American Woman in Saudi Arabia Commits Venti-Sized No-No
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
An American woman's business meeting at a Saudi Arabian Starbucks went horribly awry when she was nabbed by the religious police for being in public with a man to whom she wasn't related. The woman was taken into custody, strip-searched, fingerprinted, and told she was "going to burn in hell"—which, you know, might still be true, even though her husband pulled some strings and got her released. Scarred though she may be by the experience, she's declared that she's staying in-country to help raise attention to Saudi oppression: "If I want to make a difference I have to stick around. If I leave they win. I can't just surrender to the terrorist acts of these people."
Of course, the Saudis chopped some guys' heads off just earlier this week for drug possession and there wasn't anything close to the media outcry being generated by this coffee shop incident. But they were just some guys from the Middle East—the "American Woman at Saudi Starbucks" angle is much more engaging.