It was bound to happen. Reports are that hundreds of police are surrounding a housing compound near Khobar in Saudi Arabia, that’s about 30 minutes drive from where I live in Bahrain across the Bahrain-Saudi Causeway which was closed today. According to the BBC 9 people are dead while Sky News reports 16 dead. There is no word on how many victims there has been, but I pray that it’s going to end quickly.
Terrorism doesn’t know borders, doesn’t know ethnic divisions and doesn’t know religions. They’re simply killers on the loose, and we can’t afford to lose to these animals.
Saudi forces surround militants
Security forces have surrounded an oil company housing compound in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar where gunmen are said to be holding about 50 hostages.
The suspected Islamist militants have killed about 10 people, including foreigners, and taken refuge there.
It is the latest in series of attacks on the kingdom’s oil industry – the world’s largest.
A statement purporting to come from an al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The message from the al-Quds Brigade, which said Americans would not be allowed to steal Saudi Arabia’s riches, was carried on an Islamic website.
Source: BBC News, full story
Comments
Terrorism has come next door..
Mahmood ..
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5293923
Terrorism has come next door..
i am really upset by this. why kill innocent children? a school bus coming under fire? and what on earth are they going to do with the hostages? this cant end well. it is pretty damn horrific and i hope to god that the saudi authorities put a real clampdown on al qaeda and all of their cronies.
Terrorism has come next door..
I read somewhere that one of their victims is a 10 year old Egyptian boy, killed when the terrorists fired on a school bus. I’d like to describe them as animals, but only humans are capable of knowing right from wrong but deliberately doing the wrong thing anyway.
Terrorism has come next door..
I tried to call Saudi after this news broke to check on a good friend of mine who I met in Saudi years ago. For some reason his store front was on TV. Anyway no call could be made, seems “all circuits are busy at this time”. So I called my mom in Bahrain and had no problems getting through.
There is only one way to deal with these rabid animals and that is to get rid of them in a permanent type of manner. Whatever that may be.
Ciao!
Mark
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Meggie ..
If I buy your analogy that terrorism was born next door ala Soviet Afghanistan – then you have to buy mine that the midwife was the US Government. So – lets not point fingers and label the whole country as terrorists.
These terrorists are Al Qaeda sympathaizers who want to see the Islamic Republic of Arabia. Or, more like, the Islamic Dictatorship of Arabia. Salafi, Wahabbi interpretation of Islam.
And , please dont give me that crap that you and the rest of the world will end up investing in nuclear fuel and wean yourself of oil. If there ever were a hard core coup in Saudi Arabia, beleive you me, the USG and the rest of the world community would come in and ‘liberate’ the east coast of Arabia – leaving Meccah and Medina to the fundies.
If we are to debate this issue, then please lets not insult each others intelligence. And lets not pretend that one of us holds the moral high ground.
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
“why am I paying $2.30+ for regular gas?”
thats an interesting question. go ask the oil companies in the US and investigate the tax regimes they operate under. it is certainly not the oil producers who pocket that money.
Terrorism has come next door..
Whether or not the “world community” decides to invade the oilfields is irrelevant. And please note that I don’t assign moral responsibility to anyone. Nor do I lay claim to the moral high ground. You can stand there if you like, I can’t feed my family with glory.
The public in the west have come to view nuclear power as dirty and dangerous. We have become far too wedded to gasoline, and now we are like heroin addicts who disapprove of aspirin. But that state of affairs can not last. Sooner of later, either hardship, or the constant threat of war, will sober us up. Either way, it will be good for us.
And what of the Saudi public in all of this? Well if they want to be hostages to fortune, that is a matter for them isn’t it?
Meggie
Terrorism has come next door..
Hi, This is Ali
Mahmood, i am amazed that these fanactic idiots are almost next door in al khobar, which is a place popular amongst us bahraini’s for shopping (specially my family) we’d pack and leave on weekends to shop for the whole day in al khobar and al dammam. Oh its brings back a lot of good memories. hey Mark, Saudi has some good shawarma’s too especially in al khobar, i had some about four years ago and that was the last time. Anywayz i am really scared about the safety of my family if they travel over there and what if these fanatics cross over the borders (Typically what I call a Saudi Higel) not to be mean on other fellow Saudi’s but these fanactics deserve it. LOL
Lastly, today was my graduation day, I am soooooo happy.
Ali Burshaid
Terrorism has come next door..
Meggie ..
