Word: fahd
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Fahd proposed creating a Consultative Assembly of appointed members. He even built an imposing marble-and-glass chamber for it. But then he waffled on establishing the assembly, and now the building stands vacant on the grounds of the King's al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh. In any case, such a body would not satisfy the nascent band of dissenters. "That's merely a halfway house," says an intellectual...
...this, the 65,700-man military is simply too small. Pentagon experts reckon the country should have a standing army of at least 100,000. Fahd's family has been leery of a powerful military; for internal security it relies on the 35,000-man National Guard, a tightly knit organization based on tribal loyalties. Still, the government has moved to expand the regular military. Earlier this month, Fahd asked for volunteers. Thousands of Saudis responded, displaying a degree of patriotism not often seen in the heterogeneous state...
Given the pressing demands of the current crisis, King Fahd has asked women to volunteer to perform "human services and medical services." This, he added, would be in the context of "fully preserving" Islamic values. Still, say some Saudi watchers, men and women will inevitably be thrown together in the workplace, just as American men and women were during the World War II mobilization...
Some Saudi liberals seek U.S. support for their campaign for change. "We hope the American presence is not just protection for the status quo," says a businessman. "We assume it will bring an improvement in the integrity of the government." From Washington's viewpoint, however, pushing Fahd and family down the fast track to Westernization and democratization is a likely prescription for a Shah-like disaster. Swift liberalizations could easily stir religious extremists to revolt. "If there's an internal threat to the kingdom," says a U.S. expert on Saudi Arabia, "it's from fundamentalists on the right, not liberalizers...
...elephant without a shock to the system." That is especially so now that the affair is out in the open. In the past the Saudis insisted on an "over the horizon" policy toward the U.S. -- they wanted protection but preferred that it be invisible. Faced with Saddam's legions, Fahd quickly < changed his mind. Even as U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney flew to Riyadh immediately after the invasion of Kuwait, Fahd conferred with key royals and decided to accept American troops if Cheney made a convincing case. When the Defense Secretary said President Bush was prepared to help defend...