Saudi Arabia is about to explode.

[Robin Hood]

The Saudi Royal family has always had a tentative hold on it's nation. But now that they are attempting to go after the militants that they have bred, The oppressed people of Saudi Arabia will explode. I think that the whole region is about to experience a melt down, in turn there may be a dramatic change of guard.

Needless to say what global implications this will have. I'm still waiting for those thrown flowers and candy that we were promised.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Robin Hood]

7. I hope that your family remains safe.

God bless you.

[Rick Myers]

9. Welcome to DU

Hope all is well with your family...

:toast:

[livetohike]

13. Welcome to DU Iqbar Namir

:hi: and I hope your family and friends will be safe.

[bemildred]

15. Peace be unto them. nt

[calimary]

23. Oh, man... I hope they're okay.

Hang in there! Can they get out? Oh yes - and Welcome to DU. I wish it were under better circumstances. But then again, if these WERE better circumstances, there'd have been no reason for a site like DU to begin with. Prayers are with you.

[nose pin]

33. Check Iqbal's profile

Toast.

[Robin Hood]

34. lol.

I suspected as much.

[JohnLocke]

37. Goodbye, terrorist sympathizer.

See you later, idiot.

[ewagner]

2. I remember a political cartoon

...picture of a man being strangled by a boa constrictor. The snake was labled "backlash". Another man standing by is saying "Help? I dunno...after all, he's your snake"

So it is with the House of Saud. They've bought off the radicals and given them false enemies to vent their hatred upon for years. Now the radicals have figured out that the royal family is the enemy.

You are probably right. Saudi Arabia is about to explode.

The question is: Will the United States send in troops to save the House of Saud?

[Robin Hood]

4. What troops?

We are pulling troops out of S.Korea to send to the mess in Iraq. Unless there is a massive draft effort, the Saudi family are on their own.

The implications that this scenario will have on the global economy is devastating. And we will have been caught with our pants down around Iraq.

[Dogmudgeon]

24. "Unless there is a massive draft ..."

Just repeating that for emphasis.

The fate of the world is in the hands of about a hundred extremists who have been empowered, perversely, by the playboy princes of the House of Saud.

Gawd help us all.

--bkl
Edit: Added quotation marks.

[Hoping4Change]

6. What troops?

[kentuck]

3. We will send more troops into Saudia to protect our "friends"...

You may be right...it seems mighty unstable right now. When they blow up the pipelines, that will be the beginning of the end of the saudi family...imo.

[kaitykaity]

11. I didn't think we had any more troops to send.

:shrug:

I'd be willing to bet that blowing the Saudi pipelines
will be high on the agenda.

Gawd, how did we get into this mess?

[guajira]

32. Thank the Supreme Court Justices and the Idiots they put in

the White House.

Would President Gore have turned 9-11 into 3 "wars"?? Or would he have gone after the terrorists who planned the attack?

[kaitykaity]

38. I don't think 9/11 would have happened with President Gore

I really don't.

What makes me crazy is that with all this insanity,
Bush's poll numbers are supposedly going up. How the
fuck can that happen???

(I know the answer to that one, too -- the corporate
media whores. But still.)

[Hoping4Change]

14. It will be the beginnning of a worldwide depression.

[jimshoes]

5. It happened in France,

it happened here and it can happen there. There comes a point in time when the masses will no longer be trod upon. Saudi Arabia may be near that point.

[Shakespeare]

18. Unfortunately, what will replace them will as bad or worse.

Back to the 6th century we go....

[Robin Hood]

28. It will be worse.

And I have no love for the Royal family. They need to face a firing line.

[Raskolnik]

8. Yeah, I'm not sure if this story has a happy ending in our lifetimes.

I hope to god that whoever is President when Saudi Arabia devolves into civil war will have the good sense to know that we CAN'T occupy Mecca and Medina w/out starting a global war.

When your plan's crucial element is the sense of the President, you're in trouble.

[readmylips]

10. Those sissy corrupt Saudis....it's coming their way

Allah is coming to kick their butts. Bunch of whinners.

[Tosca]

12. the royale family

well, they'll just call for help and we'll come running.

is there gas in the car?

[Robin Hood]

17. lol..

nt

[seemslikeadream]

16. The Evacuation of Saudi Arabia

The steady exodus of expatriate workers from Saudi Arabia is set to gather pace in the coming weeks following the latest terrorist assault against foreigners in the Kingdom. JID assesses whether Al-Qaeda's long-standing strategy of destabilising the increasingly embattled House of Saud stands any real prospect of success.

Although the ousting of the Saudi royals has been predicted for some years the monarchy in the desert Kingdom has managed to survive thanks to support from the USA and its own policy of buying off or otherwise silencing its domestic opponents. However, with the US Department of State now urging its citizens to leave and the British Foreign Office issuing warnings to its own expatriates, the steady outflow of skilled Western workers is almost certain to gather pace - raising serious questions about the impact of an exodus of foreign technicians on the country's oil industry.

