Losing Saudis
Their threat.

By NR Editors
From the February 11, 2002, issue of National Review

audi Arabia is reportedly considering asking America to quit its bases there. The strategic calculations that made the U.S.-Saudi alliance important to both sides — as a way to balance the Soviet Union globally, and Iraq and Iran regionally — are becoming obsolete. As those considerations have vanished or receded, the Saudis' broad sympathy with Islamic militancy has come to the fore. If we are chased from Saudi Arabia, it will be a stinging blow to American prestige and provide a vindication of the Sept. 11 attacks, which were intended primarily to remove the U.S. from the Arabian peninsula. The House of Saud will have sided with the militants, and America will therefore have to do all it can to overthrow it. For years, the U.S. has maintained a presence in Saudi Arabia to prevent the massive oil fields there from being taken over by a hostile power. Too late."