Eugene Bird, currenty heads the self-described "Council for the National Interest," a group which is supported by Arab Muslim money intent on promoting the Jihad against Israel by undermining its support here, is just one of those former diplomats who is on the Arab dole. (In his case, it is a double-income bonanza -- his wife runs some "Jerusalem Holy to Three Faiths" business that "helps to bring" two "Palestinian" Arabs -- one Muslim, one Islamochristian in the Naim Ateek-Hanan Ashrawi-Hilarion Cappucci vein, and one far left Israeli who hates Israel, representing the "Jewish" persepctive -- all very predictable, all very transparent).

Those wishing to expand upon the 9/11 commission should look into all those ex-diplomats, whether minor officials like Bird, or ambassadors like Andrew Kilgore (now editor of The Washington Report, which is not to be believed), James Akins, the late John C. West (he who, even while serving as ambassador in Riyadh, managed to wangle a job for his friend Crawford Cook doing P.R. the Saudis -- do you thing they might have expected anyting in return? Or gotten it?), and of course Raymond Close, the ex-C.I.A. station chief in Saudi Arabia who "retired early" to go into business with two highly-placed Saudis, including Kamal Adham. Close, whose name comes up frequently in the B.C.C.I. scandal -- remember that? -- that's the bank described by former C.I.A. chief William Gates as "the Bank for Crooks and Criminals." Close was involved with that, and with the illegal transfer of American-supplied arms from Saudi Arabia to another stout supporter of the Taliban and the Jihad, Pakistan.

Naivete about Saudi Arabia, and about Islam, was not something that came naturally. It was achieved, through the expenditures that bought hirelings in every capital of the West. And for a few tens of millions of dollars, it not only bought a permanent class of "lecturers" and "experts" who would push the Saudi or general Arab line vis-a-vis Israel (just look at how busy Eugene Bird has been, or Raymond Close). No, they had bigger fish to fry: to keep the truth about Saudi Arabia's malevolence, a malevolence toward Infidels, and thus toward Americans, inculcated virtually in every khutba or sermon, in every school textbook, in every newspaper article, radio program, television show in Saudi Arabia.

And by keeping this truth away, they allowed indecision and naive drift: for the past 30 years, there has been no serious program to attempt, through taxes and tariffs, and a government assurance that energy prices would not be allowed to go down, so that individuals and companies could make investments with the assurance that Saudi Arabia would not suddenly be able to lower the price of energy (this was a particular concern in alternative energy investments).

These people, these ex-diplomats and ex-C.I.A. agents and P.R. men like Fred Dutton, made their killing. And they are still on the take, directly or indirectly (through businesses active in Saudi Arabia). Meanwhile, we -- and the rest of the oil-consuming world -- could have saved, over the past 30 years, had we understood Saudi Arabia the way, for example, the unbought experts such as J. B. Kelly understood it, have saved between 1 and 2 trillion of the 5-6 trillion that has gone to OPEC. If that does not constitute a kind of treason, then I don't know what to call it.

Posted by: Hugh at August 5, 2004 9:47 PM

according to yohanan ramati(westerndefense.org) the price of oil should be at about $10 a barrel, but is kept artificially high.

thank you hugh for the informative article.

it looks like in the future every westerner (including americans) will have to make their decision: either pro or against islam.

the moslems have weasled their way into almost every
aspect of western life.

but the TRUTH will eventually win out!

daniel 2.44

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Posted by: forrestshalom at August 7, 2004 2:46 PM

Yes, but the TRUTH will not come as an enlightenment to the people of the United States. It is beaten down every time it threatens to rip away the veil thrown over Saudi-US relations.

Most people in this country know vaguely that Saudi Arabia is "a trusted ally and friend of the United States" or some such pap that has been fed to the public since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Hugh exposes the truth, but what percentage of the population reads the articles and comments on this site?

Saudi money has squelched any criticism of its regime that was stupidly handed the oil discovered not by Arabs but by Western oil companies.

Saudi money keeps the truth off Yahoo and MSN. For example a group at MSN named "The Truth About Saudi Arabia" placed under "Politics" was mysteriously moved to the "Travel" section and anchored there.

If someone, perhaps Hugh, were to write a book exposing the people in power in the US on the Saudi payroll--and this book were not kept from receiving the publicity it deserves, it would be a start.

Now, most people see berobed Saudi princes cavorting at the Crawford ranch with our President and believe that the Saudis are our staunch friends and allies.

The US props up the Saudi "royals" because its functionaries are on the Saudi payroll and there is the fear that when the royals fall, the Arab street will take over the oil fields.

One solution is to strip Saudi Arabia of the oil fields--to protect our national interest--and to let the Arab Moslem world writhe in anger and shriek in hate. What else are they going to do?

This is impossible, however, because the creepers of the poisonous Saudi weed have invaded every department of the US government. As we all know, the Arabs are wily and make friends in all the right places. Their charm, hospitality, and gold are difficult to resist. Even one of our recently victorious generals speaks highly of his "Arab friends." Americans are gullible, much more gullible than the Europeans, and no match for the cunning of the Arabs.

Posted by: unicorns62000 at August 8, 2004 2:57 AM