I didnt mean to be insulting. I was referring to your claim that terrorism was ‘born’ in Saudi Arabia .. and didnt quite know how to read the tone regarding letting the Saudis ‘contemplate their religion and admire their sand’ … It sounded like a cheap shot to me. But then again, it is very difficult to read tone on email, isnt it ..
Having said that – I dont think that anyone is going to avoid their dependancy on fossil fuels any time soon. Neither the Americans or the Saudis or Japan or China or Europe.
We are all going to have to muddle through somehow – and try to ensure that humanity comes out with some sort of self respect.
Terrorism has come next door..
Well I agree that we will not wean ourselves until we have to. But very soon I think we will be forced to, through hostile action.
Necessity is the mother of invention, is it not?
As regards self respect, I suspect you have more than enough to see you through.
Oh and rest assured, that when I decide to be insulting to you, I will leave you in no doubt whatsoever, you pompous arse…
Best wishes
Meggie
Terrorism has come next door..
“Stealing Saudi Arabia’s riches…” Oh please…last I knew we were PAYING for that oil and the Saudis were freely selling.
If we’re “stealing” it…why am I paying $2.30+ for regular gas?
Sheesh…any time someone in Opec get a hangnail prices go through the roof…
Too close for comfort
I almost used to live in that compound a few years ago! The Oasis compound is a fantastic and previous to this heinous event was a very peaceful place. It’s owned by Ma’an Al-San’i who is a big businessman with businesses in a lot of places in the world. His investment banking arm is based in Bahrain in the Sheraton Tower, just next door to my office.
I know also that the SGI support office is in that compound. Fortunately the support engineer was in Aramco at the time so he escaped the festivities. Another friend who commutes between Bahrain and Saudi and when in Saudi he stays there fortunately was at the SGI head office in Dubai at the time.
In short this is too close for comfort.
There is no one I know that has already summed up the situation thus far like the Religious Policeman. Although he’s 400km south west of the attack on the Oasis compound, he’s got the real pulse of how the Saudi security services have been caught with both their pants down while guzzling some shawarmas. Complete and utter ineptitude.
But what would one expect from a force that has been created for the sole purpose of bodyguarding the Royal Family, rather than the country and the public as a whole? What would one expect from a force more bent on subjugating personal freedoms rather than protecting and enhancing the freedom of choice? What would one expect from a device for rewarding “loyalist tribes” by giving them a cushy job and act as the country’s de facto geriatric unit?
And the Bahraini forces are better? If anything they’re worst. The navy personnel have become expert fishermen, the police experts and prevaricating, and the defence forces at pitching tents in the desert and driving fast cars.
Bahraini forces better wake and up and start smelling the rank smells of charred bodies, because if their priorities and ways do not change, and change immediately with a thorough review of responsibilities, assignment of jobs based on merit rather than last names, and start enrolling the vast majority of the people of Bahrain in this apparatus and make them feel like citizens, rather than second class turd, we’re in for this sort of thing as well.
And we won’t have long to wait before I’m proved right. Again.
Re: Too close for comfort
Just spoke to a friend of mine inside the compound and he said that everything is “finished” now. He couldn’t give me details, and he sounded really tired. So I’ll get some background information from him tomorrow once his adrenaline levels stabilise.
Terrorism has come next door..
In the traditional tale, Frankenstein’s monster, dissatisfied with pillaging the neighbourhood, turns against his creator with unbridled malice.
When this creature succeeds in eliminating the western presence in the peninsula, the oilfields will fall into swift decline. We in the west will suffer an initial recession, even a depression, until the inevitable switch to nuclear power and fuel cell technology. Self-sufficiency in all things will become the new mantra of the western world, once the concept of the global trading village has been repudiated.
As for the Saudis, they will be left in peace to contemplate their religion and admire their sand….
Two things you need to do first:
1. Diversify the economy of Bahrain.
2. Blow up that causeway.
One thing we need to do first: Persuade our friend in the magic kingdom to move to England.
Yes, I do think it is going to get that bad.
Terrorism hasn’t just arrived next door Mahmood, it was born there, and it has come home.
Meggie
Re: Too close for comfort
Don’t worry, Mahmood. The events in Saudi Arabia will no doubt turn out to be the work of British alcohol-smuggling criminal gangs …..
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
oh piss off.. go spin your fairy tale stories somewhere else… how about trying to think reasonably instead of labelling a whole country with all its citizens as terrorists.. i bet your children enjoy your fairytales at night
Terrorism has come next door..
