While written in 2003, I expect the fundamentals remain. Baer, desperately dependent on the flow of gasoline, still bows and scrapes. For instance, Baer tells a long and interesting story about Al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Muhammad's relationship with the Qatari government. He's not the worst in this regard though I think takes the cake. Look inside a Saudi passport.
I had trouble in 2000 reconciling my false impression of endless oil dollars flowing in the streets with the obvious poverty including numerous street beggars and general undercurrent of discontent among the citizenry. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U. This book is another key to unlocking the mysteries of the War on Terror. Still, there is enough hard fact here to make you want to rip your hair out. Bush look like a saint compared to what this author would like to happen. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on? Unfortunately, America may have been involved in the secretive activities that Washington does not want the rest of the country to know. In Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa'ud's culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States.
But, it was anything but a charitable organization because it had a direct link between the Saudi government and militant Islam. With plenty of crass language and very much left of the main stream political sphere, it was full of examples of how Washington operates for Riyadh oil and how it responds to their wishes. The experience of reading this book is a lot like the experience of living in Saudi Arabia as a foreigner—When you first arrive and talk to other ex-pats, the stories seem so sensational and the rhetoric is so clearly biased, you assume it can't possibly be true. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Dana was originally tasked for Agency background checks, but always wanted more.
Baer explores the consequences of a half-century's stream of money and oil between the two nations and the subsequent product of it- terrorism Robert Baer's second non-fiction book is another sobering call to the American consumer for rationality. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on? We use this information to create a better experience for all users. When I was younger, I read non-fiction because it was part of an assignment for school. Initially, in religious settings, he was… 1546 Words 7 Pages In the movie Sleeping With the Enemy, Laura Burns, is living a life that many would describe as perfect. Such a revolution has plenty of fuel. On the other hand, it reads like an extended op-ed and Baer's occasionally sneering tone annoyed me.
By its own reckoning, this country is just entering the 15th century. In hopes of saving its own neck, the royal family has been shoveling money as fast as it can to mosque schools that preach hatred of America and to militant fundamentalist groups—an end game just waiting to play out. It describes the relationship that the Americans had with Saudia Arabia. Then it diverges into details of how Baer preempted this threat, tried to do something about it but could not. Things are even worse than they seem.
Perhaps less well documented is the role of the Devil as inspiration for literature. Baer maintains that the Saudis are much more involved in terrorism then they have been letting on and no one in Washington will call them on it because no one wants to upset the flow of cheap oil the book was written in 2003 when there was cheap oil or the chance of a Saudi funded job when they leave office. Trouble is, this same prediction has regularly been made for decades. As Baer makes clear, the U. At times it is hard to follow, but it tries to expose the inner workings of the Saudi royal family, and its relationships with fundamentalist Islam groups.
White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America. Browser Compatibility Our audio books and Chrome aren't playing nicely right now, but we're on it. I can say with a great deal of certainty - having lived in the Middle East for 20 years - the balance 25% of comments and observations were quite superficial and lacked an in-depth analysis or investigation. Author Jamie Smith has planned and executed hundreds of missions on behalf of government agencies and private industry in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots - and lived to tell the tale. It was by a Syrian cleric by the name of Ibn Taymiyah. There are the names of many famous politicians rumored to have been connected with some of these princes. Sed aliquam, urna ut sollicitudin molestie, lacus justo aliquam mauris, interdum aliquam sapien nisi cursus mauris.
Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U. Since the book was written in early 2000s therefore Baer is going with a lot of data which is unsubstantiated. This is a very interesting book given these times in which we find ourselves. And there is my 'aaah' moment, the root of American arrogance which is to invade anything or everything if the natives do not want to share or give access to. But it's still an interesting and worthwhile read about how the Saudi kleptocracy is our own damn fault, and how they are so not our friends, duh. There is infighting among the princes. When I was younger, I read non-fiction because it was part of an assignment for school.
This book is actually just a rant. To learn more about how we use and protect your data, please see our. It has changed in order to fit social norms for the time and context has been altered to appeal to the current audiences. However, there was an aspect of it that felt gimmicky to me. Fluent in Arabic, Farsi, French, and German, he divides his time between Washington, D.