In "The Scandal of U.S.-Saudi Relations," I wrote about a "culture of corruption in the Executive Branch renders it quite incapable of dealing with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the farsighted and disinterested manner that U.S. foreign policy requires."
This point comes to mind with the news that the 28-page chapter on the role of Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments in the Congressional report released yesterday criticizing the work of the FBI and CIA leading up to 9/11 was virtually edited out at the insistence of the Executive Branch. "I just don't understand the administration here," responded Senator Charles E. Schumer (Democrat of New York). "There seems to be a systematic strategy of coddling and cover-up when it comes to the Saudis. (July 25, 2003)
Nov. 7, 2019 update: In what could be the start of a new era, writes Ben Hubbard in the New York Times, a Saudi court granted an American wife, Bethany Vierra, shared custody of her 4-year-old daughter with the Saudi husband. If this is a turning point, it probably reflects another change brought under the regime of Mohammad bin Salman.
