Unleashing the Beast

230 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

Today, we would say that he is over the places of oil, or the oil wells. Saudi Arabia is the leading Middle Eastern nation producing oil in today's world. The word "province" is the Hebrew word medina . The interesting aspect of this word is that a famous city in Saudi Arabia is called Medina. The city of Medina is the second holiest city to the Muslims and is where the founder of Islam, Mohammed, is buried. During the Gulf War, there was a controversy over foreign troops fighting on the soil of Saudi Arabia. The extremist Muslims believed the soldiers from the West were infidels who were polluting the purity of the land of Mohammed. This anger boiled in private, motivating such organizations as bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia because his personal opinions were creating contention and because of possible danger to the royal family. The fanatical segments of Islam found in Iran, Iraq and Syria would rejoice to see the royal family and the oil wells cut from the hands of the moderate Arabs and given over to the power of fanatics who would then hold the West hostage. T HE P RESIDENT WAS R IGHT When President Bush suggested America should be less dependent on Middle East oil and begin exploration in Alaska or some other area, the environmentalists arose to block his goal. A major news network had the senator from Alaska on their program; but prior to the interview, they