Healthy bickering

The public bickering between American and Saudi officials over the investigation into the deaths of 19 American airmen could be healthy. American officials usually tiptoe around matters involving the royal family, in deference to the style it has chosen for its survival. But Saudi officials had stymied direct American access to witnesses of the Dhahran bombing. This put Washington in the untenable position of being unable to inquire into the deaths. Saudi acknowledgement of this requirement in a democratic society would help clear the air.

Unfortunately, the Saudis still seem to be marching to a different beat. The U.S. wants to find out the facts. The Saudis want to promote a particular theory -- that Iran sponsored a few Saudi Shiite terrorists. Officials are reluctant to concede that the deed may have been done by homegrown religious conservatives opposed to the Saudi-American connection.

The matter might be left unresolved if events were not carrying Saudi Arabia and the United States into ever closer mutual engagement. The United States, slow to conserve energy, needs more and more Saudi oil. The Saudis need U.S. patronage and protection. Even when they undertake a more independent policy -- for their own defense, for instance -- they do so with increasing reliance on Washington -- on its technology, spare parts, bases, arms and political will. That is how the 19 Americans came to be in Dhahran.

But American technology, culture and military presence offend the Saudi religious right.

-- The Washington Post