Powell Hopes Americans Stay in Saudi Despite Risks

Of course he does. But not for the reason he states here.

No, the real reason is the overriding interest the US State dept has in Saudi. Ever heard of the revolving door?
Quote: '``It's good old fashioned `I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine.' You have former U.S. officials, former presidents, aides to the current president, a long line of people who are tight with the Saudis, people who are the pillars of American society and officialdom,'' said Lewis.

``So for that and other reasons no one wants to alienate the Saudis, and we are willing to basically ignore inconvenient truths that might otherwise cause our blood to boil. We basically look away,'' he said. ``Folks don't like to stop the gravy train.'

For more on the Revolving Door read this book review of "Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude" by Robert Baer.
A quote: 'we encouraged them to purchase more military hardware than they needed. We purposely overlooked the character of the ethical (and sometimes indicted) agents who took bribes bigger than some countries’ revenues and called them “commissions). Our people joyously jumped into the revolving door culture of State Department, DOD, Agriculture, etc., turning into paid consultants to the Saudis or their interests, with hardly a missed paycheck.'

There's more than one reason the US is fighting terrorism. Not the least of those is keeping the Saudi oil leeches in power, at whatever cost.

Perhaps the invasion of Iraq was in part motivated by a desire to be less dependant on Saudi oil. Not so much to steal oil from Iraq, but to have a more stable, humane and perhaps even grateful supplier. But obviously, until that happens, the US appears bound hands and feet to the leeches. And the fact that anyone from State and major industry is guaranteed a cushy job, well, that doesn't exactly help.