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NEWS & LETTERS, JUNE 2003
Our Life and Times by Kevin A. BarryAl Qaeda attacksGiving the lie to Bush administration claims that the reckless invasion of Iraq would undermine them, the fundamentalist Al Qaeda network staged two major terrorist attacks in mid-May. In Saudi Arabia, 15 suicide bombers simultaneously attacked two residential complexes and a U.S. corporation. Besides the attackers themselves, 20 people were killed, seven of them Saudi citizens. Other victims included seven U.S. citizens, as well as citizens of the Philippines, Britain, and other countries. Less than a week later, 14 suicide bombers attacked a major hotel, a Spanish restaurant, the Belgian Consulate, a Jewish community center, and a Jewish cemetery in Casablanca, Morocco. Besides killing 13 of themselves, the attackers also murdered 28 other people, all but five of whom were Moroccan citizens. While Al Qaeda thus proved its continuing existence, if these attacks were an attempt to capitalize on Arab rage against the Iraq war, the response on the ground by Saudi and Moroccan citizens suggested otherwise. This does not mean, however, that other forms of fundamentalism might not grow in the coming months, as the occupation of Iraq continues. |
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