By Ali Al-Ahmed
When President Barak Obama said in his inauguration speech that “Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred,” he didn’t expect that in the immediate future such a network would be operating from American soil, in royal fashion and lodge, from one of its poshest hotels, the Waldorf Astoria.
Currently there are several dozen(s) Saudi princes in New York accompanying their ailing Crown Prince Sultan who is being treated for a terminal cancer for which he underwent surgery last week.
It seems that Saudi princes cannot refrain themselves from insulting America and her people and doing it from the city which bore the brunt of the September 11 attacks, by providing comfort to that “network of violence and hatred.”
Two of Sultan’s younger brothers, Naif, the interior minister, and Salman, the governor of the capital Riyadh, are both vying for the-soon-to-be-available position of Crown Prince. While in New York, these princes couldn’t give up their addiction to supporting extremists, and conducting human rights violations.
Prince Salman, a half brother of the King, according to the leading Saudi government-controlled newspaper, AlRiyadh, has been calling home to check on the health of Bin Jebreen, 76, an ailing Al-Qaeda supporter, who is recovering from bypass surgery.
The Prince has instructed the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, the best in the country, to hire cardiologists from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to help in the treatment of Bin Jebreen. Although on the face it seems like an act of goodwill, once we delve deeply into exactly who Mr. Bin Jebreen is, it becomes more apparent that this is not such an inoffensive act.
Bin Jebreen is the author of several key fatwas supporting Al-Qaeda which allowed the terrorist organization to gain a widespread following in Saudi Arabia. Such fatwas were implemented on September 11th as well as on other Al-Qaeda attacks around the world.
One has simply to listen to one of the September 11th hijackers, Saeed Alghamdi, who was on board United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. He mentioned in his will and testament, the Bin Jebreen fatwa encouraging suicide attacks among the reasons that legitimized his role on that tragic day.
Bin Jebreen was also a principal recruiter of Saudi suicide bombers in Iraq, which resulted in the flow of hundreds who blew themselves up killing hundreds of American soldiers. Saudis made up the largest number of foreign suicide bombers and terrorists in Iraq.
Two of Bin Jebreen son-in-laws were members of Al-Qaeda. One of them, AbdulAziz AlMusaad, was a suicide bomber who killed several American soldiers in Faluja in 2007. Bin Jebreen’s daughter kept the severed head of New Jersey’s Paul Johnson in her fridge. Johnson was killed on tape by Al-Qaeda in Riyadh, in June 2004.
Taking a look at Bin Jebreen’s website, one can find several fatwas supporting the Taliban, suicide bombings, and calling for the murder of Jews, and Shi’a Muslims.
So why would Saudi Arabia, a US ally, which was saved from external and internal threats with the blood of American soldiers, be harboring our enemies.
During the Bush administration, many attributed the US government’s lack of action to Bush’s close ties to the Saudi ruling family. However, the Obama administration does not appear to have that impediment.
The behavior of the senior Saudi princes shows the real feelings they harbor for the United States, the American people, and their values.
It proves that the Al-Saud alliance with the US is pragmatic and temporary, while their alliance with the Wahhabi violent doctrine is ideological.
There is no question that Ben Jebreen played a significant role in providing a logistical support, as well as moral and religious validation for Al-Qaeda which has been critical for its survival.
The Obama administration should learn from the shortfalls of their predecessors, and understand that the American government cannot deal with the threat of Al-Qaeda unless the United States sends a strong message to the House of Saud to show their allegiance with meaningful actions and not only with empty words.
Ali Al-Ahmed is director of the Gulf Institute.
Copyright 2009 Gulf Institute
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