KEN ADELMAN WRITES that the Saudis aren’t our friends, and Bush needs to recognize it:

For Saudi Arabia is no “great friend” to our values. Saudi Arabia ranks rock bottom on granting civil or political freedom. Along with the “axis of evil” states, it stands among the most repressive regimes on earth. And without doubt is one of the most corrupt regimes in the world – probably even worse than the three “axis of evil” states. . . .

Saudi Arabia is no “great friend” to the real war on terrorism. Recently Price Bandar’s wife was in hot water over allegations that she indirectly gave money to the 9/11 terrorists is hotly debated. Saudi spin doctors claim she’d never try to help terrorists, since her own father was murdered by Islamic extremists in the 1970s. Further investigation shows that her father, the King, was indeed murdered in the 1970s – not by an Islamic fanatic, but by his nephew, a drug addict long tripping on LSD.

Regardless, it’s certain that Saudi royal family members have been paying protection money to Saudi-led terrorists for a long time now. Court documents filed last Fall claim that Saudi royal family members met with Osama bin Laden and gave over $300 million to al Qaeda terrorists for a pledge of no terrorism in Saudi Arabia itself.

He’s right. They’re not our friends.