Chapter 8, Part 1 Summary

The Saudi Royal family has long been linked to money supporting fundamentalist groups, including Al Qaeda. The ruling family is viewed as corrupt and out of touch with the Saudi people. This makes the regime, and therefore the Saudi oil supply, unstable. With the decline of King Faud, a power struggle is erupting over who will succeed him. The Saudis refused to cooperate with the F.B.I. and C.I.A. to run traces on the nineteen men who were involved in the September 11 attacks. Fifteen of these men were believed to have been Saudis.

The royal family presides over a country where there is rampant unemployment and strict religious adherence to Islam, known as Wahhabism. In fact, the policy of using religious police to enforce the national religion is similar to that of the Taliban. Religious leaders control the...