Saudi Arabia 12-21-2015

21, December 2015                Saudi Arabia

One of the great shortcomings in the American-led fight against the Islamic State is the lack of fighters from Muslim countries. The announcement by Saudi Arabia that it has cobbled together 34 Islamic nations to fight terrorism is not very encouraging. It surely depends on the Saudi’s definition of terrorism. It seems unlikely they will set their sights on their ISIS Sunni brothers. Furthermore, given their abysmal record of killing thousands of civilians, with U.S. supplied weapons, in neighboring Yemen makes it extremely unlikely that they are sincere in fighting ISIS. Saudi Arabia has fomented the growing turmoil in much of the Arab world by funding Wahhabi religious schools and clerics who are spreading the kind of extremist doctrine that is at the heart of the Islamic State’s ideology.

It is time for the American people to wake-up and realize that Saudi Arabia has never been our friend - it has always been shaking our hand while orchestrating policies detrimental to our well-being.  Calling them friends is symptomatic of the corruption of our own ideals where trade in weapons of death triumphs concerns for human rights. A staggering $100 billion of weapons has been sold to the Saudi kingdom over the last 5 years.

Until the U.S. and the West are willing to confront this oil-rich Frankenstein that is more suited to the Game of Thrones than to the 21st century, the turmoil in the Middle East will continue.