I fear you are right that eventually this kind of thing will happen in Bahrain as well. It’s inexcusable, and the Saudi government has a real mess on their hands. There isn’t much to do about it except for the people and governments in the area to stand firmly against it, because there is no reasoning with these thugs.
Well done, Ali.
… be safe.
Terrorism has come next door..
Again, my condolences for the family and loved ones, of the twenty-two who died. My heart goes out to the ones who survived.
The terror they went though, should be visited upon by those who did it. They need to be put down like the rabid sub-humans they are.
Hard to feel a moderate tone, as this also traumatizes all the good people in Saudia Arabia and, from what I read here, surrounding countries.
I pray we are witnessing the death throes of these desperate morally corrupt slugs and a wake up call to the Arab world of this horrendous mass murder. It affects us all, on every level.
Thanks for letting my opinions be heard.
Re(7): Terrorism has come next door..
I’d agree except when you say that the region could do with less arts graduates and more students studying vocational degrees.
The region’s political development depends upon the expansion of the liberal middle classes – at the core of which tends to be arts graduates. One thing that an arts background tends to give you is perspective and critical thinking, something that the Arab world seriously lacks at present.
Its no coincidence that the 911 hijackers were all engineering or science grads; its this technocratic middle class, particularly when disappointed at having finished their studies only to find no job available, that most often falls prey to the platitudes, look-at-me-piety and nutcase ideology of the fanatics.
Re(8): Terrorism has come next door..
we actually need a rehaul of our whole education system and introduce the idea of critical thinking and discernment ..
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Are you kidding me? How did all those Saudi princes get so stupendously wealthy? By working hard and applying themselves? How exactly do they pay for those marble palaces the size of shopping malls and endless shopping trips to Europe and villas in Spain? Are they selling sand?
Steve
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
Take it from someone far away from Saudi Arabia, a muslim from Asia. don’t call those heroes animal. They are prforming holy duties and should be commended for their actions. Unlike those cowards who bow to the infidel. Truly a time to celebrate and a wake up call to those infidel. Islam is here to stay. Praise Allah! In fact there is going to be a grand dinner organized to celebrate this event.
Re(2): Terrorism has come next door..
Ironically, sand is more expensive that oil. Ask any Bahraini trying to build a house.
Regardless though Steve, the comment was fair. It is a known fact that Saudi provides especially the USA with oil at preferential rates, and it is also known that the taxation on oil in Europe and the States is the biggest contributor to it’s high price in those countries, rather than the price of oil by the barrel on the free markets.
Re(2): Terrorism has come next door..
Well, how predictable was that comment: The US is predictable for Wahhabi terrorism. Because of course, everything bad in the world is somehow always America’s fault, right?
Yet, the Wahhabis were well known in Arabia for annihiliating their targets in tribal raids, unlike the other Arab tribes who were satisified with slaves and loot. They earned that reputation before America existed. The Saudis killed an estimated 400,000 Arabs over two centuries to consolidate their Arabian empire. The current murderous rampages are merely an extension of their murderous history. The only difference between now and then is that now they have the oil bucks to take their murderous rampage outside their borders to the four corners of the world.
Quite frankly, we made a mistake by treating the Saudis as honorable business partners and allowing them to reap windfall profits from oil. They have merely used that money made from their trade with us to make war on us. The dollars that pay for Saudi oil are returned to us as terror attacks by religious crazies.
And yes, we do hold the moral high ground over Saudi Arabia. Do you see any Americans hunting Saudis down here and dragging their corpses around town? Do you see Americans knocking on hotel doors to ask where the Muslims are so we can kill them? Do you see any Americans holding Saudis hostage and cutting their throats a dozen at a time?
You’re living in a pretend world if you think the Saudis are not in the morally inferior position here. They are the origin of this evil.
Steve
Re(3): Terrorism has come next door..
That’s not quite so, Mahmoud. The tax on gasoline here is maybe thirty or forty cents per gallon, depending on the state. That is a fixed tax. At two bucks a gallon, that’s 15% to 20% tax. Gas prices have not increased because taxes have increased but rather because of a temporary decrease in supply in the face of a seasonal increase in demand.
Now Europe has $4 gas mainly because of foolishly high taxes. What can I say? The Europeans are knuckleheads. Europe may tax gas to death but not the US.
