The Fearmongering of King Abdullah

by Dr. Gerard Emershaw

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has recently issued dire warnings about the Islamic State and other Jihadists that are wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria. He claims that the West will be the next target of the Jihadists unless the United States and its allies act quickly:

If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month. … Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East.

The remarks of the decadent and cruel Saudi tyrant raise two questions. Why is he saying this? Is he correct?

It is obvious why King Abdullah is fearmongering. He wants the United States to do his dirty work. He fears that Jihadists such as those in the Islamic State may threaten his corrupt rule. Any time that Saudi Arabia fears that its monarchy is threatened, it inevitably tricks the United States into sacrificing its blood and treasure in defense of the brutal human rights violating kingdom. When Saddam Hussein was rattling a saber at Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah coaxed the United States to attack Iraq. Knowing that inviting Osama bin Laden and his followers into Saudi Arabia to protect the kingdom and the Holy Land from Saddam Hussein would have been the first step in his overthrow, King  Abdullah coaxed President George H.W. Bush to place American troops in Saudi Arabia to defend the monarchy from both Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. The blowback that resulted was aimed at the United States and not Saudi Arabia, so what did King Abdullah care? It was not like any planes were flown by terrorists into any of his palaces.

King Abdullah again feels threatened, so it is American troops who must die in protecting him. It is American taxpayers who must foot the bill. It is the United States that must suffer blowback.

It is equally obvious that King Abdullah’s histrionic warning is dubious at best. There is no reason to believe that the Islamic State is any threat to Europe or to the United States. Not in the next two months. Not ever. The Islamic State is a different beast than is Al Qaeda. Despite its cruel and bloody actions, the Islamic State is not truly a terrorist organization. It is an insurgency. Baghdadi is not content to hide in a dump in Pakistan. He wishes to be a Caliph and live in opulence as does King Abdullah. The Islamic State seeks to kill Shiites in Iraq, Syria, and beyond. It seeks to form a caliphate in that region. Baghdadi is far too occupied fighting the Syrian army, the Iraqi army, and Shiite militias to even contemplate attacking the West. The Islamic State may kidnap Americans in the Middle East to use to raise financing through ransom or to use as recruiting tools as was done with James Foley. However, there is no chance that the Islamic State will be marching in with its black masks and rifles and threatening London, Paris, Berlin, or New York. They may one day be marching into Riyadh, but that is King Abdullah’s problem. It is not like the oil-rich tyrant is hard up for money. He clearly has the means to raise an army to defeat the Islamic State. Only he does not wish to spend the money or risk blowback. King Abdullah is the one who should act quickly and boldly against the Jihadists. But do not hold your breath.