WHY USAMA BIN-LADEN WILL NOT MURDER SAUDI CIVILIANS

As a corollary, the bombing campaign, if it intensifies, could result in forcing out the large Western expatriate community, which would open new job opportunities for Saudis and fellow Arabs, Sunnis in particular. In short, if bombings intensify, they could force multinational companies to hire more Arabs. But it is doubtful that the bombing campaign would in fact intensify. Why? The Emir-in Chief, Usama bin-Laden, knows that intensifying the bombing could result in the death of Saudi civilians and a backlash against him in his homeland. Better focus on Americans and Israelis as a way of uniting the Sunni masses, without risking his popularity.

But he (or his cells) might lose patience. The bombings (and a recent clash involving bin-Ladennites and Riyadh police--mid-November), if anything, have shown bin Laden to have failed miserably in Saudi Arabia, since they hardly have risen to a level of seriousness sufficient to cause a mass exodus of Westerners. (Forgive the stereotype: Westerners have such a missionary zeal about career, money, non-taxed life overseas, and cheap maids and nannies, that they don't exit easily. When SPC's editor worked for Arab-American organizations, he advised numerous callers to avoid accepting positions in Lebanon, at the height of Iranian-sponsored kidnapping of Westerners; these warnings fell on deaf ears, as the Ph.D.s and the businessmen still opted for money, the non-taxed existence, and the cheap maids and nannies.)