I thought this was just another excuse to do nothing. The idea that we should do something forceful and potentially destabilizing to Saudi Arabia was an idiotic idea and Bush's failure to openly press Riyadh was no coddling but a recognition that the world could not afford such a major oil exporters dissolving into chaos.
Instead, we've quietly pressed Saudi Arabia. We've seen Saudi Arabia battle al Qaeda on their own soil. And now we are seeing broader reforms that are slowly making changes for the better:
Saudi Arabia may have finally begun its long-predicted turn toward significant reform, as reported over the past weekend in Gulf media. King Abdullah ibn Abd Al-Aziz has effected a series of major decisions that could impose a dramatically new and modern direction on the kingdom.
We have a long way to go in this regard. But we are better than we were on the morning of 9/11. And Saudi Arabia itself is leading the slow charge.
It's almost like we practiced nuanced diplomacy the last seven years!
