Robert Baer

Robert Baer is a former CIA officer who has been courted by both the left and the right. After leaving CIA he worked for CBS as a consultant, but now appears as a pundit for CNN and Fox News. With the rise of anti-Saudi sentiment, especially in recent years after Michael Moore's film, he has commented on the subject on various news programs. He presents himself as an expert on Saudi Arabia although he is not known to have visited Saudi Arabia. The recent hollywood film Syriana is an adaptation of his book on Saudi Arabia, See no Evil.

Here's a sample of his views, in an article he authored for The Guardian called "This deadly virus":

There is a new plague on the streets of London, the pathological virus of the cult of suicide bombing. The 7 July suicide bombings were a searing wake-up call for the British government and the British people. I can't say I was surprised.

In fact I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time.

Suicide bombing is not new. I have spent my whole life studying suicide terrorism and the communities that glorify this cult of martyrdom. ...

Suicide bombing is a weapon of terror. English friends joke about getting the 'Death Tube' home but when I was in London earlier this week I could not help but notice how one of my favourite cities was starting to look like some of the war-torn places I was stationed in by the CIA. The fear is palpable.

How can you fight suicide terrorism in Britain?

The first thing we have to do is understand the nature of our enemy. We are continually looking for the one foreign, turbaned, mastermind who we secretly hope will be responsible for everything. Kill him and our nightmare is over.

Cult of the Suicide Bomber

Baer was the main presenter in Cult of the Suicide Bomber.

On Lockerbie

In August 2009, Baer told the Sunday Mail that Abdelbaset Al Megrahi would have seen his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing overturned if his appeal had gone ahead:

"There is hard evidence of other nations - Iran particularly - being responsible for this atrocity.

"The CIA knew this almost from the moment the plane exploded. This decision to free Megrahi was about protecting the integrity of your justiciary because the appeal papers prove Iran was involved.

"That doesn't mean Megrahi is innocent but had it been presented at Camp Zeist, there would never have been a conviction. I knew this information back then so you can rest assured both MI5 and MI6 knew.

References, Resources and Contact

Resources

• Re-Inventing Saudi Arabia: The View from Washington, The Daily Star, January 17, 2004
• A Buzzflash Interview with Robert Baer, Buzzflash, September 12, 2003
• Interview with Robert Baer, BBC Three
• Panorama Profile, BBC News