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Journalism of Courage
No foreign diplomat has been closer or had more access to US President George W. Bush, his family and his administration than the magnetic and fabulously wealthy Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia.
Prince Bandar has mentored Bush and his father through three wars and the broader campaign against terrorism, reliably delivering 8212; sometimes in the Oval Office 8212; his nation8217;s support for crucial Middle East initiatives dependent on the regional legitimacy the Saudis could bring, as well as timely warnings of Saudi regional priorities that might put it into apparent conflict with the US. Even after his 22-year term as Saudi ambassador ended in 2005, he still seemed the insider8217;s insider. But now, current and former Bush administration officials are wondering if the longtime reliance on him has begun to outlive its usefulness.
For instance, in February, King Abdullah effectively torpedoed plans by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a high-profile peace summit meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, by brokering a power-sharing agreement with Abbas8217;s Fatah and Hamas that did not require Hamas to recognise Israel or forswear violence. The Americans had believed, after discussions with Prince Bandar, that the Saudis were on board with the strategy of isolating Hamas.
American officials also believed, again after speaking with Prince Bandar, that the Saudis might agree to direct engagement with Israel as part of a broad American plan to jump-start Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. King Abdullah countermanded that plan.
Most bitingly, during a speech before Arab heads of state in Riyadh three weeks ago, the king condemned the American invasion of Iraq as 8220;an illegal foreign occupation8221;. The Bush administration, caught off guard, was infuriated, and administration officials have found Prince Bandar hard to reach since.
Since the Iraq war and the attendant plummeting of America8217;s image in the Muslim world, King Abdullah has been striving to set a more independent and less pro-American course, American and Arab officials said. And that has steered America8217;s relationship with its staunchest Arab ally into uncharted waters. Prince Bandar, they say, may no longer be able to serve as an unerring beacon of Saudi intent.
Of course it is ultimately the king 8212; and not the prince 8212; who makes the final call on policy. More than a dozen associates of Prince Bandar, including personal friends and Saudi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if his counsel has led to the recent misunderstandings, it is due to his longtime penchant for leaving room in his dispatches for friends to hear what they want to hear. That approach, they said, is catching up to the prince as new tensions emerge between the US and Saudi Arabia.
Bandar, son of one of the powerful seven sons born to the favorite wife of Saudi Arabia8217;s founding king, 8220;needs to personally regroup and figure out how to put Humpty Dumpty together again,8221; one associate said.
Robert Jordan, a former Bush administration ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said the Saudis8217; mixed signals have come at a time when King Abdullah 8212; who has ruled the country since 1995 but became king only in 2005 after the death of his brother, Fahd 8212; has said he does not want to go down in history as Bush8217;s Arab Tony Blair. 8220;I think he feels the need as a kind of emerging leader of the Arab world right now to maintain a distance,8221; he said.
Jordan said that although the US and Saudi Arabia 8220;have different views on how to get there,8221; the countries still share the same long-term goals for the region and remain at heart strong allies.
An administration spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said none of the current issues threatened the relationship. 8220;We may have differences on issues now and then,8221; he said, 8220;but we remain close allies.8221; Or, as Saleh al-Kallab, a former minister of information in Jordan, put it, 8220;The relationship between the US and the Arab regimes is like a Catholic marriage where you can have no divorce.8221;
But there can be separation. And several associates of Bandar acknowledge that he feels caught between the opposing pressure of the king and that of his close friends in the Bush administration. It is a relationship that Bandar has fostered with great care and attention to detail over the years, making himself practically indispensable to Bush, his family and his aides.
A few nights after he resigned his post as secretary of state two years ago, Colin L. Powell answered a ring at his front door. Standing outside was Prince Bandar, then Saudi Arabia8217;s ambassador to the US, with a 1995 Jaguar. Powell8217;s wife, Alma, had once mentioned that she missed their 1995 Jaguar, which she and her husband had traded in. Bandar presented the Powells that night with an identical, 10-year-old model.
The move was classic Bandar. He is said to feel a strong sense of loyalty toward Bush8217;s father dating to the Persian Gulf war, which transferred to the son, whom he counseled about international diplomacy during Bush8217;s first campaign for president.
After the September 11 attacks, as the US learned that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi and focused on the strict Wahhabi school of Islam that informed them and their leader and fellow Saudi, Osama bin Laden, Prince Bandar took a public role in assuring the Americans that his nation would cooperate in investigating and combating anti-American terrorism. He also helped arrange for more than a hundred members of the bin Laden family to be flown out of the US.
Even since he left the Saudi ambassador8217;s post in Washington and returned to Saudi Arabia two years ago, Prince Bandar has continued his long courtship, over decades, of the Bush family and Vice President Dick Cheney, flying into Washington for unofficial meetings at the White House. He cruises in without consulting the Saudi Embassy in Washington, where miffed officials have sometimes said they had no idea that he was in town.
Prince Bandar played a crucial role in securing the use of the Prince Sultan Air Base at Al Kharj, outside Riyadh, in the attacks led by the US against Afghanistan and Iraq, despite chafing within his government. He helped in the negotiations that led to Libya giving up its weapons programmes, a victory for Bush. He pledged to protect the world economy from oil shocks after the invasion, the White House said in 2004, but he denied a report, by Bob Woodward, that he had promised to stabilise oil prices in time for Bush8217;s re-election campaign.
The cause of the latest friction in the American-Saudi relationship began in 2003, before the invasion of Iraq. The Saudis agreed with the Bush view of Saddam as a threat, but voiced concern about post-invasion contingencies and the fate of the Sunni minority. When it became clear that the administration was committed to invad-ing Iraq, Prince Bandar took a lead role in negotiations between the Bush administration and Saudi officials over securing bases and staging grounds.
But Saudi frustration has mounted over the past four years, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated. Abdullah was angry that the Bush administration ignored his advice against de-Baathification and the disbanding of the Iraqi military. He became more frustrated as America8217;s image in the Muslim world deteriorated, because Saudi Arabia is viewed as a close US ally.
Tensions between Abdullah and top Bush officials escalated further when Bush announced a new energy initiative to reduce the nation8217;s dependence on foreign oil during his 2006 State of the Union address.
Both US and Saudi officials say that Abdullah clearly values 8212; and uses 8212; Bandar8217;s close relationship with the White House. And that, associates said, will dictate what Bandar can do.
8211;HELENE COOPER and JIM RUTENBERG
