[rmnunez]

Economic sanctions on unrepresentative governments never have the desired effect. The tyrant is glorified as struggling against the greedy Americans, prices shoot up for contraband goods and sniping states, the perfidious ones and emerging producers with all sorts of smugglers step in to find ways around them. There is good reason to believe artful targetting would be effective in a more citizen responsive system where the head of state's standing is measured in objective economic outputs (like employment or GNP rates).

On the blast in Riyahd, if AlQ is involved and this signals a focus now on the Saudi royals, I'd expect Saudi Arabia will become much more cooperative with the US regarding terror-funding, intelligence sharing and no more of this sudden decapitation instead of interrogation. Some of those Sheiks have a lot to hide and they are in the doghouse now, obviously they misread OBL and his fantasies.

If the blast signals an effort to oust the Saud regime and there is any substance to the argument the Saudis feel themselves "crushed" and oppressed by some sort of represive tyrany, then maybe its a home grown effort. If it is a new focus and from AlQ then it could provoke a sort of national solidarity thing.

If the AlQ were behind it and more successful suddenly and if the situation degenerated into Saud exiles and evacuations, with the Americans still deployed on the ground and in large numbers next door, it doesn't seem far-fetched to suggest 'broadening' the scope of the effort now underway.