Thom Hartmann: "The civil war has spread to Saudi Arabia"

[Bozita]

He's talking about it now, referring to the bombing at the Saudi oil facility earlier today.

I fear he's right.

[brainshrub]

1. What is TH talking about?

What is he talking about?

[gkhouston]

5. an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia went boom; there's an article in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2129425&mesg_id=2129425

[DRoseDARs]

12. Actually, the car ladden with explosives blew up at the gates...

The guards managed to shoot the thing before it could crash through the gates and get in.

[Bozita]

6. Saudi royals are Sunni

Retaliation by Shia.

This civil war has no respect for political boundaries.

[DS1]

2. Then it's a religion war

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. More of a turf war

al Qeada are Wahhabists, as are the Saudi royals.

[megatherium]

4. Or else, Koppel is right -- when they say 'it's not the oil,'

it's the oil

[FreedomAngel82]

9. What it seems

is they're hitting the Saudi's with what their greatest economical factor which is the oil. Plus, it's what we're after and they know this.

[megatherium]

15. yeah, if they had succeeded, it would have really gotten our attention. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

13. The Lebanese civil war was religiously based, too.

It was still referred to as a civil war.

[Wickerman]

7. Are the Fundies getting their wish?

Headline at Fundie World TImes

Bush brings on Armageddon!

[MadMaddie]

10. Oh I think they are going to get more than they wish for...

If they are naive enough to think that it's not coming back on US soil. It's coming and it's going to be bad....

I think they are going to be sadly dissapointed when the world is not destroyed and we are left trying to save what's left of the world...

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Oh gosh

:(

[caledesi]

11. Conincidence? Dubai running ports and now Saudi Arabia's

oil refinery gets bombed?

I don't know where I am going with this, but some smart DUers can fill in the dots. There's got to be some kind of connection involving * and the Dubai issue. What are these thugs orchestrating?

[Igel]

14. Maybe. Maybe not.

It's speculation, dependent on who was behind the attack on the refinery.

There have been attacks by Wahhabi militants in Sa'udi Arabia before. Sometimes they target westerners, but not always. There's been the attempt to paint every attack in Arabia as an attack aimed at westerners, and when no westerners were around (or likely to be around) just saying the militants were ignorant of the fact.

Pure Wahhabists don't like the ruling family; they don't like the money from the oil going to the government ... it should go to pure Muslims, as their inheritance, and be used for their purposes. Sa'udi Arabia is not enough of a theocracy for their tastes; people can still sin, on the sly and when abroad.

The other possibility is that it was Shi'ites, and this isn't just a coincidence. Shi'a are a significant minority in the country, and until recently just didn't exist officially; they're a majority in some of the most productive oil-bearing areas, and are typically disenfranchised, unempowered, poorly educated, and religiously oppressed. With a bit of "Sunnization" going on, as Sunnis are encouraged to move into the areas, exert dominion, and make sure the reins of power are firmly Wahhabi. In this case, having the Shi'ites strike back at the Wahhabis' source of power, money, which is to say, oil, makes sense.

But without further evidence, attributing the bombing to either side is sheer speculation.