The Saudis have done little to deserve their wealth. They certainly haven’t worked for it. They have been very content to allow Westerners to discover it, develop it, and transport it. You’d think they would at least want to develop a deep pool of Saudi expertise in an industry so vital to their economic well-being, yet the princes seem OK with foreigners running their oil business. The Saudi kids don’t seem too eager to tackle those difficult chemical engineering degrees needed to take over their own oil business, either. They’d rather take it easy in Islamic studies degrees and graduate into permanent unemployment. They should have been building up their human capital for the day the oil runs out. They are driving faster and faster toward a cliff drop.
Steve
Re(4): Terrorism has come next door..
You know your country’s taxation policies better than I would, so I defer to you for that. I remembered reading that Europe – especially the UK – taxes the hell out of oil imports and they tax it on individual country basis, that’s why they insisted that the Gulf becomes a single customs block in order for them to negotiate with them as a block, hence the birth from 1/1/03 the Gulf Customs Union.
I wish I can disagree with you regarding the state of affairs in Saudi, but I can’t. What you say is correct, we have outsourced all of these critical persuites to foreigners and didn’t really care very much about technology transfer. I do know of quite a number of scientists in the oil fields, I know for certain that Bahrain has mostly Bahrainis working in that sector in Sceismic Interpretation, Reservoir Modeling and other upstream and downstream departments with all the scientific tools they need. The situation in Aramco might be less than that in Bahrain owing to its size, but you would think that after 60 years of exporting this commodity, and being the largest exporter of oil in the world that by now the governments would have got their ducks in order and got the necessary local staff to do everything. And the world to gain scientific luminaries from these very same locals. Sadly, this is not the case.
I’m pessimistic that this will change in the near future.
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
We’re kidding ourselves to think we will be weaning ourselves from oil anytime soon. It’s the cheapest source of energy for transportation there is. I don’t see any cheaper fuels appearing anytime soon. We are not going to be driving cars powered by the sun or nuclear reactors. Hydrogen power is far over the horizon.
Even if by some miracle, a technology presented itself to America that allowed us to convert away from oil tomorrow, most of the world would continue to use oil to power the vast existing base of combustion engines. That would still feed cash into the Middle East oil producers which would continue to amplify its problems.
We need to manage the Middle East problem rather than hope for a deux ex machina to deliver us from this predicament. That means we need to intervene in the Middle East to attenuate the violence there, to stop nutcase regimes from acquiring nukes to obliterate their neighbors or to attack the US. Our best hope is to spread democracy in the regime to convert the strongman governments into nations governed by laws, where property is protected, where markets are open, and where speech is free.
That means staying on the course we are taking in Iraq, sometimes in the light, sometimes in the dark, sometimes stumbling, sometimes sprinting, making mistakes, and making steady progress by inches.
Steve
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
Why would the Saudis clamp down on their heroes in Al Qaeda? If the Saudis were serious about clamping down on Al Qaeda they could just arrest them when they come to collect their paychecks and weapons.
Steve
Terrorism has come next door..
Nah, i seriously doubt bahrain would become a target.. from all the places ive travelled to in the world, i honestly feel the safest here in bahrain. we’re a small policed nation, and a borederless island! =)
We don’t have home-grown terrorists like the Saudis do. God bless bahrain!
Re(5): Terrorism has come next door..
We must be reading the same stuff, Mahmoud. I remember reading about two dollar per gallon gas in Europe decades ago and being shocked. It appears to be part of a general socialist scheme to force people to use mass transit and keep them dependent on government. I see these gas taxes as sand thrown in the machinery of the economy, slowing it down, jamming it up. Less sand, better economy, like the US. More sand, worse economy, like Europe.
If you will allow me to argue against Western influence, if I were a Saudi or Bahraini leader I would plough my oil bucks back into training domestic replacements for foreign oil workers until they were down to a minimum. Then I would diversify my economy to build up industries other than oil to prepare for the inevitable death of that resource. Lacking natural resources other than oil, I would think that most Middle Eastern countries would need to develop trade, information services, and/or adding value to raw materials gathered elsewhere. I would think that Bahrain would have roughly the same kind of economic development challenge as Japan.
For what it’s worth, I’ve only heard good things about Bahrain. Not a single bad thing.
Steve
Re(9): Terrorism has come next door..
What Bahrain is lacking is a clear national strategy for its economic development. If you look at the developed countries you will see vast research governmental institutions with academics and practitioners and people from the private sector who manage the economy with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the head, setting the annual budget, and playing with macroeconomic policies – regulation and taxation – to meet announced unemployment and inflation targets. What do we have in Bahrain?
