Chapter 4, Saudi Arabia - Washington's 401(k) Plan Summary and Analysis

Baer relates meeting the Kuwaiti petroleum minister at the Paris Ritz hotel where he is meeting with four opposition leaders from Qatar. The minister pays the bill for the group including a very expensive bottle of win. This is also the Arab way with Washington.

Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi wheeler-dealer who serves as the middleman for a variety of deals such as the Iran-Contra affair. The estimated cost of his lifestyle is two hundred fifty thousand dollars per day. Soon after Nixon is elected President, Khashoggi leaves a briefcase with one million dollars in cash at the San Clemente residence. Baer says this story is unconfirmed but that the Saudis believe that Washington is for sale.

Saudi money financed many think tanks and projects. There is a great...