page_title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations
section_title: Operation Southern Watch
hierarchical_section_title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations / History / Operation Southern Watch
caption_attribution_description: President George W. Bush delivers remarks to the press inside the Marine One hangar at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas following his meeting with the Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 25, 2002.
context_page_description: Saudi Arabia–United States relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, which began in 1933 when full diplomatic relations were established and became formalized in the 1951 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement. Despite the differences between the two countries—an ultraconservative Islamic absolute monarchy, and a secular constitutional republic—the two countries have been allies. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have close and strong relations with senior members of the Saudi Royal Family.
  Ever since the modern US–Saudi relationship began in 1945, the United States has been willing to overlook many of the kingdom's more controversial aspects as long as it maintained oil production and supported U.S. national security policies. Since World War II, the two countries have been allied in opposition to Communism, in support of stable oil prices, stability in the oil fields and oil shipping of the Persian Gulf, and stability in the economies of Western countries where Saudis have invested.
context_section_description: Since the Gulf War, the U.S. had a continued presence of 5,000 troops stationed in Saudi Arabia—a figure that rose to 10,000 during the 2003 conflict in Iraq. Operation Southern Watch enforced the no-fly zones over southern Iraq set up after 1991, and the country's oil exports through the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf are protected by the US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.
  The continued presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia was one of the stated motivations behind the September 11 attacks, as well as the Khobar Towers bombing. In 2003, the U.S. withdrew most of its troops from Saudi Arabia, though one unit still remains.
caption: U.S. President George W. Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Crawford, Texas, 25 April 2002
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