January 27th, 2005
Letter #7 from Saudi Arabia
Bin Laden and Iraq
R.F. Burton
Private Papers

Is Osama bin Laden irrelevant? It would be pretty to think so, but the destructive aftermath of his last two tapes argues bin Laden is still quarterbacking terrorist touchdowns in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Last October, Spain's top investigative judge specializing in terrorism, Judge Baltasar Garzon, addressed the sixth Annual Conference on Transnational Crime held in Monaco. He said, "As things stand today, with the pressure being exerted against this person [Osama bin Laden] and the leadership of al-Qaeda, it would be hard to believe that he could still be operational and capable of giving orders."

Most would agree bin Laden's operations have been marginalized. Fearful of missile-laden drones and the crosshairs of a sniper's scope, the tall, lanky one has stopped making videos of afternoon strolls through the wastelands of Afghanistan with his covey of doting bodyguards. Like Hitler in his bunker, Osama has gone underground, but not far enough down to stop him from calling signals to his team players.

On December 3, six militants attacked the American Consulate in Jeddah. Within two weeks Osama released an audiotape - strategically timed to coincide with planned demonstrations on December 16th in Riyadh that fizzled out due to heavy security - praising the militants who carried out the attack. "God bless our brothers who stormed the American Consulate in Jeddah," Osama acclaimed. "Those who were killed of our brothers, we ask God to accept them as martyrs."

Praising the attack, Osama capitalized on the turbulent undercurrent of anti-Americanism in the Magic Kingdom. It is an undercurrent he helped set in motion during the war in Iraq when he warned, "The U.S.-led war in Iraq is part of a religious and economic war to control the Arab world. Today, Baghdad; tomorrow, Riyadh."

In another ploy to improve his home field advantage, Osama denounced the Royal Family's relationship with America, asserting in the same audiotape, "The Saudi government has forged an alliance with the world of infidelity led by Bush."

"The sins the regime [the Royal Family] committed are great. It has practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride," Osama wailed. He proclaimed that the Royal Family had squandered a fortune in oil revenues while "millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation."

Reaction to Osama's tape was striking. On December 29, Osama's home team, the Al-Muqrin Squad of al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula, decided to go for it and try to assassinate the Magic Kingdom's Interior Minister, Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, and his son. Car bombs were detonated near the Ministry of the Interior and Headquarters of Emergency Forces. Inside knowledge was required to carry out the attack. The assassination attempt was followed by a deadly shootout in north Riyadh. When it was over the entire Al-Muqrin Squad had been either blown to pieces or shot full of holes. At first glance it would seem the Al-Muqrin Squad had fumbled, but carrying out such an audacious attack against a senior member of the Royal Family was equivalent to scoring a psychological coup d'état in the ambivalent minds of Saudis. What was once unthinkable proved to be attemptable.

On December 27, Osama handed off another tape to Al-Jazeera television. In it Bin Laden officially tied the terrorist knot with psychopath Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who until then had been a free agent in the murky world of militant murder and mutilation. It was a marriage made in Hell. Osama appointed little Abu the emir of Iraq: "The brother mujahed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the emir of the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers [Iraq]," Osama said. "Brothers in the group must listen to him and obey him for what is good."

The emir's brothers listened and did what they were told was "good." In a blatant display of unsportsmanlike conduct they released a barrage of horror in Iraq, storming police stations, shooting police officers in the head, dynamiting police headquarters, blowing up national guardsmen, and killing Iraqi businessmen working with the U.S. Army. After the dust settled 45 corpses littered the playing fields of Iraq.

In the same tape Osama warned that anyone who participated in the January 30 election would be an infidel. The political fallout was equally striking. The Sunni's main party, the Democratic Party of the Iraqi Nation, which was shelled the day before, decided to pull out of the upcoming election. The blitz against the upcoming election continues. There are no neutral zones.

The only signal given in the tape that has yet to be put into play is an attack on the oil facilities. "Take jihad to stop the Americans getting hold of the oil," Osama said. "Concentrate your operations on the oil, in particular in Iraq and the Gulf."

Any attack on the oil infrastructure, whether on the East-West Pipeline that crosses the Arabian Peninsula, or on the refineries in Ras Tanura, would undermine the Royal Family's control and wreak havoc with Western economies, which is, of course, Osama's game plan. Imagine what $100-a-barrel oil on top of America's five-billion-dollar expenditure on Iraq per week would do to America's economy.

An eerie calm has fallen over the Magic Kingdom since the last shootout between terrorists and security forces. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) claims that Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula has lost momentum in the Magic Kingdom since the government turned medieval after the triple compound bombings in 2003. Four of the five major cells have been dismantled. Hundreds of Al-Qaeda members have been killed, incarcerated, or forced to flee. "Nevertheless," the CSIS reported, "Saudi Arabia is at a critical juncture in its fight against terrorism. The threat is unlikely to disappear for years to come."

While the Al-Muqrin Squad of al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula has been sidelined due to injury and death, a second-string team is gaining invaluable hands-on terrorist training in Iraq and other countries. CSIS warned, "Al-Qaeda can draw on Saudis in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Central Asia, as well as other members of al-Qaeda who may be able to enter Saudi Arabia."

Contrary to the Interior Minister's recent claim that the border between the Magic Kingdom and Iraq is secure, there's no doubt this new team of highly trained and highly motivated Al-Qaeda players will infiltrate the Magic Kingdom's vast borders once they decide to return, and unless the civilized world gets lucky, Osama will still be out there somewhere, calling the signals.