Tim Marshall Explains How Saudi Arabia Has Exported Islamist Terrorism
5 June 2017, 11:29
The foreign affairs analyst explained the country’s role and how terrorists have made clear they would attack the west regardless of its foreign policy.
Speaking to Clive Bull, Mr Marshall said “there’s a lot of circumstantial and some solid evidence” that people in Saudi Arabia have sponsored terrorism.
“What happened was when the oil money started to come in in the 70s, so Saudi’s with their Wahhabi ideology were able to export Wahhabism which leads to Salafism which leads to terrorism.
“They exported it to Pakistan and the rest of the Arab world… there are people on the inside of the Saudi government who have been sponsoring that.”
He explained that Saudi money, preachers and Koran’s were sent all over the world, he even saw them in Bosnia in the 1990s.
While the west has been subject to terrorist attacks, Mr Marshall says attacks on Muslims in Muslim countries are on an even larger scale.
“There are Imams, sometimes trained by the Saudis, who go to Pakistan and preach hate against the Shias, and the Shia’s in Pakistan are being slaughtered in their hundreds by the Pakistani Salafists.”
These acts against fellow Muslims in Muslim countries show that western foreign policy is not the reason for Islamist terrorism, “I find it a very Eurocentric view, like it’s all about us,” he said.
Mr Marshall went on to explain that IS, in the recent issue of their magazine, gave six reasons for why they attack the west.
“Number one, they said it’s because you will not submit to us. If you do not submit to us or pay tax to us, we will kill you. Our intention is to take over every single country and bring Allah’s will to these countries.
“Point six, and I’ll quote it: ‘Although some might argue that your foreign policies are the extent of what drives our hatred, this particular reason for hating you is secondary.
“The fact is, even if you stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you.”
Watch the whole interview with Tim Marshall below:
