Myths and Facts: "Saudi Arabia is an ally of the West in the war on terror."

The following article is by Dr. Mitchell Bard
It is reposted with permission.
You can read the article with the hyperlinks here.
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MYTH: "Saudi Arabia is an ally of the West in the war on terror."

FACT:

While the United States has publicly lauded Saudi Arabia as a major ally in the ongoing war on terror, classified diplomatic cables uncovered by the whistleblower site WikiLeaks in late November show that the State Department holds a much more pessimistic view towards the Saudi commitment to counter-terrorism. More than nine years after the attacks of September 11th, the released cables reveal that U.S. officials feel Saudi Arabia continues to permit, and at worst even encourage, the financing of terrorists. In recent years, wealthy Saudi nationals were identified as funneling millions of dollars through various government-sanctioned charitable organizations that help fund Islamic terror organizations, including Bin-Laden's Al-Qaeda and Palestinian Hamas. According to one of the released cables, "Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide." ⁴⁴⁶


Though the Saudi government was not directly indicted by WikiLeaks for financing terrorism, both their support for extremism and their reluctance to embrace the American-led war on terror is well documented. In 2002, at the height of the Palestinian Intifada, the Saudi's sponsored a telethon for "Palestinian martyrs" through which hundreds of thousands of dollars were distributed to the families of suicide bombers. ⁴⁴⁷ An estimate released in 2003 showed up to 60% of Hamas' total budget was supplied by Saudi Arabia, either from official government sources or through organizations whose ongoing activities were protected by the government. ⁴⁴⁸ Towards the end of the Bush administration, after years of receiving millions of dollars in economic and military aid from the U.S., Saudi leaders attacked the U.S. by calling it "a first class sponsor of international terrorism" and even issued a fatwa allowing the use of WMD's against the U.S. ⁴⁴⁹ In one of the cables released through WikiLeaks, dated December 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was privately critical of the Saudi government's staunch refusal to ban three charities that the U.S. classified as terrorist entities after intelligence reports suggested "that these groups continue to send money overseas... and fund extremism." ⁴⁵⁰ Clinton was also deeply frustrated that the Saudi's had done little to disrupt the internal access to fundraising that terrorist groups such as Hamas, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) enjoy within the Kingdom.⁴⁵¹ For example, not one person directly identified by the United States and United Nations as a terror financier for these groups has been prosecuted in Saudi courts.

The Saudi Arabian government has indeed made some efforts to curb terrorism stemming from its country; however, the measures taken have been almost exclusively aimed at protecting the royal family and their vast oil reserves. As Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorist and Financial Intelligence within the Department of the Treasury, noted, beyond those "personal" initiatives, Saudi Arabia has taken only minimal steps to curb Islamic extremism. In an interview with ABC News, Levey said, "If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding [to terrorists] from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia."⁴⁵² Despite being publicly hailed by the United States as a critical military and diplomatic ally, Saudi Arabia has yet to prove that it is fully committed to assisting in the war on terror.

⁴⁴⁶ US Embassy Cables, "Hillary Clinton Says Saudi Arabia 'A Critical Source of Terrorist Funding'", The Guardian, (December 5, 2010).
⁴⁴⁷ Mitchell Bard, The Arab Lobby, HarperCollins Publishers: New York (2010); page 165.
⁴⁴⁸ Mitchell Bard, The Arab Lobby, HarperCollins Publishers: New York (2010); page 166.
⁴⁴⁹ Dore Gold, Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism, Regnery Publishing: Washington DC (2003); page 204.
⁴⁵⁰ Declan Walsh, "WikiLeaks Cables Portray Saudi Arabia as a Cash Machine for Terrorists", The Guardian, (December 5, 2010).
⁴⁵¹ Eric Lichtblau, Cash Flow to Terrorists Evades U.S. Efforts", The New York Times, (December 5, 2010).
⁴⁵² Brian Ross, "U.S.: Saudis Still Filling Al-Qaeda's Coffers", ABC News Blotter, (September 11, 2007).


Technorati Tag: Saudi Arabia and Terrorism.