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Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy USMC and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East

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At the beginning of "Arabian Knight" a State Department official is quoted as saying that "Bill Eddy was probably the nearest thing the United States had to a Lawrence of Arabia." I have never had a high opinion of T.E. Lawrence, based on his numerous self-promotional actions; his openly racist statements made in his "classic," - "Seven Pillars of Wisdom;" to his essential dishonesty, as confirmed by historians such as David Fromkin. Based on the excellent biography of Eddy by Lippman, I would consider such a comparison an insult to the memory of Eddy, who was the antithesis of so many of Lawrence's character flaws. The one characteristic they shared was an outsider's perspective on Saudi Arabia during its formative period.

Bill Eddy was born in Sidon, Lebanon, in 1896, the son of missionary parents. He became fluent in the street Arabic patois of his childhood playmates. This was one talent that served him well throughout his life. Upon his death in 1962, he was buried in a cemetery in Sidon, and along with his family members, are the only non-Arabs buried there. Eddy's life was eventful, with several key junctures with critical points in American history.

For the first 100 pages Lippman establishes Eddy's bona fides as the quintessential American patriot and man of action. Immediately after graduating from Princeton in 1917, he joined the Marine Corps, and saw action in the battles at Belleau Wood and the St. Mihiel salient, in France, in the First World War. Towards the very end of the war he was struck down by the Spanish influenza, which killed more people than all the casualties in the "Great War." As a result, he almost died in an American military hospital; he ultimately recovered, but walked with a limp for the rest of his life. After the war he spent some time at the newly founded American University in Cairo, but eventually accepted the position of president of Hobart College in New York State for family reasons. He spent much of the inter-war period there, but tired of managing academic squabbles, and returned to Cairo, in government service, just prior to WW II. As an intelligence officer he was soon posted to Tangiers, in Morocco, which Lippman says had much of the intrigue and duplicity that were depicted in the movie "Casablanca." The author states that based on Eddy's intelligence assessments, delivered personally to the Allied High Command, Operation "Torch", the invasion of North Africa in 1942, was given the go-ahead.

The core of the book is the next 100 pages. While WW II still raged, the political leadership in Washington was formulating the structure of the post-war world. One component of this would be to recognize the importance of the Kingdom, as oil wealth would help transform it from one of the world's poorest countries. Eddy was sent to Jeddah in 1944, as a "Special Assistant" to the American resident. His Arabic language ability was an important component in establishing a good working relationship and friendship with King Abdul Aziz. But so to was a basic attitude of treating "the natives" in a manner of equality and respect, unlike numerous of his compatriots. Eddy was the sole interpreter, trusted by both parties, when President Roosevelt met King Abdul Aziz on the USS Quincy, on the Great Bitter Lake, in the very waning days of the war. Eddy was one of the most effective advocates of the mutual benefits of a strong American-Saudi relationship. He was again tapped to be the American who would establish diplomatic relationships with the most reclusive area of the Arabian Peninsula - the Yemen. In 1946 he went to San'a to meet Imam Yahya. It took him three weeks to cover the 100 miles from the coast by horseback.

In the bibliography Lippman fittingly lists Dean Acheson's "Present at the Creation," an appropriate theme for Eddy's life. Not only was he a driving force behind the creation of a strong American - Saudi bilateral relationship, he was also a central force in the creation of the CIA from the components of the OSS, the organization he worked for during WW II. The later part of the book covers the bureaucratic fighting in Washington, which Eddy participated in, that established the CIA. Since Eddy preferred, and felt he was more effective, not working as a self-promoter, but as a man of reticence, it was difficult for Lippman to determine the full extent of Eddy's role in the overthrow of the democratic government of Syria. This coup, along with the CIA's overthrow of the democratic government of Iran, in 1953, could have been explored further by Lippman, to underscore the continued mistrust of the American government by the peoples of the Middle East, and why inquisitive Americans are often accused of being in the CIA.

Eddy was also an advocate of the Arab point of view concerning the creation of the State of Israel. Lippman does an admirable job in negotiating this sensitive, emotional subject with as neutral a point of view as possible. I felt he failed only once, when he said: "The Arabs, by clinging to their absolutist position and refusing to yield any land to the Zionists, forfeited the political high ground, to their lasting detriment." (p228) Clearly they had already yielded much land, and had accepted substantial immigration; they simply did not want to become a minority in their own country - an issue on a far lesser scale that concerns Americans today about immigration into their own country. By in large, having lost this struggle for influence, Eddy and his family retreated to his origins - Lebanon, where he worked for Aramco, and almost certainly the CIA, to the end of his days.

The book has a stellar graphic design, essential maps, numerous photos from Eddy's life and a solid bibliography. Lippman has done a wonderful service in writing an excellent biography on the life of one American who was deeply involved in numerous important events in American history - from the Western Front of WW I, to Operation Torch in WW II, to the establishment of the American - Saudi relationship as well as the creation of the CIA. It is an essential read for anyone exploring those "present at the creation" of the current world.

As a former Eurocentric American, this book is a terrific introduction to what often seems our love/hate relationship with the Middle East. With striking, straight-forward prose, Thomas Lippman makes history a personal and urgent proposition for every reader. Lippman breathes life into this history through the compelling human story of Colonel Bill Eddy. As a reader, I particularly admire the portrayal of Eddy's vigorous and astute role in defining relationships with Saudi Arabia, and later, his work during the Truman administration to create a viable and autonomous intelligence community. With ARABIAN KNIGHT, Thomas Lippman truly delivers to the reader a remarkable story of an American writ large in the world.

