Arab Street, Redux - The

Arab Street, Redux - The Telegraph thinks the "Arab Street" might be repelled by the weekend's alleged Al Quaeda bombing in Riyadh:

"Al-Qa'eda appeared yesterday to have unwittingly alienated a vast spectrum of Arab opinion and helped America's war on terrorism by attacking Muslims it considers traitors to the faith, intelligence sources in Riyadh said.

Destroyed buildings at the housing compound in Riyadh after yesterday's explosion

Seventeen people, mostly of Arab descent, including four children, died in the suicide attack against a housing compound in Riyadh on Saturday night. The victims included four Egyptians, four Lebanese, and a Sudanese.

The attack has engendered unprecedented condemnation throughout the Middle East and will have damaged al-Qa'eda's appeal as anti-western and pro-Islamic."

So what does the "Arab Street" really think?

Given that the reactions to the US liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq were so short-lived and relatively mild, it'll bear watching. If the real "Arab Street" begins to shun Al-Quaeda, it might indicate the average Arab has more regard for democracy than many on the left - and among the Islamofascists - credit them for.

On the other hand, Lileks asks :

And it makes me wonder: They stick the shiv in the ribs of their richest and most enthusiastic backers.

What makes them this confident?

Good, sobering questions.

Maybe a twisted, hyper-hyperbolic version of the same thing that makes Howard Dean and John Kerry whiz on the liberation of Iraq - as we call it, "playing to their base?" It's not done for the poor saud in the "arab street", it's done to buff the morale of the people whose morality allows and encourages things like using airliners as cruise missiles.

If the people who provide the bling for Al Quaeda can justify that, what's a bomb in Riyadh?

I could, of course, be comically wrong.

Posted by Mitch at November 10, 2003 05:20 AM