EmilyAnn wrote:DrW wrote:In D'hahran, Saudi Arabia, a few years before the First Persian Gulf War, I had the opportunity to see the religious police in action against the wives of newly arrived Aramco and University of Petroleum and Minerals contract employees, mainly from the US, UK and Canada.
They would literally walk up to (normally unaccompanied) females with bare arms or legs in the local souks (even on a day when the temperature was 110 - 120 degrees or so) and spray the improperly covered portions of the body with black paint, often ruining the clothes the woman was wearing. For Muslim females improperly covered, they would sometimes use a cane to repeatedly strike the improperly covered parts of the body.
When the US and coalition forces moved into the Eastern Province to re-take Kuwait, the religious police complained bitterly about the female troops being unaccompanied by males and wearing sidearms in public.
Rumor has it that the local coalition public affairs and Llaison officers let it be known, through their Saudi counterparts. that since they were in a combat zone, the American troops (females included) were authorized to draw their firearms if they felt that they were being threatened, and had authorization to fire if they were attacked. The religious police were advised that assault with a paint can or cane could be definitely be considered as an attack.
A Saudi colleague told me that the religious police became apoplectic at the sight of young American females with guns walking around town. He said that these unholy manifestations of Satan got so bad that the religious police eventually disappeared from the streets until the coalition forces left town. (This friend was US educated and was himself embarrassed about the actions of the religious police.)
Thank you, DrW...I don't remember ever hearing about female US troops in Saudi Arabia, and I've certainly never read this story before!!
I knew someone (we lost track of each other about ten years ago) who was career US Air Force and was, on a number of occasions when he was in that general area of the globe, in Saudi. He had some disturbing tales to tell about daily life, when the religious police can seemingly come out of "nowhere," yet have total control (including the power of life or death) over the lives of anyone they turn their attention to. Some of the things he witnessed were extremely disturbing (especially to
me).
Having female US troops in
their area of authority, and protected from
their ability to intimidate and terrorize, must have driven the Saudi religious police nearly insane.
EmilyAnn,
Having spent a great deal of time in the Middle East, including KSA, I would have no trouble believing pretty much anything your Air Force colleague might have come up with concerning local customs, behaviors and treatment of foreigners in the Kingdom.
USAF personnel who were training Royal Saudi Air Force pilots and ground crews in the Eastern Province lived high off the hog, indeed. They had their own private beach, complete with an upscale beach club, very fast powerboat, and all the amenities.
One of the USAF-trained Saudi pilots flying an F-15 Strike Eagle splashed an Iraqi Mirage out over the Gulf while I was there. I suppose that the Iraqis had penetrated into Saudi airspace one to many times.
On his way back to the airbase at D'hahran, the young pilot did an exceedingly low altitude victory roll for his friends at the University where I worked. I was sure we were under attack until I got to a window and saw it was an F-15. I heard later that the Americans were not amused. The Saudi attitude was more or less "boys will be boys".
As far as I know, there was never any mention of this little episode of diplomacy by other means in the press. Such control of the press is possible in Middle Eastern countries and I suppose that neither Iraq or KSA saw any reason to mention this incident. I assume the Iraqi pilot ejected and made it back okay - less his multi-million dollar Mirage, of course. Line drawn - lesson learned.
