October 7, 2007: Saudi Arabia
and the other Gulf States are getting more serious about shutting down, or at
least hurting, terrorist operations in their midst. Increasingly this year,
senior Saudi clerics have been preaching vigorously against "foreign interests"
that seduce young Saudis into becoming terrorists. Most of the suicide bombers
identified in Iraq turn out to be from Saudi Arabia. The sermons now heard at
major mosques and on television are aimed at parents of teenagers, parents who
too often look the other way as their sons are persuaded by al Qaeda recruiters
(often local clergy who have been radicalized) to go off and join the jihad in
Iraq. Some of the parents then turn around and blame the government for letting
this happen.
The smaller Gulf states, like
the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have cracked down on the smuggling of weapons,
military equipment and cash to terrorists in the region, and worldwide. These
coastal states have been freewheeling traders for centuries, so it was with
some reluctance that the local governments moved against the groups who were
supplying Islamic terrorist groups. There are a lot of people, a large minority
of the total population in the Gulf, that backs Islamic terrorism, and is
willing to at least give money. Keeping all this cash from reaching terrorists
is impossible, but reducing the flow considerably is doable. The investigations
into the terrorist fund raising is also uncovering corruption among the fund
raisers. This is nothing new, as many captured al Qaeda documents mention
problems with stealing and diverting organization assets for personal use.
Giving this sort of thing publicity reduces the popular appeal of the radical
groups.
