$Unique_ID{COW03081}
$Pretitle{251}
$Title{Saudi Arabia
Chapter 5A.   National Security}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Eugene K. Keefe}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{al
abd
aziz
saudi
forces
saud
military
war
faisal
king}
$Date{1984}
$Log{Beduin Warrior*0308101.scf
}
Country:     Saudi Arabia
Book:        Saudi Arabia, A Country Study
Author:      Eugene K. Keefe
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1984

Chapter 5A.   National Security

[See Beduin Warrior: Artist's Rendition]

     During its infancy in the 1930s the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needed little
as far as national security was concerned-protection of the king and the royal
family, protection of the holy places, and nominal defense of its territory,
much of which needed no other defense than that provided by its natural
desolation. Fifty years later, however, the kingdom was in the limelight on
the world stage. As producer and largest exporter of oil to much of the
industrialized world and owner of about one-quarter of the known reserves,
this land of the House of Saud had assumed a significant role in international
politics. Its national security had become a major concern not only to the
king and the royal family but also to those industrialized countries that
depend on Saudi oil to make the wheels turn. The well-being of the economies
of the United States, many of the countries of Western Europe, and Japan
depended to a large extent on the flow of Saudi oil.

     King Abd al Aziz bin Abd ar Rahman Al Saud, restorer of the House of Saud
and founder of the kingdom in 1932, had many sons, four of whom (all born of
different mothers) have succeeded him to the throne: Saud, 1953-64; Faisal,
1964-75; Khalid, 1975-82; and Fahd, whose reign continued in early 1984. King
Fahd bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud (as he is formally known) had been crown prince
and deputy prime minister under King Khalid and was frequently in charge,
acting for Khalid during several illnesses. Fahd, therefore, was no stranger
to royal power or to the international politics of the "oil kingdom" when he
succeeded his half brother in June 1982. During his first two years as king,
Fahd demonstrated his awareness of the security of the kingdom and of the
forces responsible for that security, which he heads as commander in chief.

     The defense and security organizations initiated under Abd al Aziz, and
particularly promoted by Faisal, have grown and developed into the armed
forces, and paramilitary forces, and police and security forces that defend
and protect the kingdom. In early 1984 the king was at the apex of the
security system, which was essentially divided into three segments, headed by
princess of the royal family-all sons of Abd al Aziz. The regular armed
forces-army, navy, and air force-were under the Ministry of Defense and
Aviation, headed by Prince Sultan. The police, coastal, and border security
forces were under the Ministry of Interior, headed by Prince Nayif. The Saudi
Arabian National Guard, a paramilitary organization charged with internal
security, was headed by Prince Abdallah, who was also crown prince and deputy
prime minister. Sultan was second deputy prime minister.

     To defend the country against attack by external enemies was the task
assigned to the regular armed forces; the National Guard would have a
reinforcing mission in the event of an invasion. Strengths in early 1984 were
estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 for the regular forces and 25,000 to 40,000 for
the National Guard. The London-based International Institute for Strategic
Studies reported the following: army, 35,000; navy, 2,500; air force, 14,000;
and National Guard, 25,000. Some other observers held the army at 45,000 and
the Guard at 35,000 to 40,000. Estimating the strength of the Guard was
particularly difficult because part of it was an active-duty force and part
was militia; about 15,000 guardsmen on active duty was accepted as a
reasonable figure. Strengths of the Ministry of Interior forces-Public
Security Police, Special Force, Coast Guard, and Frontier Forces-were even
more difficult to estimate.

     Because of its spectacular accumulation of wealth, particularly since the
price of oil was quadrupled in the aftermath of the October 1973 War and then
raised substantially again in the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia has had tremendous
amounts of money to spend on modernization, including the upgrading of its
military forces. Literally tens of billions of dollars were spent on the armed
forces in the 1973-83 period, much of it on infrastructure and training but
also a substantial amount on weaponry. Despite the huge defense expenditures,
some analysts concurred in the opinion that the Saudi armed forces would have
difficulty repelling an invasion by an enemy force that was larger in numbers
and had more aircraft, tanks, artillery, and other weapons than the Saudis.
The territory to be defended is as large as the United States east of the
Mississippi River, and the Saudi armed forces have been deployed in areas of
strategic significance that are widely separated from each other. There is no
railroad system to speak of, and bringing the widespread Saudi forces together
to repel an invader would be tremendously time-consuming. It was also
considered unlikely that the Saudi armed forces would be increased
significantly in strength in the near future.

