(Middle East Forum) Laurent Murawiec - When the Clinton administration cornered Osama bin Laden in the Sudan in 1998, the Saudis refused to allow his extradition back home, where he could be neutralized. Instead, the Saudi intelligence chief - Prince Turki - reportedly offered bin Laden $200 million to go to Afghanistan, on the condition that he not target the Saudi royal family. Bin Laden honored his promise - there has not been a single attack by Al-Qaeda against the Al-Saud family. Inside the kingdom, Al-Qaeda has only operated against the Americans and the British. Bin Laden is an extension of Saudi foreign policy. As long as the benefits of sponsoring terror are enormous and the costs of sponsoring terror are negligible, they will not take decisive action. The U.S. must therefore make the costs of funding Wahhabi extremism terribly high, while making the benefits slim pickings.
2003-04-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive