frontline: house of saud: a chronology - the house of saud | PBS: "By 1945, the U.S. urgently needs oil facilities to help supply forces fighting in the Second World War. Meanwhile, security is at the forefront of King Abd al-Aziz's concerns. President Franklin Roosevelt invites the king to meet him aboard the U.S.S. Quincy, docked in the Suez Canal. The two leaders cement a secret oil-for-security pact: The king guarantees to give the U.S. secure access to Saudi oil and in exchange the U.S. will provide military assistance and training to Saudi Arabia and build the Dhahran military base. Also discussed at the meeting is the issue of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. King Abd al-Aziz acknowledges the plight of the Jews, but argues taking part of Palestine is unfair to the Palestinians. In a letter to the king that Roosevelt sends after their meeting, the president writes: 'I will take no action which might prove hostile to the Arab people.' But Roosevelt dies shortly after sending this letter and Vice President Harry Truman becomes president." Sometimes I get a bit tired of hearing the commy-libs spout off about the special relationship between SA and Bush. Surprisingly PBS gets the complete record.