Inside the Kingdom (68 page)

105
Saudi Air Force:
Ottaway, p. 55.

105
shot the intruder down:
Sultan and Seale, p. 144.

106
Palestinian friends:
Bronson, p. 165.

106
“hell of a man”:
Author interview with an associate of Prince Bandar’s, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.

106
tens of billions:
On August 22, 2006, the London
Sunday Times
quoted Mike Turner, CEO of BAe Systems, as saying that BAe and its predecessor had earned £43 billion in twenty years from the contracts and that it could earn £40 billion more.

106
in its history:
Ottaway, p. 67.

107
U.S. defense industry:
Simpson, p. 133.

107
£170,000 Rolls-Royce:
“BAe Probed on £60m Saudi Slush Fund,” by David Leppard and Robert Winnett,
Sunday Times
, July 25, 2004.

107
Lee Strasberg Institute:
“Prince Turki, the RAF Wing Commander, a Secret £60m BAe slush fund . . . and Me,” by Ian Gallagher,
Mail on Sunday
, April 7, 2007.

107
registered to the Saudi Air Force:
Information from a Saudi government official, November 26, 2008.

107
price tag:
“BAe bought £75m Airbus for Saudi Prince,” by David Leigh and Rob Evans,
The Guardian
, June 15, 2007.

108
Bandar’s unapologetic reply:
Video interview, June 7, 2007,
Guardian
website, “The BAe Files.”

108
total £1 billion:
“MoD accused over role in Bandar’s £1bn,” by David Leigh and Rob Evans,
The Guardian
, June 12, 2007.

108
“a utopian arrangement”:
Simpson, pp. 148-149.

108
untraceable cash:
Ibid., p. 150.

108
Saudi $10 million:
Ibid., pp. 100-101.

109
“audited . . . every penny”:
Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.

109
attack capacity:
Simpson, p. 143.

110
War of the Cities:
Bronson, p. 164.

110
“the Lance”:
Bandar bin Sultan, interview with CBS
Nightwatch,
cited in Simpson, p. 152.

110
no recollection:
E-mail of May 31, 2008, from Susan Schendel in the office of Secretary Shultz.

111
“give them to Iraq”:
Simpson, p. 152.

111
launchers and trainers:
Ibid., p. 165.

111
negotiate in whispers:
Sultan and Seale, p. 140.

111
“timings of the satellite”:
Khaled bin Sultan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 6, 2007.

111
“they are alive”:
Ibid.

112
middle of 1989:
Sultan and Seale, p. 150.

112
men in beards:
Ibid.

112
camping in the desert:
Off-the-record interview, Riyadh, November 2008.

112
“Nuclear weapons”:
Simpson, p. 159. Richard Murphy has given no response to an e-mailed request, received and acknowledged by his office, to confirm, deny, or correct this quotation and version of events.

112
cut off all links:
E-mail of May 31, 2008, from Susan Schendel in the office of Secretary Shultz.

112
Israelis’ targeting package:
Simpson, p. 162; see also Bronson. Richard Armitage has given no response to an e-mailed request, received and acknowledged by his office, to confirm, deny, or correct this quotation and version of events.

112
“Israelis don’t bomb”:
Ibid. According to Simpson, Bandar’s approved biographer, Powell described this encounter in a personal interview with Simpson. However, Secretary Powell has given no response to an e-mailed request received and acknowledged by Powell’s office, to confirm, deny, or correct Simpson’s version of events.

113
back in Washington:
Saudi sources claim that Horan was put on a plane to the Sudan that very night. But this is denied by at least one U.S. diplomat who has recalled attending the ambassador’s rapidly summoned farewell party a few days later.

114
“discounts on air tickets”:
Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, January 9, 2006.

114
actually come to fight:
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, whose Istikhbarat had orders to stay aloof from the volunteers, reckons that, starting in 1981-82, there were at the most “a couple of thousand” Arab-Afghans fighting in Afghanistan. He recalls the local mujahideen telling him that they did not want men from Saudi Arabia—they were more in need of medicine, weapons, and supplies. Conversation with the author, Paris, December 15, 2008.

115
“ ‘This has got preservative’ ”:
Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, January 9, 2006.

115
“helping jihad”:
Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, December 9, 2006.

116
“taking a grenade”:
Ibid.

117
“I had sinned”:
Azzam,
The Lofty Mountain,
p. 113.

117
a military base:
Bergen,
The Osama Bin Laden I Know
, p. 49.

118
“think tactically”:
Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.

118
“Reliance upon God”:
Arab News
, May 4, 1988.

118
“God’s will”:
The Lofty Mountain,
p. 113.

118
“you love death”:
“Robert Fisk on Osama Bin Laden at 50,” interview with Amy Goodman, March 5, 2007,
www.democracynow.org
.

118
survey of exit stamps:
Author interview with Saudi government adviser, December 8, 2008. This is significantly greater than the estimate of only a few hundred Arab-Afghans by Peter L. Bergen in
The Osama Bin Laden I Know,
p. 49.

118
175,000 to 250,000 native Afghans:
Urban, p. 244.

119
died martyrs:
Ali Al-Johani, interview with author, Riyadh, November 24, 2006.

119
an oversize beehive:
The author visited this mosque in January 2007.

120
bunking off school:
Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.

120
“The beheading platform”:
Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.

120
“tales of hellfire”:
Abdullah Thabit, interview with author, Jeddah, July 2006.

122
arrested by the Mabahith:
Mansour Al-Nogaidan, e-mail to author, September 22, 2008.

123
another target:
Khaled Batarfi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 23, 2006.

127
“armored cars and tanks”:
Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.

