(Prince) Bandar Bush Steps Down For "Personal Reasons"

[DrFunkenstein]

(T)he 56-year-old prince has been out of the spotlight for months 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.

The monarch accepted his resignation and will nominate former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, currently ambassador to London, to replace him, the ministry said.

"Bandar...was the ambassador with unquestionable access to the White House. He was as much a prince as he was an ambassador," Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told Reuters.

The prince earned the nickname "Bandar Bush" because of his close friendship with President Bush and later with his son, President Bush. That bond led to accusations last year that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, had used its influence to interfere in domestic U.S. politics.

Bandar defended his country against charges that its Wahhabi school of Islam promoted anti-Western hostility and fostered militancy. He also had to smooth over relations strained in the early years of Bush's presidency by Riyadh's belief that the United States was giving Israel a free hand to crush Palestinian protests against occupation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/saudi_usa_ambassador_dc;_ylt=AsauQ4CbSpV7WFm2JQjUIN9eW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl



On edit: I had to mention that those are some of the most godawful chairs I've even seen, even on a multi-million dollar ranches powered by geo-thermal energy.

[libodem]

1. wonder how soon he'll visit Texas

and die in a plane crash when he tries to leave?

[yurbud]

2. Frontline referred to him hiring terrorist for us in 80s

Frontline
"Target America"

BOB WOODWARD: Casey had lunch with Prince Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, one of the most powerful figures even today in Washington. And they went for a stroll in the garden and they said, "We have to go off the books." And they agreed that the Saudis would put up the money to hire some professionals to go and try to car-bomb Sheik Fadlallah.

And it was so off the books, there's no evidence that Reagan knew about it or Weinberger or Schultz. It was Casey on his own, saying, "I'm going to solve the big problem by essentially getting tougher or as tough as the terrorists in using their weapon, the car bomb."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/script.html

[K8-EEE]

3. He Needs More Family Time Like Ari & Karen, And So Would You

If you had like 8,000 wives!