March 12,2008:
Saudi Arabia revealed that it has, in the last few months, arrested 56
men who tried to sneak into the country, hidden among the 2.5 million Moslems
arriving for the annual Hadj pilgrimage.
At least one was found to have a mobile phone chip containing a special
recording by Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician who is the number 2 guy
in al Qaeda. Al Zawahiri informs listeners that the fellow holding the chip is
the real deal, and he needs whatever money that can be spared. Some money was
collected, under the pretense that it was for charitable work. But the cash was
really needed to carry out a series of terrorist attacks. That didn't happen.
Someone tipped off the police. No one is saying who. It could have been one of
the al Qaeda men, or one of their friends or family. Since al Qaeda began setting
off bombs in Saudi Arabia in 2003, their popularity there plummeted. Before the
U.S. went into Iraq, al Qaeda had an unofficial truce with the Saudi
government. Al Qaeda members could visit family, or whatever, and as long as
they kept a low profile, would be left alone. In return, al Qaeda didn't make
terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, even though the organization was,
technically, at war with the country many of its members came from. But, you
have to be practical about these things.
The U.S.
invasion of Iraq enraged al Qaeda in 2003. Even though Saudi Arabia officially
condemned this operation, it was seen as an infidel occupation of the al Qaeda
homeland. So the terror attacks in Saudi Arabia began, because the Saudi
government had not resisted the "crusaders" with force. The Saudis had been
preparing for this terrorism, and over the last five years, hundreds of al
Qaeda members have been killed or arrested there. A large minority of Saudis
still support al Qaeda, but it's the majority who do not, that make it nearly
impossible for the terrorists to operate in their "homeland." Killing civilians
will do that, and al Qaeda has not been able to figure out how to fight without
shedding the blood of innocents. So the innocents are taking their revenge.