Its not a matter of appearances, its a matter of fact-with the exception of the U.S. in Iraq, Iran is the dominant military power in the Gulf, and the Gulf Arabs are worried about Iran's bid for regional supremacy. And democracy is not the Saudis' enemy because we aren't going to try to overturn the Saudi monarchy any time soon (until we limit our dependence on their oil). The internal elements opposing the Saudi regime are primarily Islamists and are not really interested in democracy either. SA is one of our biggest long-term foreign policy problems.