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June 2, 2004
It should be obvious by
It should be obvious by now that the Saudis have a terrorist problem on their hands that is spiraling out of control. Also obvious is that this didn't just spring up overnight.
Over the weekend terrorists attacked a housing complex in Khobar. Twenty two people were killed, most of them employees of western oil companies. It is believed that Al Qaeda is behind the attack. Saudi security forces were evidentially sent in by helicopter, but waited overnight before storming the complex. At least three of the terrorists got away. As this writing I have seen no report that they have been captured or killed.
Fox News reports that the Saudis chased terrorists "linked to the bombing" throughout a mountainous region for twelve hours before finally killing them.
U.S lawmakers were furious, and have responded strongly in a series of statements on the TV talk shows.
Khobar is not some obscure city. As the Washington Times reported yesterday, "analysis said the attact at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil producing region had exposed glaring security gaps." Even worse, "This is not somebody planting a bomb and running off. this is large numbers of armed men running amok in a very large sity, which is unprecedented." said one expert quoted by the paper. For terrorists to operate in this manner they must have sypathizers among the populace.
This is the same city where the infamous Khobar Towers complex was bombed in 1996. The attack killed nineteen U.S. military personnel and wounded hundreds.
But we should not be surprised by any of this. The Saudis have been in denial about terrorism for some time now. They refused to believe for some time that fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists were Saudis. It took much convincing by us to get them to believe even that. Before that they actually believed that western guest workers were behind a series of domestic bombings, inventing the tale that western bootleggers were engaged in a turf war (see May 24 post for complete story).
The Saudis made a Faustian bargain with extremists a long time ago and it is coming back to haunt them. Just as the good Dr Faustus lost his soul to Mephastophilis, the Saudis are in danger of loosing their kingdom to Al Qaida. Many years ago the ruling family made a deal with their extremist Wahabist mullahs: "say what you want during your sermons, just leave us alone." They lavished money in fiddling new Mosques. However, the hate that was preached by their mullas took hold. Many Saudis as sympathetic to Osama and his cause.
It's not as if they weren't warned. We've been telling them for years that they need to change their ways. After the release of James Cottle, a Briton arrested in the "bootlegger" bombings mentioned above, Mary Martini, his ex-wife, said that both the British and Saudi governments "...were in denial that al Qaeda was operating in Saudi. All the while, cells became more organized."
Indeed they have been.
Posted by Tom at June 2, 2004 8:38 PM
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