The fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States were Saudis crystallized a long-held view of the kingdom as a bastion of authoritarianism and intolerance. In some respects, this perception is accurate, but it cannot be applied to the broad Saudi public.
2001年9月11日袭击美国的19名劫机者中，居然有15名来自沙特。这一事实使长久以来就存在的一种看法渐趋明朗：即沙特是独裁主义和极端观点的大本营。某种程度上，上述观点并没有说错，但用来形容广大的沙特公众却并不合适。恰恰相反，如果认为伊斯兰狂热主义界定了沙特宗教观念的全部内涵，那就犯下了极为严重的错误。