Book summary

In this highly critical report, an investigative reporter examines the decades-long but little known business ties between the Bush family in Texas and the House of Saud and its associates in Saudi Arabia. David Unger recounts the interests of the house of Saud in the oil business in Houston and tells how the Saudis were especially helpful to President George H.W. Bush during the first Iraq war, when they benefited militarily and economically from U.S. contracts. During the 2003-04 Iraq war, the Saudis allowed the US to stage an invasion from Saudi soil. Unger questions whether the relationship between the two families might in any way have colored post-9/11 actions by the White House, and he looks into whether the House of Saud, followers of the Wahhabi sect, can be implicated in supporting and funding Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. In addition, he examines the question of why members of the Saud and bin Laden families were granted special exits on jetliners from the US just after 9/11.

Media reviews

"When he forgets about conspiracy, Mr. Unger fruitfully probes the ambiguous--and fatally compromised--Saudi-American relationship spanning two decades.This part of the book succeeds, sometimes brilliantly: It's must reading for anyone who wishes to understand the origins of 9/11 and America's precarious position in the world today."