Going after a Saudi enclave is an interesting strategy for the terrorists. Obviously part of the message is, "We can operate in Saudi Arabia, don't help the West." For a long time I've been reading about why the Saudi government funded militant groups (out of fear they paid them off to keep them from destabilizing SA)- if we, the US, put too much pressure on SA (and the rest of the ME) to "deomcratize" itself, we might just destabilize the place. Our government did not understand the culture of Iraq, and now I worry that they don't get the whole region. These countries can't "loosen up" and turn more democratic without the real possibility that the region becomes something more like Iran, than some little laboratory for democracy. Democracy is nowhere near as likely as the myriad other possibilities.
.....................
Blast Shatters Housing Enclave in Saudi Capital
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: November 9, 2003
Associated Press
Rescue workers canvassed destroyed buildings in Riyadh this morning after an explosion in a residential compound in the Saudi capital.
Reuters
Heavy construction equipment was brought into the compound to assist in the rescue efforts.
AIRO, Sunday, Nov. 9 — Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, was rocked by a huge explosion just before midnight Saturday in what the country's Interior Ministry described as a terrorist attack against a residential compound.
The interior ministry reported that 11 people were killed in the attack.
nytimes.com |
