THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 81, May 16, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DOES SAUDI ARABIA FUND TERRORISM?
By The Editors of Middle East Quarterly
ISLAMISM, JIHADISM, & THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM & THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA: TO WHAT
DEGREE HAVE SAUDI SOURCES PROVIDED FUNDING & SUPPORT FOR MILITANT ISLAM & THE TERROR WAR IT IS WAGING
AGAINST AMERICA & THE WEST? TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE SAUDI OFFICIALS REALLY COOPERATED WITH U.S.
AGENCIES ENGAGED IN EFFORTS TO ASCERTAIN THE SOURCES OF FUNDING & SUPPORT OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM & THE
JIHAD BEING WAGED AGAINST THE U.S.A. & WESTERN CIVILIZATION? THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2005, REPORT OF THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
FULL STORY:
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, Islamist terror attacks on the U.S.A., several U.S congressmen asked the U.S.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine to what degree Saudi sources engaged in support and funding
Islamic extremism. On September 16, 2005, the GAO responded with a lengthy report entitled Information on U.S.
Agencies' Efforts to Address Islamic Extremism. [1]
The report presents a mixed picture. It describes cooperation received by U.S. agencies such as the Defense Department,
the State Department, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, but does not comment on
the sincerity or effectiveness of Saudi efforts. While the GAO takes pains to differentiate the Saudi government from
individuals, there is very little discussion of whether Saudi officials merely use individuals as a way to advance an extremist
policy, but still maintain plausible deniability with the West.
While the GAO report is more descriptive than analytical, it does suggest that, more than four years after the 9-11 attacks, U.S.
government efforts to counter Islamic extremism are hampered by the lack of a common definition of Islamic extremism.
Likewise, determining progress in the fight against Islamic extremism is made more difficult because most U.S. agencies still do
not specifically analyze or report on the problem.
SAUDI SUPPORT FOR ISLAMIC EXTREMISM
A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are
allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism. However, U.S. agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia's relationship,
and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism. For example, in July, 2005, a U.S. Treasury Department
official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of
ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. In addition, according to the U.S.
State Department's 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Saudi donors and unregulated charities have
been a major source of financing to extremist and terrorist groups over the past 25 years. In July, 2003, a former State
Department official testified before Congress that a Saudi-based charity, al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, had allegedly
financed assistance to the Egyptian terrorist group, Gamma al-Islamia. In May, 2004, the same former State Department official
also testified that some half dozen of the most visible charities, including two of Saudi Arabia's largest, the International
Islamic Relief Organization and the World Muslim League, have been linked to supporting Islamic terrorist organizations
globally. In addition, a former Treasury Department official identified Wa'el Hamza Julaidan as a senior figure in the Saudi
charitable community who provided financial and other support to several terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qa'ida and
operating primarily in the Balkans. Moreover, the 9-11 Commission report states that al-Qa'ida raised money in Saudi Arabia
directly from individuals and through charities.
According to the 9-11 Commission report, despite numerous allegations about the government of Saudi Arabia's involvement
with al-Qa'ida, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the government of Saudi Arabia as an institution, or senior
officials within the government of Saudi Arabia, knowingly supported al-Qa'ida. The agencies we reviewed also told us that
the threat of the global propagation of Islamic extremism is emerging, not only from Saudi sources, but also from sources in
other countries, such as Iran, Kuwait and Syria, as well as from indigenous groups within some countries. A current U.S.
Defense Department official and a former U.S. Treasury Department official told us that Iran currently poses a larger threat in
this regard than does Saudi Arabia. In addition, indigenous groups have been a source of support for Islamic extremism. For
example, the State Department terrorist list includes the Filipino group Abu Sayyaf, Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, the
Palestinian group Hamas, the Kashmiri militants of Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
To address Islamic extremism, the government of Saudi Arabia has announced and, in some cases, undertaken, domestic
educational and religious reforms; legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms with the assistance of the U.S. State and
Treasury Departments; and political reforms. However, U.S. agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government's
efforts to limit the activities of Saudi individuals and entities that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of
Saudi Arabia.
CONCLUSIONS
Recognizing that the global propagation of Islamic extremism represents a growing threat to U.S. interests, U.S. agencies are
implementing a variety of efforts to identify, monitor, and counter its support and funding. Agencies' efforts focus on Saudi
Arabia, but also attempt to address the propagation of Islamic extremism worldwide. Despite the lack of a common definition
for Islamic extremism, several agencies are working to counter it by addressing the underlying conditions that facilitate
extremism — for example, through programs aimed at humanitarian assistance, educational reform, economic assistance,
public diplomacy and governance, including the promotion of constitutional democracy and respect for human rights.
Determining the resources that agencies have committed for these efforts is complicated by the fact that the agencies do not
disaggregate data for some of their activities addressing Islamic extremism from their broader efforts or goals, such as force
protection, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy. However, since the attacks on the United States in September, 2001,
some agencies' officials told us they have been devoting increasing resources to addressing the global propagation of
Islamic extremism. Moreover, since the May, 2003, bombing in Riyadh, the government of Saudi Arabia, with some assistance
from the United States, has announced and, in some cases, reportedly undertaken a number of reform efforts to address
Islamic extremism, including educational, religious, legal, and political reforms.
NOTE:
[1] International Affairs: Information on U.S. Agencies' Efforts to Address Islamic Extremism, GAO-05-852 (Washington: D.C.:
United States Government Accountability Office, September, 2005).
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
The foregoing statement was originally published in the Middle East Quarterly, Spring, 2006, and can be found on the
Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
May 16, 2006
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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