A
Diplomat's Call for
War
Prince
Bandar bin Sultan bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud
WashingtonPost.com |
|
Sunday,
June 6, 2004
 The
Saudi ambassador to the United
States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan
bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, wrote a
rather unusual article for last
Tuesday's edition of the Saudi
government daily newspaper Al-Watan.
In it, he seeks public support
for a Saudi "jihad"
against terrorists -- presumably
al Qaeda -- who have lately
staged a series of deadly
attacks in the kingdom,
including one in Khobar last
weekend in which 22 people, most
of them foreigners, were killed.
Bandar,
the dean of the Washington
diplomatic corps, has been
posted here for more than 20
years. The British- and
American-educated prince (he
holds a master's degree from the
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies) is a
longtime friend of the Bush
family and has easy access to
the White House.
Excerpts
from his article, as translated
by the Washington-based Middle
East Media Research Institute (MEMRI):
His
Excellency Crown Prince
[Abdullah] has declared war on
terror and on the terrorists,
and he is right in doing so.
Likewise, many righteous senior
officials in his government have
reiterated His Excellency the
Crown Prince's declaration. With
all due modesty, and out of my
trepidation for my beloved land,
I express my opinion on this
sensitive subject from thousands
of kilometers away, from
America..
| For
17 years, I.. ..had the
honor of serving my
religion, my homeland,
and my king, in the
brave Saudi armed
forces. Although I left
military service 20
years ago, my memory
still serves me in
[expressing] an opinion
and in engaging in
military analysis,
keeping in mind that I
have left behind my
military expertise and
daily dealings with
warfare.
War,
ultimately, means
tragedy, pain and
sacrifice. The harder,
faster, more
determinedly and more
aggressively a war is
fought, the fewer the
casualties. But
basically this depends,
except for the fact that
success is in the hands
of Allah, on whether
there is general
mobilization for war. I
personally think that
both the [Saudi] state
and citizens have not
yet reached that
important, basic and
necessary stage for
[them to be able] to win
the war. This means
general mobilization for
war in thought and in
deed, as individuals and
as a whole, in the media
and in the culture -- a
mobilization of all
state institutions and
the private sector
towards this goal, and
viewing everything in
life based [on the
premise that] we are at
war..
|
I
think ..the [Saudi]
state
and citizens have not
yet
reached that important,
basic and necessary
stage
..to win the war.
This means general
mobilization for war
in thought and in deed,
as individuals and as a
whole, in the media and
in the culture -- a
mobilization of all
state institutions and
the private sector
towards
this goal, and viewing
everything in life based
[on the premise that]
we are at war
|
Victory
in this war will come first and
ultimately through trust in
Allah. After that, it will be a
result of conducting this war
against those who are deviating
[from the religion] --
..traitors to their faith, their
families, and their land -- [the
conducting] of a war in the full
sense of the word.
War
means war. It does not mean Boy
Scout camp. It is a war that
does not mean delicacy, but
brutality. This is [a] war that
cannot be conducted based on
calling those who deviate [from
the religion] good people who
were careless, but based on
[calling them] terrorists and
aggressors with whom there can
be no compromise.
Either
we, as a state and as a people,
are believers, and we are right
-- and therefore fighting and
killing the [terrorists] is a
commandment aimed at defending
our monotheistic religion and
our dear people -- or they,
Heaven forfend, are the
believers, and we, as a state
and as a people, are the
mistaken ones, and they have the
right to kill us -- women,
children, elderly, and our
guests.
| If
we [decide upon one] of
the options, the picture
will become clearer, and
we will be divided into
two parts: The first
[includes those] who are
with us, as a Muslim
state ruling according
to the law of Allah, and
as a people believing in
the law of Allah and in
the way [Sunnah] of His
Prophet. The second
[includes] those who
deviate from the
religion. We, as a state
and as a people, must
insist that all choose
between the truth, in
which we believe, and
the lie, which we think
that those who deviate
[from the religion] are
advocating. In my
opinion, with all due
modesty and respect, our
honorable clerics must
call for the ruler to
declare Jihad against
these deviants, and give
him [i.e., the ruler]
complete support in this
matter, and be
determined about it,
since whoever keeps
silent [and refrains
from speaking about] the
truth is a mute Satan. |
..our
honorable clerics
must call for the ruler
to declare Jihad against
these deviants, and
give [the ruler]
complete
support in this matter,
and be determined
about it..
|
If
we [decide upon one] of the
options, the picture will become
clearer, and we will be divided
into two parts: The first
[includes those] who are with
us, as a Muslim state ruling
according to the law of Allah,
and as a people believing in the
law of Allah and in the way [Sunnah]
of His Prophet. The second
[includes] those who deviate
from the religion. We, as a
state and as a people, must
insist that all choose between
the truth, in which we believe,
and the lie, which we think that
those who deviate [from the
religion] are advocating. In my
opinion, with all due modesty
and respect, our honorable
clerics must call for the ruler
to declare Jihad against these
deviants, and give him [i.e.,
the ruler] complete support in
this matter, and be determined
about it, since whoever keeps
silent [and refrains from
speaking about] the truth is a
mute Satan.
Personally,
I think this crisis can be
[either] easy or difficult. If
we deal with the crisis [as] the
founding and believing king
Abdul Aziz did at the Battle of
Al-Sabla [in 1929], against
those who advocated the same
ideology as these deviants, and,
with Allah's help, we vanquish
them, [then the crisis will be]
easy. [But] if we deal [with
them] hesitantly, in hope that
[the terrorists] are Muslim
youths who have been misled, and
that the solution [to the
crisis] is that we call upon
them to follow the path of
righteousness, in hope that they
will come to their senses --
then we will lose this war, and
this means that we will lose
everything that this state and
this people have accomplished
over the past 600 years, and
that we will enter a dark world
whose end only Allah knows.
I
personally do not think that
these deviants are any stronger
than [the deviants] who fought
against the [Saudi] state at the
Battle of Al-Sabla. Likewise, I
am certain that the state today,
Allah be praised, is much
stronger than the state was in
the period of the founding
believing king, the late Abdul
Aziz. Therefore, the outcome of
this conflict [between the state
and the terrorists] relies on
the following question: Do we,
as a state and as a people,
think that our war is just, or
not?
|
If
the answer is yes, then
we, as a state and as a
people, will triumph,
with Allah's help --
provided we declare a
general mobilization in
order to stand up to
this war, because the
problem is the deviants'
victory over us [today],
as a state and as a
people, through excess,
extremism, killing,
factionalism between the
[Islamic] schools of
thought, declaring
people to be apostate [takfir],
and aggression against
what Allah has
sanctified: the soul,
honor, and property.
We
have a religious and
national obligation not
to be tempted into
following those who have
misled us, [trying] to
persuade us that the
flaw lies with us, as a
state and a people, and
that this terrorist
phenomenon is the result
of the cultural
situation in which we
are living, with its
advantages and
disadvantages. This is a
word of truth that aims
at lying.
|
We
have a religious and
national obligation not
to be tempted into
following
those who have misled
us, [trying] to persuade
us that
the flaw lies with us,
as a
state and a people, and
that
this terrorist
phenomenon
is the result of the
cultural
situation in which
we are
living, with its
advantages
and disadvantages.
|
[Today's]
deviants did not appear for the
first time in our era. They
appeared already during the era
of the [four] Righteous Caliphs.
The deviants did not appear
because [our] nation has
connections with America or with
Christians and Jews, or because
of Israel's aggression against
the Palestinian brethren, or
because of events in Fallujah or
Chechnya. They appeared for the
first time during the era of the
Companions of the Messenger of
Allah. Similarly, [those who
were] behind the Fitna [civil
war following] the murder [of
the Third Caliph] Uthman ibn 'Affan
[in the 7th century] were
neither Christians nor Jews.
They were the sons of the
Companions of the Prophet.
Enough
blaming others when the reason
lies within our own ranks!
Enough demagoguery at this
critical stage in our history!
We must all, as a state and as a
people, recognize the truth
about these criminals. These
criminals have disseminated
corruption in the land, and it
is incumbent upon us -- the
rulers, the clerics, and the
citizens -- to keep the word of
Allah: 'The punishment of those
who wage war against Allah and
His Messenger and strive to
spread corruption in the land is
only this, that they should be
murdered,' etc. [Koran 5:33].
Period!
We
must not discuss or hesitate in
this matter. We must all obey
the honored directive of Allah,
and kill those who spread
corruption in the land. And in
my opinion, anything else is
against the word of the Lord of
the Worlds.
May
Allah protect our religion, our
country, and our king. If we do
not carry out this directive of
our Lord, and if we do not
declare a general mobilization
-- we will lose this war on
terrorism.
�
2004 The Washington Post Company
Reprinted
with permission.
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