Monday, December 21, 2015

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. 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.




No comments:

Post a Comment