Saudi King Fahd Dies

Major news services are headlining a breaking story reporting that King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has died after a long illness.

Since the Saudi Government is "family owned and operated" and has not missed a beat during the King's long illness, there should be little effect from his death.

There have, however, been some unconfirmed reports of a division of opinion within the royal family as to who his successor will be. Regardless, we should not expect too much of a change in government policy....unless the Wahhabi religious leadership decides to take advantage of the "transition" to stage some sort of a "coup d'etat" or other show of power. Al Qaeda might also conceivably attempt some sort of response.....we'll just have to wait and see.