     The army is the senior service and is largest in numbers as well as most
influential in the military hierarchy and the government. One of the two
assistant ministers of defense and aviation and the chief of staff of the
armed forces invariably have been army generals. The military assistant
minister is the principal adviser to the king and the government on military
affairs; the other deals with civil aviation. The air force is second in
seniority among the three services but has gained in importance as its
aircraft and missilery have been updated to make it the first line of defense
against hostile aircraft. The navy was still a small coastal force in early
1984, but with the construction of two major naval bases and the scheduled
delivery of four missile-carrying frigates in the mid-1980s, the junior
service will also gain stature in the overall Saudi defense picture. A problem
shared by the three services, as well as by the civilian economy, is the
constant and growing need for trained technicians to operate and maintain the
technologically advanced equipment and weapons that have already been
delivered to the Saudi armed forces.

     The United States and Saudi Arabia have maintained a special military
relationship since the late 1940s. At first the United States provided
assistance in the form of weapons and equipment and of advisers to assist in
the organization and training of the Saudi forces. Later, when oil revenues
increased, the Saudis purchased the necessary weapons and equipment and paid
for the services of military and civilian advisers and trainers, as well as
for the services of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which has acted
as contracting agent for the Saudi government in the modernization of its
forces. The Saudis have also purchased weapons and equipment from several
other countries, and British and French training missions have been in the
kingdom for many years. Because Saudi officials have been sensitive to reports
of Western military personnel stationed in the country, the numbers have been
kept relatively low by American, British, and French authorities, but large
numbers of civilians-contracted to corporations-have worked in the kingdom,
training Saudi personnel and maintaining all manner of weapons and equipment.
Although the number of trained Saudis continued to grow, so too did the need
for more, indicating that self-sufficiency in technically trained personnel
was still well into the future.

     The legal system of the kingdom is based on Islamic religious law, that
is, sharia. Since the House of Saud emerged into prominence in the eighteenth
century, it has been associated with Wahhabism, a puritannical Sunni Muslim
movement that was a key element in the reemergence of the House of Saud in the
first third of the twentieth century and has played a significant role in
governing the kingdom. Wahhabism teaches very strict adherence to the Quran,
which is accepted as the word of God, and to the sharia, which is the law of
the land. Both civil and criminal cases are handled in sharia courts.
Punishments meted out to lawbreakers often have been considered harsh;
flogging has been a common corporal punishment. Despite criticism of their
system from outside, however, the Saudis usually take pride in being a
law-abiding society that has a low incidence of crime and, reportedly, a low
incidence of imprisonment for political reasons.

Armed Forces in Government and Society

Military Background

     The kingdom was founded in 1932, some 30 years after Abd al Aziz had
begun the reconquest of the Arabian Peninsula for the House of Saud, which in
the eighteenth century had established hegemony over many of the tribes of the
peninsula but had lost it during the nineteenth century. In his early
twenties, leading a small band of tribal warriors, Abd al Aziz captured Riyadh
in January 1902. Riyadh, which had been the seat of the earlier Al Saud
Dynasty, was of great symbolic importance to the young Saudi chieftain who
then used it as a center of operations against the Al Rashid lineage, his
strongest rival. The charismatic leadership of Abd al Aziz, plus the militant
puritanism of his followers, led to victory after victory for the House of
Saud, which by 1906 had extended its control over the central Najd region (see
fig. 5).

     The Islam of the forces led by Abd al Aziz was based on Wahhabism (see
Glossary), the creed of the Saudis since the eighteenth century, which was
spread rapidly by missionaries sent out by Abd al Aziz to win over beduin
tribal leaders and secure their loyalty to him and to his cause. Specifically,
he sought the establishment of Ikhwan (brotherhood) communities in which the
nomadic beduin tribesmen would settle and adopt a sedentary way of life. The
first Ikhwan community was founded in 1912 at Al Artawiyah, an oasis north of
Riyadh. Abd al Aziz supplied seed, farm tools, and money, as well as arms and
ammunition, as each such community was established. Mosques, schools, and
dwellings were also built for those agreeing to settle down to the community
life. In return for his investment, Abd al Aziz received the pledge of the
tribal leaders to supply him with warriors to fight the battles in his
continuing efforts to unite the peninsula.

