Convicted terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui has claimed under oath that highly placed members of the Saudi royal family gave financial support to al Qaeda. The press is treating his allegation as something new, although I am unclear just why this should be so. See a Vanity Fair story about it.
We have known since shortly after 9/11 that wealthy Saudis gave money to al Qaeda. Talk about old news, I'm tempted to title this post "Move Along, Nothing to See Here."
Saudi Arabia is virtually the textbook example of a "frenemy." They fund madrassas around the globe teaching Wahabi Islam which is fundamentalist, anti-West and jihad-prone. And they routinely abuse the human rights of their guest workers. On the other hand, they don't like the Iranians or ISIS and that's good.
If the stories are at all accurate, wealthy Saudis live thoroughly sinful lives, seen from an Islamic perspective. They assuage their consciences by giving fistfuls of dollars to fundamentalist imams in the hope of buying their way into paradise.
One is reminded of "selling indulgences" by the pre-reformation Roman Catholic Church. It's the same fundraising scam, trading on the same forlorn hope.
