Meet Saudi Arabia's New Frankenstein...

Let me remind you about the story of Frankenstein.

In the Mary Shelley classic, mad alchemist Dr. Victor Frankenstein spends months creating this creature out of old body parts. Then, one night, Frankenstein brings his creation to life, only to be absolutely horrified at the sight of the monster he has created.

After some time, and after the death of a dear friend at the hands of his monster, Dr. Frankenstein devotes his life to tracking down the monster he created and promises to destroy it.

Well, we have a modern-day Frankenstein story on our hands. And in this story, Saudi Arabia is Dr. Frankenstein, and ISIS is its monster.

Over at The Independent, some months ago Patrick Cockburn wrote a very interesting piece about Saudi Arabia’s role in the ISIS crisis. He talks about a meeting between Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi intelligence chief and former Saudi ambassador to the U.S., and Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of Britain’s MI6.

In the meeting, which took place prior to 9/11, bin Sultan told Dearlove that, “The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will be literally 'God help the Shia'. More than a billion Sunnis have simply had enough of them.”

Fast forward to today and bin Sultan’s comments from over a decade ago seem to have foreshadowed what’s going on pretty well. All across the Middle East right now, ISIS is wiping out Shia communities left and right.

It has all but wiped out the Shia population in northern Iraq. That’s no coincidence. Saudi Arabia isn’t just magically getting its wish.

Saudi Arabia, and the other Sunni countries in the Middle East, have been financially and morally supporting the growing and evolving Sunni insurgency against Shias in the region for years. They have intentionally bankrolled groups whose mission it is to wipe out the Shia minority in the region.

First they started with al-Qaeda, and then they bankrolled what became ISIS. In a leaked December 2009 cable, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that, “Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, LeT [Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan] and other terrorist groups.”

Unfortunately for Saudi Arabia, ISIS, the anti-Shia insurgency it helped to create, is now rumbling about taking over Saudi Arabia when it’s done wiping out the Shias in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is a problem that the Sunni nations in the Middle East created, and it’s a problem they and they alone should have to solve.

Yes, the U.S. has played a role in the crisis, thanks to the Bush administration waging two incredibly stupid, illegal, and destabilizing wars in the region, but that’s just fuel on a fire that had already long been burning. The strength and brutality of ISIS represents a regional conflict, not a worldwide one, and it should be treated like that.

Saudi Arabia and the other countries that have bankrolled the anti-Shia insurgency for years should be held responsible for dealing with the monster they helped to create. And, in the wake of President Obama asking Congress for military authority to take on ISIS, those are sentiments now being echoed by a few brave lawmakers in Washington.

In an interview on CNN yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders said that, “This war is a battle for the soul of Islam and it's going to have to be the Muslim countries who are stepping up. These are billionaire families all over that region. They've got to get their hands dirty. They've got to get their troops on the ground. They've got to win that war with our support. We cannot be leading the effort...”

Meanwhile, speaking about the Sunni nations in the Middle East, Congressman Alan Grayson told me on The Big Picture that, “I’m hoping that these countries will go ahead, band together, and eliminate the Sunni fundamentalist threat. But if Iraq won’t defend its own territory, and if these countries won’t eliminate the fundamentalist radicals in their midst, you have to wonder, why should we?”

By letting Saudi Arabia - which has the fourth largest military budget in the world and can easily fight this fight - by letting them and other Middle Eastern nations take the lead in fighting ISIS, the U.S. would also be helping to weaken ISIS’ message and dialogue. It would no longer be middle-eastern Muslims fighting American mostly Christians.

ISIS wants the conflict against it to be viewed as a battle of civilizations. And, by increasing U.S. involvement in the conflict, we’re giving ISIS a huge victory. Instead, we need to respond to the ISIS crisis for what it is, a regional conflict, and let it be defined as that. And let Muslims in the region deal with their own bad actors - even if they helped create them.

This is not our fight, and the new AUMF should explicitly say so.

Comments

Aliceinwonderland's picture
Aliceinwonderland 8 years 15 weeks ago
#1

The USA thinks every fight is our fight.

oneworldatpeace's picture
oneworldatpeace 8 years 15 weeks ago
#2

It looks to me that we might have to entertain the LOGICAL notion to let the area revert to its OTTOMAN Empire status of 3 separate autonomous countrys'! Instead of the colonial construct of "Iraq" (which is Arabic for Viet Nam!)

Turkey would not like it because it will give the Armenians a claim but I think they should figure it out over there! NOT US!

Of course if we're going to off all logical and stuff maybe we could stop backing Palestinian Apartheid practiced by the Israelis.' Israel can't be a JEWISH STATE, because Jews would never treat people like that because it's against that religion.

stecoop01's picture
stecoop01 8 years 15 weeks ago
#3

I think we should just get out of the middle east, and let them fight it out. No outsiders have ever been able to keep the peace over there, and we won't be able to either.

Let them fight it out and we'll deal with what ever rises from the ashes.

ChicagoMatt 8 years 15 weeks ago
#4

I do love a good extended literary metaphor. In the novel, the monster (ISIS, I guess), doesn't start off evil. He's actually very smart. But people treat him badly, so he rises to those standards. He's also physically superior to his creator. He brings that up to Dr. Frankenstein (Saudi Arabia?) many times, saying basically, "You can't kill me. You can't outrun me. You might as well talk to me."

Eventually the monster asks for only one thing in order to get him to leave everyone alone: a bride. So Dr. Frankenstein agrees to make another, female monster. But the doctor destroys that before it is complete.

Later on, the monster (ISIS?) succeeds in not only killing Dr. Frankenstein, but killing the people he loves and ruining his reputation.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. This novel is always fun to teach.

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 8 years 15 weeks ago
#5

Yes, Saudi Arabia needs to hunt down the monster they helped create, and David Koch should pay to dismantle the House of Representative's Frankenstein, the Tea-Party. It was Koch who provided the funding for the group that organized the Baggers....Americans for Prosperity. Like that will happen!

darrell Tschakert 8 years 15 weeks ago
#6

Thanks, Tom. You've just helped me select the text for my new bumper sticker. it reads: "IT'S NOT OUR WAR!"

DTschak

Thom's Blog Is On the Move

Hello All

Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.

Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.

From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom is a national treasure. Read him, embrace him, learn from him, and follow him as we all work for social change."
Robert Greenwald, political activist and founder and president of Brave New Films
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
Eric Utne, Founder, Utne magazine
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO