Article

2004-06-08 Arabia

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Howard UK 2004-06-08 9:22:50 AM|| || Front Page|| [11139 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Each of these murders will add momentum to the exodus. If the Saudi won't let Expats arm themselves and won't protect them, then the jihadis will get what they want. I'd say the flood gates are about to open - especially for those with their families in-Kingdom.

I wonder if the replacements will satisfy the Saudis. I think so perhaps, in the beginning, but not for long. Then what?

Posted by .com 2004-06-08 9:49:16 AM|| 2004-06-08 9:49:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 .com,

Are you there? If you are, have you heard any rumors about a shoot out today at the Giant Store? We are confined to this camp and nobody knows what is going on.

Posted by Anonymous4617 2004-06-08 10:12:23 AM|| 2004-06-08 10:12:23 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 A4617: Nowt on the wires, thus far...

Posted by Howard UK 2004-06-08 10:19:46 AM|| 2004-06-08 10:19:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Details: An American man has been shot dead while driving his car in Riyadh, the latest attack on Westerners in Saudi Arabia. Reports suggest that the victim was a senior executive with the US firm Vinnell, a military logistics company with extensive business interests in the Middle East. He was killed as he left a clinic on Electricity Street in eastern Riyadh's Gulf district.

Posted by Steve 2004-06-08 11:14:54 AM|| 2004-06-08 11:14:54 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Hey dotcom - keep safe.

Posted by Yosemite Sam 2004-06-08 11:24:32 AM|| 2004-06-08 11:24:32 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Police said an American was killed after gunshots were fired at his house in eastern Riyadh. Other security sources quoted witnesses as saying the American was leaving a clinic when gunmen in a car followed him to his home and opened fire at him, killing him instantly. The American had worked for U.S. contracting company Vinnell, a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp which helps train the Saudi National Guard, an elite force for the pro-U.S. monarchy.

Posted by Steve 2004-06-08 11:33:55 AM|| 2004-06-08 11:33:55 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 When I started work in the MK in '82, half of my colleagues had been in Iran during the Shah. Sweet jobs with Bell helicopter in Isfahan. They used to go on and on about how great Iran was: all the booze, dope, broads/guys, food, scenery, carpets, etc. anyone would want in a life time. Then there were the evacuation stories.

For expats who have lived/are living in MK, will they ever sit around a table and talk about the good ol' days in the MK? Well I know Jeddah was a pretty pleasant place in the '80's; Riyadh was OK in the 90's. Now two of my former compounds have been attacked. I used to drive by the Vinnell facility all the time. Shivers. Is it all going to bubble up and go mullah-like or will some sensible princes step in? My impression there was that the best solution would be to have the Naives, Sauds, Abdullahs, Sultans all go to Marbella and Tangier and their nephews take over. Of course, this new breed would have to be forward-looking, honest, flexible yet just tough enough to handle the Wahibi scowling class. Finding the right people would be a huge challenge, and the situation might actually be beyond repair. But I don't see the majority of the natives going for a mullahocracy. Whatever, somebody had better step in right now or we'll be looking at a disaster soon enough. Saudis would settle for a UAE-type tolerant society, but this silent majority is still under wraps since c-h-a-n-g-e t-h-e-r-e t-a-k-e-s s-o l-o-n-g and come back for the signature Inchallah tomorrow.

I sure hope the folks in DC are on top of this yet I bet nobody in any intelligence service, no matter the country, knows exactly what's going on there. The insularity of the place is overwhelming.

Posted by Michael 2004-06-08 1:17:30 PM|| 2004-06-08 1:17:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Oops - up all night so I conked out, sorry A4617. The Giant in Khobar on Pepsi Rd* near the "new" traffic circle? Nothing in the email from my friends. I'll have to ask around and see if they know anything, A4617.

YS - I'm already outta there, bro. A4617 is in Dhahran Camp - she's the one to worry about!

The Riyadh story details about following him home to shoot him ring true. No problem picturing that sequence. Sigh.

Michael - you're still there in Riyadh?

A4617 / Michael - One Saudi I used to regularly converse with told me that Joe Avg Saudi had a favorite Prince, one they all respected: Walid... this one, I think: Al Walid bin Khalid bin Talal Al Saud - generally referred to as Walid ibn (or bin) Talal for Googling. He's supposed to be the one Prince who took his money and made tons and tons more legitimately in business outside the Kingdom - not the usual ratbagging and "franchise" games of the others. The guy told me that Saudis on the street see him as the one who's smart, honest, a good businessman, etc, and when the others bailed he could stand up and instantly gain the respect of the people and stop a collapse - Wahhabis notwithstanding. Does this name resonate for either of you?

Check this page out - scroll down to "PRINCE WALID BIN TALAL, A PLUS IN A FAMILY OF MINUSES!" for a quick take on him.

Mebbe he can save the House of Saud - and perhaps a rational leader there would be useful and would hold off the Wahhabi takeover - it's just that many blather about sweeping them away -- and don't really know what they're on about. Anyone who knows their stuff and can chime in on this - PLEASE DO. I've always wondered if my "friend" was shooting straight with me. Googling this guy indicates he prolly was.

Mebbe not.

* We Expats have made-up names for most major roads - because they have no names most of the time and there are damned few street signs. Pepsi Rd runs in front of the Pepsi bottling plant, of course.

Posted by .com 2004-06-08 5:55:12 PM|| 2004-06-08 5:55:12 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 just tough enough to handle the Wahibi scowling class.
heh

What's the magic number of expats leaving that makes the royals twitch? Any guesses?

Posted by Shipman 2004-06-08 7:19:37 PM|| 2004-06-08 7:19:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 When I started work in the MK in '82, half of my colleagues had been in Iran during the Shah. Sweet jobs with Bell helicopter in Isfahan. They used to go on and on about how great Iran was: all the booze, dope, broads/guys, food, scenery, carpets, etc. anyone would want in a life time. Then there were the evacuation stories.

Back in the day, I was offered a really rich deal to go do software in Teheran, duplicating a version of the US command and control systems for the Shah. We were newlyweds, dirt poor, I had college loans to repay and this was before the salary would be taxed ... we would have come home with enough to buy a house outright.

Hubby wouldn't go. I thought about it for a while (LOL) and then turned down the offer. It would have been an 18 mo tour. 17 mos into the period, the Shah fell, so I guess it turned out well for us after all.

It would have been great to pay off those loans and have a house, though!

Posted by rkb 2004-06-08 8:05:11 PM|| 2004-06-08 8:05:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 ... #8 Wasn't this PrinceWalid that made money in the stock market during the 90's? Wasn't he also the Saudi Prince who presented a $10M check to Rudy Juliani after the 2001 WTC attack? When presenting the check, he blamed the attack on the Americans. Juliani basically told him where to shove his check.

Posted by ed 2004-06-09 3:23:16 AM|| 2004-06-09 3:23:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 ed - That's the one. He played the Paleo and America asked for it cards, then got his check shoved up his ass. I didn't say he's my favorite guy, heh, but the Saudi man on the street thinks he's pretty spiffy. At least he isn't otherwise a moron as well.

Posted by .com 2004-06-09 3:40:03 AM|| 2004-06-09 3:40:03 AM|| Front Page Top

15:08 BMN
14:40 Antiwar TROLL
11:44 BigEd
09:31 Shipman
09:27 Shipman
07:55 Mitch H.
03:40 .com
03:29 ed
03:23 ed
02:58 Super Hose
02:56 Super Hose
02:34 Phil Fraering
01:21 .com
01:11 Rafael
01:02 .com
00:55 Rafael
00:52 Rafael
00:49 Not Mike Moore
00:48 GK
00:45 Not Mike Moore
00:42 .com
00:42 Not Mike Moore
00:38 Not Mike Moore
00:33 Not Mike Moore