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Saudi Arabia, the allied nation that gave us most of the 9/11 hijackers/mass murderers and Osama Bin Laden, is having a banner year for executions. The death penalty is apparently carried out mostly by beheading with a sword. Due process as it is understood in the West appears to be lacking. I admit I kinda envy the idea of executing major drug dealers, but I suspect that many, if not most, of the 150-160 drug-related Saudi executions in the last year or so were probably not even in possession of what US law enforcement would deem felony weight.
Turki al-Jasser, a journalist who wrote about exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family, was found guilty of “destabilizing the security of society and the stability of the state,” whatever that means. There was no public record of the trial or of the evidence presented—if any. Naturally, he was beheaded.
There is some mystery about the fate of Hassan Farhan al-Maliki. He is presumed to still be in prison even though there was a call for his execution. His fate and whether his trial will ever be resumed are unknown. He was arrested eight years ago for pointing out that a lot of the content of the Hadith is likely erroneous. (Western scholars have found numerous instances of improbable statements, old sayings from conquered nations and other items highly unlikely to have been uttered by Muhammed or his contemporaries.) Almost as serious, he rejects takfir, the whole business of punishing dissent of any kind. He even said that some form of freedom of religion should be in place (the horror!!). I am surprised that he is not already dead.
The Saudis have invested heavily in madrassas worldwide, both to promote the Wahhabi version of Islamic practices and to solidify their claim to be the moral and political leaders of the Islamic world. Originally a country bumpkin clan from outside what is now Riyadh that grew in power over decades, the Saudis are allegedly still a tad insecure because there are other tribes and families that have more of a kinship claim to succeed Mohammed.
The real problem for the Saudi royal family is that the ideological monster they have created over several generations tends to see even the Saudi royal family as insufficiently pure and orthodox. Jihad against the infidel is fine if you don’t mind sleeping in caves and dodging return fire, but a real drag if you are just trying to enjoy a simple billionaire lifestyle based on infidel dollars earning interest in infidel banks and stock markets. Reigning in those they created has been a problem since ibn Saud's elite Ikhwan decided to raid outside of Arabia a century ago (possibly triggering a war with the British) and eventually needed to be squashed. Al Qaeda is in that same proud tradition of nutball radicalism breaking with Saudi authority even if still fully ideologically aligned.
What kind of an insane box has been created such that abjuring terrorism, more due process and fewer executions would be perceived by many of one’s followers as an immoral concession to heretical beliefs and sensibilities?! Our friends the Saudis have built a very big problem for themselves and the world.
Discussion (26)
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Our relationship with the Saudis is not the only one that is questionable. We only need to glance at the Qataris to understand how we've chosen to compromise our values for the US dollar.
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The Qataris are weasels. I would love to know the backstory for Trump's bizarre pledge to defend them.
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It's certainly a conundrum. Unfortunately, there are no good cards to play in the Islamic Middle East. The Saudis are the least distasteful of the bunch. But as you point out, that's a pretty low bar. Turkey is a NATO member (who'da thunk that). Perhaps there are possibilities there to craft a 3rd way between Saudi Arabia and Iran? But even typing that out feels like grasping at straws. I'd be supportive of a Manhattan Project 2 program dedicated to development of Fusion. I'd love to be able to wash our hands of the whole Middle East. Don't call, don't write ... certainly don't come here.
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Given that 100% of the major mischief in that region is funded by oil revenues from the Arab states and Iran, a complete end to global dependence on petroleum would be good for the planet and not in the ways the greenies imagine.
I thought that during our absurdly long stay in Afghanistan, we should have instituted a program to take Afghani youths on visits to Tokyo, Mumbai or the great European and American cities and have them come back, share what they saw among themselves and agree that a culture designed to create and preserve a sh*thole country needed to go.
Or maybe Islam has evolved mechanisms to keep a big chunk of reality at bay.
I read once that about 5,000 families own everything in Saudi Arabia. The religious police patrol the masses while the ruling class boards their private jets and change into their European designer clothes and break out the liquor and tobacco as soon as the plane leaves the runway.
The emphasis on outward appearances makes for a level of hypocrisy ripe for a good satirist. For example, the Arab News had an article some years back about a Ramadan problem. Families erect huge tents for the the post-daily fast meal. Women remove veils, even smoke, everybody loosens up in the company of their own kin. But if the tent flap is left open (it is a very warm country, even at night) then people in other tents might peer in and see women doing the same thing their own female family members are doing but that would still be scandal. So the flaps must remain closed.
I don't recall when it was resolved but the Saudi banking industry wanted picture IDs for women but the religious authorities initially barred a full face, unveiled photo. I believe that the hair must be covered but a facial photo is otherwise now OK.
It is kinda surprising that their have not been more leaders within Islam like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who recognize the needless burdens and limitations of Islam and call for dumping the entire Islamic project in favor of something more like Western secular democracy.
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Maybe seeing it first hand would just confirm them in the idea that they don't want westernism. Maybe the awareness that there is a piece of them that finds it attractive would make them oppose it all the more.
There seem to be some immigrants who see it at first hand, every day, and want to destroy it.
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