Who Will Succeed the House of Saud?
by Allan Topol, 2003 ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT MILITARY.COM, November 19, 2003 Photo Courtesy: Julie Zitin For decades the United States has trained Saudi Arabian pilots and other military officers. Recent developments in the desert kingdom have given a new importance to those relationships. On November 9, a deadly car bomb was exploded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The casualty toll was a score dead and more than a hundred wounded. More ominously, it was likely the first of many more attacks by Saudi militants. Lurking beneath the surface is a sensitive issue which many in Washington would prefer not to discuss: how securely entrenched is the House of Saud? The bomb was not aimed at Westerners — the target was a Saudi compound inhabited by Arabs with affluent lifestyles. In the words of Wyche Fowler, Jr., a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, “There is a determined fight to rattle the government if not bring it down.” When Al Qaeda was blamed for the attack, some in the United States
