Why Khobar Towers Matters Now

Tommy, at Striving For Average, has posted on his experience with terror at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

First read this for background and then read Tommy's personal experiences, here.

Given the London bombings this past week, Tommy's account is important, if for no other reason than by design or coincidence, the very personal nature of terror becomes evident. It is not about politics or even ideology. Terror is a vehicle specfically chosen to bypass the need to explain ideology or politics. Terror is about power and exerting that power, however horrible, at will.


In the first part of the account, Tommy asks some hard questions- but in the end, we know the questions are no more than a preamble to the description of terror that is upcoming. It is sort of like a job applicant attending to his grooming- that is, he will not be hired based on his chopice of ties, but human nature being what it is, we fret about everything.

The writing may seem almost detached- but it is clear it is Tommy's personal experience.

We would do well to read and reread his experience, if for no other reason than to realize the impact and reality of terror.

One could say that Tommy was a soldier, and thus terror was a part of the deal. Anyone who says that is an idiot.

Tommy and his band of brothers at the Khobar Towers were not sent to a combat zone. They were there by request- and backed by administrations in this country that crossed political lines.

They were there to help- not get involved in a religious war.