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| Arabia |
| Al-Qaeda explains rationale for not targeting Soddy higher-ups |
| 2006-05-19 |
| A member of a password-protected jihadist forum recently posted a message in which he seeks to explain why al-Qaeda has not targeting individual members of the Saudi government. He argues that the military establishment within Saudi Arabia is weak, as it does not possess a “real army,” and is unable to compete when its leadership is lost. Moreover, the author states that the Saudi regime is “structured on illusions,” that its ego in claiming victories has surpassed reality, and if al-Qaeda should change its strategy, the government will collapse. In his opinion, al-Qaeda has the capability of executing a new strategy, attacking “symbolic figures” of the Saudi regime, but it has not yet done so for “local” tactical and global strategic reasons. According to the author, al-Qaeda perceives that American forces will fill the vacuum left following the collapse of the Saudi government, before al-Qaeda is prepared to face them. Strategically and on the global scale, to effect collapse before the “knockout blow” against America is not al-Qaeda’s plan. Rather, the author believes al-Qaeda will cause such significant damage on the United States that it will cause the American administration to “lose its mind” and use nuclear weapons as revenge. In this event, Saudi Arabia will be an “umbrella” that protects against an American counterattack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 eniac: They know who writes the checks. It's possible the Saudi government writes the checks. Even if this were true, it's always better to own the bank account and write the checks yourself. I don't think Islamists are a monolithic force. The Muslim world has a history of factionalism - much like every other religion. There have been many Muslim empires in the Middle East since Islam was born. They were Arab, Persian, Mongol, Kurdish and Turkish. Within the religion, and within each tribe, they have always fought each other for power, much like everyone else. In this sense, they were no different from the kingdoms within Christendom, Buddhism, Hinduism, et al. Muslims have frequently allied with people of other religions against fellow Muslims. The simple reason is that non-Muslims would have less of a claim to Muslim lands than fellow Muslims. To the Saud family, it makes a difference whether Saudi Arabia is ruled by the Sauds or some generic Muslim ruler. To al Qaeda's present leaders, it would be preferable if they ruled all the Muslim countries as one empire. To the existing leaders of the Muslim nations, it would be preferable if they continued to lead their countries - and they will take action against any al Qaeda attempt to subvert them, just as the mujahideen in Afghanistan fought the Taliban - not because they like the West but because they view al Qaeda as just another contender for power. Bottom line is that both the Saudis and al Qaeda are hostile to Western values. But this does not mean that the Saudi government supports al Qaeda. I would say that they are mutually hostile factions of Islam that cooperate or fight depending on whether the opposition is strong or weak at any given moment. Do Saudis get a charge out of dead Westerners? Sure. Does the visceral thrill of seeing dead infidels trump the fear of being bombed by them? No. Does it make the Saudi government want to abdicate power in favor of al Qaeda? No. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-05-19 16:47 |
| #4 Saudi Arabia will be an “umbrella” that protects against an American counterattack. Funny, I didn't know "umbrella" was Arabic for "target" |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-05-19 10:06 |
| #3 al-Quaida's did try to strike at Saudi but couldn't come close to attacking the elite. Their attempts at striking the oil industry failed miserably and their strike at soft targets like apartment complexes only hurt them in the p.r. war. They managed to motivate the security apparatus against them and their networks have been largely rolled up. So, now they are going for the typical tactic of trying to mask their impotence with 'fox and the grapes' hogwash. |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2006-05-19 06:56 |
| #2 Yup follow the money. SA Princes are the money men. |
| Posted by: SPoD 2006-05-19 04:26 |
| #1 They know who writes the checks. |
| Posted by: eniac 2006-05-19 01:39 |