“The Kingdom” (the movie) portrays the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with as much realism as Tombstone, AZ depicts the modern American West.  The fact that it was filmed in Phoenix, LA and Washington DC might account for some of this. 

It’s a great action film…..and if that’s what you like (I do), you’ll have a ball.  If you’re looking for some insight into the realities of KSA, you won’t find it here.

Just for starters, “American compounds” housing dozens of Americans and their families, have long since ceased to exist (since at least 1985).  Even in their heyday, the only truly “American” compound of any size was the ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company….now officially known as SAUDI ARAMCO) compound in Dhahran in the Eastern Province. 

Although the place is still open for business, at least 90% of current employees are other than American and other than Western (although a little known secret is that the important “strings” are still pulled from Houston).

Wahhabism has had a bad press.  By this I mean that the Western media has condemned it for the wrong reasons.  It has also misrepresented its true status within the Kingdom.

The fact is the Wahhabi movement continues to exist at the pleasure of the royal family.  Were the royals ever to be really threatened in any way by the religious “right”, they would be exterminated within days if not hours.  And everyone knows it. 

The royals portray the Wahhabis as a powerful element within the Kingdom with which they must deal.  But this is simply not true.  This illusion was created and is kept alive as a ruse to baffle and confuse the West.  That the Wahhabis have any more strength or influence in the Kingdom than, say, the LAPD has in Los Angeles, is a gross exaggeration of the reality.  

The myth of a powerful Wahhabi movement at “odds” with modernization and “sharing’ political power in the Kingdom with the royals is just that – a myth.  I grant that this was the case in the early days of the Kingdom, but it hasn’t been the case for a long time now.

It’s all “lip service”, smoke and mirrors now.

Were Osama Bin Laden ever to come to power in the Kingdom (a laughable proposition), he would do away not only with the royals but would also hunt down and dispose of every single Wahhabi he could find.

Another myth about the Kingdom is that it is fabulously wealthy.  This is pure fantasy although I admit it depends on how you define “wealth”.  That there are wealthy Saudi families and individuals can’t be denied…..but there are wealthy Bolivian families and individuals too. (The Patinios – the Tin Kings -  for one).  Name any tin-horn country in any continent and you’ll find rich people there (don’t forget Imelda Marcos’s 2000 pairs of shoes).

In fact, the “Kingdom” is simply another 3d world country with not much of a future, I’m afraid.  That there are billions of dollars in oil revenue entering the country almost daily is true, but what is also true is that most of it is used up almost immediately to pay for all the conveniences of modern life.  Since hardly a single item is actually produced or manufactured in the Kingdom, that means that all that “wealth” leaves the Kingdom almost as soon as it’s deposited in banks. 

If the wealth of a country is defined as the “cash” that is flowing in and out, then I guess KSA is a wealthy country.  But this is a very narrow and unsatisfying definition of wealth in my estimation.  If a broader definition of wealth is used, KSA is actually an embarrassingly poor country.

And so on.  This is the reality (or a small part of it), none of which is even hinted at in the movie.  Just so you know.