- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Crown; 1 edition (July 15 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400050219
- ISBN-13: 978-1400050215
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.5 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#578,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #58 in Books > History > Middle East > Saudi Arabia
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
According to Robert Baer, the center of the global economy is a "kingdom built on thievery, one that nurtures terrorism, destroys any possibility of a middle class based on property rights, and promotes slavery and prostitution." This kingdom also sits on one quarter of the world's oil reserves, thus ensuring that it receives the full support and protection of the U.S. government. Sleeping With the Devil details the hypocritical and corrupt relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and the potentially calamitous economic consequences of maintaining this Faustian bargain. As Baer makes clear, the U.S. has been aware of problems within the bitterly divided Al Sa'ud family for years, but has ignored the facts in order to keep lucrative business deals afloat. (The amount of money the royal family spends to influence powerful American politicians and lobbyists is staggering.) Particularly damning are his details regarding Saudi Arabia's support of militant Islamic groups, including al Qaeda. The ruling family funnels millions of dollars to such groups in order to dissuade them from overthrowing the monarchy--a protection scheme that is shaky at best, given the hatred most citizens feel for the ruling family. To prevent economic disaster that could come from either a local uprising or an interruption in the flow of oil due to terrorism, Baer raises the possibility of the U.S. seizing the Saudi oil fields and forcing a regime change on its own terms: "An invasion and a revolution might be the only things that can save the industrial West from a prolonged, wrenching depression," he warns.
Baer spent 21 years with the CIA, much of it in the Middle East, so he is an informed guide to this complex subject. His alarming book deserves to be read for raising many important and troubling questions. --Shawn Carkonen
From Publishers Weekly
In his blustering second book, former CIA officer Baer (See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism) targets Saudi Arabia's corrupt leadership and cozy relationship with Washington. He argues that because the Saudis pay vast sums to powerful Americans, often in the form of lucrative defense contracts, those U.S. agencies that could help stop terrorism are thwarted by their own side. For example, CIA superiors tell Baer that they have no operating directive to look into Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia in the early '90s. He is deeply disappointed in both the CIA and the State Department, which he says looked the other way throughout the '90s as widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo took root in Saudi Arabia. While Baer's attacks on Washington's "consent of silence" sometimes beg for clarification, his many working years in the Middle East and Central Asia give him great believability, and he makes a strong case that Saudi Arabia-with skyrocketing birth rates, growing unemployment, a falling per capita income and a corrupt ruling family draining the public coffers-is a powder keg waiting to explode. To prevent being overthrown, Saudi rulers channel money to violent fundamentalists, including al Qaida, via Islamic charities. Baer's radical solution is guaranteed to stir debate and make many skittish: "An invasion and a revolution might be the only things that can save the industrial West from a prolonged, wrenching depression."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant! Get educated on the real world!,
By Sanjay (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (Hardcover)
Get away from the left and right wing crap and read this book instead. You'll get an education about life outside the United States. Your leaders have figured it out, why not you??
4.0 out of 5 stars
Must read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (Hardcover)
After a couple chapters you may feel like you're reading a novel, instead of a real story about our Government and leaders from both sides of the isle. I can think of no matter more threatening to our security and standard of living. Were key portions of the Saudi Oil infrastructure destroyed, or the royal family overthrown - chaos and economic depression would almost certainly follow. All because our leaders are greedy fools, willing to put our future at risk to line their pockets.This isn't crazy left wing propaganda, I'm a lifelong Republican. This issue is nonpartisan, both parties are responsible for making us dependent on the Saudis. Just how dependent is frightening and shocking to say the least. Read it then act.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Show me the money!,
By
This review is from: Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (Hardcover)
At first, I wasn't sure I liked this book as much as Mr. Baer's first book "See No Evil." The early part of the book seems to rant quite a bit. But, the more I thought about it, if I were Bob Baer, I'd be mad too...and all Americans should be. The more books I read about 9/11 and al-Qaeda, the more I feel that it didn't have to happen. Obviously, it is easy to look at things in hindsight and say that. Mr. Baer does an excellent job of showing just how involved the Saudis are in terrorism (besides the obvious fact that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi.) There are several scary aspects of al-Qaeda. What will happen when they attack again? What would happen if the House of Saud falls and radical Islam controls Saudi Arabia? What if the price of oil goes up to $145 a barrel? As usual, Mr. Baer writes in a very enjoyable style. The book makes for a fast read.
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