The cynicism of individual acts, undertaken by Washington, is capable to discourage any sane person.
Judge for yourself, a few years ago, they deployed an American military base for the combat use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Saudi Arabia. UAVs from the holy land of Islam bring death not only to the Islamic “fighters against infidels”, but also to hundreds of civilians in Muslim countries. Is this not an example of cynicism?
Yes, the fight against terrorism is the task of any state, subscribing to civilized norms of life in today’s society. And Saudi Arabia is not only entitled, it is even obliged to take part in the international anti-terrorist actions. However, this struggle can be carried out in different ways, and not necessarily with a deadly weapon, sent into the heads of peaceful Muslims from the holy land of Islam. And even worse, this is done by a state, emphasizing its direct link with the religious cradle, which is the custodian of Islam’s shrines, worshiped by believers!
It seems that Saudi Arabia could be of great benefit to the anti-terrorist campaign, through religious explanatory and preventive work in the fight against extremism, rather than propagate militant Wahhabism, which is extensively used in the ideological programs of a significant number of terrorist groups.
According to the reports made by the representatives of the Pentagon, after the Gulf War in 1991, up to 10,000 U.S. troops were deployed in Saudi lands, but in 2003, they were evacuated from the CSA, except for the United States Military Training Mission (USMTM).
However, this is only what the officials are saying. In fact, the White House and the Pentagon did not want to completely stop the use of the territory of Saudi Arabia to their military advantage, and, according to a New York Times article in 2009, at the order of Washington, the secret military base of the U.S. in the CSA used UAVs during the first combat operations in Yemen, which led to the death of many civilians. In September 2011, as was acknowledged by the U.S. military, they launched from the Saudi territory a UAV that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic preacher of American origin, who headed the external operations of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and together with him, two other men.
Both the United States and Saudi monarchy try to carefully hide from public view the presence of the CIA secret military base in Saudi Arabia, from whose territory U.S. UAVs are launched. And this is understandable, as such information is especially damaging to the credibility of Saudi Arabia in the Muslim world.
However, these details have been leaked onto pages of foreign media. Moreover, it became known that the key role in the creation of this CIA military base in the KSA was played by the current advisor to President Obama in the fight against terrorism – G. Brennan, who had long headed the CIA office in Saudi Arabia and was in charge of the Yemeni dossier and the fight against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who were settled in Yemen at that time (including the elimination of militants using UAVs).
The presence of the American secret military UAV base in Saudi Arabia is also confirmed by the U.S. Department of Justice, which attempted, in its note to “justify” the legitimacy of President Obama’s demands to eliminate any U.S. citizen for contact with Al-Qaeda, using all available opportunities, including foreign allies and their territories.
Under the recent influence of the political processes in the Arab world, the Saudi monarch Abdullah agreed to make certain reforms and was forced to take into account the position of conservative religious elites, opposing non-Muslim foreign armed forces in Saudi Arabia. However, he stubbornly avoids publicly discussing the subject of the U.S. military base in KSA.
Moreover, the strengthening and development of this military base, in which a significant number of CIA officers work, will undoubtedly become one of the most important points of discussion in the forthcoming visit to the KSA in late March, which will be made by Obama and senior U.S. intelligence officials, who have a direct interest in the future use of UAVs from Saudi territory.
It is also worth noting that the head of the White House will conduct talks with the Saudi monarchy on the combat use of UAVs in operations, which kill up to 98% civilians, in parallel with the proclamation of a “new appeal of the U.S. to the Muslims”.
Is this not an example of cynical behavior of the White House?
Vladimir Odintsov, political commentator, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook“.
