Lileks asks "This Riyadh bombing story would be cause for a brief dank gust of saudenfreude if the damage hadn’t been so horrible. Will the Saudi newsmagazines run covers that say “Why Do They Hate Us” – or, more accurately, “Why Do We Hate Us”? It’s a blue-pill / red-pill moment for the Saudis; it reminds you – if you needed just a jab – that history is moving swiftly around us. And it would seem to be an act of audacious stupidity by Al Qaeda – this isn’t just biting the hand that feeds them. This is biting it, tearing it off, chewing it up, and blowing smoke rings with the bone powder.

"And it makes me wonder: They stick the shiv in the ribs of their richest and most enthusiastic backers.

"What makes them this confident?"

The answer to Lilek's final question is a key one. Al Quaeda doesn't just attack the West, they attack states which are insufficiently Islamic. One thing you can see is that from the POV of Al Quaeda, the Saudis are insufficiently Islamic. Do they think they will shame the Saudis into rejecting the West?