Looks Like Colin Powell Will Need To Find Another Racquetball Partner

Saudi apologist and briber-in-chief Prince Bandar has resigned:

Why shuffle the diplomatic cards? To begin with, Bandar and Turki represent differing factions in the House of Saud. Bandar is the son of defense minister Prince Sultan, who has made millions doing business with the United States, and whose adherence to Wahhabism, the extremist Saudi brand of Islam, is said to be nominal. But Sultan and Bandar are Sudairis, offspring of Hussa bint Ahmad Al Sudairi, a favorite wife of the Saudi patriarch, Ibn

Saud. They have always been known as hard-liners, even when they are more concerned with finance than with faith. The incapacitated but reigning King Fahd is a Sudairi, as is Bandar's uncle, and the Sultan's brother, Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister. Nayef is the most extreme Wahhabi at the top of the heap and is considered the Darth Vader of global Islam.

Turki, notwithstanding his questionable associations, is a son of the late King Faisal, and therefore a member of a different faction, the Faisalids. The children of Faisal have always had a reputation as moderates being open to reform. Meanwhile, the figurehead ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, represents a separate line altogether--these things are common in polygamous families--and is believed to harbor a real distaste for Islamist extremism, which he believes divides Muslims and Arabs. One thing is certain: the radical Sudairis, to which Bandar belonged, hate him.

What does it mean--especially since this momentous event coincides with a new warning against terror attacks on Americans residing in the kingdom?

It could mean that something exceptionally compromising is about to be revealed about Bandar and his activities in the United States, although it is said he offered his resignation some time ago.

The number of American officials who were apparently "good friends" of Prince Bandar is a scandal in the making, particularly given his penchant for buying friendship.