Posted on 06/19/2004 2:42:18 PM PDT by valkyrieanne
U.S. Companies Not Fleeing Saudi Arabia By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - If the recent past is any guide, the beheading of American Paul M. Johnson Jr. is unlikely to trigger a mass exodus from Saudi Arabia.
Most Americans in the kingdom have not heeded repeated State Department warnings that they get out, security consultants and analysts said.
"We haven't seen the panicking or the departure of foreigners from Saudi Arabia," Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, said Saturday.
"This is a difficult time for Saudi Arabia. We are going through a difficult period. We are fighting people who are willful murderers," he said. "We are doing our best to maintain security and stability and safety for our citizens as well as for our residents including Americans."
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said he does not want American workers to flee Saudi Arabia because that would reward the people whose violence in recent weeks has killed Johnson, two other Americans and more than two dozen other foreigners.
Speaking a day after the State Department strongly urged Americans to avoid going to Saudi Arabia and those there to leave, Powell said Friday in a radio interview: "If they leave, then the terrorists have won, and I don't think either the Saudis, the Americans, or these brave folks who work in Saudi Arabia want the terrorists to win."
Al-Jubeir, speaking at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, fully agreed with Powell. He said people must be cautious, but "I don't believe that the situation has reached a panic point yet."
"Do we see a danger to people living in Saudi Arabia? Of course we do. Is the danger serious? We don't believe that it is unmanageable.
"So the idea, the calls for Americans to leave Saudi Arabia, we believe may not be the wise thing to do. And we haven't seen an exodus of foreign workers or American workers from Saudi Arabia."
Americans and other Westerners are stepping up security precautions in what once was considered one of the safest workplaces in the Middle East for Americans. Some workers are sending their families home.
But many are reluctant to give up the high-paying jobs and business contracts that first drew them to Saudi Arabia.
Friday's warning to Americans to leave was the latest of several.
The State Department had urged Americans to leave on Monday, after three Westerners were killed and Johnson was kidnapped. The warning was repeated Friday, as al-Qaida terrorists announced over the Internet that they had carried out their threat to kill Johnson, a 49-year-old New Jersey native who worked on Apache attack helicopters.
In April, the agency withdrew U.S. Embassy families and nonemergency personnel and urged Americans to leave. It has refused to say how many Americans remain in Saudi Arabia, fearing that information could help terrorists identify potential targets.
Private companies that advise U.S. employers on security say they take the State Department warnings seriously. Still, they are not offering blanket recommendations to clients to pull out of Saudi Arabia or avoid travel there.
"Generally speaking, we're not saying you must leave, you mustn't go there, because that's not practical for a country like Saudi Arabia, but you must have a very comprehensive security system in place," said Josh Mandel, Middle East analyst for London-based Control Risks Group.
Security companies recommend taking precautions to control access to residential and work sites, restrict travel and generally keep a low profile.
"For most of our larger clients, leaving Saudi Arabia is simply not an option at this point," Mandel said. "It may be if this situation deteriorates further."
Saudi Arabia, with a population of 17 million, has an estimated 8.8 million foreign workers who play an important role in the country's economy. Many Americans work in oil, banking and other lucrative businesses and have long felt secure.
"In the past Saudi Arabia was probably one of the most risk-free societies on the planet in terms of concerns about personal security," said Charles Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia who now has a business arranging international investments.
That sense of security began to change on May 12, 2003, when car bomb attacks on three compounds that housed foreigners in Riyadh, the capital, killed 26 people and nine suicide bombers. A Nov. 8 suicide bombing of a Riyadh housing compound killed another 17, including the assailants.
The U.S.-Saudi Business Council says inquiries from Americans interested in doing business in Saudi Arabia have declined in recent months but have not stopped.
I hope some have the courage to stay. Terrorist WANT us to be frightened and run away. If more security is in place they will bot be able to murder us. I pray that we will not allow them to scare us away. Stand up to them; not runaway from them.
