IMO, the most fundamentally important thing to understand about Saudi Arabia's role in aiding, abetting, and assisting Al-Qaeda and its various offshoots is that the House of Saud's legitimacy as the ruling family of their country is based entirely on their alliance with the Wahhabist religious establishment that controls Saudi society. The Wahhabis support the al-Saud's rule in exchange for the latter's protection of the Land of the Two Mosques. This alliance has been solidified by intermarriage between the two ruling establishment of Saudi Arabia over the three centuries of the alliance's existence. In sum, the alliance between the al-Saud's and the Wahhabis is an integration of the ruling political and religious classes in the Kingdom - classes who support each other in a mutually beneficial agreement.
However, there is a fundamental tension between the fanatically puritanical and austere Wahhabis on the one hand and the decidedly lavish, Westernized lifestyles of the al-Sauds on the other. In a society that is absolutely dominated by Wahhabist extremist ideology, the vast majority of criticism of and dissent against the ruling family is rooted in the argument that the al-Sauds are total hypocrites who preach Wahhabism yet practice "corrupt", decadent, and Westernized lifestyles. In other words, the House of Saud is accused by its internal critics of not being Wahhabist enough.
The implication of this tension is that the al-Saud has adopted a strategy of brutally crushing (most) domestic dissent (except from the Wahhabist religious establishment, whom as previously mentioned, the ruling family depends on for support and legitimacy) while generously funding and exporting Wahhabist ideology to the rest of the world. In essence, the House of Saud exports both its ideology and many of its most extreme critics to both Islamic and non-Islamic countries around the globe.
Consequently, al-Qaeda and allied organizations are heavily funded by wealthy Saudi donors who, for the most part, operate freely within the Kingdom. All of this is why Saudi Arabia has been, at best, an unreliable and deeply problematic "ally" in America's global battle against al-Qaeda and its allies. Unfortunately, should the House of Saud fall, there will be no remotely "liberal" or Westernized democracy to take its place. This is a society that is deeply steeped in regressive cultural traditions and extreme religious ideology. And as much as I absolutely loathe the House of Saud and its brutal and barbaric oppression of its own people, I honestly do not see there being a better alternative; just a lot of scarier and more dangerous ones.
Really an awful situation all around.
However, there is a fundamental tension between the fanatically puritanical and austere Wahhabis on the one hand and the decidedly lavish, Westernized lifestyles of the al-Sauds on the other. In a society that is absolutely dominated by Wahhabist extremist ideology, the vast majority of criticism of and dissent against the ruling family is rooted in the argument that the al-Sauds are total hypocrites who preach Wahhabism yet practice "corrupt", decadent, and Westernized lifestyles. In other words, the House of Saud is accused by its internal critics of not being Wahhabist enough.
The implication of this tension is that the al-Saud has adopted a strategy of brutally crushing (most) domestic dissent (except from the Wahhabist religious establishment, whom as previously mentioned, the ruling family depends on for support and legitimacy) while generously funding and exporting Wahhabist ideology to the rest of the world. In essence, the House of Saud exports both its ideology and many of its most extreme critics to both Islamic and non-Islamic countries around the globe.
Consequently, al-Qaeda and allied organizations are heavily funded by wealthy Saudi donors who, for the most part, operate freely within the Kingdom. All of this is why Saudi Arabia has been, at best, an unreliable and deeply problematic "ally" in America's global battle against al-Qaeda and its allies. Unfortunately, should the House of Saud fall, there will be no remotely "liberal" or Westernized democracy to take its place. This is a society that is deeply steeped in regressive cultural traditions and extreme religious ideology. And as much as I absolutely loathe the House of Saud and its brutal and barbaric oppression of its own people, I honestly do not see there being a better alternative; just a lot of scarier and more dangerous ones.
Really an awful situation all around.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1S9V2rM
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