Washington DC – Eight years ago, the world watched in horror and awe as World Trade Center’s Towers collapsed marking the arrival of terrorism in the hearts of the Western world. The implications of that day have changed the way the world has operated ever since.
Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudis and the threats to our security from Saudi Arabia are still strong today. In the days and months that followed the world placed a lot of pressure on the Saudi Arabian government to crack down on terrorist activities originating from its territories. In the past eight years, it would be logical to assume that the Saudi regime has had ample time to address the abundance of terrorism in the country.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case and eight years later, the principle victim of the attacks, the United States, has failed to effectively induce the necessary changes in the Saudi system.
Following September 11, 2001, the world’s attention was focused on Saudi and the steps the regime would take to root out terrorism. In the past eight years, that attention has slowly dissipated and the Kingdom has publicized the minor steps it has been taking, in what it claims are efforts to root out terrorism.
The Saudi government has arrested hundreds of people it has deemed terrorists and has officially condemned involvement in terrorist activities. At the same time, the threat that is an outgrowth of Saudi citizens’ involvement in terrorist activities, both inside Saudi Arabia and abroad, is persistent and very real.
Saudi Arabian citizens have participated in terrorist activities in Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and even within Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, Abdullah Hassan Aseeri, an al-Qaeda terrorist, attempted to assassinate the Saudi Arabian prince. The leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen is a Saudi citizen. Saudis comprise 42% of the foreign fighters in Iraq. The Mumbai terrorist attacks in November of 2008 were carried out by Pakistanis, but were financially sponsored by Saudis. Saudis account for the largest number of foreigners involved in terrorism worldwide.
The Saudi regime maintains an outward appearance that it combats terrorism. If the Saudi regime truly believed in combating terrorism originating within its borders, why are so many of the people involved in terrorism across the globe Saudi nationals?
There are two possible responses to what seems to a contradiction between the Saudi rhetoric and reality. It is possible that the Saudi government believes in stamping out terrorism and does not have the ability to stop the terrorists that are functioning within the Kingdom. However, the Saudi government has strong control over what happens within the regime and it seems unlikely that so many terrorists would be able to escape a strong government crackdown on terrorism. Additionally, if the regime were truly committed to ridding itself of terrorism, it would not permit its officials such as Sheik Saleh Al Luhaidan, a former chief justice on the Supreme Judicial Council, to openly urge Saudi citizens to contribute to the resistance in Iraq.
The more plausible alternative to that explanation is that the Saudi government does not actually believe what it is preaching. As more information becomes available about the reality of the Kingdom’s stance on terrorism, it has become increasingly clear that they have only made superficial changes to placate the world’s pressure, but that in reality, the regime is not committed to rooting out terrorism.
The U.S. has consistently applauded and encouraged the superficial efforts of the Saudi regime. That support, however, is unfounded. The way in which the Saudi regime is dealing with its terrorist problem indicates that the regime does not want to actually rid itself of terrorism, rather it only wants to create the illusion that it does.
The fact remains that Saudis are largely involved in global terrorism. The only way to begin to combat terrorism is to begin with its largest contributor. The Saudi regime’s previous, so called, attempts to crack down on terrorism have been ineffective because the regime does not actually want to stamp it out. The U.S. is so quick to applaud the Saudi government’s attempts to get rid of terrorism that is not looking under the surface to understand why Saudi Arabia has such a problem with terrorism in the first place. As long as the Saudi regime sponsors terrorism, the threats to global security will remain. The number of Saudi citizens involved in terrorism will continue to grow until the regime stops telling them it is commendable to be involved in terror.
The U.S. needs to change its stance toward Saudi and pressure the regime to make long-lasting changes in terms of terrorism. There is no excuse for the state of affairs to be the same as it was eight years ago.
Lisa Weiss is an associate research analyst at the Gulf Institute.
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