Saudi Arabia and Oil

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia figures prominently in The Gambit, which is only natural considering the narrative focuses on oil markets and prices and the threat of terrorism to such. The Kingdom is the larger producer and exporter of crude oil in the world and holds approximately 25 percent of proven oil reserves on the planet.

The Gambit introduces two key characters: King Ibrahim, the ailing and ruling monarch, and Prince Tariq, the Minister of Finance for the Kingdom, but otherwise not in the current succession of princes lined up to replace the old king. Tariq plans to alter that succession by forming critical alliances with a clique of like-minded and radical princes, angered at the Kingdom's indulgence of America's oil addiction and the so-called "special relationship" with the tiresome infidels. To curry their favor, necessary to put him in front of older, competing princes in the chain of succession, Tariq embarks on a audacious quest to at least double global oil prices and usher a massive transfer of wealth from the oil-consuming and infidel West back to the Kingdom and fellow Islamic producers. The quest entails a succession of planned attacks on selected petroleum targets in order to drive up oil prices. Such a dramatic role and the accompanying credit should be sufficient, he reckons, to make him the rightful ruler of an increasingly wealthy kingdom.

The role of the House of Saud in financing radical groups is discussed in The Gambit. King Ibrahim himself is not innocent in the matter, but scales back the Kingdom's contributions after 9/11. Not so with Tariq, who continues to personally sponsor terrorist organizations, albeit in a quieter fashion. In fact, Tariq is quite entrepreneurial in his support of many different parties. The Prince prides himself on his galling duplicity by even supporting Hezbollah, a Shiite group, on the premise of building ties with Iran, their primary supporter. His efforts pay off as even Shiite Iran is willing to support Tariq's program. Rival Islamic groups can work together if they can jointly stick it to the U.S.

Prince Tariq is presented as a cunning, ruthless, but highly intelligent character following in his father's (a late prince) footsteps of creative financing of terrorist organizations. The author of The Gambit attempts an objective treatment, mindful that the Prince, outside of his violent methods and sponsorship, is pursuing a rational policy of promoting and enhancing his country's strategic oil interests. Any country whose lifeblood is devoted to the price of oil would have to rationalize in a manner similar to Tariq's, although that rationalization, when tinged with Islamic radicalism, proves to be very dangerous. It is the U.S. which needs to wake up to this reality.

Is it Tariq's fault that he owns the American president and commences his treacherous economic jihad on oil markets conveniently in time for the upcoming U.S. presidential elections? Is it his fault that American political and corporate leadership has not adopted any alternative energy policies, willingly subjecting the country to willful manipulation of global oil prices? Willingly subjecting economies and lifestyles to a Saudi-inspired (or Tehran-inspired) oil scam? No, the foolish Americans and oil consumers everywhere deserve everything the Prince can provide. The only surprise to Tariq is that Michel Antoun, the eminent Lebanese banker, agrees to join the enterprise, providing strategic cover on a number of fronts for the conspiracy underway . What is the wily banker up to, beyond his own contempt for the Americans and saving his neck for a little while longer?

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