In This Issue

1. "Saudi Arabia:  Enemy or Friend?" Capitol Hill Conference Series on U.S. Middle East Policy -- David Long
2. "A Hajj Diary - The Pilgrimage to Mecca: One Woman's Journey," by Faiza Saleh Ambah [A Five Part Series]
3. SUSRIS Discussion Forum -- Look Who's Talking
4. In the News: Joint Statement Issued in Commitment to Fight Terrorism
5. From the History of Saudi-U.S. Relations
6. On the Web - GulfWire Perspective - "The Gulf Cooperation Council: Constraints," by John Duke Anthony
7. What is SUSRIS?

An Item of Interest from SUSRIS

Saudi Arabia:  Enemy or Friend?
Capitol Hill Conference Series on U.S. Middle East Policy
Conference Panel - David Long
[Fourth in a series]

"..This [charitable giving] is a tradition that has gone back to the 7th century. Now to all of a sudden change from that, to have to do all of the due diligence and all of the regulations and all of the oversight and all of everything else that we are now demanding them to do, is a pretty tough, tall order. I do not mean to say by that that we shouldn't do this. We should. I do suggest, though, that they're not doing it because we're patronizingly telling them how they ought to pull up their socks. I submit that their wake-up call was not 9/11; their wake-up call was last May and was increased by last November when it became forcibly forced on their psyche what needed to be done for their own problem and the world's problem.." - David Long         [more]   

More "Saudi Arabia: Enemy or Friend" conference presentations:

[The Saudi-US Relations Information Service wishes to thank the Middle East Policy Council for sharing these presentations with our readers.]

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An Item of Interest from SUSRIS

"The appearance of the hajj has changed dramatically, with jets flying people in, buses and cars replacing camels, and Internet access and surveillance cameras set up all over the four cities in which the hajj is performed. Yet the actual ritual has remained unchanged in more than 1,300 years. The past few nights, I've drifted to sleep with the tales of various accounts by converts, Arab Muslims, spies, and fake- Muslim adventurers in my head. I'm starting to realize that though hajj is a community ritual, it is also a very personal journey, and like almost everything else in life, you get out of it only as much as you put in.."           [more]    
"A Hajj Diary" by Faiza Saleh Ambah is a five-part series that first appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.  

More from the "Hajj Diary" series.

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From The History of the Saudi-US Relationship

Press Briefing at the Pentagon with Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 

February 26, 1997

Secretary Cohen: It's an honor for me to welcome Prince Sultan to the Pentagon, a building that he has visited on many occasions.

I'm the twelfth Secretary of Defense that he has dealt with during his 35 years that he has served as Defense Minister as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been strong allies for a much longer period of time than that. Our countries have been good friends since President Roosevelt first met King Abdul Aziz on the U.S.S. Quincy back in 1945. Since then our countries have worked together for peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East.

Prince Sultan and I today are going to continue that work. We will discuss threats to stability from both Iran and Iraq, and we will explore ways that we can work more closely together in the face of those threats. And to improve communication during times of crisis, we will discuss the establishment of direct telephone link between our offices.

Six years ago this week, our forces defeated Iraqi aggression in the Gulf. At the invitation of Saudi Arabia and other nations, we continue to maintain strong forces in the region to protect our friends from aggression. The United States will keep military forces in the region as long as they are needed to defend our national interests and as long they are wanted by our host countries.

I look forward to working Prince Sultan as productively as my 11 predecessors have done. Thank you.

Prince Sultan [through interpreter]: My friends, Mr. Secretary, I extend my best wishes to the great nation of the United States of America and to the leadership of President Clinton. I have extended on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd, his congratulations to the President for winning the trust of the American people by being re-elected, and I extended to him and to the Secretary our assurance that the relationship between our two countries is long and solid.

My friend, I am not a stranger to this building. I have been here a few times before. Every time I leave, I leave with more confidence and assurance of friendship between our two nations for one objective; which is stability and peace in our region and worldwide.

When justice was miscarried and aggression was taken, even though it was between an Arab country against an Arab country, the American people and the American leadership showed its caliber by standing with what was just and right against aggression only a few years ago. When we asked for assistance from our friends in the United States of America and from other allies and friends from the Arab and Muslim worlds, our intention was not to go to war. Our intention was to resist aggression, and to achieve justice that was violated by the Iraqi leadership.

We tried consistently, from August 1990 to February 1991, to avoid conflict and war and to get Saddam Hussein to retreat form Kuwait and withdraw and save blood. And superpowers and all countries -- allied countries both Arab and Muslims -- all failed to convince Saddam to preserve the blood of the Iraqi people and all the coalition partners. Events took place, as you all know, the way they did and we achieved the objective which was the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi aggression. Justice prevailed and aggression was defeated.

The United States and Saudi Arabia cooperation [between the] armed forces has always been for defensive purposes, not a coalition for aggression. We always cooperate to defend our rights and our countries. Thank you very much.

Click here to read the complete transcript.
Source:  U.S. Department of Defense

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On the Web

GulfWire Perspective - "The Gulf Cooperation Council: Constraints,"
By John Duke Anthony

"..When the Kingdom embarked upon its ambitious and at the time highly controversial course of industrialization in the late 1960s, its advisers were nearly unanimous in what they believed would be required for the experiment to succeed. 

"The advisers felt the chances of success would be determined in large measure by the extent to which, at least in the beginning years if not also for the first few decades, they would be able to levy and maintain a range of protective tariffs on the imports of competing goods that were lower-priced.  

"This policy was not novel.  It had long been popular and was reasonably effective in many other countries, developed and underdeveloped alike. In the case of Saudi Arabia, it worked more or less successfully not only until the establishment of the GCC but long afterwards.."

Click here for the complete article.

[Note: Links to "On the Web" items were active on the day this newsletter is distributed.  Host sites may remove the item at a later date or alter the link.]
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About the Saudi-US Relations Information Service

The Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS) provides you information resources and interactive features through a web site and weekly newsletter -- all designed to enhance your understanding of the historic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-US Relations Information Service is a public service of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as an element of its mission to educate Americans about Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world.

We invite you to explore the site: signup for the SUSRIS newsletter, join the discussion forum, browse the bookshelf and photo album, and more. Make the SUSRIS your home page or add it to your Favorites List. Check back from time to time to see what we've added -- what you see today is just the beginning.

For more information about the service please visit the website at: http://www.SaudiUSRelations.org 
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Saudi-US Relations Information Service

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Photo Credits
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