True, we have big projects like the Financial Harbour which we assume will reap its economic rewards, but one project such as this is not the sole enterprise that will determine our economic destiny. We need a broad vision and and a transparent government department which will manage the country’s economic diversification through the interaction of labour laws, bank regulation, trade, public and private investment, retail, housing, industry etc. It should have a clear and transparent economic strategy with defined targets.
Unfortunately, in Bahrain we are a long way from achieving this, and I only need to direct you to the following link, which is the Department of Economic Development in Dubai, to see just how far we have to go to catch up institutionally at least:
[url]http://www.dubaided.gov.ae/main/gn/AboutDED/Objectives.htm?o=.%2fmain%2fgn%2fAboutDED[/url]
MISSION
To promote a vibrant economic growth through building a knowledge–based economy, driven by a diverse and thriving set of technology-intense industries in manufacturing and traded services through highly skilled and competent staff to benefit:
Our society: through creating sustained economic development and welfare.
Our clients: creating value business solutions
Our people: through the creation of meaningful jobs
Our staff: with opportunities to innovate, contribute and maximize their potentials
What we have in Bahrain, are individual ministries which on the ground at least have no cohesive interplay that spills into a common economic vision.
Re(6): Terrorism has come next door..
We’re trying. You wouldn’t believe the sense of loss people here suffer from the wasted opportunities of the last 3 decades. Every Bahraini you speak to would tell you the same story: We were light years ahead of any country in the Gulf in the 60s and 70s, then the troubles started, parliament dissolved, and state security laws enacted. What a waste. Ironically the proof that we lost so much ground is the huge leaps and bounds we have been experiencing with the new King, Hamad bin Isa, over the last 5 years since he started ruling. Suddently multi-billion projects are being not only discussed, but actually started and as in the case of the Formula 1 track, completed to huge national and international acclaim. As I look out of my office window I see the Bahrain Financial Harbour actually starting with dredging operations underway, this is another US$1.3B project that will consolidate the Bahrain international finance and insurance markets. We have started to think of not just the “Bahrain Market” but rather of the “Bahrain Surrounding Region” as our targets. It’s happening, and these are the first seeds of our diversification out of oil. We are learning from Dubai, just as Dubai learnt from us in the 80s and 90s. The next 3 decades are Bahrain’s.
There are still a lot of things to do in the Arab world in general and Bahrain specifically to capture these windows of opportunity. I think Arab governments are slowly coming to grips with the idea that we have to integrate within the world community, they have to invest in the human resource and they have to continuously preach tolerance and prove that it works.
They have to encourage building of colleges and universities rather than add to the huge numbers of mosques and religious schools. We have too many of those, every village has at least 2 mosques and ma’atems, why build more? I would rather see that money going into workers re-education, re-habilitation and creating jobs.
Vocational and other forms of education must be enacted in a studied rather than a haphazard manner, and although they’re starting to talk about changing carricula to tie in with the current job market, they should also think 10 and 20 years ahead of what disciplines are required, trying to predict the future is never an easy enterprise, but starting broad-engineering degrees will certainly arm the future generations to tackle whatever changes the future brings. Rather than what we have now and that is a large number of Arabic, English and French Literature graduates, history and the like. Honourable persuites for sure, but maybe these are not as needed as graduates in economics, engineering, and the sciences. We have a country to build, let’s just concentrate on being self-sufficient or approach that mantra.
Enact tough anti-descrimination laws. That will increase the levels of understanding the tolarence in the country and maybe will send a clear message to the zeolots and extremists that they’re not welcome in our societies.
So yes, we have to invest in the future and the only sure way of gaining rewards is ensuring that we invest in our people’s education.
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
Meggie ..
the funny thing was that i was quite sincere in my last post about not meaning to be insulting! i didnt realize that I had hit a nerve until i read your reaction! Hence my second posting.
As for self respect – I was referring to each and everyone of us humans .. in the grand sense of the word. We all need to remember who we are and that we are all linked to each other – moslem, hindu, jew, american, chinese, saudi arabian. If we dont individually start by respecting our own humanity, how we can expect to do it collectively?
I honestly did not mean to be insulting. And there is no need for name calling either.
Wheter we like it or not – the global economy is dependent on fossil fuels. And will continue to be for a while. Saudi Arabia is all of our problem. And it will be part of all of our solutions. Fact.
Re: … be safe.
[quote][/quote]
nice post sandee.
