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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (5703)	8/22/2003 9:54:49 PM
From: NickSE	Respond to of 793623

It appears it's as good as his first which I have, so I'd say it's a worthwhile read. Reviews of the book seem pretty positive... 'Joined at the hip' Dissecting Washington's relationship with Saudi Arabia by LAWRENCE KAPLAN chron.com SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude. By Robert Baer. Crown, $24.95; 226 pp. PITY the assistant secretaries of labor, transportation and other domestic agencies. When they exit through the revolving door, the fortunate ones find a Midwestern bank, a law firm or maybe a corporate board or two at which to dispense their expert advice. Not so the architects of U.S. foreign policy. When they decamp from the State or Defense Department, they can expect firms with a global reach to shower them with dollars, francs, yen and, most of all, Saudi dinars. A fine illustration of this Washington tradition took place at the capital's Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Sept. 11, 2001. On that day, former Secretary of State James Baker, former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci and a parade of other former government officials convened at those swank quarters to attend the annual investor conference of the Carlyle Group, a private investment company known for putting lucrative business deals together for the Saudi royal family (and also known for its roster of all-star advisers, including Baker and the elder George Bush). Among those gathered to schmooze with Washington's power brokers was one Shafiq bin Laden, a Saudi captain of industry whose brother would slaughter thousands of Americans before the conferees broke for lunch. The meeting, notes Robert Baer, whose Sleeping With the Devil catalogs many others like it, "was the perfect metaphor for Washington's strange affair with Saudi Arabia." cont'd...