Via Instapundit, Ed Lasky, a contributor to The American Thinker, posits in this article that Saudi Arabia has launched an undeclared war on President Bush in an effort to sabotage the long term success of America?s war on Islamic fascism. Mr. Lasky points out that President Bush has fundamentally altered the previous cozy relationship between the Saudi Royal Family and the Bush Family:

The terror attacks convinced George W. Bush that America?s approach to the Middle East needed to be drastically changed, to ensure America?s safety. His campaign to oust the Taliban from theocratic rule in Afghanistan and his defeat of Saddam Hussein sent a message to the Saudis that ?business as usual? was a thing of the past. In calling for liberalism throughout the Arab world and for the acceptance of other religions, Bush challenged the support structure of the Saudi royal family, whose legitimacy is predicated on their role as defender of Islam?s holy sites and propagator of the faith.
Much more importantly, in severing the ties that once bound, Bush II has declared that the ties of filial duty, which both animate and constrain the dynamics of the Saudi royal family, do not matter so much in his family. Not anymore, at least, no matter what the former appearances. In doing so, George Bush has become an apostate to the Saudis. It is not merely a matter of interests, but rather an issue of deep principle, fundamentally linked to their own way of life, and to their survival.
From the vantage point of the Saudis, Bush II is not just unreliable, but also a danger. He is a self-identified born-again Christian, and is closely allied with the religious wing of the Republican Party. In a theocratic nation which forbids the practice of Christianity, a leader linked to rival religion is anathema. In their eyes (as well as those of some of President Bush?s most ardent opponents) he may seem to be something of a theocrat himself, but from a longstanding historical rival religion.
When the President?s Christian moorings are combined with the exaggerated role that Jewish neo-cons supposedly have in the White House (once again the fevered imaginations of the Saudis bear some resemblance to those of the President?s most extreme domestic antagonists), trouble of the most fundamental sort looms for their regime. All along, the fanatic Wahabbi wing of the clergy has preached that a holy war exists with the West, and that accommodation with the infidels can only be a tactical pause in the eventual all-out war. From their perspective, it is easy to understand why George W. Bush — the Christian ?puppet of the Jews,? and thus the embodiment of Wahabbi nightmares — needs to be removed from office.

Mr. Lasky goes on to predict that the Saudis will attempt to use their power within the OPEC to increase energy prices that would create a lag on the U.S. economy, which would lead to voter disenchantment with President Bush in November. I am not convinced of the economic viability of that theory, but Mr. Lasky’s views on the Saudi Royal Family’s view toward President Bush appear to be on target.