Excerpted from EmergencyNet NEWS Service Daily Report
Monday, July 8, 1996
Vol. 2 - 190
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**LEAD STORY**
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ENN 7/7/96 20:20
REPORTS CITE U.S. SHORTCOMINGS IN
SAUDI ARABIA
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
CHICAGO (ENN) - Phones at the offices of congressmen and senators in Washington were probably ringing
off the hook on Monday morning after three critical media reports were published and broadcast on Sunday
about serious shortcomings regarding the U.S. military mission in Saudi Arabia.
The White House, the State Department and the Pentagon were surely attempting to spin damage control on
some of the outrage that may be expressed by American citizens about how U.S. servicemen were protected
and are being treated in the Saudi Kingdom.
First, the New York Times in its Sunday editions had a special report on apparent shortcomings in the planning,
in the gathering of intelligence and in security that left U.S. military personnel vulnerable to the terrorist bombing
attack on 25 June 1996. The Times said that an examination of the attack showed that U.S. officials repeatedly
failed to understand the magnitude of the threat that they faced.
The report cited interviews with U.S. and Saudi Arabian officials, reviewed past bombing attacks and obtained
expert analysis from leading private security experts.
The report listed these mistakes that lead to the bombing that killed 19 military personnel:
-- The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other U.S. government experts, that the Air Force
consulted, misjudged the bomb-making capabilities of the Saudi terrorists. It was the belief of government
officials that the terrorists could not build a bomb larger than the 200-pound device that was used in the
November 1995 bombing in Riyadh. The bomb that was used on 25 June was said to be about 5000 pounds.
The inaccurate estimate was said to be hampered by a lack of information about militant groups operating in
Saudi Arabia. An unidentified U.S. intelligence official told the New York Times, "We are running with a base
of knowledge that's virtually zero. We didn't know anything about these people."
-- U.S. military commanders in Dhahran deferred action until at least October to coat the windows in the
compound with a plastic protective film that prevents the effects of a blast from turning the windows of a
building into lethal shards of glass. The project, said to cost about $4 million, was considered to be too costly
by the commanders.
-- The U.S. military commanders in Dhahran did not wish to offend their Saudi hosts when they rejected the
need for a larger buffer zone around the military compound.
U.S. Air Force Major-General Kurt Anderson, who commands the joint task force at Dhahran said, "The
barrier, if it had been further out, would have helped us. There is no doubt in my mind that it would have helped
us."
Appearing on ABC's "This Week With David Brinkley," a popular American Sunday morning news show, the
Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar, when asked why the FBI was not allowed to
interrogate four Saudi militants who were arrested and executed for the November 1995 terrorist bombing in
Riyadh, replied: "We do things differently than Americans. We do not think that it is a good idea to tell the
terrorists what we know and what we intend to do about them."
Also appearing on that television show was former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. Baker said that, in his
opinion, it was inexcusable for Saudi authorities not to allow U.S. officials to increase security at the compound.
The former secretary said, "Frankly, I see no excuse for a failure to permit Americans to upgrade our security
there if the Saudis are going to count on us for their security."
But, Baker added, that if high-level officials in Washington had been made aware of the U.S. requests, they
most likely would have gotten full cooperation from their counterparts in Saudi Arabia. Baker said that when the
Saudis are approached at the highest level, "You get the kind of cooperation that is needed." He cited his
experiences with the Saudis during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq.
Later in the evening on another popular American televison news show, CBS's "60 Minutes," there was a very
disturbing report by reporter Bob Simon about how American military personnel are treated in Saudi Arabia. In
an interview with eight U.S. Air Force fighter pilots, the pilots expressed their displeasure about being assigned
to duty in the country. One pilot said that the Saudis treat Americans as "Their dirty little secret."
The most disturbing thing that Americans probably heard in the report is that the American flag is not allowed to
be flown in Saudi Arabia. An issue that is important and close to the heart of most Americans.
Simon's report may have shown that even before the terrorist bombing, there may have been a morale problem
for the personnel who are serving in the Saudi Kingdom. The American personnel who were interviewed were
not very happy about the treatment that they have received.
There is supposed to be at least three congressional hearings this week looking into the bombing that occurred
almost two weeks ago. Sunday's news reports are sure to throw gasoline on what was already going to be a
seemingly fiery examination between Republican Congressmen and Senators and U.S. Secretary of Defense
William Perry.
There does seem to be a number of issues that must be examined and addressed between the U.S. and Saudi
Arabia. However, the rhetoric that is now coming forward and the pointing of fingers of blame at each other is
only giving the terrorists what they wanted all along and that is to drive a wedge between the U.S and Saudi
relationship.
Should the terrorists accomplish their goal and the Americans decide to pull out of Saudi Arabia -- there would
be considerable repurcussions to security and political considerations throughout the Middle East.
Everyone should realize that there is a very distinct cultural difference between an "open" American society and
a "closed" Saudi society that very few Americans understand. But the Saudis have generally always been friends
with the U.S. in a region where, at times, the U.S. had few friends. There are issues that must be addressed. But
analysts should keep in mind how an American pull out of Saudi Arabia will be perceived in the minds of the
Arab world. It will only add fuel to the age old argument, in their minds, "Kill a few Americans and they cut and
run."
Instead of creating more security for our military personnel -- which certainly must be done at all costs, in our
viewpoint -- an American pull out could create a danger to all Americans throughout the Middle East. One must
remember with whom we are dealing...and how they think.
ENN will provide full coverage of the results of this weeks important hearings.
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved.