Letter to President George W. Bush

November 19, 2003

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Bush:

I am writing to respectfully request that you reconsider your recent nomination of James Oberwetter to the post of Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Despite his impressive career as an oil industry executive, he does not possess the national security background that the top American official in the Kingdom will need to compel Saudi cooperation with our anti-terror efforts.

The recent bombings near Riyadh demonstrate that Saudi Arabia is a country under siege. As you are aware, this situation is largely the result of the Kingdom's own doing. Years of support for extremist Islam, both within and outside the country, have opened up a Pandora's box, creating an army of zealots intent on deposing the Royal Family. Their hatred of the princes is so intense that even the millions of dollars Saudi royalty reportedly has sent to Al Qaeda and its affiliate groups as protection payments are no longer enough to keep these extremists at bay.

The only way to prevent this situation from deteriorating is for Saudi Arabia to confront the terrorists head on and bring an end to the flow of Saudi money to terrorist groups and madrassa schools outside the country that spread extremist Islam.
While American officials reportedly indicate that Saudi Arabia has done much to clamp down on terrorists inside the kingdom, its efforts outside its borders are severely lacking. As a result, the job of the next ambassador to Saudi Arabia must be to compel the Saudis to change and end their support for Islamists in Pakistan, Southeast Asia and East Africa.

Although Mr. Oberwetter's resume is indeed impressive, he simply does not possess the proper experience for this challenging job. Nowhere in his career has he grappled with the pressing issues of terrorist financing and ideological extremism that will be at the top of the new ambassador's agenda. Rather, his more than 25 years working on international oil deals and leadership of the American Petroleum Institute qualify him to be a top Department of Commerce official, not one of our nation's most important actors in our fight against terrorists.

In this post-9/11 world, ambassadors have taken on an increased importance, especially in nations that must be our partners if we are to win the War on Terror. These American representatives must have a keen understanding of terrorism, its sources of support and ideological foundations. Despite his impressive oil industry credentials, Mr. Oberwetter does not fit this mold. Accordingly, I respectfully ask you to select another candidate as your choice for the next American ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator
Charles Schumer