Saudis "Trust in God But Keep a Rock By Their Side"

• Published in: The Washington report on Middle East affairs 1991-01, Vol.IX (8), p.16
• Main Author: Akers, Deborah B
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: International; International relations; War
• ISSN: 8755-4917; 2163-2782

Last summer, in late July, I was aroused early from my sleep in our home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by cries from our Pakistani driver. "Yella, Yella," he said. "Come quickly, there is an emergency." I dashed to the back garden. There, a fellow Pakistani had just dispatched a cobra snake. Yes, he explained with a proud smile, this was the most venomous cobra known. An ounce of venom spit into a person's eyes would surely result in instant death. It writhed a final spasm, then died inches from the children's swing set. There was the immediate threat of a missile attack. [Saddam Hussain] made it very clear that missiles now located in Kuwait were aimed at each important center in the Kingdom. For those in Dhahran, on the Gulf, or in Riyadh, the capital, the border was uncomfortably close. For us in [Jeddah], along the Red Sea coast, Kuwait seemed farther away. But Saddam dispelled any sense of safety we might have felt. His SCUD missiles, he announced, now had an extended range which made it possible to penetrate the farthest reaches of the Kingdom. From that day forward it was hard to rest well at night, trying to distinguish the roar of an airliner overhead from something that could be much worse. I admired the Saudis' ability to find calm through "trust in God." I, too, trusted in God, but in what must be an American cultural trait, I could not help continuing to fret. Among the expatriates, there was plenty of gallows humor. There were also the frantic midnight calls from America and elsewhere from worried family members. Sobbing grandmothers and concerned friends all advised those among the expatriate community to leave. Were the Saudis underreacting, or was their attitude similar to "let's not worry the women"? Were our friends and family in the US overreacting? There was not much time to ponder the issue.