The Saudi official religion is Islam, we all know that. As Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, Saudis are the caretakers of the Islam religion. We all know that as well. The prevailing form of Saudi Islam is Wahhabism. This form of Islam is a strict adherence to Sharia law. ISIL bases their authority on Wahhabism and enforces their extreme version of Sharia law. Incidentally, Shiites also enforce Sharia law almost exactly as Sunni Wahhabist. The difference being who actually is the authority. Most scholars of Islam, both Sunni and Shiite don't practice or interpret Sharia law in the extremes that terrorist and jihadist do.
Wahhabist has become extremist. ISIL is made up primarily of Saudi recruits. The fact is that in every Islamic nation there is a large faction of Wahhabist. The founder of ISIL, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is Jordanian. The leadership of ISIL comes from the defeated Iraqi Army. The bulk of ISIL is made up of the disaffected Iraqi troops and recruits(mostly Saudis).
There are 3 problems in the middle east. Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ISIL, and the Shiite uprising in Yemen. The Saudi Arabian Government is preoccupied with Iran and has made their priority to overthrow Iran. It is a battle of religious idealism. Most Sunni Islamic nations follow Saudi Arabia's lead, ignoring ISIL. Therefore a coalition cannot be formed to defeat ISIL. Also, the Wahhabist in Saudi Arabia have not endorsed ISIL but will not denounce them, which creates a big problem. With the Saudi government focused on Iran and the Saudi religious leadership not denouncing ISIL and the entire Sunni Islamic nations following Saudi action, ISIL can run free and rampant with little to no opposition. Only The Kurds(Turkish, Syrian, Iraqi) and Shiite militias in Iraq are actually fighting ISIL. Assad is busy killing his own people and NOT fighting ISIL. The Turkish Government is more interested in annihilating the Kurds, than defeating ISIL.
Wahhabism is NOT Islam, it's political control. True strict adherence to Sharia law isn't the extremes practiced by Wahhabist. Granted Sharia law is prejudice and oppressive in it's own right, but it doesn't condone terrorism, torture, and crimes against humanity. Just the opposite. It declares a tolerance that Wahhabist and extremist have abandoned.
Personally I don't agree with any religion, but I felt that I would try to describe the problems of the middle east, which means defining the religious situation.
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
"Granted Sharia law is prejudice and oppressive in it's own right, but it doesn't condone terrorism, torture, and crimes against humanity. Just the opposite. It declares a tolerance that Wahhabist and extremist have abandoned."
So, prejudice and oppression are not crimes against humanity?
Yes, indeed they are. I was referring to the very extremes. And sure you will undoubtedly call oppression extreme. I agree, but it isn't murder or terrorism.
@mykcob4
"Saudi Wahhabism a growing concern "
The biggest concern about Saudi Arabia is that the US continues to regard it as an ally. As recently as 2015, President Obama spoke of "the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship as a force for stability and security in the Middle East and beyond.” I can't imagine a country more opposed to just about every ideal for which the US stands. They're the source of this intolerant Wahhabist form of Islam, and they're the source of funding for much of the terrorism that plagues the world today. The way they treat foreign workers is appalling.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/13/saudi-arabia-treatment-for...
The oil price is sinking, and better alternatives are becoming available. Hopefully without the continual infusion of oil money, the Saudis will sink back into insignificance. Or perhaps they'll discover this exciting new activity called work.
@Algebe
The US/Saudi relationship is an odd one. We don't want to make an enemy of Saudi Arabia even though factions in the state finance terrorism. We are not dependent on the oil, but we do have interest there.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/19/investing/saudi-arabia-threat-dump-us-as...
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5170.html
Actually, we use Saudi Arabia as a buffer when dealing with Iran AND Israel. The negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt largely happened because it was sanctioned by the Saudis.
When Isreal bombed Iran nuclear facilities they got the go ahead from the Saudis via the US. When Isreal rescued jews in Uganda it was with Saudi intelligence.
Mossad was able to kill the Munich Olympic terrorist planners with Saudi Intelligence.