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Yes, I’m sure this is a proud moment in Islam for the likes of you. However, here in America, we do not hunt Muslims in the street. We do not glorify the deaths of Muslims. We certainly don’t cut their throats. We are tolerant of other religions and respect their right to believe in whatever God they choose. That’s what separates civilized people from bloodthirsty Neanderthals like you.
Steve
Terrorism has come next door..
Gosh, you don’t think that the Jew-hating Saudi culture breeds these rats, do you?
Re(2): Terrorism has come next door..
I spit on you for calling yourself a muslim, you disgrace humanity and embarrass the hell out of Islam and humanity
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
What about the guys a couple of years ago arrested in budiya with all sorts of machine guns ect. What about the gas cannister attacks near the US base, what about the attack on the Kuwaiti ambassadors villa in Saar?
It can happen ANYWHERE my friend, ANYWHERE.
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Can I come to your dinner? I’ve never been to Sibu, Malaysia so it would be a treat, especially after seeing how pious you lot are!
Now it’s time to crawl back under your cosy rock with the rest of the reptiles.
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Dear Muslim from Asia ..
I am truly and utterly disgusted by your post. How can you call killing a 10 year old boy a cause for every Moslem to celebrate. How can you justify the separation of people into Moslems and non Moslems justifiable? Where is the tolerance in that? Do you honestly think that the Prophet Mohammed would be proud of what he sees today? What are people fighting for?! They are not fighting for Islam – they are using Islam as an excuse for violence and destruction!
The people who were killed were civlians. Some of them dirt poor – like the 7 Indians who were working as janitors. How can you commend killing them as an act for Islam?
Let me give you a lesson in Islam. We do not differentiate between people from the book. That includes Christans and Jews. And we also say that there is NO difference between an arab and a foriegner except in piety. This discrimination on the fault line of whether someone is Moslem or not is NOT entrenched in Islam. Just in people like you who have the piety and wisdom of a pea.
Do me a favor – keep your thoughts to yourself. Please do not insult the Moslems with your thoughts. The Prophet wanted us to move forward from the 14th century. Not take us back there.
Terrorism has come next door..
Well said Insurgent.
Terrorism has come next door..
I think the Times yesterday talked about the saudi causeway being a target. I am really really uncomfortable about what is going on so close to us. I hope we are putting lots of the security on the causeway. I have this nasty feeling that we are in for a long ride. And that things are going to get much worse before they get marginally better.
Re(1): Terrorism has come next door..
Steve..
Please elaborate. Because, I dont understand the logic of why Saudi authorites would be funding the same people who are trying to dislodge them?
Terrorism has come next door..
Come on Jedi, live up to your nom de plume. Surely it doenst take the Times of London to tell you that the causeway is a potential target? How long have u lived in Bahrain? If you are an example of a Jedi in Jasra goodness help the rest of you in that dinky little town. And stop being sch a girls blouse about the Saudi incident – you are living in the Mid-East – its not England/New England with sunshine as so many expats seem to think if you ever poke your head over the Brit Club/Dilmun Club wall. And belive me, the threat you face would be much greater if you went back home wherever it may be. Try living in a western capital for a while. You are as safe as the next person get a grip or get out and stop moaning.
Terrorism has come next door..
Well said! However Mahmood can you get another topic going please! We need another bone to chew on…
Re(2): Terrorism has come next door..
Al Qaeda is funded by some Saudi princes and by Saudi charities. The original deal was that Bin Laden would take his terror outside the Kingdom. The Saudis are perfectly supportive of terror for Islam as long as it’s non-Saudis doing the dying. They were even OK with Islamic terrorists killing Westerners on Saudi soil, as long as they could cover it up and blame it on something else.
The problem appears to be that Bin Laden’s admirers have taken heavy losses in their operations outside Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the last safe place for them. So they mount their terror within the Kingdom. The Saudi princes never expected that. The Muslim clerics funnel money to them to support this civil war with the hopes of establishing an even harder line theocracy. Some Saudi princes hope for the same.
The Saudi princes never expected the jihad way over in Afghanistan or Pakistan or the US to come home to roost on their own doorstep. They have been fools to feed this alligator hoping it would bite everyone but them. Now the alligator is roaming their own streets.
It’s pretty obvious that Al Qaeda has support from many in the government. They have used Saudi National Guard uniforms and weapons in some of their bombing attacks. They have established bases outside their main cities where they train. How can this go unnoticed in a society full of watchers who can spot a woman without hijab or somebody munching a candy bar during Ramadan? How can three armed gunmen, probably covered with blood from slashing Westerners’ throats, escape out of a building surrounded by Saudi security?
