Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America

The Idler ^ | 4 November 2001 | Yossef Bodansky

[SunkenCiv]

Saudi Arabia was the first of the traditionalist conservative states to erupt in Islamist violence. On November 20, 1979, the Grand Mosque in Mecca was seized by a well-organized group of 1,300 to 1,500 men under the leadership of Juhayman ibn-Muhammad ibn-Sayf al-Utaibi. A former captain in the White Guards (National Guard), he now declared himself a "mahdi" (messiah). In addition to the Saudis the group's core included well-trained mujahideen (Islamic holy warriors) from Egypt, Kuwait, Sudan, Iraq, North Yemen (the YAR), and South Yemen (the PDRY). Egyptian and Soviet sources estimated the total number of rebels to be 3,500. Although the assault was in the name of the return to the purity of Islam, most of the 500 leading attackers had been trained and equipped in Libya and especially South Yemen by instructors from East Germany, Cuba, and the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). These attackers included Communists in command positions who demonstrated excel-lent organizational and tactical skills. Furthermore, fifty-nine of the participating Yemenis had been trained in Iran and received weapons via the Iranian Embassy in Sana.

[SunkenCiv]

Those of us around at the time remember the denouement of that episode.

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[SunkenCiv]

this topic was motivated by this one:

Saudi forces kill gunman and arrest two in US mission attack
ABC Online ^ | December 6, 2004 | ABC Online
Posted on 12/06/2004 3:35:59 AM PST by No One Special
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1295284/posts

[No One Special]

Thanks for this insight into the kingdom.

[SunkenCiv]

1979 saw the rise of Khomeini in Iran, and Saddam seized the presidency of Iraq in July. It was a busy year. :')

[No One Special]

I was aware of most of the history in the article you posted but have never seen it all put together so well. It is understandable and sad that most Americans have no idea of the historical context of the current situation. I would include John Edwards in that category having seen an interview with him where I could tell he had not even a clue as to who the players were.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, sadly... Edwards is just an ambulance chaser.

[Poohbah]

I would take Bodansky with a grain of salt. He's been caught strategtically enhancing the truth on a couple of occasions--his biography of bin Laden contains at least one major falsehood (that bin Laden was a party boy in Europe--he's never traveled outside Islamic countries, and his classmates said was he was the nerdy little so-and-so who'd remind the teacher at madrassas school to give out the summer Koran reading assignments).

[SunkenCiv]

The Next Mahdi?
Putting Bin Laden In Historical Perspective
Christopher M. Newport
Armed Forces Journal Int'l
SEPTEMBER 2002 Feature
http://www.afji.com/AFJI/Mags/2002/Sept/mahdi.html