What's to make of the three explosions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ?

I thought all the terrorists had migrated to Iraq to fight the Americans? Obviously, they are in other places also. What does this portend for the future? Just in the last few days, the attacks in Iraq which had been centered in and around Baghdad, moved much farther to the north and a couple of GIs were killed around Mosul, much farther to the north. And now we have these terrorist attacks in Riyadh? What's the read on these attacks in Saudi Arabia?

I really don't know why they want to bomb and kill other Arabs though. I would think that would be bad for Islamic karma.

us and our allies out...

Easy to read

SA is very easy to destablize, that is what is going on

BOOOOSH's poll numbers are down ya know!

Al Qaeda gonna getcha!

He's accomplished running U.S. troops out of S.A. a goal of his for years. Now he's coming after the ruling family so that an islamic fundamentalist state can come to power there.

It's working.

They even hate each other. Several princes have had tragic accidents in recent years.

A MIHOP exercise would give a lot of credence to Shrub's "intelligence" apparatus.
:eyes:

if i heard the reports of bush's recent speech correctly, we are now in favor of spreading democracy across the mid-east ... we will not be supporting dictators in that region of the world ... i think i must have died and gone to PNAC heaven ...

talk about issuing an invitation to terrorism? no self-respecting terrorist could let that pass without acting ... what does bush think our policy is towards saudi arabia ... bush must have done this to inflame the situation against all non-democratic governments that we've been supporting ...

the terrorists have highlighted the hypocrisy of bush's statements for all the world to see ... it they can wield sufficient force in saudi arabia, bush will have to put up or shut up ... on the surface, it appears he undercut his own hand ... it would be a tough sell to suggest that the Saudi government represents the type of democracy bush believes is worthy of our support ... especially after all the bad press the Saudis have received because of the presence of so many Saudis on the 9/11 flights ...

but that's just an "on the surface" read ... perhaps bush did this with the intention of opening up a new PNAC front ... who'd a thunk it would have been Saudi Arabia ... it's not clear that's what's happening yet ... but that could be a possibility ... Saudi Arabia might be an easier sell than either Syria or Iran ... of course, if that's what he's up to, the policy is a few camel's humps beyond insanity ...

The U.S. could not afford another war right now. We don't have the money, we don't have the troops, we don't have the equipment, and we sure as shit don't have public support for it. Maybe a war against a country like Afghanistan would be possible, but definitely not against the likes of Iran or Saudi Arabia. Those guys have a military and they haven't been decimated by a decade of sanctions.

but getting "dirty" in Saudi Arabia is NOT a smart move IMHO. Remember
that the Mecca resides in that country...true "holy land" for the
Muslims.
If the US invades or does something stupid...then Pandora's box is
cracked open.

so who knows, there might be UK, European, maybe Americans in the area.

still very early, nobody knows how many dead or who they are

You don't know what you have missed by staying out of I/P.

Saudi Arabia must fall because it is a thorn in Israel's side and sits on some of the land, from the Tigris to the Euphrates, that Sharon is eying. Indiana had posted a map with commentary about this that was frightening to read once. It must also fall because the house of Saud seems to have forgotten who their masters are and cares more for it's security from an internal uprising over the Palestinian question and alliance with the US, than it does for doing its masters bidding. It must fall because there is NO way we can allow those oil fields to escape our control.

I am not sure who is behind the attacks- it could be the US, Israel, or Saudi opposition but both the US and Israel wanted this.

Things are going to get real ugly, real quick. It is unfortunate that we are not paying a little bit more attention to part 2 of "Why do they hate us?".

in order to maintain my sanity.. :)

I admire the brave souls have the courage to keep fighting for peace, justice and truth in that cess-pool and those also who are trying to have a meaningful discussion but they are so few these days. The propagandists and apologists meanwhile are vigilantly ensuring that no meaningful discussion takes place. I think it's really time that more decent people, regardless of their position on the conflict, headed down there and helped weed the garden.

It really wouldn't matter except that I/P is intricately involved in the horrible situation we find ourselves in and 80% of any news regarding Israel is promptly shunted off to the basement where it dies a meaningful death or is quickly locked. A vital piece of the puzzle shunted off because of a few neo-liberals and people of questionable intentions.

The Saudis enjoy the unique position of being utterly loathed by people with diametrically opposed views.

Crusaders hate them because they're Muslim

Muslim fundamentalists hate them because they talk piety but live decadent lifestyles, collaborate with Israel and are dollahos

The Saudi people hate them because they live lives of luxury while the people struggle

Really religious people hate them because they are supposed to be the guardians of the holy sites, but they live decadent lifestyles, collaborate with Israel, shred human rights, and are dollahos

Regular people hate them because they collaborate with Israel, shred human rights, and are dollahos

King Fahd is old and sick, and the rest of the princes are fighting among themselves about who will get what.

Most likely is the bush regime will golden parachute them all to Switzerland, of which they own a large chunk already, then move in and seize the oil, and the Saudi people will know the same joys of liberation that the Iraqis and Palestinians do!

It could also be a 13 year old democracy hacker with a deathwish.

Things happen and the ugly is that it could be anyone doing it.

It's well known that there's been some instability in the House of Saud --there's always the possibility that what we're seeing is actually an internal power struggle.

I'm talking about the American contractors? If so I wouldn't put much faith in this exercise. Kind of like putting up those colored scare codes.

that's where Baba Bush hangs out when she visits her cronie friends and business partners.

I think Saudi Arabia (and the Emirates) are kind of a hangout for a certain segment of the super rich. You'll find dozens of them laying on rocks out in the noonday sun.

From maids to sweaping streets to running the pipe lines for both oil and water.They put in all services. Phones lights.All cars and trucks come from some place else. I lived in a place where we lived off the local town but the site was built by Turks under Italians. The water pumps were Brown and Root, Am. ran it, Indians worked it and Italians trubled shoot it. Guards were local people, and they gave clean water to anyone that wished it.Saudie checked your ID every place you went, a real police state, and they all had guns that looked like uzi (Sp) but my husband said they were something else as that gun in made by Jews. Well they did not let Fords in country because Ford sold to Jews. It is them so do not jump on me for saying it.You could not even bring in a book if it was by a Jewish writer. They checked all books.Lot of locals had guns and that sort of shocked me in a police state.We walked down to see some fishing boats once and 4 men in a jeep, in uniform, with guns really read us the riot act. Scary. They were just old boats.Hard if you come from Can and USA.

Why SA should have our oil is just beyond me any how.

warnings - so they went after residential areas that they probably thought were full of westerners - but I think they messed up. Had their orders to do something and changed venues and missed.

And this during Ramadan.

All sorts of mixed messages here - if any at all. How SA reacts will be interesting. Suspect they don not have the political cohesion to fight back without us.