provoked sustained criticism and resulted in a Congressional hearing in 2002 where parents of children held in Saudi Arabia gave impassioned testimony related to the abduction of their children. Washington based Insight (magazine) ran a series of articles on international abduction during the same period highlighting Saudi Arabia a number of times^[

Operation Southern Watch

Main article: Operation Southern Watch

Since the Gulf war, the US had a continued presence of 5,000 troops stationed in Saudi Arabia – a figure that rose to 10,000 during the2003 conflict in Iraq.^[8] Operation Southern Watch enforced the no-fly zones over southern Iraq set up after 1991, and the country's oil exports through the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf are protected by the US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. The continued presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia was one of the stated motivations behind the September 11th terrorist attacks,^[8] as well as a the Khobar Towers bombing.^[9]

2010 U.S. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

On October 20, 2010, U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history - an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represents a considerable improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces.^[10]

The U.S. was keen to point out that the arms transfer would increase "interoperability" with U.S. forces. In the 1990-1991 Gulf War, having U.S.-trained Saudi forces, along with military installations built to U.S. specifications, allowed the American armed forces to deploy in a comfortable and familiar battle environment. This new deal would increase these capabilities, as an advanced American military infrastructure is about to be built.^[11]

9/11

Further information: September 11 attacks

September 11, 2001, was the worst day the relationship had ever faced. The US, governmentally and publicly, had accused Saudi Arabia of complicity in the attacks since more than a dozen of the hijackers were of Saudi nationality. However, the Saudi contribution in the War on Terror and the new anti-Al-Qaida policies have strongly rebuilt ties with the US. Also, Saudi Arabia has attempted to demonstrate a serious contribution in preventing terrorism and extremism domestically and internationally through new domestic anti-terrorism policies.

Although some analyses have said that Osama Bin Laden, who in 1994 had his Saudi nationality revoked and expelled from Saudi Arabia, had chosen 15 Saudi hijackers on purpose to break up the US-Saudi relations, the US was still suspicious of Saudi Arabia (PBS Frontline, 2005). Moreover, Saudi Arabia has denied the fact that it was involved in any way in such an attack that would harm the healthy beneficial relationship. Saudis were willing to do anything to prove its innocence and to bring back the relationship (McMillan, 2001). As a result, the Saudi’s decided to cooperate with the US on the war on terror in order to vindicate its willingness to help the US in the war on terrorism. “Terrorism does not belong to any culture, or religion, or political system”, said King Abdullah as the opening address of theCounter-terrorism International Conference (CTIC) held in Riyadh in 2005). The cooperation grew broader covering financial, educational, technological aspects both in Saudi Arabia and Muslim-like countries to prevent pro-Al-Qaida terrorists’ activities and ideologies. “It is a high time for the Ulma (Muslim Scholars), and all thinkers, intellectuals and academics, to shoulder their responsibilities towards the enlightenment of the people, especially the young people, and protect them from deviant ideas” said Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz Alsheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, in the CTIC.

Almost all members of the CTIC agreed that Al-Qaida target less educated Muslims by convincing them that they are warriors of god, but they really convince them to only accomplish their political goals. Three years after the Saudi Serious and active role on anti-terrorist, Al-Qaida began launching multiple attacks targeting Saudi government buildings and US compounds in Saudi grounds (Alshihry, 2003). Their attacks exhibits their revenge against Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with the US trying to stop further US –Saudi anti-terrorist movements and trying to corrode the US-Saudi relationship and to annihilate it; but they eventually found out that it is indestructible (Alshihry 2003).

In 2003, several attacks occurred inside Saudi Arabia. The attacks targeted US compounds, Saudis ministry of interior and many other places. Many people were killed in those attacks including mostly Saudis and Americans. Furthermore, the US decided to redevelop the Saudi law enforcement agencies by providing them with anti-terrorism education, latest technologies, and by giving them the chance to interact with US law enforcement agencies to gain efficient knowledge and power needed to handle terrorist cases and to enforce anti-terrorist laws (Pollack 2002). In an interview with lieutenant colonel Dr. Tariq Alsheddi, head adviser of the Saudi General Directorate of Investigation, he stated that the large US-Saudi law enforcement cooperation handled both the political and information-sharing aspects in the counter-terrorism issues. For instance, they created a mechanism of pressure on “the countries and organization that support terrorism”. Also, according to Dr. Alsheddi, a “communication channel” has been created after the 9/11 attacks, but it was not very open until the terrorist attacks on Saudi Arabia that made the flow of information between the US and Saudi law enforcements much stronger (email interview 12-4-2008).

