In 1945 a few months before Roosevelt dies he meet with King Ibn Saud in Egypt. This early meeting was arranged by Col. William Eddy who later wrote a piece about the meeting, FDR Meets Ibn Saud. At the time of this meeting Saudi Arabia was in a unique position not having been fully controlled by a European power, for the most part they were independent. FDR's meeting was used to springboard full strategic cooperation between the Saudi dictatorship and the U.S., a relationship that continues today. Our effort to promote democracy casually overlooked this brutal dictatorship, then and now. The manner in which the Saudi dictatorship, now in its 5th generation, rules leaves little concern for a public uprising. However, the U.S. would have serious problems if the people of Saudi Arabia overthrew the government and decided they wanted to manage their own resources. Not to mention the problems the world would encounter with the religious fanaticism that has been breeding in that country for the past 50 years.
Another interesting anecdote mentioned by Khalidi is the manner in which Truman continued the relationship with the Saudi dictatorship. Their was tension in early Saudi-American relations regarding the establishment of an Israeli state. King Ibn Saud made comments to FDR and Truman, I am paraphrasing, "What Arab has ever harmed a Jew" and "What has a Palestinian ever done to the Jewish race that would require them to be displaced." Truman's response was his constituents have little regard for the Arab population but are very determined to support Zionism. Both sides overlook their differences and continue their strategic arrangements. Think about Truman's response though. How did this line of thought influence our position today?
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