The following article exposes the myth of Saudia Arabia being a moderate Arab country. [link|http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/28/saudi_arabia/index.html|http://www.salon.co...a/index.html]

Here are some of the major points:

"If the term 'Islamic fundamentalist' applies to any place in the world, it's Saudi Arabia," says Ali Abunimah, vice president of the Arab American Action Network. "The Taliban is rightly criticized for its horrendous social policies. But the silence on Saudi Arabia is inexcusable. The lack of political freedom there is stifling, yet Saudi Arabia gets a pass from the West.
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alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia, as were valentines and Pok\ufffdman cards recently. Women, who are routinely segregated from men, cannot drive automobiles. The country has no written constitution and no elected legislature, and there are no political parties. Instead, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. Its royal family numbers 4,000, but just 60 have a major say in policy decisions. Saudi courts order more than 100 public beheadings each year, and human rights groups claim detainees are routinely tortured.

Radio, television and Internet content is censored by the state. Religious police patrol markets, searching for women not properly covered up or shops remaining open during required daily prayers. Tourist visas do not exist.
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And an extreme, puritanical brand of Islam, Wahhibism, is the official religion of the Saudi monarchy.
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Earlier this year, an American grand jury handed down indictments against the Dhahran terrorists, some of whom sit in Saudi jails. Saudi officials dismissed the move though, and have refused to extradite any of the men to stand trial in America. (The case has proven to be particularly embarrassing for the Saudis since three months before the Dharan attack, officials uncovered the plot, yet were still unable to stop it.)
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You really don't like Israel and Jews don't you? Tell me, where have you ever seen such statements by ultra-Orthodox Jews?

In other words, all of the US's rhetoric about freedom and democracy is just that, when push comes to shove money or oil talks, and then people wonder why America is hated around the world. Freedom and democracy is for Americans only, the rest of the land can be ruled by dictators as long as they supply the US with oil, cheap labor, etc.

[link|http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/01/wsaud01.xml|http://news.telegra.../wsaud01.xml]

"We do not accept the presence in our country of a single soldier at war with Muslims or Arabs," Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz, the defence minister, was quoted as saying. His comments, in the Arabic-language Okaz daily, contradicted earlier assurances from Saudi officials that Riyadh would permit the use of its bases for military operations in Afghanistan.