| Ohfergawdsake. It's written by Amir Butler. Wossamotta? You couldn't find anything by John Pilger? |
With Australia conspicuously committed to both the "war on terror" and the occupation of Iraq, the threat of terrorism is always in the background. It has, thankfully, always remained just that: a threat. However, on a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, I entered a society where terrorism has gone beyond merely a threat to become a reality with which every citizen and resident must, in some way, contend. On the evening of December 29, 2004, terrorists attacked the Interior Ministry in Riyadh with car bombs. I had been eating dinner at the time, with some Saudi friends; one of whom was the imam of a mosque adjacent to the ministry building. Witnessing the flood of phone calls he received from family and friends, anxious to confirm he had not been harmed in the blast, it became apparent that, regardless of what might be commonly believed in the West, Saudi society is and continues to be a victim of terrorism.
| Let's take a hypothetical case: I'm going to set up a secret laboratory in my basement, buy myself one of those white coats and some test tubes, and in true mad scientist tradition find the secret formula that will blow up Baltimore. I'm going to mix this and that, finally creating a bubbling red substance of unsurpassed volatility. It's going to be so volatile, in fact, when adding a few drops of this or that, changing the content only the least bit, it's going to blow up, destroying not only Baltimore, but me in the process. That will make me a victim, right? |
The effects of the nation's struggle with domestic terrorism are visible everywhere. At times, Riyadh looks like a city under siege. There are regular checkpoints established along the city's freeways; tanks and armed vehicles sit outside government offices and "at risk" buildings; and even a trip to a popular city shopping center requires one's car to be searched extensively for bombs.
| Shouldn't have added the baking soda. That was a really bad idea... |
To untrained Western eyes, there may appear little visible difference between the fundamentalism of the Saudi population and the extremism of the terrorists. After all, both dress the same, practice similarly austere interpretations of Islam, and are concerned about similar issues, such as social justice and American intervention in the Muslim world.
| Both are xenophobic, in the iron grip of holy men, marry close relatives one generation after the other... |
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