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

Product Description
“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?”

In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil, former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politics drastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight global terrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil, Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how our government’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally and America’s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerable to economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts of terrorism.

For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheap oil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative business relationships for the United States, while providing a voracious market for the kingdom’s vast oil reserves. With money and oil flowing freely between Washington and Riyadh, the United States has felt secure in its relationship with the Saudis and the ruling Al Sa’ud family. But the rot at the core of our “friendship” with the Saudis was dramatically revealed when it became apparent that fifteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers proved to be Saudi citizens.

In Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa’ud’s culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U.S. intelligence community, Baer vividly portrays our decades-old relationship with the increasingly dysfunctional and corrupt Al Sa’ud family, the fierce anti-Western sentiment that is sweeping the kingdom, and the desperate link between the two. In hopes of saving its own neck, the royal family has been shoveling money as fast as it can to mosque schools that preach hatred of America and to militant fundamentalist groups—an end game just waiting to play out.

Baer not only reveals the outrageous excesses of a Saudi royal family completely out of touch with the people of its kingdom, he also takes readers on a highly personal search for the deeper roots of modern terrorism, a journey that returns time again and again to Saudi Arabia: to the Wahhabis, the powerful Islamic sect that rules the Saudi street; to the Taliban and al Qaeda, both of which Saudi Arabia helped to underwrite; and to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most active and effective terrorist groups in existence, which the Al Sa’ud have sheltered and funded. The money and arms that we send to Saudi Arabia are, in effect, being used to cut our own throat, Baer writes, but America might have only itself to blame. So long as we continue to encourage the highly volatile Saudi state to bank our oil under its sand—and so long as we continue to grab at the Al Sa’ud’s money—we are laying the groundwork for a potential global economic catastrophe.


From the Hardcover edition.

Mr. Baer begins the book with an interesting story about his encounter with a Russian arms dealer who revealed how easy it was to deliver any kind and any amount of weaponry into the Saudi Kingdom and the fact that it has been happening for a while. This, at the time of its occurrence, came as a surprise since the CIA (and the whole world really) thought of Saudis as no more than "young, oil-rich brats screaming at their Filipino servants to take the wrappers off their candy." And although this stereotypic perception isn't far from the truth for a considerable segment of the Saudi society, the fact that "the kingdom has a reservoir of young men who won't flinch when faced with death" shouldn't have eluded the CIA, Mr. Baer argues. But it did, and this book is an attempt to explain why and how it did just that.

Baer provides an elaborate description of the importance of oil to the world economy, and to the US especially. One can hardly exaggerate that importance. And once he explains how vulnerable the oil infrastructure in Saudi is to any foreign or terrorist attack you understand why protecting and empowering a friendly government in that region was essential to the US government.

But instead of having the upper hand in this relationship, Baer says, the US ended up being bullied around by the Saudi royals for a very simple reason. The days of US officials in the office are short and they know it, but so does the Saudi royals. Thus, the Saudi government devised a very inconspicuous albeit generous 401(k) plan for US politicians. Baer provides almost-unbelievable details of numerous retired US politicians on the Saudi payroll either through serving as members on advisory boards or by occupying seats at various institutions financed by Saudi contributions. The word is out in Washington that the Saudis take good care of their friends.

Baer tells legend-like stories of corrupted Saudi princes and the dysfunctional government they run not only with the consent of the Americans, but with their support. However, the Americans didn't support the Saudi royals only, they also supported the terrorists who attacked the US themselves. This happened during the Russian-Afghani war where the Saudis provided vast funds and manpower to the Afghanis to repel the Russian intervention. The US government didn't even bother to monitor how this support was channeled or what causes did it sponsor. They blindly fed the monster that turned around and bit their hand.

Then, the author takes you on a long and exciting tour throughout the history of it all. From the first US diplomat who met the new king who has just united a vast land under the rule of Saudi, passing through the first signing of an oil contract, all the way to the days preceding 9/11. Subsequently, the author takes you on another history tour that goes all the way back to the infantile stages of terrorism in the Middle East. Baer says that the CIA should've made militant Islam the center of its attention since the Muslim Brotherhood group killed the Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadaat. It didn't.

