Saudi-U.S. Tension May Affect Iraq Action

R I Y A D H, Saudi Arabia, Nov.10 -- Since Sept. 11, 2001, perhaps no relationship has been more profoundly affected than the 60-year friendship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the new tension may complicate plans for a war against Iraq.

The Saudis supported the war in Afghanistan. They allowed the U.S. Air Force to use a high-tech command center to run the air campaign from their country. And American pilots fly out of Saudi air bases to patrol the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq.

Nevertheless, the U.S.-Saudi alliance — and possible future cooperation on Iraq — has been damaged because 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudis.

"This is a traumatic experience for Saudi Arabia as much as it is for the United States," said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. "Wouldn't you hate to wake up one day and see that your son is a serial killer?"

Worry Over U.S.-Iraq Tension

Prince Saud recently made comments that some interpreted as a refusal to let the United States use bases in Saudi Arabia for any attack on Iraq, even if it were sanctioned by the United Nations. Later, he told The New York Times there had been a misunderstanding and that the Saudis had not yet reached a decision on the matter.

The Saudis joined the fight against Saddam Hussein in 1990 and welcomed U.S. troops to the kingdom. This time, they say Saddam is not likely to lash out at his neighbors — unless the United States attacks.

"Saddam will use whatever is at his disposal to widen the effects of that war, whether it be sending missiles wherever he might choose, against oil installations in the [Persian] Gulf or other targets," said Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief.

Those potential targets could include Saudi oil fields. The police here are on alert.

Saudis say they are alarmed by American war talk.

"We hear about the news," said Abdul Aziz al-Dukheil, who runs a financial consulting business in Riyadh, the capital. "Ships are moving, airplanes are coming."

Linked by More Than Oil

Riyadh residents are fans of many American things — from the McDonald's to the Nike store in U.S.-style malls. Saudi Arabia is the biggest market for U.S. goods in the Arab world. Most of the ruling class, from the royal family to the business elite, studied at American universities. But it is a relationship mostly invisible to Americans.

"I think they don't understand how mutually supportive it really has been over time, number one, and number two, how strategically important it is," said Robert Jordan, U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "This is not simply about oil."

Saudi leader Crown Prince Abdullah is seen by many to be in a very difficult position, balancing the anger of his people against the friendship of his longtime American ally.

Saudis want Saddam to go. But the conflict that fuels their anger is the daily violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Saudis blame the Bush administration for not stopping the bloodshed.

"My hope and prayer is that we will see some progress on the Palestinian front," Jordan said. "I think that will go a tremendous way toward diminishing some of the sentiment that we're seeing now."

But if there's not progress, he said, "Then we have a continued serious problem, not just in the Palestinian territories, but throughout the Middle East and perhaps the rest of the world, as well."

‘Americans Are Jaded Against Islam’

Jihad Alammar, a student who follows news on the Palestinian situation "every day," is angry at the way Palestinians are treated and angry at the way he and other Saudi students have been treated, too.

He enrolled at a university in Riyadh this September, but it wasn't his first choice. Like many of his classmates, he was accepted at an American university but was denied a visa, due to the tough new restrictions imposed after the 9/11 attacks.

"I don't deserve this," he said. "I mean, you have the right to question me and know who I am, or what I might be doing, but not in this excessive way."

Nabil Kadassah, a Saudi resident who has been to the United States, said: "Americans are jaded against Islam and Arabs and especially Saudis. Once they know you're a Saudi, they think of terrorism. They think of you as a terrorist."

Kadassah says he has firsthand experience. He returned to Riyadh after being the victim of a violent attack in New York, where, he says, he was targeted because he is Arab. He needs months of surgery to fix a broken nose and jaw.

Such incidents contribute to widespread anger here, and fuel a perception that all Saudis are being blamed for what a few did on Sept. 11. The gulf of misunderstanding is only growing.

"Such statements that come out that Saudi Arabia is an enemy of the United States, not a friend of the United States, without asking any of the questions that need to be asked," said Prince Turki. "That is the threat, and the questioning of each other's motive."