Article

2004-06-24 Arabia

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Bomb

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Paul Moloney 2004-06-24 12:26:26 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Hindsight is always 20/20 (sometimes even better).

Posted by Rafael 2004-06-24 1:34:18 AM|| 2004-06-24 1:34:18 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Rafael is right. "Blowback" is a meaningless term. Every action has unforseen consequences. Not taking action has unforseen consequences, too.

Thanks, Paul, for posting this. It confirms my suspicions (as I commented here once) that the Saudis are the lienholder on the Pakistani bomb. Seen in this light, OBL's actions make more sense. There's a movement. Let's call it the Khalifa Movement (KM). Within KM there are conservatives (Abdullah and Matathir), moderates (Naif), and radicals (OBL and his Alliance against the Crusaders and Zionists). All have the same goals:

* Khalifa
* Sharia
* Islamic bomb
* Destruction of Israel
* Weakening of the West
* Spreading Wahhabism and its allied theologies of Salafism and Deobandism
* Preservation of core Arab culture (there may or may not be heartfelt reasons for these last two bullets. In the case of the moderates and conservatives, cultural and religious issues may only be levers to control the ummah)

The means and time horizons are very different for the three factions:

Conservatives - Means: Dawa, money-favoring, and immigration; Time horizon: multigenerational

Moderates - Means: Same as conservatives plus proxy war in Israel, Chechnya, Kashmir, Thailand, and any other target of opportunity; Time horizon: One generation (20-25 years)

Radicals - Means: Immediate armed confrontation with the West; Time horizon: Less than ten years.

All three factions make temporary alliances of convenience with one another since their ultimate goals are the same (just as the goals of most Western political parties are fairly well aligned). All are funded by oil, drugs, weapons proliferation, and other criminal activity. The centers of gravity are pretty obvious. The real question is how do we generate the political will in the West to attack them.

Posted by 11A5S 2004-06-24 12:54:14 PM|| 2004-06-24 12:54:14 PM|| Front Page Top

03:52 Thomose Unomose9553
20:08 Shipman
20:05 jjokocha
20:01 jjokocha
21:32 Rob Adcox
06:43 Shipman
04:09 Anonymous5333
02:50 Super Hose
02:20 Super Hose
01:40 Anonymous4617
01:29 .com
01:21 Capt America
01:14 Capt America
01:02 ex-lib
00:39 FED-UP
00:27 Super Hose
00:12 Rafael
00:04 Steve White
23:59 jawa
23:57 anymouse
23:56 jawa
23:56 jawa
23:54 jawa
23:51 OldSpook