Saudi Arabia?s Arab News recently published an article referring to the US claims of a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda as a ?US fiction?. The reason such a charge is ?ludicrous?, according to the author, is that ?the country [Iraq] has been waging a relentless war on religious fundamentalism of all hues and denominations.? While decrying the American claim, however, the article does state, ?The United States does not need to invent a charge of imaginary crime against Saddam. His past record is full of crimes against humanity.?
The danger for novices on the region, the Saudi article says, is that they ?may come to a hasty conclusion that Saddam, bin Laden, Hezbollah, Jihad, Baghdad and Peshawar are all birds of same feather. They could justify such a conclusion on the ground that all these resort to the same pattern of protest ? burning US flags and Uncle Sam?s effigies. However,? the author attempts to clarify, ?the only common factor shared by them is a strong anti-American feeling. Apart from that, they are radically different in their ideologies and objectives.?
According to Arab News, ?experts on Iraq also confirm that it is the only country in the region where al-Qaeda operatives or supporters could not undertake secret or public campaigns and set up underground financing system unlike most other countries in the region. It is also confirmed that, in fact, Iraq was the first country in the region to launch an unrelenting campaign to stamp out extremist religious movements. The regime started suppressing religious preachers and organizations since Ayatollah Khomeini gained influence in Iran displaying the banner of religion as a symbol for political change and posed a threat to Saddam. Iraqi authorities still continue the same style of repression. That is why any attempt to project Iraq and Al-Qaeda as bedfellows appears ludicrous.?
On the other hand, the Saudi Arabian newspaper warns, an American victory in Iraq might just lead to an al-Qaeda revival there and elsewhere: ?[T]here is every possibility that Iraq would become a fertile breeding ground for Sunni and Shiite fundamentalist movements if the Americans launch a successful war there.... A postwar scenario will, no doubt, help Al-Qaeda and similar movements to flourish unless the Americans evolve a strategy to drive out the religious opposition as well. It will be an almost impossible task though.?
The danger for novices on the region, the Saudi article says, is that they ?may come to a hasty conclusion that Saddam, bin Laden, Hezbollah, Jihad, Baghdad and Peshawar are all birds of same feather. They could justify such a conclusion on the ground that all these resort to the same pattern of protest ? burning US flags and Uncle Sam?s effigies. However,? the author attempts to clarify, ?the only common factor shared by them is a strong anti-American feeling. Apart from that, they are radically different in their ideologies and objectives.?
According to Arab News, ?experts on Iraq also confirm that it is the only country in the region where al-Qaeda operatives or supporters could not undertake secret or public campaigns and set up underground financing system unlike most other countries in the region. It is also confirmed that, in fact, Iraq was the first country in the region to launch an unrelenting campaign to stamp out extremist religious movements. The regime started suppressing religious preachers and organizations since Ayatollah Khomeini gained influence in Iran displaying the banner of religion as a symbol for political change and posed a threat to Saddam. Iraqi authorities still continue the same style of repression. That is why any attempt to project Iraq and Al-Qaeda as bedfellows appears ludicrous.?
On the other hand, the Saudi Arabian newspaper warns, an American victory in Iraq might just lead to an al-Qaeda revival there and elsewhere: ?[T]here is every possibility that Iraq would become a fertile breeding ground for Sunni and Shiite fundamentalist movements if the Americans launch a successful war there.... A postwar scenario will, no doubt, help Al-Qaeda and similar movements to flourish unless the Americans evolve a strategy to drive out the religious opposition as well. It will be an almost impossible task though.?