NEWS: Attacks on Americans in Saudi Arabia Increase, page 1

U.S. personnel came under fire in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh Wednesday. Shots were fired at two cars that U.S. personnel were using. One of the vehicles was able to turn away and avoid being hit, but the driver of the second vehicle was treated for a gunshot wound that he received as he was driving away from the gunfire.

MSNBC - Gunmen in Riyadh open fire on Americans
Shots were fired at two vehicles carrying two U.S. military personnel who were driving on a Riyadh highway," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. "One of the cars turned away quickly but the other car took fire. The driver of that car was slightly wounded. ... Both vehicles quickly returned to Iskan Village, a housing complex where a training unit working with the Saudi National Guard lives.

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Iskan Village is a large housing complex where most of the U.S. forces and many contractors who work in the area surrounding Riyadh are housed. Although the village itself is guarded fairly well, most of the people living there have to commute back and forth to work. Mainly this is done in unmarked cars, but U.S. personnel would be in uniform and unarmed in the transit period. Since this is the capital of Saudi Arabia, U.S. forces do their best to keep a low profile, and an armed escort to and from work would be out of the question.

The presence of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia seems to be growing, as the frequency of such attacks are on the rise. I remember when you could drive into downtown Riyadh in uniform, and you would still be welcomed into shops with smiles and offered tea to drink. Those days appear to be over now. The U.S. is seen more as an occupying force, and the memories of pushing Saddam out of Kuwait have been replaced with pictures of U.S. forces mistreating Iraqi prisoners.

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Eskan Village