OPINION:
The time has come to identify the primary instigators of terrorism as being Sunni Muslims. What do the perpetrators of the USS Cole attack, the two attacks on the World Trade Center, the recent attacks in Canada, Australia and France, Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Islamic State and al Qaeda all have in common? They are all tied to Sunni terrorism, sponsored philosophically and financially by Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
For more than two centuries, Wahhabism has been Saudi Arabia’s dominant faith. It is a conservative form of Islam that requires a literal interpretation of the Koran. Wahhabis believe that Muslims who don’t practice their form of Islam are apostates. Wahhabis began to increase their influence in Saudi Arabia by aligning politically with the House of Saud after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Explosive growth in influence continued in the 1970s when Saudi officials started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques with dollars derived from oil exports. In the Wahhabis’ world, all non-Muslims and Muslims accused of apostasy should be killed. These beliefs are the foundation for their sponsorship of terrorism against other Muslims and the West.
The great left-wing hypocrisies are criticism of Americans who don’t support gay marriage, but alliance with a country that jails homosexuals; criticism of Americans who don’t want to pay for birth control but alliance with a country that forbids women to drive and puts them in jail for talking to men; and criticism of individuals who speak out against Islamic radicals but the labelling of a country that tolerates no other religion our “ally.”
If we want to damage terrorists, the first step is to include elimination of all military aid to Saudi Arabia. Let them worry about Iran. Second we need an energy policy that promotes energy independence and eliminates the purchase of foreign oil. We are almost there, despite obstruction from the government and environmentalists. Our president takes false credit for the increase in U.S. oil and gas production while failing to report that since 2010, production is up more than 60 percent on private land but down 6 percent on government land.
The final step is to declare Saudi Arabia a state sponsor of terror and eliminate all trade and diplomatic relations.
MIKE FERREER
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.