The King of Saudi Arabia is Dead

This is definitely one of those good news, bad news situations. The bad news is that King Fahd of Saudi Arabia is dead. This means that a major stabilizing force in the Middle East is gone, and now the oil-rich kingdom will be facing a power struggle for a new balance. The good news is that Prince Abdullah - a long-time friend to America and the man who owes President George H. W. Bush quite a lot for Gulf War I - has been chosen to be king and will be crowned on Wednesday. We are likely in for some rocky times with our shaky ally as the new king consolidates power, but in the end this may be a much better situation for American and the War on Terror. We shall see if Prince Abdullah remains a friend, but I suspect he will.