Saudi Arabia cannot stay a family-owned business

[pistoff democrat]

Jim Oberwetter, the Texas oil executive nominated by President Bush to be the new U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, reportedly hopes to promote religious and political freedoms in that kingdom. Good luck.

Few countries are more tightly controlled than Saudi Arabia. The royal family chooses to run the place, which sits on approximately 25 percent of the world's available oil reserves, virtually as a family-owned business.

Relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated since the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, partly because of strong evidence that members of the royal family are covertly financing al-Qaida in its war against the West. The country is the birthplace of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 9/11 hijackers. In financing al-Qaida terrorist operations against the United States and other Western nations, the Saudis hoped to keep the terrorists from striking them.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/2247657

[maddezmom]

1. 1st response to this is~ what a joke

2nd thought is "just keeping it in the family"! An Oil Guy as ambassador to promote religious and political freedom....yeah okay.

[pistoff democrat]

2. You can't beat Bush

when it comes to imaginative appointments! :crazy:

[DulceDecorum]

3. Unless that's family's name is Bush

Bio:
http://www.huntventures.com/oberwetter.asp

Oberwetter, 59, was nominated to replace Robert Jordan, a Dallas lawyer who is leaving Saudi Arabia for personal reasons. The president has asked for fast consideration of the nomination, because the post would remain vacant until at least February if the Senate does not take action before the recess.

Oberwetter's nomination is all about improving the comfort level of the Saudis in a difficult time, said Kenneth Stein, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Emory University and foreign affairs adviser to former President Carter.

"I think when all is said and done, this is an appointment of reassurance," Stein said.
<snip>
Oberwetter's longtime friend, University of North Texas System Chancellor Lee Jackson, says Oberwetter's experience in city, county and state government and his personality make him qualified to take on this job as the Saudis go about the job of modernizing their government and society.

"There's a lot of advice being given to the Saudis and how they make the transition, how they incorporate a growing middle class, strike a balance between competing social institutions, how they introduce more elements of a democracy," Jackson said. "Jim Oberwetter has a tremendous base of practical experience in institution building and how all the smaller units of society work together on a practical level."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2241293

You vill do vat he tells you.