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The Saudi Problem
Saudi Arabia occupies the Holy Land of Islam -- one could say it's the Muslim Vatican, but with oil.
But the Saudi government is not just Muslim -- it's Wahhabist. This is a fanatical sect that preaches holy war and the violent enforcement of Muslim law on believers and unbelievers alike.
The only difference between the Saudi government and Al Qaeda is that Al Qaeda rejects cooperation with the West, while the Saudis think the more effective path is to cooperate with the West on the surface while proselytizing for Wahhabism, preaching hate for and murder of all opponents of Wahhabist ideology.
Their ultimate goal is identical, and even the methodology they preach is the same. They differ only on timing and openness.
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Saudi Subversion in America
Freedom House, which monitors the state of freedom in all countries, with particular emphasis on religious and press freedom (without which, of course, there is no freedom at all), has taken on the project of monitoring Saudi government publications that are disseminated abroad.
Their 89-page report, "Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques" (as summarized by Katherine Clad in the Washington Times of 29 January 2005), accuses the Saudi government of "telling Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and to kill any Muslim who converts to another religion."
This comes from translations of Saudi government literature collected from American mosques during the past year.
Muslims are encouraged to "behave as if on a mission behind enemy lines."
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The missiles were fired late Sunday, a day before the third anniversary of Saudi Arabia's involvement in the war against Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthi-aligned Saba news agency reported that airports in Riyadh, Aseer and Najran were targeted. One person, an Egyptian national, was killed by fragments of the missile fired in the Riyadh attack.
Houthi rebel commander Abdel-Malik al-Houthi appears on a television screen after a December 19, 2017, missile attack on Saudi Arabia. Seven ballistic missiles were fired at Saudi civilian targets on Sunday. Although one person was killed, all the missiles were intercepted, Saudi officials said.
The escalation in the conflict, which on Sunday clearly targeted civilian populations in Saudi Arabia, could reinforce Riyadh's demands to curtail the influence of Iran in the region. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan condemned the missile attacks on Monday, pledging to stand in solidarity with the Saudis. Each is a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"This aggressive and hostile action by the Iran-backed Al Houthi group proves that the Iranian regime continues to support the armed group with military capabilities," coalition spokesman Turki Al Malki said. "The firing of multiple ballistic missiles towards cities is a serious development."
Saudis intercept seven ballistic missiles fired at cities by Houthis in Yemen
He and the others ran outside, but realized that one of their housemates was not with them. Thirty-eight-year-old Abdul Muntaleb Ali, sleeping on a thin blue mattress on the floor beside three others, had been killed when debris from a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi militia group crashed through their roof shortly before midnight on Sunday. With that, he became the first person to die in the Saudi capital as a result of a Saudi-led coalition's three-year military campaign against the Houthis and their allies — a war that has already claimed at least 10,000 lives in Yemen and left around 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
Three of Ali's roommates, one of whom was his brother, were wounded in the attack, Jalal told Reuters the following morning. "For three years he didn't leave [Saudi Arabia]. He hasn't seen his kids," Jalal said. "You're with your friend and you're having dinner together — and a few hours later, you wake up and find him dead." Saudi forces destroyed three missiles over northeastern Riyadh late on Sunday, as well as four others fired simultaneously at the southern cities of Najran, Jizan and Khamis Mushait, the coalition said in a statement. The attacks, which coincided with the third anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, marked a sharp escalation in the conflict and stripped away the sense of calm in a city that, until recent months, had never quite felt at war.
A new kind of fear
Haila Zayed, a 27-year-old Saudi, clutched her infant son in a panic when she heard the explosions overhead. She could feel the car shaking as her husband drove. "I always enjoyed the safety and security in my country. For the first time I felt the kind of fear that people have at war," she said. "May God protect our country and keep it safe." For its part, the Saudi-led coalition has carried out thousands of air strikes in Yemen since launching operations after the Houthis, allied with Iran, seized the capital Sanaa and forced President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi to flee. Discussion of Sunday's missile attack flooded Twitter on Monday, with pleas to keep Saudi Arabia secure and condolences for Ali topping the list of trending hashtags in the kingdom. Many prominent Saudis, including newspaper columnists, clerics and members of the advisory Shura Council, urged people not to share videos and photos of the attacks, saying they would feed into Houthi propaganda.
A photo distributed by the Houthi Military Media Unit shows the launch by Houthi forces of a ballistic missile aimed at Saudi Arabia
In malls, cafes and supermarkets around Riyadh, Saudis digested the escalation in their own ways. For Abdulrahman al-Sari, who lives in Riyadh but hails from the frequently targeted southern province of Najran, the situation was too familiar to faze him. "For me it was normal," he said with a shrug. "We're used to it." Others emerged from the experience chastened and defiant. "I want to pick up a gun, put on a uniform and go join the brave Saudi soldiers stationed on the border," said Fahad Matar al-Shelahy, a student at a technical college in Riyadh. "If they give orders for people to join the soldiers, I will be the first. We all wish to be martyrs defending our country."
With First Death in Riyadh, Saudi-led War in Yemen Hits Home
