The Foreign Service Journal, April 2003

Washington Times that Harty’s record “was one of indifference bordering on hostility toward the interests of parents of abducted children.” Officials say the State Department is taking a far more active role as an advocate for these parents. The abduction unit of the office now employs 17 officers and staff devoted exclusively to working with left-behind parents to resolve their cases. The office currently handles approximately 1,100 inter- national parental child abduction cases — including abductions to the United States. Responding to Roush and other critics, Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the selection of Harty in a statement on Nov. 1, call- ing her “an experienced leader and a firm decision-maker.” Her talents have been evident to at least three secretaries of State — Powell, Warren Christopher and George Shultz; she served each either as spe- cial assistant or executive assistant. U.S. officials also say it is unseem- ly for Roush and other parents of abducted children to take their wrath out on Harty, a 21-year veteran of the Foreign Service. For one thing, they point out that Consular Affairs and all other bureaus take their cues on policy from higher-ups. On cases involving Saudi Arabia, officials say that however regrettable such cases may be, they must not be allowed to dominate one of the most important U.S. relationships in the Arab world. Friends or Foes? The extensive criticism of Saudi Arabia growing out of these cases is part of a larger sequence of events, mostly related to terrorism, that have roiled U.S.-Saudi relations for well over a year. Nowadays, the kingdom is per- haps known less for its role as a U.S. ally in the Middle East than as the place that produced Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 bombers. There are believed to be about 100 Saudis among the 600 sus- pected foreign terrorists being detained at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Allegations persist that Saudi-based individuals and charities provided financing for al-Qaida. The Bush administration continues to tout Saudi cooperation in the war on terrorism but acknowledges that more can be done. Saudi officials say that as of October, the kingdom had questioned 2,800 individuals and detained more than 200 suspects, including those involved with al- Qaida. They say intelligence sharing has resulted in the freezing of more than $70 million linked to terrorist organization financial accounts. But the relationship seems much more vulnerable now than it did a year and a half ago, when Saudi Arabia was best known as a reliable energy supplier to the United States, boasting 25 percent of total oil reserves worldwide. It could be counted on, and still is, to jack up production when prices rose too high, thereby helping to bring them down. Almost forgotten amid the criticism nowadays is the Saudi role as a major market for the United States, vying with Israel as the chief purchaser of American products. Total U.S. sales to Saudi Arabia in 2000 were $6.2 billion. In the fall of 2001, the Bush administration wel- comed a Saudi proposal for settling Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. The United States has reciprocated Saudi friendship by serving as a guar- antor of Saudi security. Thousands of U.S. troops are stationed outside Riyadh, guarding the kingdom against would-be predators, includ- ing Iraq. So is the United States doing enough to help Roush and other American parents in a similar situa- tion? The State Department says it is doing all it can, but getting around Saudi law has proved an insurmount- able problem. However, Daniel Pipes, author of five books on the Middle East, says the administration is not applying enough pressure on the Saudis. Writing in the winter 2002 edition of National Interest magazine, Pipes says that in cases involving the abduction of American children by Saudi parents, “the State Department has behaved with a weakness bordering on sycophancy.” Specifically, he says that the State Department “has accepted the Saudi law that gives the father near- absolute control over the movement and activities of his children and wife (or wives).” Pipes says that State’s obsequious- ness is not limited to the issues of child abduction. “The Saudis rou- tinely set the terms of this bilateral relationship,” he writes. “For decades, U.S. government agencies have engaged in a persistent pattern of deference to Saudi wishes, making so many unwonted and unnecessary concessions that one gets the impres- sion that a switch has taken place, with both sides forgetting which of them is the great power and which the minor one.” 66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 3 State’s critics say it is unwilling to risk angering Riyadh over its policy on child abduction issues.