127
landing special troops:
Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., U.S. Diplomatic Oral Histories, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

127
“Escape at once!”:
Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.

128
the BBC’s monitors:
BBC, Summary of World Broadcasts, August 2, 1990.

128
“leave the border”:
Mohammed bin Fahd, interview with author, Damman, January 30 2007.

128
to Dammam:
E-mail from Hassan Al-Jasser, Governor’s Office, Damman, December 1, 2008.

128
Palestine Liberation Organization:
Bowen, p. 124. This figure has been confirmed by a Saudi familiar with the figures.

128
largest financial supporter:
Saudi government analyst, Geneva, December 11, 2008.

129
“Helping the Palestinians”:
Princess Latifa bint Musaed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 17, 2006.

129
“a British colonial fiction”:
Ottaway, p. 91.

129
“call me
shareef
”:
Sultan and Seale, p. 210.

129
weather map:
Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.

129
“We’ll be back”:
Interview with Dr. Ali Saad Al-Mosa, Abha, June 5, 2006.

129
distanced themselves:
Sultan and Seale, pp. 183-184.

129
leaked recording:
Rime Allaf, “Success Measured by Attendance,”
Bitterlemons
6 edition 12, (March 20, 2008).

130
“the consensus”:
Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, June 1, 2006.

130
unanimous No:
Nawaf Obaid, “The Power of Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Leaders,”
Middle East Quarterly
(September 1999),
http://www.meforum.org/article/482
.

131
wisdom that he delivered:
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz Religious Teaching Center, Al-Shumaysi, Riyadh, visit of March 12, 2008.

131
“supports all measures”:
Saudi Press Agency, pp. 40-42.

132
“his permission”:
Norman Schwarzkopf interview, Tampa, FL, May 11, 2006.

132
“listen to my briefing”:
Ibid.

132
U.S. photographs:
Ibid.

133
“trespassed on Saudi”:
Ibid.

133
“tanks were facing south”:
Ibid.

133
“no permanent bases”:
Ibid.

133
“hotel rooms in London”:
Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., Diplomatic Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

134
driving their cars:
ABC News, London, February 19, 2007.

134
she recalls:
Dr. Aisha Al-Mana, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.

134
Arabia Unified:
See Suggested Reading.

135
“piece of the cake”:
Dr. Aisha Al-Mana, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.

135
“ban just melts away”:
Ibid.

137
woken from his afternoon nap:
Family information.

138
“angry lump of indignation”:
Interview with Reem Jarbou, Jeddah, July 12, 2006.

138
without his consent:
Dr. Fawzia Bakr, interview with author, Riyadh, February 27, 2006.

139
“control your women”:
Dr. Fawzia Bakr and Dr. Fahd Al-Yehya, interview with author, Riyadh, February 27, 2006.

140
“un-Saudi to demonstrate”:
Interview with Bassim Alim, Jeddah, July 11, 2006.

140
“falling on the nation”:
Raja and Shadia Aalim, interview with author, Jeddah, June 8, 2006.

140
“Communist whores”:
Fandy, p. 49.

140
spat on their teachers:
Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., U.S. Diplomatic Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washingont, D.C.

140
“ ‘You are our daughters’ ”:
Princess Latifa bint Musaed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 17, 2006.

141
Al-Khafji stood deserted:
These paragraphs on the battle of Al-Khafji are based on a three-day visit to the town in June 2007 and with interviews with soldiers who took part in the battle, including Major General Suleiman Al-Khalifa. I am grateful to Douglas Baldwin for coordinating the trip and to Jan Baldwin for her photographs documenting the town and landscape of the battle. I am also grateful to Prince Khaled bin Sultan for an interview on March 6, 2007, in which he discussed Al-Khafji and the Gulf War.

141
town was undefendable:
Sultan and Seale, p. 362.

141
thirty-eight days and nights:
Ibid., p. 344.

142
eighteen thousand hospital beds:
Ibid., p. 362.

142
Saddam’s crack units:
Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 495.

142
“I am lucky”:
Sultan and Seale, p. 377.

142
an Iraqi attack:
Morris, p. 10.

142
“I need the Tornados”:
Sultan and Seale, p. 374.

143
surrounded by Iraqi troops:
Storm on the Horizon
, by David J. Morris, recounts the story of Al-Khafji from the point of view of the deep-reconnaissance Marines who were trapped in the town.

143
“get the Marines out”:
Sultan and Seale, p. 374.

143
“difficult to bear”:
Ibid.

143
“a real war”:
Suleiman Al-Khalifa, interview with author, Al-Khafji, June 6, 2007.

144
“keen on looting”:
Ibid.

144
more than four hundred prisoners:
Sultan and Seale, p. 387.

144
the prince’s jeep:
Ibid., p. 388.

145
military refugees:
Ibid., p. 389.

145
finest armored units:
Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 496.

145
martyrs:
Morris, caption facing p. 153.

145
the only pitched battle:
Khaled bin Sultan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 6, 2007.

145
“war aims”:
Chas Freeman, interview with author, Washington, DC, May 7, 2007.

145
the question “shocking”:
Ibid.

146
“restraining a smile”:
Ibid.

146
remained in his palace:
Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., p. 293.

146
“get out fast”:
Sultan and Seale, pp. 421 and 426.

146
“dinosaur in the tarpit”:
Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 579.

146
“bitterly hostile land”:
Middle East Report
, May-June 1992. Cited August 18, 2007, on the Gulf 2000 Project website: Marsha B. Cohen, Florida International University.

147
replied without hesitation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY&NR=1
.

147
“additional dead Americans”:
Ibid.