Only with the support of the Saudi people, the religious establishment, and some of the monarchy.
Steve
Re: Terrorism has come next door..
The causeway is probably low on the list of terrorist targets. Westerners servicing the Saudi oil industry is the prime target. There are tens of thousands of them to kill before they need to consider new targets.
But I do agree that events appear to be deteriorating in Saudi Arabia. I would say the tipping point will be when the Saudi princes ask for outside help to squash their civil war. I would hope we Americans would just as soon sit that one out.
Steve
Re(4): Terrorism has come next door..
Steve, re: “That’s not quite so, Mahmoud. The tax on gasoline here is maybe thirty or forty cents per gallon, depending on the state”
Another expense in the US is that we have a shortage of refineries (environmentalists are not allowing us to build more), and retooling of existing refineries to create the ultra-high octane fuel that some states require in their environmental protection laws. THESE are the reasons for MOST of our high costs.
MOST of this could be assauged by 1: building more refineries, and 2: letting the people of this country know that we’re sitting on one of the world’s largest oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico. But drilling isn’t allowed along the entire 600-mile coast of Florida. Environmentalists again ;).
Hmmm… Pop quiz: What is the cause of most of our problems? 😉
Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
What’s struck me about visiting the States is how the average American looks like complete pikey.
I was in Chicago recently in the art gallery there, and all these kids from out of town arrived on a school trip – the way they were dressed I thought they were Albanian asylum seekers. I was going to offer them $5 to go oustide and clean my car.
Re: Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
that’s a racist comment. please move on…
Jasra and Jedis
Jasra aint that dinky … Mahmod himself is thinking of living there…
As for being a girls blouse about it .. I dunno mate. If the Saudi civil war keeps on going up in intensity, (as it has been), we in Bahrain will not be immune to the fallout. This will have significant repercussions on what happens here. If Saudi oil expats move here, we become a target. If Saudi companies move here, we become a target. Who knows, the harder it gets for the Al Qaeda Dark Side Crazies to hit hard targets in Saudi, the more they will look for soft targets. Hence we become a target. Sounds to me that we are in for a long ride …
The geopolitics of the Gulf is a changing. Dont you think it is natural for me to be a bit concerned with the potential dissolution of Saudi Arabia and the effects it would have on us here?
May the force be with you.
Re: Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
What struck me about your comment is how superficial you are judging people by how they dress. And even worse, how arrogant you are.
Re(3): Terrorism has come next door..
I hope you are wrong. Although I have to acknowledge, much of the evidence leads to the opposite.
JJ
Re: Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
Quite frankly, most American kids need a sock in the ear for the way they dress. They need to take the sag out of those pants, iron that shirt, and put that ball cap on forwards. I don’t want to see any bare navels on teenage girls either. There are far too many young girls who dress like hookers.
You can forget offering them a mere $5 to do manual labor. Most kids would turn their nose up at that. They’d rather get their fun money from Mom’s purse.
When I become dictator of America, there will be changes, I’m telling you. After I kick some kid’s butts I will go home to their parents and kick their butts, too for letting their kids leave the house looking like bums and strumpets. We’ll put them in school uniforms and teach them how to use shoe polish. After some five mile runs, they will all get jobs doing physical labor. They will have to budget their fun to what they make and save for college.
Yessir, it will be a better America under King Steve’s Reign of Terror, I’m telling you, bud.
Steve
Re(4): Terrorism has come next door..
In a book that came out last year, “While America Slept” by Gerald Posner, he tells of an Al Qaeda terrorist taken prisoner by our special forces. After interrogation by our guys, the special forces deceived him into thinking that he had been turned over to the Saudis. Our guys figured that the terrorist would be more afraid of what the Saudis could do to him than what Americans might do. Two US special forces interrogators talked to him, pretending to be Saudis, in a mock Saudi prison.
When they told the Al Qaeda guy that they were Saudis, he relaxed and gave them the phone number of a Saudi prince. He said the prince would fix everything. He gave two other names of Saudi establishment figures. The numbers checked out.
Those three Saudis died within weeks of each other soon after the Americans told the Saudis. Two of them in accidents. One of them died of thirst in the desert, the Saudis claim.
Steve
Terrorism has come next door..
I think Jasra’s concerns are valid, but in case you didn’t notice, you were vulerable before these recent killings simply because you have a “relationship” with the west. The promotion of virtue/prevention of vice routine ought to tell you already got a real problem. Question is if the silent majority is going to continue to stand by when they are overwhelmed by this stuff.