     The Ikhwan became dedicated, even fanatical followers of the young Saudi
leader who, at times, needed all of his talents to keep his fierce warriors
fighting under his banner. Acquiescence to discipline was not an Ikhwan
virtue, but Abd al Aziz was an uncommon leader who was able to use to his own
advantage the power of the brotherhood and its prowess in battle. As the
Ikhwan reputation for utter ruthlessness spread fear through the ranks of
enemies and potential enemies, the House of Saud's territories and fortunes
increased markedly. By 1913 an outlet to the sea had been secured between
Kuwait and Qatar, providing an income from coastal shipping for the first
time and also providing new taxable citizens. The desert warfare carried on
by Abd al Aziz and his Ikhwan in the early twentieth century was much the
same as it had been for generations or even centuries. In The House of Saud
by David Holden and Richard Johns, a 1915 battle between the Saudis and the
Rashidis is described as "a completely traditional desert affray of bedouin
horsemen, camel cavalry and thousands of barefoot tribesmen battling hand to
hand among the sand dunes."

     Although part of the Ottoman Empire, most of the peninsula had been
almost a world unto itself until the tribes were drawn into larger outside
conflicts during World War I. Relying on the Ottomans to maintain stability
in the Middle East before the war, Britain had earlier disdained a pact with
Abd al Aziz, but after the declaration of war against Turkey in October 1914,
the British sought an alliance with the House of Saud. By a treaty signed in
December 1914, the British recognized Saudi independence from the Ottoman
Empire and presented Abd al Aziz with 1,000 rifles, a supply of ammunition,
and 20,000 British pounds. A subsequent agreement in 1915 gave the Saudi
leader a monthly subsidy of 5,000 British pounds plus a gift of 3,000 rifles
and a supply of ammunition. As his part of the deal, Abd al Aziz promised to
keep 4,000 men in the field against the house of Rashid, which was associated
with the Ottomans. The British-Saudi pact continued throughout World War I.

     The greatest Ikhwan success came with the conquest of the Hijaz after
the war, but their bold exploits also marked the beginning of their end.
When Hussein, the Hashimite ruler of the Hijaz, entered into military
negotiations with the Rashidis, Abd al Aziz' reaction was swift and harsh.
He sent the Ikhwan against the Rashidi stronghold at Hail, which was
captured without too much difficulty in 1921. Emboldened by their success,
however, the warriors disregarded orders and crossed the border into
Transjordan. The raiding and plundering of their Hashimite ally aroused
the British, who mounted a counterattack that defeated the Ikhwan force.

     Recognizing that the wild forays of the Ikhwan could only be a constant
irritant and source of danger to his leadership, Abd al Aziz began to form a
more conventional and more disciplined army. Later, when the fanatical
soldiers of God-as the Ikhwan thought of themselves-repeatedly moved without
orders against any targets of their choosing, the Saudi leader used his new
army to bring the recalcitrant warriors back under his control. Having
reestablished his command authority, he then occupied Mecca and laid siege
to Jiddah and Medina, which were occupied by the end of 1925. Upon the
capitulation of the Hashimite kingdom of the Hijaz, Abd al Aziz had extended
Saudi hegemony over the greater part of the peninsula, excepting only the
Yemen in the southwest and the British protectorates along the Persian Gulf
coast.

     Having acquired such a tremendous area, Abd al Aziz was then faced
with the task of ruling it, but even before he could properly organize for
that task, he had to deal with the once more rebellious Ikhwan, who had been
so instrumental in all of his conquests. The militant puritans of the
brotherhood feared that Western-influenced modernization would dilute the
fundamentals of Islam that had been their raison d'etre since the beginning
of their association with the House of Saud. Disenchanted, the Ikhwan
leadership revolted against Abd al Aziz, who took to the field in person
to lead his army, which was now supported by four British aircraft (flown
by British pilots) and a fleet of 200 military vehicles (symbols of the
modernization that the Ikhwan abhorred). By January 1930 the Ikhwan had been
eliminated as an organized military force.

