Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude

This book was hard to put down...

I enjoy Robert Baer's books because he has a very direct and engaging style and his writing is very colorful. Some find it over the top, but I think the guy is simply very passionate. He is obviously not some think tank hack whose idea of field work is a trip to the Library of Congress, but a guy who served his country in the CIA for 2 decades in some of the most dangerous and unpleasant...more

I enjoy Robert Baer's books because he has a very direct and engaging style and his writing is very colorful. Some find it over the top, but I think the guy is simply very passionate. He is obviously not some think tank hack whose idea of field work is a trip to the Library of Congress, but a guy who served his country in the CIA for 2 decades in some of the most dangerous and unpleasant parts of the world. In this book, Baer tells the sordid history of the U.S. addiction to cheap Saudi oil. He details the excesses of the corrupt and undemocratic ruling families of Saudi Arabia and how they pay a significant portion of their ill gotten gains as a middle eastern version of hush money that finances radical Wahabi clerics and terrorists such as OBL. Baer also explicates the corrosive effects of the chase for petrodollars on our own political elites as well retelling the by now well known story of how our intelligence services and diplomatic corp failed to raise the alarm about the burgeoning threat of radical Islam during the 1980s and 1990s. Baer is clearly incensed that our leaders are so self-involved and venal that they have subordinated our national interests so blatantly. If you read this, you might be too.   hide

just wonder if Saudi is a devil what is the one sleeping with it.

“This book, written by an ex-CIA case officer with extensive experience on the ground in the Mid East, wraps you in a sticky web of kings, princes, kingdoms, families, countries, tribes, politicians, corporations, charities, religions, oil, money, weapons, and history with greed at it's core. It is fast-paced and interesting, in fact, quite disturbing. This book brings to surface...more

“This book, written by an ex-CIA case officer with extensive experience on the ground in the Mid East, wraps you in a sticky web of kings, princes, kingdoms, families, countries, tribes, politicians, corporations, charities, religions, oil, money, weapons, and history with greed at it's core. It is fast-paced and interesting, in fact, quite disturbing. This book brings to surface the deep, long and dark undercurrent of our country's incestuous relationship with Saudi Arabia. Through the author's real life experiences, we see just how complicated this mutually destructive dance to the death is. As the dysfunctional House of Saud hemorrhages with greed and weaponry, we learn how it came to be, and how our country's behavior bears a disproportionate share of responsibility for its seemingly inevitable collapse. This book might very well scare the pants off you. It did me. ”   hide

Very informative and a breezy read for such complicated subject matter.

Frightening

Highly inaccurate with many flaws. Sensationalist propaganda

The sale of the White House started with a million dollars stuffed in a briefcase and the money hungry hands of D.C. insiders, shakers, and law makers never looked back from the Nixon days.

Great read.....insightfull.