An apt conjugation of author and subject makes for a revealing work on the bases for the United States' position in the Middle East. Lippman is a former Middle East bureau chief of the Washington Post and author of four books on the interrelated topics of the Arab world, Islam, and American foreign policy as well as a regular commentator on today's swirling, often violent and threatening developments in the Middle East. His subject of U. S. Marine Corps Colonel Bill Eddy was born in Lebanon, spoke fluent Arabic, fought in World War I, and was a noted scholar of English literature. During World War II, he served as a spymaster in North Africa in preparation for the Allied landings; a role which gave him position and influence in the formation of the CIA. From his incomparable experience and position, he facilitated the historic meeting of F.D.R. with Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz in 1945. This meeting was a cornerstone for the wide-ranging developing and the complex current situation of the U.S. in the region.

Eddy's unique blend of roots in the Arab world, talents and interests, and commitment to the United States made him invaluable in the critical circumstances and often deceptive appearances of the Middle East in the World War II era and its aftermath. After World War II, American foreign policy people and politicians focused on the Soviet Union and the related spread of Communism as the greatest threat. As early as 1947, however, Eddy advised that it was not the spread of Communism which should be the greatest concern in American relations in the Middle East, but the "rise of Islamic militancy." These are Lippman's words for elements Eddy identified in countries across the Middle East; which elements have come to be termed "Islamic fundamentalism" especially as manifest by jihadists. Believing Israel would be defeated by an alliance of Arab states, Eddy cautioned U.S. policymakers against a hard and fast identification with the fledgling Jewish state. While his belief that Israel would be militarily defeated was wrong, his broader views about the damage to the U.S. position and interests throughout the Middle East and emerging Islamic militancy were prescient.

The early years of Eddy's adventurous career in World War I and spying for the North Africa invasion are covered dramatically and concretely. Most of the text though (about half) covers his more involved and delicate work in laying the grounds for the meetings of U.S. and Saudi Arabia heads of state and subsequent developments in other parts of the Middle East and ensuing American politics and diplomacy. Thus Lippmann's biography is of particular interest to today's readers. Eddy's activities are like a window onto the origins of U.S. relationships and policies throughout the Middle East, especially centered on Saudi Arabia and oil. And as such, the activities shed much light on how the U.S. position has become undermined and how policies have gone awry or become counterproductive.

Colonel Bill Eddy's son John has been a personal friend of mine for years and I knew nothing of his father Bill. So I was surprised and entertained by this book.
Very close to a "page turner" it documents the history of American interests in the Middle East. Colonel Eddy's unique talents, fluent in many arabic dialects, personable, and well liked by arabs, enabled him to bring together President Roosevelt and the King of Saudi Arabia, thus starting the long term relationship between the two countries.
Eddy served as special ambassador in the Middle East for a number of years while still holding his commission as a Marine Officer. He was involved in the beginning of the CIA. His being stationed in North Africa at the beginning of World War II, facilitated the American landing there and the success of General Patton's campaign.
Extreemly interesting book, especially for history buffs.

This is a most interesting exposition of the importance of the role played by individuals in the field of international relations. Mr. Lippman, a specialist in Middle Eastern political history, focuses on the career USMC Col. Bill Eddy, born in Sidon (Lebanon),the son of Presbyterian missionaries, who became a major player and adviser to the U.S. government from the earliest contacts in the 1920s with the nations (Saudi Arabia in particular)that were newly formed out of the shambles of the Ottoman Empire through World War II and into the Cold War. A subtext is the importance of experience of American religious missionaries and their offspring in the area during the formative years of the United States' relations . This book will be an important addition to the library of anyone either expert or merely interested in the history of American political, military and commercial relations with the still relatively young nations of that region.

Thomas Lippman's new book contains fascinating vignettes from the life of an important participant in the development of American policies in the Middle east during the crucial decade 1940-1950. In that period, which included both World War II and the turmoil surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948, Colonel William Eddy served as a vital official link between the US government and Saudi Arabia. As one of the few fluent Arabic speakers at senior levels of the OSS and subsequently the State Department, the Lebanon-born Eddy also had many unofficial but influential contacts throughout the Arab world who gave him unique insights into political issues in the region. The book gives many examples of his prescience about the consequences of the establishment of Israel, including the prospect of extreme radicalization of various Islamic groupings. Anyone interested in this period of Middle Eastern politics in general, and Arab-American relations in particular, will find this quite a worthwhile read.

Be advised, though, that it really is a collection of vignettes, with fragile connecting threads. Colonel Eddy spent a good part of his professional life in intelligence work, and was circumspect regarding the records he left behind. In addition, despite the author's valiant attempts to provide brief contexts for Eddy's activities, the period is altogether too rich for these summaries to capture the complexities. Two or three pages, however well written, to cover the background of revolutions in Egypt and Iraq just doesn't work. In trying to provide both a successful biography of a central but reticent figure, and a historical outline of the relations between the US and Arab states in a turbulent period, the author fails to do a very satisfying job of either.

That said, why is this a worthwhile read? Because Lippman provides insight into the activities of an outspokenly "pro-Arab" figure at an important historical juncture, while accepting Eddy's sincerity in pursuing what he saw as his country's national interests. Lippman does not hesitate to point out where the assessments of Eddy and his colleagues were wrong, but he does not obsess about ulterior motivations. It is clear that the author does not entirely understand or share Eddy's attitudes, but with rare exceptions he refrains from amateur psychoanalysis. As a result, the reader gets an unusually objective description of both the remarkable William Eddy and a historically important period for relations between the United States and the Arab countries of the Middle East.