     A short time later the forces of Abd al Aziz were again engaged, this
time against the Yemenis. The border with Yemen was poorly defined, resulting
in a series of incidents in late 1931 and early 1932. Abd al Aziz claimed that
his territory had been invaded by the forces of the Yemeni leader, Imam
(see Glossary) Yahya. The Yemenis were driven back in the spring of 1932, but
negotiations for a settlement dragged on into 1934. Abd al Aziz, who in the
interim had made himself king, decided on further military action to
resolve the stalemate and sent his eldest living son, Saud, at the head of
an army that soon occupied much Yemeni territory. The renewed military
action attracted the attention of European powers that were interested in
maintaining the status quo on the Arabian Peninsula. Britain, France, and
Italy sent warships to the port of Al Hudaydah on the Red Sea but,
unintimidated, the Saudi king ordered his troops to hold their positions
pending the outcome of negotiations that had opened in At Taif. Magnanimous
in victory, as was his custom, Abd al Aziz restored most of the occupied
territory to Yahya.

     The remainder of the 1930s was a time of consolidation for the kingdom;
no further military ventures ensued, nor did the existing forces expand to
any significant degree. The king allowed the remnants of the Ikhwan to
regroup as a beduin militia that became known as the White Army because
its members wore traditional white robes rather than military uniforms. For
Abd al Aziz the White Army counterbalanced the small regular army, providing
hoped-for internal stability. In addition to the two parallel armies, the
Royal Guard, a battalion of absolutely loyal officers and troops, constituted
another lightly armed force, but its mission consisted entirely of protecting
the monarch and the growing royal family.

     Abd al Aziz continued to operate as if the kingdom were his personal
fiefdom and its revenue his personal income, albeit at the time it was a
relatively meager income. By the end of the decade, however, the country's
oil wealth was becoming apparent, and Abd al Aziz began to court American
oil interests, somewhat to the chagrin of the British, who had been active
in the area for decades. In 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared
that the defense of Saudi Arabia was of vital interest to the United States,
thus making the kingdom eligible for lend-lease assistance. By the end of
World War II, British power and influence in Arab affairs had begun to wane,
and during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States emerged as the
dominant Western power on the Arabian Peninsula.

     Although favoring the Allies, Abd al Aziz had maintained neutrality
during most of World War II, but in early 1945 he abandoned his neutral
posture and declared war against Germany. Saudi Arabia did not participate
as a belligerent, but by virtue of its declaration of war it became
eligible to participate in the founding of the United Nations (UN) and was
represented at the organizational meetings in San Francisco by Prince Faisal
bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud (later King Faisal). In addition to joining the UN
as a founding member in 1945, Abd al Aziz was also instrumental in forming the
League of Arab States (Arab League) during the same year. In 1948 he sent a
token battalion of noncombat troops to participate in the first Arab-Israeli
war. The great desert warrior and founder of the kingdom died in 1953. Abd al
Aziz was succeeded by Saud, but the son had none of the charisma or leadership
capabilities of the father.

     Faisal was selected by the royal family to be crown prince under his
brother Saud, and when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy, Saud
turned over all executive powers to his younger brother. Later Saud resumed
the executive powers, but his reign was fatally flawed, and in 1964 he was
deposed (see The "Interlude" of Saud, ch. 1). Faisal succeeded his brother
in an era of Middle East turmoil that had seen several crowned heads
challenged by nationalist revolutionaries. Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt,
after deposing King Faruk in 1952, had become a spokesman for republicanism
among the Arabs and, at that time, vied for power and influence with Saud
and other Arab monarchs. Nasser's broadcasts against the royal regimes and
his calls for nationalist revolutions became more inflammatory after Egypt's
war against Israel, France, and Britain in late 1956. A few months later
King Hussein of Jordan, threatened by Syrian forces on his northern border
and claiming that his government was being undetermined by the exhortations
of Nasser, called on Saud for direct military assistance. Saud immediately
sent a small armed unit to Amman to demonstrate his support for his fellow
Arab monarch, and the show of force was sufficient to avert hostilities.