Of course, that is precisely the reaction that those who planned the attacks in Khobar on Sunday which left 22 dead are hoping. Of equal concern is the escape of three of the assailants amid mounting allegations by survivors that a deal was done between the militants and the Saudi security forces in return for the release of the remaining 41 hostages.

For some experienced Middle East analysts, there are significant parallels between the current situation in Saudi Arabia and the final months of the Shah of Iran before his flight into exile, followed by the Islamic revolution which swept the ayatollahs into power (and cost the USA one of its key regional allies). As one foreign policy veteran told JID: "The collapse of authority tends to be the end result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once there is the perception that the old regime is doomed, it is usually a matter of time before it actually collapses. We saw precisely this sequence of events in Iran in 1979."

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jid/jid040604_1_n.shtml

[Robin Hood]

26. Great article.

excellent comparison.

[Curious Dave]

19. In the 70s

the Iranian people (with ample justification) accused the U.S. of propping up the corrupt abusive regime of the Shah. And over 25 years later we're still dealing with the fall out from that revolution.

Its hard for me to imagine that when the Saudi revolution hits it will be any less messy. OTOH I can picture any number of scenarios that make me think the Saudi revolution will make Iran in the late 70s look like a Boy Scout Jamboree!

I think these fears are what drove bushco to invade Iraq. Secure major a source for oil before Saudi goes up in flames.

[Robin Hood]

22. The only problem is..

That we have not secured Iraq's oil. And we are far from ever securing Iraq.

[Curious Dave]

25. Very True

but then no one here is accusing bush of being a genius :)

[Robin Hood]

27. LMAO..

No, He will never be accused of that.

Mister, don't call that dog a hero. Call him shit head. From the movie, The Jerk.

[Just Me]

20. Oh, well,...everything unfolds,...

,...perfectly.

[Dogmudgeon]

21. The Islamic Republic of Arabia

That would put the West in a world of hurt.

I'm certain that the new "owners" of the Arabian peninsula would stop all oil exports for a month, minimum. The economic shock would be ... frightening.

And since this could happen within weeks, it means that the hammer blow could be imminent.

Not that I think the Saud royal family deserves anything other than oblivion. It's the rest of the world I'm concerned for. (Yes, the Arabian people count as part of "the rest of the world".)

PS to Iqbal -- The headline on my post doesn't refer to Islam; I'm sure that will be the new name of the country. I consider myself to be a friend to Muslims of good faith, but the world is quickly filling up with fanatics of all religions.

--bkl

[ewagner]

29. Frightening thought:

Do you think Osama finally figured out that he doesn't have to actually kill Americans in America to defeat us? All he has to do is destroy us economically. Force us into never-ending wars overseas, spending every penney we have and then cut off the oil and screw up the economy.

It's almost too easy for him, really.

[Dogmudgeon]

39. From Day One

A fairly large number of people in late September 2001 were thinking that was the case. By Hallowe'en, that had stopped dead cold.

But it's possible to credit OBL with too much. Anyone who kept track of what was going on in the Mid-East could have seen something like it coming. A century and a half of European and American arrogance in that area were bound to have some painful consequences. In a sense, "we" (the petro-plutocrats) paid for our own trouble, and we'll pay again.

--bkl

[number6]

30. I agree ...

I think that the whole region is about to experience a melt down.

[Gloria]

31. Meanwhile......in Jordan........our "stable" ally.....I heard a very

extensive report on Jordan a few days ago on either the CBC/RCI or BBC.

And I got a little knot in my stomach....Jordan also has extremely high unemployment. The US basically keeps the country afloat with aid. The Palestinians in Jordan make up a huge part of the population. But the really critical issue I heard discussed was that King Abdullah is now being questioned as a leader. He doesn't speak the Arabic language spoken there, having been raised in boarding schools in the UK and US. The economy is not really growing and people are beginning to question his effectiveness....The bottom line is that there are some concerns about Abdullah in terms of where he goes next in terms of leadership. What can he do to really keep Jordan on an even keel?

[Disturbed]

36. Oil Pipelines

Seems that blowing up pipelines would be commiting financial suicide for the Islamic Fundies. They are willing to sacrifice many members of their group but it doesn't seem that the leadership is so stupid as to destroy their cash cow.

Many people in Saudi Arabia are not supporters of their Dictatorship. They are sympathetic to the cause of Al Q. and not to the US Govt. which they know has helped keep the Royals is power.

[Deja Q]

35. Every country has militants. The Q is, who is analyzing how they're ran?!

And possibly a dramatic change in the flow of oil if the new regime doesn't like us...