Saudi Arabia

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===Reactions to basing U.S. troops, 1991===
 
===Reactions to basing U.S. troops, 1991===
The decision by the Saudi ruling klan to allow the basing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia for an attack upon a neighboring Islamic state shook the Saudi domestic scene like an earthquake.  [[Osama bin Laden]] offered the assistance of his [[jihad]]is fresh from victory in [[Afghanistan]] and was rebuffed. Many of the ''mujihadeen'' fighters became further radicalized and began embracing the [[Salafi]]-jihadist strains of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and others. Maqdisi declared the Saudi rulers {{wpl|takfir|''takfir''}}, or unbelievers, two years earlier, granting a license to kill them by followers of his teaching. Allowing infidel Crusader armies to use Saudi territory for a war against other Muslims seemed to confirm the Salafists teachings.
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The decision by the Saudi ruling klan to allow the basing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia for an attack upon a neighboring Islamic state shook the Saudi domestic scene like an earthquake.  [[Osama bin Laden]] offered to King Fahd the assistance of his [[jihad]]is fresh from victory in [[Afghanistan]] to aid in the liberation of Kuwait and was rebuffed. Many of the ''mujihadeen'' fighters became further radicalized and began embracing the [[Salafi]]-jihadist strains of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and others. Maqdisi declared the Saudi rulers {{wpl|takfir|''takfir''}}, or unbelievers, two years earlier, granting a license to kill them by followers of his teaching. Allowing infidel Crusader armies to use Saudi territory for a war against other Muslims seemed to confirm the Salafists teachings.
  
 
===Khobar Towers bombing, 1995===
 
===Khobar Towers bombing, 1995===

Revision as of 00:58, 24 November 2014

The flag of Saudi Arabia, telling you to look at the words to the left.
Outraged? I'm barely surprised. This is a country where women aren't allowed to drive a car. They're not allowed to be in the company of any man other than a close relative, they're required to adhere to a dress code that would make the Maryknoll nun look like Malibu Barbie. They beheaded 121 people last year for robbery, rape, and drug trafficking; they've no free press, no elected government, no political parties, and the royal family allows the religious police to travel in groups of six, carrying nightsticks and they freely and publicly beat women. But 'Brutus is an honorable man.' 17 schoolgirls were forced to burn alive because they weren't wearing the proper clothing. Am I outraged? No...that is Saudi Arabia, our partners in peace.
—CJ Cregg, The West Wing[1]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a big desert nation smack-dab in the center of the Middle East. It is a theocratic monarchy ruled by the House of Saud, which is propped up by the United States government in exchange for gargantuan quantities of oil. Saudi Arabia, dominated by Wahhabi Islam, is one of the most repressive countries in the world.

Saudi Arabia is unique among OPEC member nations, in that they are permitted to adjust their oil output on a short term basis in order to tweak the market price. The rest of OPEC are constrained to the production levels agreed upon at periodic cartel meetings.

Nevertheless, the Saudis have been getting rather pissed at America for the recent "fuck yous" given to them by the Obama administration. Upset at the Americans' attempted rapprochement of Iran, lack of military action on Syria and their deal to remove Assad's chemical weapons, the Saudis rejected a chance to get a seat at the United Nations Security Council, are limiting diplomatic interactions with the West and have threatened to "shift away" from the United States.[2] At this point it's unknown what can actually be done to get them to reform.

Saudi Arabia, with its population of 28 million, currently has the fourth largest military budget surpassing France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan and India.

Contents

History

Founded in 1925 by Ibn Saud and Jack Philby[wp][3]. Slavery was supposedly abolished in 1962. By 1979 support for the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan was declared the collective duty of Muslims by a fatwa of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia.

Attack on the Grand Mosque, 1979

The Grand Mosque in Mecca (home of the Kaaba) was briefly taken over for a period of weeks by an obscure group whose theology has come to be known as rejectionist. These believers reject many aspects of modern society. They opposed identity cards and passports because these denoted loyalty to an entity other than Allah. They were against images of living beings, not only on television and in photography but also on coins. The only previous violent encounter was when a group of young activists were caught smashing shop display windows showing female mannequins in the center of Medina in 1965. And they had peculiar views on ritual practices setting them apart from other religious communities and the religious establishment. Needless to say, their efforts ended tragically.

The respected imam Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, who abhorred violence, condemned the attack; however one of his students, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, soon was to fall under the rejectionist influence. The idea was further developed to reject the very concept of the nation state.

Reactions to basing U.S. troops, 1991

The decision by the Saudi ruling klan to allow the basing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia for an attack upon a neighboring Islamic state shook the Saudi domestic scene like an earthquake. Osama bin Laden offered to King Fahd the assistance of his jihadis fresh from victory in Afghanistan to aid in the liberation of Kuwait and was rebuffed. Many of the mujihadeen fighters became further radicalized and began embracing the Salafi-jihadist strains of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and others. Maqdisi declared the Saudi rulers takfir[wp], or unbelievers, two years earlier, granting a license to kill them by followers of his teaching. Allowing infidel Crusader armies to use Saudi territory for a war against other Muslims seemed to confirm the Salafists teachings.

Khobar Towers bombing, 1995

Religion

Saudi Arabia's state religion is Sunni Islam and as such, no other religion is tolerated. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah says that he respects the right of other religions to worship in private, but this right is not respected in practice. In fact, signs of worship from other religions are commonly confiscated and discarded at immigration checks. Recently, Mr Abdullah has said that all religions of the world must unite to fight atheism.[4]

Human rights

Saudi Arabia is generally ranked, alongside North Korea, as one of the most repressive nations on Earth. Women and non-Sunnis are regarded as second-class citizens. Women are thought to be the property of their husbands, and so much as driving a car can earn a woman ten lashes of a whip.[5] Since 2011, the country has begun to enter the 21st 19th Century by slowly allowing women to work in retail. This has been followed by an organized campaign by Abdullah Muhammad al-Dawood of sexual harassment of women retail workers.[6] Homosexuality is punishable by death. Saudi Arabia has played a large role in repressing the Arab Spring, with their violence towards Bahrain's Shi'a receiving particular coverage.

Following in its long standing tradition of international hypocrisy, Saudi Arabia's deplorable human rights record has not stopped them from condemning the atrocities of the Syrian counterrevolution, and calling for Bashar al-Assad to step down. Nor have they shied away from accusing Israel of crimes against humanity for its bombardment of civilian areas in the Gaza Strip.

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is a big problem in Saudi Arabia, where thousands of children, men and women live as slaves. Foreign workers, especially women, are often subjected to sexual abuse and rape. This is exacerbated by the widespread — but erroneous — belief that Saudi employers are entitled to confiscate employees passports upon entry to the country.[7] Thousands of immigrants have fled their employers claiming to have been enslaved and abused.[8]

Oil

Saudi Arabia has the largest known reserves of oil, and the greatest capacity for extracting it. In fact, Saudi Arabia has so heavily invested in excess capacity that it can, very quickly, increase production by about 2 million barrels per day, or about the output of most other major oil exporting countries. Saudi Arabia has invested in this capability because it gives them a great deal of power over the world's oil market. If another member of OPEC were to go offline, the Saudis could easily make up for it. If the other members of OPEC were to cheat on their quotas, the Saudis could flood them out (and thus cause prices to crash).

This has caused many to worry about their geopolitical power, but so far the few times the Saudis have tried to use the "oil weapon" it failed miserably.

Alternate names

  • al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya
  • The KSA
  • Arabistan (informally)
  • Sandy Arabia (by Genghis Khant's grandmother)

Footnotes

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