Re(5): Terrorism has come next door..
Yes, that’s true. Another problem is that gas in different regions can not be interchanged because they adhere to different standards. For example, gas in the Midwest has ethanol, made from corn, part of a political ploy to prop up farm prices at the expense of the economy. It can’t be switched with gas from other regions, so spot shortages in one region of the US can not be easily compensated by gluts in other regions. That’s what happens when you let politicians monkey with the economy.
I heard on NPR this morning that Britain is paying $7.50 per gallon and is very close to being the first nation to pay $100 to fill their tanks. Watching the way the socialists wreak havoc on the lives of the ordinary working person in Britain almost makes me thankful we only have lunkheads in office here in America with a much weaker collectivist fervor.
Steve
Re(2): Terrorism has come next door..
Greeting from Asia
Before anyone starts calling us reptiles, pray tell me who started the killing..Who ask them to meddle in our affairs. Does it ever occurred to anyone that it is the infidels that started all this. To those muslims who love the infidels. What have you done for Islam? Don’t preach to us about what Islam is all about. Thank you very much . We are all fighting for Islam even right here in Asia. If any of the christians out there, remember that in the Bible it is mentioned that before you removed the splinter from your brother’s eye, first remove the log from your own. So don’t you dare talk about us muslims.
Re(3): Terrorism has come next door..
Here’s your answer, just about any “Muslim” leader you can think off since the Prophet (pbuh).
As for not preaching, I daresay that you need preached to more than anyone else as it seems that especially in Malaysia and other parts of Asia that the strictest form of Islam exists with no thinking or recourse to logic and tolerance. Seems that we should export the Wahabis to you guys, you’d have one hell of a party!
Let’s see how long it would last though…
Re(1): Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
LoL!
Steve .. you would make a great Wahabbi … 😉
JJ
Terrorism has come next door..
U go Leap Frog!! Tell ’em how it is …
Re(2): Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
Those kids will pray for Wahhabis to whisk them away to live in the relative ease of a Talibanic theocracy once they get a taste of Steve’s Regime.
Steve
Re(3): Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
Hmm. And what is the national food of Steve’s Regime? Mickey Dee’s or Mc Shawarmas?
Re(3): Terrorism has come next door..
Mr. Asian Muslim,
To answer your question, the radical Muslims started the killing. There are about sixty wars in the world at the moment. At least a third of them are Muslims making war on people of other religions. It’s not just Western religions, either. You make war on Eastern religions as well. There is no other religion that expresses itself in such murderous intolerance. It is shameful.
If America is at war with Islam, why are there so many mosques in America? After all, you can find them with a phone book. If we hated Islam so much, shouldn’t they all be burned to the ground by now? Why do they stand unmolested? Why are Muslims free to come and go to their mosques in America?
If America is fighting Muslims, why does it let so many Muslim immigrants come to live and study here? Don’t you think that’s a big screw up if we’re still fighting the Crusades here in the West? If we were so hateful to Muslims, shouldn’t they be running away from us rather than to us?
If Muslims are oppressed by the West, why is it that Muslims come here and get rich while their relatives who remain behind in Muslim countries remain in desperate poverty? Shouldn’t it be the other way around if the West held Muslims down and Muslim nations boosted Muslims up? How do you explain the success of Muslims in America?
It sounds to me like you’ve been told much that simply isn’t so about the world and have not questioned it. I recommend that you go out in the world and educate yourself with travel. See for yourself what is true and what is not. You have whipped yourself up into a frenzy against people who have no grievance with you and have offered you none. Give up your hate before it drags you down to the bottom.
Steve
Re(4): Here’s $5 Steve – now go and clean my car
Sadly, Steve’s Regime is a hypocritical state where the potentate eats whatever he wants, Cheez Whiz on shawarmas maybe, while his juvenile subjects must eat balanced meals. Maybe a McD’s cheeseburger on the weekend now and then as a reward.
Steve
Terrorism has come next door..
What is it with, mostly men, trying to insult each other using a womens’ garment, or other less flattering words, as a reference? Know what? This is discrimination as well! Using ethnic, gender or other less fortunate beings as a form of slander is pathetic. Want equality? Want human rights? Want this crap to stop? Well this is where it starts. Don’t think so? Try listening to children when they think adults are not listening. They tend to mimic what they hear.
If they are jerks, say so, leave references women off the insulting list please. The children are listening and learning.
Leap_Frog