After that, Baer explains how the Saudi government manipulated the US policies in the region by seducing politicians with humungous defense and aviation contracts that made politicians drool. And finally, he concludes the book by explaining how the CIA decided to ignore all the flags that he along with other few operatives raised trying to bring the danger of militant Islam into the spotlight. He ends the book by giving a very brief personal opinion of what should be done to remedy the ailing situation in Saudi Arabia and to protect it from imploding and thus bringing the war on terrorism into an unknown battleground.

This is a very interesting book, but the reader shouldn't proceed without caution. The genuinely interesting parts are those that involve the personal encounters and missions of the author. Baer seems to be a very intelligent observer and communicator, and his stories are eye-openers to some aspects of the Middle East that are unimaginable. Nevertheless, the reader should be very skeptical about what to take beyond that, as the author almost never cites any sources for his information. Normally I wouldn't expect an ex-agent to reveal his sources, but I was surprised to realize that Baer wasn't so keen on fact checking. I am able to say so as I ran into very wrong figures and facts about the Saudi government finances that any little fact checking effort would've pointed out. Most of the stories he extends are mostly stories either heard on the street or stuff he learned of from acquaintances. Such sources usually disfigure facts, if not totally make them up. Some of the stories sound more like weak plots for low-budget movies rather than real life incidents, such as the Million Dollars briefcase "accidentally" left behind by Khashoggi, a Saudi Billionaire, after meeting with Richard Nixon.

One positive characteristic of this book that I enjoyed is its almost absolute nonpartisanship. No blame was placed on a single party as both fell prey to the seduction of oil wealth. This nonpartisan stand by the author gives the book a lot of credibility.

In conclusion, this is definitely a book that is hard to put down once you start reading it. You could run into chapters that might not interest you such as the details of retired politicians on Saudi payroll, or stories about Syrian Alawite clan. And although this is not a history book, yet it is more like sitting down and chatting with an ex-agent of the CIA who knows a lot. Very interesting.


With friends like these, who needs enemies?   January 9, 2004
 55 out of 59 found this review helpful

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom: Saudi Arabia.

Former Middle East CIA operative Robert Baer, author of the critically acclaimed memoir 'See No Evil' follows up that work with a brilliant expose at the world's best funded breeding ground for terrorists, our allies (?) The Saudis.

" We had hardwired in our brains that the stereotype of young , oil-rich brats screaming at their Filipino servants to take the wrappers off their candy . . .Sept 11 undid that stereotype for me "

By 'we' he means CIA and other official Mid-East think tanks. If they were so far off, what did the average American know? The Saudis were our buddies, they had never gone to war against Israel and they probably celebrated the 4th of July with fireworks. . .

An image that Baer contends was sold to the American people, because half of Washington was bribed and the other had their heads buried in the sand.

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A few items:

1. Osama, as we all know is a Suadi. In fact, to many opposing the royal family (about every Saudi that's not a millionare) he's a national hero. Fifteen of the 9/11 hijakers were Saudi nationals. Ditto for aprox 75% of the al Qaeda prisoners subsequently held at Guantanamo "the worst of the worst."

2. Back in 1996 when Sudan had Osama in custody, The Saudi government declined the offer to have him extradited back home. Reason? He was too popular, let him go. .

3. Saudi citizens blew up the National Guard facility in '95 and the Khobar barracks in '96. Two Saudis and one Egyptian hijacked a plane to Baghdad in 2000. Saudis were almost certainly behind the atttack on the USS Cole as well as hundreds of other terrorists activities prior to 9/11 from Kenya to Chechnya-- and yet, unlike say, an Argentinian or a Frenchman, Saudis did not have to bother to appear at a screening at an American embassy to get to the US. A system called 'Visa Express' took care of it for a fee. In other words, any Saudi travel agent stood in place of the American government. Baer tells us that under this system, Osama himself could have gotten through.

4.The Saudi government has not allowed the FBI or any US agency to question the relatives or associates of the 9/11 hijackers despite repeated requests.

5. The Royal Family is demented. Made up of five extended 'dysfunctional' families presently run by King Fahd's favorite wife, Jawara and her son Abd-al Aziz, or Azuzi ( 'deary' as Mommy calls him ) they spend more money than France on their 'army' --a praetorian palace guard.