More importantly PRAY for them. It is the Judeo Christian God that is ultimately in control.
Heard that the US government is paying for the insurance of those companies with workers in SA........that is, the taxpayer is footing the bill for insuring the lives of all those folks over there.
Heard where? From whom? State your sources, please.
Standard procedure. Bush is giving a directive to pull Americans out of the pest-hole, Colin the saboteur undercuts.
Why that POS isn't in jail since years ago I'll never understand.
To be honest, although you should not back down from terrorists, staying in Saudi Arabia is a whole different kettle of fish. The Saudis MADE their terrorist problem. They paid and trained these people to be terrorists. And it's not clear that they are really serious about solving the problem. Why should we get involved?
It's another matter if we have to go in later and recover the oil fields from chaos. But it's not our job to prop up the House of Saud, which is primarily responsible for the whole terrorist movement.
The State Department habitually says "How high" when the Saudis say jump. They know that when they retire the Saudis will pay them off. Former Saudi ambassadors and State Department Arabists live very well on Saudi pensions.
I think this is why they have reversed themselves.
The problems with Americans staying in Saudi Arabia are these:
1) They are helping to support one of the most murderous and repressive governments on the face of the planet.
2) As long as Americans are there, they are *targets.* Neither the US nor Saudi gov'ts can protect them - this has been very obvious.
3) Because our government appeases and gives into the Saudis, we will not take any firm retaliatory or deterrent actions. This leaves us perpetually vulnerable in a region where only strength is admired.
4) It is unreasonable in a time of war for Americans to put themselves in harms' way, especially for the purpose of personal financial gain.
5) I appreciate your comments about God being in charge - however, I think Oliver Cromwell's words are worth quoting: "Trust in God and keep your powder dry."
I strongly doubt what you heard was true. The individuals negotiate their salary and benefits with their employer and the employer in turn passes the (often exhorbitant) numbers over to Saudia Arabia, who almost always goes along. This is why the people are there, most can earn two times there stateside salary, with no taxes due (SA pays the IRS too). They can negotiate travel for themselves and their wives to meet in vacation spots around the globe as often as four times a year. (Wives are not welcome in country.)
This deal was made to a supervisor I worked for several years back when threat to life was not a high priority. Now I would assume what I just posted could be doubled or tripled for anyone with critical skills. Anyone have bette4r data?
Oh, insurance, Lockheed has a very inexpensive insurance benefit that I am certain these employees take, as well as accidental death benefits that can double the basic term insurance. There may be additional insurance that can be purchased, but I have never seen the government get involved except possibly by including it as a cost of doing business, and hence passed along to the customer, who in this case is not the US government but the Saudi government.
""""Notice that the State Department appears to have reversed itself from a few days ago, when it seemed to be calling for Americans to leave Saudi Arabia. But why should Americans stay, since it's obvious that neither the US nor Saudi government can protect them?"""":
Forces that be in the Stae Department and Former Strate Department are well taken Care of by the Saudis.
Not to mention Prince Bandar takes Thanksgiving with the Bushes.....
The Father isd in Carlyle group with the Saudis..
on 9/12 and 9/13 2001, the OInly people Flying were Saudis .. picked up and flown home.. including the Bim Ladens extended family.
We are Americans, we don't run away.
Saudis Always try to ill their terrorists.
Much better than the alternative.. finding out which member of the Royal Family Financed him.
Well i think we should send them a few hundred thousand more americans, marines and special forces.
I'm taking a guess that the Saudi's don't let Americans have guns to defend themselves right? I wouldn't stay. I certainly wouldn't keep my family there. These basturds wouldn't think twice about doing this to women and children. You are a sitting duck there. This isn't about being a coward it's about not being stupid...
The oil industry folks are cowboys of a sort. I think they'll be packin' from here on in.
Was channel surfing this morning and cannot remember which station had a guest who made that comment when discussing US firms remaining in Saudi Arabia.
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