Veteran Saudi ambassador to Washington resigns

[Judi Lynn]

Veteran Saudi ambassador to Washington resigns
Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:13 AM ET

By Dominic Evans
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's veteran envoy to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former fighter pilot who built close ties to several U.S. presidents, has resigned for personal reasons, the Saudi government said on Wednesday.

Bandar was a central figure in efforts to rescue Saudi-U.S. relations from a crisis triggered by the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities which were carried out by mainly Saudi hijackers.

But the 56-year-old prince has been out of the spotlight for several months and diplomats and officials said he made no secret of his wish to step down after two decades as one of the most high-profile and influential diplomats in Washington.

A foreign ministry statement said Prince Bandar had appealed to King Fahd to relieve him of his duties "for private reasons."
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-07-20T121326Z_01_N20238499_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-SAUDI-USA-AMBASSADOR-DC.XML



Bandar and friend

[SoCalDem]

1. Aaaaw.. he "needs to spend more time with his family"

How Republican of him:evilgrin:

[gmoney]

2. Bye bye Bandar Bush

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. It's been rumored he suffers from depression...

...and this is why he's leaving.

[ECH1969]

4. Bush won't give him love anymore?

[Javaman]

7. If your job was to constantly kiss ass...

wouldn't you suffer from depression after a while, too?

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Colossal failure*

[Rhiannon12866]

18. And possible addiction to prescription drugs

Which he was taking to treat his depression...

[CountAllVotes]

5. promises, promises, failed promises

couldn't deliver that $27-$30 barrel oil could you Bandyboy?

Tough cookies; good riddance.

:dem: :kick:

[Billy Burnett]

8. He did keep prices down before the '04 (s)election.

Babs must have given Bandar the cold shoulder since.

[formercia]

6. He knows the shit is about to hit the fan

and since he has been personally invoved in covert activities with the Bushes for over 20 years, he is getting out of Dodge while the gittin' is good.

[donsu]

10. agree

nt

[Bhaisahab]

11. the shit is about to hit the oil-powered fan you mean

bandar knows time's up for industrial civilization. he's getting the hell out of america before suddenly oil-deprived enraged american citizens tear apart all those who suppressed the signs. he's off to a nice little private ecosystem, from where he will have a ring side view of the end of the petroleum age.
he'll probably save a couple of seats and beer cases for his 'family' too, while he's at it.

[KeepItReal]

15. He has DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY...he can sit back and laugh at Bush & Co.

He really must have something better to do, or the new Saudi ruler wants someone else in that position.

[formercia]

17. Those right-wing paramiltary groups that inhabit Colorado

would probably not recognize his diplomatic immunity if it was ever disclosed that he had any involvment with 9/11 et al.

[goforit]

9. Does this have anything to do w/US military keeping Zapata Contractors

in prison?
Doesn't Bandar have ties to Zapata(Little Bush's Co.)?

Is sh*t hitting the fan now?

[Judi Lynn]

12. Why Washington's smoothest diplomat is falling from favor. (10-24-01)

Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar
Why Washington's smoothest diplomat is falling from favor.
By David Plotz
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001, at 7:51 PM PT


Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, grandson to one king, nephew to four others, would like Americans to remember something. It was not so long ago that he met privately with President Bush, their conversation deciding the course of the war in the Middle East. That he had a direct line to Dick Cheney. That Colin Powell was in his back pocket. That American newspapers chronicled his machinations in breathless, Bandar-kissing articles, the inside dope leaked by the ambassador himself. That he was hailed as the Talleyrand of the desert, the essential figure in the United States' most critical alliance in the world's most important region.

But that President Bush is retired. The Gulf War is over. Cheney and Powell aren't waiting for his calls. And it's hard to decide which is disintegrating faster, Saudi Arabia's reputation in Washington or Bandar's.


For the first time in decades, U.S.-Saudi relations have turned poisonous in public. In this week's New Yorker, Seymour Hersh portrays Bandar as out of favor with Saudi Arabia's ruler Crown Prince Abdullah and accuses the ambassador of corruption, in particular helping himself to megacommissions on arms deals. William Safire is hammering Bandar on the New York Times' op-ed page. Relying on leaks from American officials, the Times and Los Angeles Times have scalded Saudi Arabia in recent articles. Saudi Arabia, they say, is refusing to freeze assets connected to Osama Bin Laden, blocking investigation of Saudi hijackers, and denying the United States use of military bases for staging strikes against Afghanistan. On Sunday, the New York Times piled on with a brutal editorial lambasting the Saudis for funding Islamic extremists and tacitly condoning terrorism.

Why are Bandar and his country tumbling? Why has Washington finally turned on the necessary man?

Bandar, who cultivates a reputation as the Saudi Gatsby, is as close to self-made as a zillionaire prince can be. Born in 1949, Bandar was the illegitimate child of Prince Sultan and a servant. Bandar's father—who's been the kingdom's defense minister since the early '60s—scarcely acknowledged the boy, but his grandmother, the widow of King Abdulaziz, recognized his spark and protected him. Bandar was charming, smart, desperate for acceptance, and greedy for power. As a young man he won over his uncle King Fahd with his salesman's bonhomie.
(snip/...)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2057214/

[formercia]

14. Playing both ends against the middle only works for so long..

on one hand, you tell the Americans that you have the inside track in the Kingdom and on the other hand, you tell the folks back home that you have the Bushes in your pocket. Suddenly, that pocket has a hot potato in it. What to do?

[Judi Lynn]

13. Kick.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

16. I bet he wants to spend more time in Aspen, in his 55,000 sq. foot home...

And less time in DC

http://www.nndb.com/people/680/000044548/

Snip:
Owns a 55,000 square-foot home in Aspen, Colorado with 19 bathrooms.

PS. I know first hand that he is a very generous tipper.