Notes: George W. Bush is known to prefer to see the world in black and white terms. The Middle East conflict, however, is forcing him to add shades of gray to his black and white palette.

Last Thursday Bush met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. Reportedly the meeting was cordial with Abdullah liking the rural setting. Bush asked him to take a harder stance against terrorism. Abdullah told Bush that America's support for Israel was creating tensions in the Saudi-U.S. relationship and anger in the Middle East. Still, Abdullah claimed that Saudi Arabia would not use oil as a weapon as had been reported the day before in the New York Times.

Analysts agreed that the situation is that both Bush and Abdullah believe that the United States and Saudi Arabia need each other. Thus, the current relationship will continue. 04.28.02