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. Human Rights
organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused
Saudi Arabia of war crimes. These organizations have also accused the U.S. of
being complicit in Saudi’s crimes.
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. Saudi leaders have been more concerned with opposing Shia-led
Iran, which they consider their greatest adversary.
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. Remember the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi
Arabia. 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 Game of Thrones than to the 21st
century, the turmoil in the Middle East will continue.
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