Friend or Foe?

June 16, 2002

“I’m already preparing my son for martyrdom. He asked me, ‘If I blow myself up, will Allah give me a car, and a rifle to shoot with, and toys?’ I told him, ‘Allah will give you anything you want when you become a martyr.’”

Thus spoke a young father on Saudi Arabian television. He didn’t say how old his son was, but judging from the father’s age and his son’s desire for toys, the boy could be the same age as my daughter Sarah, who just turned five.

I spend a lot of time indoctrinating Sarah. I teach her that it is wrong to lie, that it is good to be kind to people, that she should honor God in all she does. This Saudi father spends hours indoctrinating his son with the lie that if he kills himself while murdering Israelis or Americans, Allah will give him “anything he wants.”

“Whoa, there, Hoss! I thought them there Saudi Arabians were our sidekicks.” Far from it. Although Colin Powell continually refers to the Saudis as “friends” of America, they are in truth our enemies. As a nation, they hate America and everything we stand for.

I realize I am swimming upstream on this one, but then that is often the case. It is difficult to make an argument for the truth when everyone around you is lying. The liberal media swoons every time the dashing Crown Prince (actually Assistant Dictator) of Saudi Arabia comes to the United States. The Saudis spend millions on public relations ads in America. And of course the Bush administration, for diplomatic reasons, participates in the fiction.

However, anyone who looks at the facts, as you are about to do, can only come to one conclusion: Saudi Arabia is an enemy of the United States of America. Check out the facts below, and see whether you think the actions of the Saudis demonstrate that they are friend or foe.

The terrorism link. Osama bin Laden comes from one of the wealthiest families in Saudi Arabia. Much of the financing for al Qaeda comes from that country. Fifteen of the nineteen terrorists who hijacked our airliners on 9/11 were Saudis. And of course, we have all heard of the shameful Saudi telethon that raised millions for Palestinian terrorist organizations.

The non-cooperation agreement. The Saudis flatly refuse to cooperate in the international war on terrorism. They wouldn’t let the U.S. use their bases for our action against the Taliban. They refuse to freeze the assets of organizations linked to bin Laden and international terrorism, some of which are Saudi-run. Yes, I know that Colin Powell says the Saudis have done everything the U.S. has asked them to do. But notice that he always carefully uses that exact phrase. The truth is that the Saudis have told him, “Don’t ask us to do anything that goes beyond token cooperation.”

A dictatorship thinly disguised as a monarchy. The myth of the Saudi “Royal Family” as a benevolent monarchy has been preserved by the United States for decades because of the tens of billions of dollars worth of oil and arms deals between our nations. The truth is that these “Royals” are nothing like the kind and gentle royal family of England. They are brutal thugs, common dictators. There is nothing that even approaches democracy in that backward nation.

The hundreds of American citizens illegally held in Saudi Arabia. Saudi men living in the United States often marry naïve American women. Children born of such unions are U.S. citizens by virtue of their birth in this nation. Hundreds of these children have been forcibly abducted and taken to Saudi Arabia when their fathers decided to return home. In the majority of these cases, U.S. courts, which have jurisdiction, have awarded custody of these minor children to their mothers. The Saudi government arrogantly ignores the U.S. government in these tragic situations, refusing even to discuss the matters.

The Saudis’ hatred of Christians and Jews. Christians can be arrested in Saudi Arabia for something as simple as wearing a cross as a necklace. Vile anti-Jewish rhetoric spews forth daily on the government-owned TV, radio and newspapers. The interview I quoted at the beginning of this article is just one example. While we allow mosques to be built all over this country that are used to spread hatred against Jews and Christians, in Saudi Arabia it is against the law to build a church or a synagogue.

The hatred they export is a direct threat to America. The Saudi society is totalitarian, based on a particularly harsh brand of Islam known as Wahabbi. They stone adulterers to death. They cut the hands of thieves off in bloodthirsty public spectacles. They teach that all Christians and Jews (and particularly the U.S. and Israel) are “The Great Satan.” And they are sending their clerics all over the world to establish mosques to spread their evil, venomous lies. Many of these mosques have been found to be concealing bombs, weapons and terrorist cells. Many are in the United States and Canada.

The dancing in the streets when America was attacked. As Israel, our only friend in the region, lowered its flags to half-staff and held prayer services, many Saudis celebrated our pain. They danced, cheered and fired rifles in the air. Saudi citizens were quoted in interviews as saying, “Now the United States is getting what it deserves.” These are not the mythical “radical fringe elements” of Islam. Seventy to eighty percent of Saudis hold these extreme views. Their press pumps out anti-American lies and propaganda daily. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these people are like the Muslims you may know in our country. The majority of the Saudi people hate us bitterly. Read their websites and newspapers to see for yourself.

As you may have surmised, I am sick to death of seeing America bow and scrape before the Saudis and defend their indefensible actions just because we do so much business with them. The only difference between Saudi Arabia and pre-9/11 Afghanistan is that we did little trade with the Afghans. The Afghan government was repressive; so is that of the Saudis. Afghanistan harbored and supported terrorists; so does Saudi Arabia. The majority of Afghanis believe that Americans are decadent infidels and that all Jews deserve to die; the Saudis are no different.

We are engaged in a war for our very survival. Any nation that goes to war without knowing who its friends and its enemies are will find itself in terrible danger. A mistake in this war could literally mean the end of freedom-loving nations around the world. It would be an error of tragic proportions for the United States to continue to treat our enemy, Saudi Arabia, as a friend.


U.S. ties to Saudi elite may be hurting war on terrorism

Saudi Arabia as a Potential Rogue State


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Copyright ©2002 Tom Barrett



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