After these changes, the Saudi government was obviously able to prevent terrorist activities. They had caught a large number of Saudi terrorist and terrorist from other countries (some of them are American) that had connections with Al-Qaida in one way or another (U.S Department of State 2007). Some of these criminals were leaders with a high rank in the terrorist society which helped to stop many terrorist cells (Alahmary, 2004). In matter of months Saudi law enforcement officials were successfully able to stop and prevent terrorist activities. Also they were successful of finding the source of terrorist financing.

Funding terrorism

Some of the public charities were found to be the main source of money for Al-Qaeda and their terrorist activities (Alsheddi, email interview 12-4-2008). At the same time, public charities were to be investigated by Saudi law enforcement to make sure that the money was not supporting terrorism (Dr. Alsheddi, personal interview 12-4-2008).

Money is the most important resources for terrorism, Saudi Arabia with the aid of America has establish money transfer control unit to assure the eligibility of any money transfer

said Dr. Alsheddi (email interview 12-4-2008). After these activities domestic and international terrorism clearly declined since they don’t have efficient money to finance their activities. Today, terrorist activities are well under control in Saudi Arabia by the strong anti-terrorismUS-Saudi cooperation (Alsheddi, email interview 12-4-2008).

The two nations still cooperate and share information about the latest Al-Qaeda movements to make sure that Al-Qaeda’s propaganda doesn’t spread and contaminate people and to prevent new terrorist movements and attacks. The US-Saudi anti-terrorist cooperation has obviously enhanced the relationship to be beyond oil, making Saudi Arabia America’s most important security-wise nation (Alsheikh 2006). Furthermore, leaders from both countries have met in many occasions discussing a broad vision of the relationship varying from oil to terrorism.

Diplomatic visits

After President George W. Bush's two visits to Saudi Arabia in 2008—which was the first time a US president visited a foreign country twice in less than four months—and King Abdullah’s three visits to the US—2002, 2005 and 2008—the relations have surely reached their peak.^{[citation needed]} The two nations have expanded their relationship beyond oil and terrorism. For example, King Abdullah has allocated funds for young Saudis to study in the United States.^{[citation needed]} One of the most important reasons that King Abdullah has given full scholarships to young Saudis is to give them western perspective and to impart a positive impression of Saudi Arabia to the American people (Alslemy, 2008). On the other hand, President Bush discussed the world economic crisis and what the US-Saudi relationship can do about it (Tabassum, 2008). Also, during the meetings with the Saudis, the Bush Administration took the Saudi policies very seriously because of its economic and defense powers in the region and its great media influence on the Islamic world (Al Obaid 2007). By and large, the two leaders have made many decisions that deal with security, economy, and business aspects of the relationship, making it in the top of its fame. (Gearan, 2008)

The Israel-Arab conflict is still and will probably stay as a major disagreement between the two sides, especially after Saudi King Abdullah's initiative aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Also, human rights in the kingdom including women’s rights, religious rights, and free speech rights are not in any way considered an obstacle in the relationship since the relationship focuses more on government-oriented issues rather than public-oriented issues.^{[citation needed]}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia%E2%80%93United_States_relations}

See also

• Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
• Foreign relations of the United States
• United States withdrawal from Saudi Arabia
• Visa Express

References

1. ^ "President's Radio Address". The White House. May 17, 2008. "We [in May 2008] celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia."
2. ^ Kurlantzick, Joshua (2007-05-07). "Putting Lipstick on a Dictator". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
3. ^ Lichtblau, Eric (March 1, 2011). "Arab Uprisings Put U.S. Lobbyists in Uneasy Spot". The New York Times.
4. ^ Timothy Maier (2002-06-24). "Kids Held Hostage in Saudi Arabia". Insight. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
5. ^ Timothy Maier (2001-11-27). "Stolen Kids become Pawns in Terror War". Insight. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
6. ^ Timothy Maier (2001-06-18). "All Talk, No Action on Stolen Children". Insight. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
7. ^ Timothy Maier (2000-10-07). "A Double Standard for Our Children". Insight. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
8. ^ ^a b "US pulls out of Saudi Arabia". BBC News. April 29, 2003. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
9. ^ Plotz, David (2001) What Does Osama Bin Laden Want?, Slate
10. ^ Arms for the King and His Family
11. ^ US-Saudi Security Cooperation

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).