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Rating: 
Summary: Very revealing about the Royal Family's Insecurity
Review: He scores some debater points against Swartzkopf's memoirs, but they are of mundane importance. He did have one very interesting observation: that Swartzkopf's role was that of tactical execution, not strategy. The "hail marry" and the decision not to land the 1st marine division among others all came from Washington. Attempting to carve out some heroism for himself and the Saudi Royal family Khalid is very candid about how he spent his time in the war worrying about what his title was, that there would be no alcohol or female entertainers, and that Swartzkopf came to his office for meetings and not the other way around. He did successfully prove for the history books that he is indeed the "hero" of the great battle of Khafji. Thoughout the book he seems to repeat his obsession with the fact that every world-wide student of history knows Macarthur as the Korean War commander and Westmoreland as the Vietnam War commander, but few can mention the name of either's domestic counterpart. While this is a well written book and sheds a lot of light on Saudi perception of regional politics, I still think that historians will ask: "Khalid who?"
Rating: 
Summary: Desert Storm from the Saudi point of view
Review: I found this to be an immensely readable account of Desert Storm from the Saudi point of view, ... I was prepared for an egotistical, ham-handed account of how the Saudis won the war, with a little back up from other friendly countries-what I found was a far more balanced and perceptive accounting by a man who-even taken cum grano salis-performed an immensely difficult task. Yes, there was apple polishing on his own behalf, but I would encourage readers who may be tempted to snipe at the Saudi version of this story to question how Ameri-centric our own versions of Desert Storm are. Keep in mind that while we defeated Saddam militarily in six weeks of bombing and 100 hours of ground combat (I will leave it to others to debate who won the peace), the coalition did so only after six months of build up that without the considerable Saudi infrastructure-and checkbook-would have taken much longer.Yes, he does go into great detail about his efforts to remain-at least in terms of protocol-on par with Schwarzkopf (no easy task, given his personality!) but I never got the sense that Khaled believed it was for anything more than show-even as he acknowledged that the show was important. All the world was watching, and Saudi Arabia was in a difficult position in both living up to its self-appointed role as crucible of the Muslim world and requiring military help from a country that couldn't be more different from S.A. In fact, Khaled should be commended for his perceptiveness of just how important politics and show would be in this, the first war of the 10-minute news cycle, information age. For anyone who wants to understand Desert Storm, I would recommend first reading "The General's War," by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, then reading this book. I found reading each account of the Battle of Khafji side by side fascinating for each account's spin on facts.
Rating:
Summary: Desert Storm from the Saudi point of view
Review: What makes this book interesting is Prince Khalid. He speaks of how important it was for him to be descended from Ibn Saud, and how critical it has been for his country to place his family members in governing positions - completely unaware of the unflattering image he is revealing of his inflated ego. This book is an unusually good illustration of how someone who lives a pampered life can grow from a spoiled brat of a child into an impossible adult who cares more about his image and himself than the well-being of his charges or assigning credit where it is due. If wearing a uniform and driving around the desert in an air-conditioned Mercedes while your troops sweat it out in trenches...If avoiding the front lines or any dangerous area because you are "too important to be risked", if earning the title of General due to your family connections..if these things make you a warrior, then Prince Khalid fits the bill. But after reading this book, I think that his definition of warrior, i.e. this book/his life..illustrates that he has little understanding of what that word really means.
Rating:
Summary: This book is entertaining, but in an unexpected way...
Review: What makes this book interesting is Prince Khalid. He speaks of how important it was for him to be descended from Ibn Saud, and how critical it has been for his country to place his family members in governing positions - completely unaware of the unflattering image he is revealing of his inflated ego. This book is an unusually good illustration of how someone who lives a pampered life can grow from a spoiled brat of a child into an impossible adult who cares more about his image and himself than the well-being of his charges or assigning credit where it is due. If wearing a uniform and driving around the desert in an air-conditioned Mercedes while your troops sweat it out in trenches...If avoiding the front lines or any dangerous area because you are "too important to be risked", if earning the title of General due to your family connections..if these things make you a warrior, then Prince Khalid fits the bill. But after reading this book, I think that his definition of warrior, i.e. this book/his life..illustrates that he has little understanding of what that word really means.
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