The US treasure Debt that the Saudis hold, the buffer and intelligence sharing and cooperation, the trade and business BEYOND oil, simply outweighs the terrorist factions that exist in that nation. It's not like they actually have a safe haven there. The Saudis appoint a different importance on those people.
@Mykcob4
I can see why Saudi Arabia was important to the US in the past, but all of those examples go back decades. How is Saudi Arabia helping US Middle East policy today?
Saudi Arabia is running huge deficits because of shrinking oil revenues. It also has a massive youth unemployment problem, which is a breeding ground for radicalizatoin. The chances of a major turnaround in the oil price seem remote, and Saudi Arabia is already drawing down its overseas investments.
There is a huge investment in other industries. Agriculture, manufacturing, technology, clean energy to name a few. The UK, Isreal, and the US have seen the future potential and are investing heavily. Germany and France are also in. This is the one Islamic state that can and will be big in the future with or without the US. The middle class is growing in SA. Progression is slow but it is heading in the right direction. The hold back is religion. The fashion industry in SA has already taken off and is making a mark internationally. There are obstacles and drawbacks, but the risk isn't as great as one would believe. The one great thing is that the SA royal family wants desperately to be respected in the world. It is a stable government. The "Arab Spring" didn't take place in SA. There is a reason for that. The problem is that SA views terrorist cells like we view drug gangs. It is a problem, but it is a part of life....to them. So they basically ignore it, just like we do with the drug gangs in the US. Sure we make arrest but we don't dent the criminal enterprise.
You asked "How is Saudi Arabia helping US Middle East policy today?". The answer is intelligence. Saudi Arabia is the largest and most reliable source for intelligence in the area. They have ties to nations that we don't have direct access to. Arab relations are confused at best. Arabs keep relations with persians and arabs even though they maybe mortal enemies. Saudi Arabia is the hub of all those ties.
Thank you, myk, for describing it in a way that makes sense(and actually saying what's really going on).
I wish to elaborate on some points.
"Nearly all Iraqi Kurds consider themselves Sunni Muslims. In our survey, 98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias. (A small minority of Iraqi Kurds, including Yazidis, are not Muslims.) But being a Kurd does not necessarily mean alignment with a particular religious sect.Aug 20, 2014"
This poses a problem for Turkey. Turkey has gone from a Secular state to an unofficial Islamic state. They fear the Kurds because the Kurds want an independent state in an area that includes parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Kurds are true secularist.
The Ismaili Shia. Ismailis are Shia but a very progressive sect. They believe in women's rights for example. They don't believe in being stuck in the 5th & 6th centuries. The exist in every Islamic, Persian, and Arab nation. They are persecuted for being progressive. There are large populations (relatively) in New York, Houston, and every major US city. They are nonviolent and tolerant.
Shia militias. These are radical groups from and sponsored by Iran. They were the persecuted minority under Hussein in Iraq, but now are very much the authority in Iraq. There is a large band of Shiite rebels in Yemen sponsored by Iran called "Houthis".
Of all the different sects of muslims Ismailis and Kurds are the only ones that can live and tolerate any and everyone that are not politically or religiously aligned to them. The rest are factions of Sunni who break upon tribal lines and are also separated by Wahhabism and Shiites or Shias that also break along tribal lines and Wahhabism. They cooperate loosely, when it suits their cause. For example a Shia Wahhabist group will align with a Sunni Wahhabist group for a small action or operation, and by the next day be fighting each other. In Afghainstan it is even worse because individual tribes do not under any circumstance cooporate with anyone unless it is to protect their claimed lands.
Al Qaeda (Which means "learn") is made up of mainly Saudi Arabian Sunni Wahhabist, and have no loyalty to any tribes in Afghanistan.
So you can see the convoluted way the middle east actually works.
The only peoples receptive to modernization are the Ismailis, the Kurds, and a large former middle class of Persians that occupied Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Egypt. There are outliers in Pakistan for example, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh. The only reliable people are the Kurds and Ismaili.
Thus the confusion in the region.
Thank you for clarifying and elaborating further.