6. There is no rule of law, it's a Mafia chieftain's paradise run by deary. Leaders of the world in public beheadings (Riyadh plaza is commonly known as Chop-Chop square) The Royals hedge their bets by supporting universities which are, in fact, ultra fundamentalist Anti American hate camps.

7. Further hedging are shows of piety put on by their muttawa, the public-decency police, which performs the useful function of beating women on the legs and arms if their robes are too short. In March 2002 it blocked the exit of a girl's school on fire because the girls weren't properly covered. Fourteen died. Not unusual in a country which Baer contends is 'the most sexually repressed on earth' Women are kept out of touch with men until the day they marry. A woman cannot drive, Only 5% of them work, if she needs to go anywhere a male relative must chauffer and chaperone her. In desperation, Saudi men have written their cell phones and taped it to cars they are trying to 'sell' in the hope some brazen Saudi girl will call them--even if they risk public stoning. These are the poor, of course as to the rich, it's THE Middle eastern joke that Saudis spend a staggering amount of its GDP on sex--in Europe's red light ditricts.

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What is less than amusing is that this 'hedging' with terrorists cannot go on forever. The Royals are bribing the people who would cheerfully execute them. Plus , with the availability of MAJOR weapons of destruction from the former USSR for sale---a point which Baer goes into in the very first chapter, as he talks to a Russian arms dealer who is stationed at a luxury resort in--of all places, Israel, The Royals may meet their end and then it's anyone's guess who will run the country with the essential oil reserves The West needs to function but it's doubtfull it'll be a group of tolerant Ghandi-like pacifists.

Baer has done it again. Great research and great reading.


More pieces to the puzzle   July 24, 2003
 49 out of 57 found this review helpful

I have, like most Americans, have wondered how we got into the 9/11 mess to start with. This book adds more pieces to the puzzle by showing the relationship America has had with Saudi Arabia and, really the rest of the Middle East, since oil was discovered there. The whole thing reminds me of several boys who can't resist eating a chocolate cake before dinner. When confronted as to who ate all the cake, the boys, all covered in chocolate point firmly at each other.

The US government, with an ever growing demand for oil to fuel our plastic SUV world turned a blind eye to the serious political situation of our main suppier, Saudi Arabia, a country ruled by the most dysfunctional family ever. The royal family must contend with not only family members who spend them into oblivion, but also with various terrorist groups who must be appeased with new mosques, weapons, money, and a safe haven.

Baer goes into as much detail as he can to show how the mechanism has worked over the years. Some sections are blacked out as the CIA considers the information classified. Also, since Baer was not a high level agent, there are some connections that can be reasonably made, but not proven. You will need to see how this unfolds in the coming years to get the complete story.

Bottom line: Read this book to fill in the background on the current Middle East situation.


Built on shaky facts   August 11, 2003
 32 out of 40 found this review helpful

I haven't finished the book, and I am not sure I will. Since my own background is energy I have some knowledge of the topics being discussed, although I would hasten to add that the Middle East is not my area of interest.

What worries me is that where he states a fact on a subject in which I have knowledge, the book either presents a simplistic, and sometimes misleading, version of the fact. Or, in some cases, the book is just plain wrong. This worries me for two reasons: it undermines the credibility of the rest of the book, and it makes me wonder what is the level of professionalism in general in the CIA.

I also find these blacked-out lines in the book to be ludicrous. I can find no explanation for them in the book (it may be there, I just have not found it) and they are silly in any case. The implication, of course, is that someone (CIA?) censored the information and the author is making a silent protest. But why? He does say the book went through a CIA review process to protect national security, so we know the book is sanitized. Why belate the point?

I find that the writing style is mostly a rant. The author's personal agenda seems to be anger at those who have made money in the Middle East. Fair enough, but I think we all know that life is unfair. He seems to have a particular grudge against former president George Bush, possibly stemming from Bush's term as Director of CIA. But the attacks are tedious. Since my confidence in his fact base has been shaken, my belief in his rants is suffering.

The fact that Saudi Arabia is a backward, tyrannical, repressive place is not news. The fact that certain Saudis have a lot of money is not news. The fact that we rely excessively on them for an essential commodity for our national well-being is not news. What could be news is the changing dynamic in the country. Analysis of that in the book is useful. If I were more comfortable with the author's objectivity and facts, I would have a higher regard for the book.