RIYADH, 21 March 2003 — With the war in Iraq under way, the people of Saudi Arabia are dreading the worst.
Arab News spoke to Saudis between 20 and 34 to hear their perspective on the war. Though most of the people interviewed were cautious about the quotations they wanted to be published in the newspaper, all agreed that Saudi Arabia could be a target for America in the future.
Abdul Aziz Al-Muammar, a 20-year-old university student, said that if the current Iraqi regime was removed, the United States would install a puppet regime in its place. “If you ask me, the Iraqi people are the ones who should determine who replaces the current regime,” he said.
He thinks that the United States’ motive for the war against Iraq is mainly the seizure of Iraq’s oil fields and tightening its control in the region.
Asked if he thought Saudi Arabia would become a target for America, the young man answered, “Yes. It will be targeted in the future.”
However, he does not think that any Scud missiles would be launched by Iraq on Riyadh as was the scenario in the 1991 Gulf War. “As long as Saudi Arabia is not participating in this war, I do not think it will be attacked,” he said. His main source of news during the war is Al-Jazeera Arabic satellite channel.
Another university student, Rayan Abu Radeif, 21, said that the upcoming war would not have any positive effect in Iraq. The establishment of a democratic regime in Iraq was only an excuse to invade and “the main goal of the war is oil.”
A third university student, Basim Al-Ali, 22, said the war could have a negative impact if the Iraqis decided to burn their oil fields. He said there were more than just political reasons for invading Iraq, namely an attack against Islam.
“This war will have a direct or indirect impact on the Saudi economy,” he said.
Turki Almouh, a 31-year-old government employee, disagreed with his other Saudi fellow citizens. He believed that something positive would come out of the war against Iraq. “We are going to be affected no matter what happens.”
He also believed that there is more to the war than just the change of the current regime in Iraq.
“There is something going on backstage in the long run. There is something for Israel,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia could be the next target and could be the next step in about 10 years,” he added.
Government employee Abdullah Al-Zahrani, 34, said no war produced anything positive. He believes that hidden agendas are behind the real aim of the war and that a change of system in Saudi Arabia could be a goal of the US in the future.
Iraq, he said, would be first. Adjacent countries would follow. “The price of this war will be paid from Iraqi oil fields,” he stated.
Unlike other Saudis, Abdullah turns to Al-Arabia for news as an alternative to Al-Jazeera.
