ABDALLAH VISITS THE UNITED STATES

The strongest move in mending Saudi-American relations came in Abdallah's visit to Texas in late April, 2002. There, the Crown Prince re-awakened the American President to the dangers to American interests lurching in the military campaign launched by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon against the West Bank. It was time, anyway, for our President to re-balance his approach. His hitherto perspective--Let Arabs and Israelis kill each other-- who cares?-- was now threatening the stability of pro-American governments. The assault on the Palestinians, for as long as it lasted, was good news for those who wanted revenge for September 11. Never mind that the Palestinians had nothing to do with that horror; that they aimed for the Israelis to stop robbing them of their land and water. SPC suspects that, to many on the right of the President, some retaliation for September 11 was in order, and it was alright to leave it to Ariel Sharon to do the dirty work.