The Vodalus Approach
conspiracy theory.
So Prince Abdullah wrote President Bush in August suggesting that “a time comes when peoples and nations part.” This site and others have kicked the Saudis around for quite awhile now, and folks ranging from the peacenik right to prowar types across the spectrum have suggested that the US should dump the ungrateful bastards. The irony is supposed to be that if bin Laden hates anyone more than the US, it’s the Saudi royal family, and he’d make short work of them in our absence.
It hit me this afternoon: In Gene Wolfe’s fine novel sequence, The Book of the New Sun, the Autarch (absolute ruler) of the Commonwealth faces an internal enemy, the rebel armiger Vodalus, aka “the liege of leaves.” But as the Autarch makes clear to Severian, New Sun’s protagonist, he knows pretty much everything there is to know about Vodalus’ organization and leaves him and it in place. Because Vodalus exists, all opposition gravitates toward him, which makes threats of sedition that much more manageable for the Autarch. When Vodalus dies and Severian ascends to the Autarchy, his enemy and former lover Agia takes over Vodalus’ organization. Vodalus’ “rebellion” functions, tacitly, as an auxiliary of the Commonwealth government.
Are we starting to make a connection? Consider this: bin Laden tells his followers not to attack Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities because they represent “the wealth of the people” that he’ll see gets redistributed when a just regime takes power in Riyadh. That’s an awfully convenient sworn foe to have if you own that wealth, eh? And I realize Americans don’t get comprehensive international news, but - you hear about bin Laden blowing up Khobar Towers; you hear about bin Laden blowing up the USS Cole. But has his organization struck any serious blow against the government in Riyadh? Killed any Saudi ambassadors, kidnapped any princes, bombed any ministries? al-Qaeda has proven its ability to commit violence on the penninsula generally and in Saudi Arabia specifically. You’d think someone sworn to bring down the regime would get to it.
On the other hand, you’d think an “official opposition” might do exactly as bin Laden has done.