     In 1958, when Saud was compelled to transfer executive power to Faisal,
the latter began to seek ways to develop the kingdom's military forces
despite its precarious economic situation. The crown prince's efforts to
build a modern military force took on added impetus in mid-1958 when
King Faisal of Iraq, most of his royal family, and many of his followers
were killed during a violent military coup d'etat. The shock of Iraqi
events faded, but Faisal's attention to the necessity for better armed
forces continued; in the early 1960s Egyptian intervention in the civil war
in neighboring Yemen provided ample proof of the importance of reliable
Saudi armed forces.

     In September 1962 an army coup led by Colonel Abdullah al Sallah
against Imam Muhammad al Badr in Yemen started a civil war that was not
finally resolved until 1970. Sallal was supported by Nasser's Egypt and a
group known as Free Yemenis in the area that is now the People's
Democratic Republic of Yemen (Yemen [Aden]) but that was then under British
control. Imam Badr fled north, rallying loyal tribes and seeking support from
Saudi Arabia. Within a short time the supporters of Imam Badr-royalists-were
engaged in combat against the rebels of Yemen, the Free Yemenis, and troops
sent from Egypt by Nasser. Crown Prince Faisal, who had given back the
executive authority to his brother, the king, in January 1961, decided that
the events in Yemen left him no choice but to resume that authority as prime
minister. Saud concurred, and Faisal took over the planning of what to do
about Egyptian encroachment on the peninsula. Faisal announced his country's
support for Imam Badr, moved Saudi troops to the border, and began assisting
the royalists. In making his decision Faisal had the unquestioned loyalty
of the armed forces and the White Army, the consensus of the royal family
and the religious leaders, and the backing of the United States.

     In November 1962 Egyptian aircraft overflew Saudi territory, dropping
bombs on border villages. At Faisal's request, the United States dispatched a
squadron of F-100 jet fighters to Saudi Arabia as a display of force and
unity. Faisal preferred to avoid war against Egypt if possible, but
Saudi-Egyptian relations had reached a dangerously low point, and diplomatic
ties were broken. In mid-1963 the Yemeni combatants, the Saudis, and the
Egyptians agreed to a UN-sponsored disengagement, but the agreement did not
hold, and hostilities were resumed before the end of the year. Faisal replaced
Saud as king in 1964 and, faced with the continuing hostilities in Yemen, he
decided on a major modernization of his military forces. Faisal called on the
United States and Britain to assist him in developing his armed forces. The
Egyptians and the Yemeni republicans were supported by the Soviet Union. The
warring among Arab states had become as much a concern to the superpowers as
it was to the combatants.

     Faisal and Nasser met in Jiddah in 1965 to sign an agreement known as the
Jiddah Accord, by which the Saudis would cease their support for the Yemeni
royalists and the Egyptians would withdraw their troops, but the agreement was
not implemented, and the fighting dragged on at a reduced level. The Yemeni
question was discussed after the June 1967 War between Israel and various Arab
states, when the Arab leaders held a summit conference at Khartoum, but the
civil war continued into 1970.

     During the June war against Israel, Faisal had sent a Saudi brigade to
Jordan to bolster King Hussein's war effort. The brigade was still in Jordan
at the time of the October 1973 War launched by Egypt and Syria against
Israel, during which another brigade was dispatched to Syria to lend support
to the Syrian army. Neither of the Saudi brigades was involved in combat.

     In the early 1960s, even before he became king, Faisal had instituted a
reorganization of the country's security structure, as part of which he named
two of his half brothers to top leadership positions. Fahd was appointed
minister of interior, and Sultan became minister of defense and aviation.
Another half brother, Abdallah, was named commander of the National Guard.
(The White Army was renamed National Guard in 1962.) Sultan and Abdallah
retained the same positions when Khalid was named to succeed the assassinated
Faisal in 1975, and Fahd was named crown prince. Another brother, Nayif,
replaced Fahd as minister of interior. When Fahd succeeded Khalid in 1982,
Sultan continued as minister of defense and aviation and became second deputy
prime minister. Abdallah continued as head of the National Guard and became
crown prince and deputy prime minister. Fahd, Sultan, and Nayif are three of
the seven prominent Sudairi brothers-sons of Abd al Aziz from the same mother,
Hassa bint Ahmad Al Sudairi.