If al Qaeda WAS behind the Riyadh bombings, what was their intention?

[BurtWorm]

Which is what makes me wonder if it really was al Qaeda. If the people who plotted and carried it out sought to discredit al Qaeda, their job did the trick. But if it WAS al Qaeda, what did they hope to accomplish by attacking Arab families in the middle of the night? Was this supposed to be an attack on Westernized Arabs?



http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/international/middleeast/11SAUD.html?hp

"They can no longer say they are more or less raising the banner of jihad," said Saad A. Sowayan, a professor specializing in Bedouin poetry at King Saud University, sipping orange juice in a hotel coffee shop. "Jihad is not against your own people."

The fact that the targets were fellow Muslims lent the sense that the attackers might just be pursuing pure chaos. "If they were really seeking change they would resort to actions that would win them the support of the people," the professor said. "Before, people could find excuses. It is getting so irrational that you cannot explain it, you cannot defend it, you cannot understand it."

Of the 17 people reported killed in the bombing so far, all 13 identified were Arabs. Most of the 200 town houses in the Muhaya compound were occupied by Arab families.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

1. Their motive was to benefit Bush and the Saudi Government

in their war against terror.

They aren't under enough pressure, so they decided to kill the people they are trying to fight for.

And if you belive that, I have a bridge for sale.

[interceptor]

2. Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda has a bone or three to pick with the royal family as well. Although Saudi is a pretty strict sharia society, they want it to be more like Iran. They believe the Saud family is allowing too many western influences into the country that owns Mecca, etc. And Saudi has a history of smashing any sort of dissident, especially terrorists when they can catch them (not to mention kicking Osama out), so its a longstanding fight. My dad works for Saudi Aramco, so they get Al Qaeda threats there almost daily. This thing isn't new, its just that this time Al Qaeda was successful...

[BurtWorm]

3. Al Qaeda is Sunni, not Shiite.

They don't want to be like Iran. The rest of what you say makes a kind of sense.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Actually, Interceptor has a point

Iran is a republic; Saudi Arabia is a monarchy. A lot of Muslims reject monarchism on Quranic grounds.

But you're right about the Sunni-Shia thing. Most non-Muslims don't understand the depth of the rivalry.

--bkl

[rman]

6. Iran is one of the the most western, moderate of muslim nations

any fanatically orthodox muslim would want SA to be anything but like Iran, and any western nation wanting to spread democracy in the ME would want to cooperate with Iran instead of trying to intimidate it.

and isn't it common knowledge that Al-Queda considers the US and Israel to be their prime enemies?

[newyawker99]

9. Hi interceptor!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Must_B_Free]

4. My precursory reaction

would be that they would want to appear to be a victim of Al Queda in order to direct suspicion elsewhere.

They have acted like nervous guilty people since 911. That guy trying to give 10 million to the victims - for what? If a guy feels like he has to give 10 mil then what was his involvement?

[0rganism]

7. To destabilize the collaborating House of Saud, perhaps?

It's possible that extreme fanatics might see the Saudi royals as too corrupted by western influence to rule the Muslim holy land. Could be the start of a long-term rebellion.

Honestly, though, I got nothing. Why bomb anyone to make a point? It's not my trip.

[slaveplanet]

8. To answer your question

proposed in your header. You'd have to pick the mind of the people behind the people who are funding Al-Queda. The Saudi's are some of those people, finding exactly where they fall into the equation is the enigma. The talking heads are making a lot of hay about how some recent Saudi interceptions of Korans that were hollowed out for bombs. These are meant for Muslim end targets. This could be an attempted shot in the arm to pump up The WOT.