CapnNismo wrote:
FEOS, I invite you to read the book by Steven Coll about the Bin Laden family. Very interesting stuff. Then also read The Islamist, by Ed Husain (an English Muslim).
The Saudis certainly do have some responsibility to hold for much of Bin Laden and the rest of the Islamist population of the world. Where do you think many Islamist groups get their funding from? From Saudi nationals. I am NOT saying the government of Saudi Arabia, but rather much of the population is certainly not holding themselves up for judgment. Much like many Americans refused to check Bush at the beginning.
Early on, Osama also got LOTS of support from other Saudis, especially when he was fighting with the mujahadeen. Again, not the government, but fellow Saudis. Many think he still does to this day. Osama was not a poor man, either. When he was in high school, he was already being converted to Islamist viewpoints by a teacher who was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood (an Islamist organization banned in my Muslim countries, as is Hizb ut-Tahrir - a spin-off of the Muslim Brotherhood.
You can't deny that the Saudi government has also turned very much a blind-eye towards its own population. Sure, they put on a nice show and dance for the USA, but that's all it is - a song and dance. The USA is allied with a government that IS an Islamist country in many ways. Saudi Arabia is a very fundamentalist country, even though its rulers are totally NON fundamentalist in many ways behind closed doors (again, read the book on the Bin Ladens; the family was very tight with the Al-Sauds and still is to this day).
Sorry, but Saudi Arabia is a breeding ground for extremism and until the royal family accepts this and puts forth a proper campaign to kick out the Wahabbis and put a stop to extremism, it won't stop.
But I urge you to read both books. The Islamist is very short whereas The Bin Ladens (by Steven Coll) is quite long. The Islamist deals with Ed Husain's journey to becoming an Islamist in England, becoming a radical and urging the toppling of the West to his journey through the Middle East (including Saudi Arabia) and away from radicalism. It's a true story and Ed has been a guest on the Doha Debates (at least once that I know of) and is an anti-Islamist activist. Even if you ignore Coll's book, read Ed's.
I fully understand the issues WRT the
Saudi population and wahabbism. However, that is a far cry from
holding the Saudi government responsible for 9/11 simply because 19 Saudi nationals were part of AQ's attacking force and UBL is a Saudi. He clearly acted of his own accord, without Saudi Arabia's backing or blessing...yet Dilbert would have the West attack Saudi Arabia.
Like
that wouldn't play right into AQ's "war on Islam" propaganda machine...