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Personal Approach Marks Bush's First Saudi Visit
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The White House moved quickly to try to smooth things over, but then came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. U.S. officials say cooperation on counterterrorism has improved dramatically in the years since, although conflict persists over wealthy Saudis who help fund Sunni extremism beyond Saudi borders.
Under Abdullah, the Saudis have also pursued a foreign policy more independent of the United States than they had in the past, irking the White House by brokering an ultimately unsuccessful deal between the Fatah and Hamas factions in the Palestinian territories and testing to see whether some kind of accommodation could be reached with Iran. Abdullah shocked U.S. officials last year when he described the American military presence in Iraq as an "illegitimate foreign occupation."
One reason for the greater Saudi independence, according to former U.S. diplomats and other experts who deal closely with the kingdom, is that the Saudis have begun to doubt American competence and are looking to forge their own relations with rising powers such as China and regional rivals including Iran. "The Saudis have come to question our capabilities and doubt our intentions," said J. Robinson West, a Washington energy consultant who has traveled extensively in the Persian Gulf region.
While publicly polite, the Saudi king and other leading figures also see the incumbent U.S. president as a disappointment -- certainly compared with his father, George H.W. Bush, a close friend and former oilman who was lionized here for his handling of the Persian Gulf War. By contrast, former officials and others close to the royal family say, Saudi royals believe Bush has handled issues such as Iran, Iraq and Middle East peace ineptly.
Charles W. Freeman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, says he believes the warmth has gone out of the Saudis' relationship with the United States.
"I think Abdullah has tried very hard to build a personal bond with Bush, but I don't know how much that has survived," he said. "Bush is very unpopular everywhere in the region, certainly in Saudi Arabia." Freeman added that the king "will be extraordinarily polite and even generous to a guest, without that necessarily implying any affection whatsoever."
"I wouldn't read much political significance in the Arabs remaining true to their traditions" and acting courteously toward Bush, Freeman added.
Jamal Khashoggi, editor in chief of the Saudi daily al-Watan, said that Bush's visit to the kingdom is not being viewed as particularly important and that "people are not really expecting a lot" from it.
"The Saudi position is that we want to be friends with Iran and move away from the possible U.S-Iranian confrontation," Khashoggi said.
One issue that may or may not come up is the soaring price of oil. "We'll have to see," said national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, when asked whether Bush intends to raise the issue with the king. Gillespie said the president did discuss alternative energy and nuclear power in his meetings with other Gulf leaders earlier on the trip.
Correspondent Faiza Saleh Ambah contributed to this report from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
