Arab terrorists are at it again.

[Dinner]

Breaking news: A series of bombs went off in RIYADH, Saudi Arabia damaging a complex housing western workers. Here are the links for Fox, CNN, and BBC.

No word yet on casualties but it is clear the terrorists are going after civilians because the U.S. Military compounds are to hard of a target for cowardly Arab terrorists.

[Dinner]

Interestingly enough last week the CIA tipped off the Saudis about an eminent Al Qaeda bomb plot and several suspects were arrested along with hundreds of pounds of explosives. Apparently, this didn't prevent the terror plot.

[Pekka]

In Saudi Arabia.. doesn't surprise me much.

[Dinner]

Sadly, we have come to expect this sort of activities from Wahabists.

[Dis]

I"m so glad we are leaving Sauidi Arabia

but we all know they will come up with another excuse to target the U.S. once we leave the holy lands.

[JCG]

Yup....Probably U.S. presence in Iraq.

[Ned]

Alright, Oerdin, I'll move my observation concerning the Shi'ites here to your thread.

The fun has begun in Saudi Arabia

We all expected this, a Shi'ite "revolt" of some kind in Saudi Arabia. Well it looks like it has begun, but peacefully.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030512/D7QVLEM80.html

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20.../D7QVLEM80.html

[Spiffor]

Once again.
Cowards and murderers.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Ned
Alright, Oerdin, I'll move my observation concerning the Shi'ites here to your thread.

Thank you.

[Spiffor]

Ned :
Good to see they have used the peaceful approach. The fact that the Shiites believe something can be achieved thorugh peaceful means is excellent news IMHO, and gives me much hope in Saudi's stability in the future. I sure hope the royal family won't flunk it, and won't punish the Shiites for having raised their voice.

[History Guy]

Hmm...fundamentalist Islamic terrorists blowing things up...

Surprise, surprise.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Ned :
Good to see they have used the peaceful approach. The fact that the Shiites believe something can be achieved thorugh peaceful means is excellent news IMHO, and gives me much hope in Saudi's stability in the future. I sure hope the royal family won't flunk it, and won't punish the Shiites for having raised their voice.

I've got some really nice Florida real estate I'd like to sell you.

"War is a continuation of policy by other means" - von Clausewitz.

"Policy is a continuation of war by other means" - MtG

The Shiites are a minority in Saudi, and a non-entity in Iraq at the present time. However, Shiite status in Iraq will change, especially once the US gets out, so slow maneuvering in Saudi is timely - if the royals make concessions, the Shiites in Saudi are emboldened to push for more, and have more leverage the greater role they have in Saudi government.

If the royals don't make any concessions, like the great shaftola everyone else got after the first Gulf War led to a little cultural contamination, then the Shiite frustration level is built up to a nice simmer, pending developments in Iraq.

Straight up confrontation by the Shiites now would be crazy - they have no hope of gaining anything, but pushing gently in the political arena is a no-lose situation for them. To say the goal is benign is just a little crazy, given the nature of the leadership and their geographic position at the industrialized world's de facto scrotum.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Straight up confrontation by the Shiites now would be crazy - they have no hope of gaining anything, but pushing gently in the political arena is a no-lose situation for them.

Yes. But the simple fact that some Shiite elites are trying to push for political reformism rather than armed rebellion prooves that the Shiites are led by pragmatical people. They'll naturally try to milk as much as possible from the Saud's fear of an Iraqi-shiite infection, but they seem to be prone not to favor a civil war of some kind.

And this is good.

[Ned]

Well, it looks like the Shi'ites going to have the majority in Iraq. So if the Saudis do not play ball with their own Shi'ite minority population and the Saudi Shi'ites revolt, they can receive material support from their brothers across the border in Iraq. Clearly the Saudis know this. If the Saudis make enough concessions, there will be peace. Otherwise, the Shi'ites may revolt. If active hostilities begin, anything can happen. Iraq might be drawn into the conflict.

Regardless of how things go, we will be put in the very uncomfortable position of having to choose sides between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. I think I know what side would choose to support.

I wonder if this issus will be on the agenda for tomorrow's talks between Powell and the Saudis. Particularly, I wonder if the Saudis may ask us to put a lid on Shi'ite political power.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Spiffor

Yes. But the simple fact that some Shiite elites are trying to push for political reformism rather than armed rebellion prooves that the Shiites are led by pragmatical people. They'll naturally try to milk as much as possible from the Saud's fear of an Iraqi-shiite infection, but they seem to be prone not to favor a civil war of some kind.

And this is good.

Yes it is. It may suggest that the Shi'ites will ultimately play ball in Iraq. The question I have, though, is will the Saudi's ask us to "control" the Iraqi Shi'ites in some fashion. After all, they really fear the Shi'ites and their ultimate big brother, Iran.