The hostage taking in khobar is said to be the beginning of the fall of the Saud dynasty in Arabia. Crude oil prices are expected to rise again. They have taken many (50?) hostages from foreign corporations including Haliburton. Seems that al Qaeda is taking the credit.

In the meantime, the interim gov. council in Iraq has defied the U.S. and U.N. and appointed their own leader to oversee the upcoming elections.

Looks like the various factions in the middle east may have discovered that they have more in common with each other than they do with any foreigners. Just like most people in most places, when there is an outside threat, there is fierce opposition. When the outsiders are defeated, they return to fighting amongst themselves. Seems like a common social pattern.