Salon.com Wire Story: "Saudi Arabia's King Fahd sought to modernize his desert kingdom while balancing change against tribal tradition and orthodox Islam, but a stroke a decade ago left him a ruler in name only during tumultuous times for the world's biggest oil producer. His death Monday came as the Saudi government pursues an aggressive clampdown on Islamic terrorism and unprecedented reforms.

The portly, goateed Fahd inadvertently helped fuel the rise of Islamic extremism by making concessions to hard-liners in an effort to boost his Islamic credentials. But he also brought the kingdom closer to the United States and agreed to a step that enraged many conservatives: basing U.S. troops on Saudi soil after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait."

(Via Salon.)