Saudi Arabia is a potential disaster
that could be worse than Iraq. In 2002 Saudi Arabia
intelligence conducted a poll of Saudi about Osama bin Laden
and shared it with Washington. Over 95% of Saudis
between 25 and 41 expressed expressed sympathy with bin
Laden. Again in 2002 Sa'd al-Faqih, leader of
the United Kingdom based Movement for Islamic Reform in
Arabia said that well informed sources said there was huge
support and great sympathy for bin Laden. In late 2001
when Kabul fell an Al Qaeda computer was found to have
handwritten notes of Saudi intelligence agents assigned to
keep track of radical Islamic clerics. Saudis made up
the largest portion of the 9-11 hijackers.
The situation in Saudi
Arabia is not good. The 30,000 plus members of the
ruling al-Saud clan consume a considerable amount of wealth.
Al-Saud princes receive from $19,000 to $270,000 per month
from the oil dole. Prince Abdul Aziz built a 4.6
billion dollar theme park based on Mecca and other Islamic
Holy places. The annual oil welfare allotment to
non-al-Saud Arabians fell from $28,600 per year in 1981 to
less than $7,000 in 2003. Many of the al-Saud clan use
their power to expropriate the private property of non-clan
members. The majority of jobs in the kingdom are held
by foreigners with some 100,000 foreigners working in the
oil industry. Successful attacks by Al-Qaeda could
force them to flee thereby damaging Saudi Arabia's ability
to pump oil.
The Saudi oil terminal
Ras Tanura is the largest in the world. Approximately
80% of Saudi oil flows through this terminal. While
oil terminals are heavily patrolled another multiple suicide
aircraft strike is a possibility as is infiltration and
attack by Al Qaeda agents in the security forces.
A successful strike at the terminal could send oil markets
skyward with oil shooting over $100 per barrel.
Al Qaeda has cells in
over 60 countries including those with Muslim insurgencies:
Kashmir, Chechnya,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia,
Algeria, Egypt, Bosnia, western China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Macedonia, Kosovo, and the Philippines.
Al Qaeda and similar
groups will be a threat to the oil infrastructure for many
years to come.
International Institute for Strategic
StudiesAccording
to the London-based International Institute for Strategic
Studies, al Qaeda's membership is now at 18,000, with 1,000
active in Iraq.
Linketeria Website Directory - Search useful
internet resources for the general public. Websites are listed by
popularity and sites that exchange links are clearly labeled. Webmasters
submit your site and get free promotion instantly!
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section
107, material on this website is distributed without profit to those who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes. Gasprices-usa.com has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originators of articles or websites
linked to nor is Gasprices-usa endorsed or sponsored by the originators
of articles or websites linked to.
copyright 2005
