# Why hasn't Saudi Arabia faced consequences for their role in terrorism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 15, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585 "2014-08-15T05:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EndlessEntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@EndlessEntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EndlessEntropy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/1 "2014-08-15T05:09:20Z")
For the longest time, Saudi Arabia has been accused of state-sponsored terrorism especially in funding groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. For example, I can’t believe it is a coincidence that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. Technically they may be our allies, but their actions have lead to the deaths of Americans in the past and more. Why did we invade Afghanistan and Iraq, but not Saudi Arabia, when that country seems to be more responsible for 9/11 than at least Iraq? Edit: I also realize Bush and the Saudis were very close, which is obviously a big factor, but he’s not president anymore. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/2 "2014-08-15T05:14:18Z")
Because the produce a huge amount of oil. ---
**Author:** ![Crazier\_Catlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Crazier\_Catlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazier_Catlady)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/3 "2014-08-15T05:23:34Z")
Also, Bush was the one who liked to start wars. Obama is more likely to end them. BTW, shouldn’t this be moved to GD? There’s unlikely to be a factual answer to this one that anyone on this board is likely to know. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/4 "2014-08-15T05:26:01Z")
This is probably better suited to Great Debates than General Questions. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/5 "2014-08-15T05:33:24Z")
Oil, armament sales, etc. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/6 "2014-08-15T05:36:17Z")
> [@EndlessEntropy](#): > > For the longest time, Saudi Arabia has been accused of state-sponsored terrorism especially in funding groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. For example, I can’t believe it is a coincidence that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. Technically they may be our allies, but their actions have lead to the deaths of Americans in the past and more. Why did we invade Afghanistan and Iraq, but not Saudi Arabia, when that country seems to be more responsible for 9/11 than at least Iraq? The fact that 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals doesn’t mean that the Saudi government or the Saudi state were sponsors of Al Qaeda. In fact AQ bitterly opposes the Saudi state and government, and the feeling is mutual. It’s fair to say that attitudes adopted over time by the Saudi government , and policies it has pursued, have played a role in fostering a climate in which terrorism has flourished. But any US citizen can find a government A Bit Closer To Home of whom that could be said with equally justification. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/7 "2014-08-15T06:11:38Z")
They’re our buddies. Gotta keep the petrodollar going. Plus, Saudi Arabia contains some of the holiest sites in Islam, like Mecca and Medina. You think Muslims are pissed at us now? Invading Saudi Arabia would stir up a hornet’s nest of Biblical proportions. One of Osama bin Laden’s stated reasons for 9/11 was our troop presence there after the Gulf War. Opinion polls of the region were very much against non-Muslim troops being there indefinitely (we left in 2003). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/8 "2014-08-15T06:43:18Z")
They sell us lots of oil. And the government of Saudi Arabia is officially against terrorist acts. The government of SA does not do enough to stop private SA funding of terrorism. After 9/11 a few rich and powerful Saudis met with accidental deaths, but what would really have helped would have been prosecutions. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/9 "2014-08-15T06:48:28Z")
Bush II was big buddies with the Saudis; there’s no way he’d have gone after them regardless of their guilt. On the other hand Cheney and the neocons were hankering to attack Iraq long before 9/11 happened; it just gave them an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/10 "2014-08-15T07:00:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Bush II was big buddies with the Saudis; there’s no way he’d have gone after them regardless of their guilt. > > On the other hand Cheney and the neocons were hankering to attack Iraq long before 9/11 happened; it just gave them an excuse. Right, and Obama has been simply merciless on them, hasn’t he? This has nothing to do with buddies, it’s simply realpolitik at work. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/11 "2014-08-15T08:42:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Bush II was big buddies with the Saudis; there’s no way he’d have gone after them regardless of their guilt. Are you trying to suggest the Saudi government was somehow behind 911? If so, I hope for your sake you’ve never ridiculed the truthers because that’s at least as stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/12 "2014-08-15T08:48:05Z")
> [@EndlessEntropy](#): > > For example, I can’t believe it is a coincidence that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. And the Tsarnaev brothers were Chechans, but that didn’t mean we started bombing Grozny. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/13 "2014-08-15T08:54:15Z")
> [@EndlessEntropy](#): > > For the longest time, Saudi Arabia has been accused of state-sponsored terrorism especially in funding groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. For example, I can’t believe it is a coincidence that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. Technically they may be our allies, but their actions have lead to the deaths of Americans in the past and more. Why did we invade Afghanistan and Iraq, but not Saudi Arabia, when that country seems to be more responsible for 9/11 than at least Iraq? > > Edit: I also realize Bush and the Saudis were very close, which is obviously a big factor, but he’s not president anymore. What “state-sponsored terrorism” against the US has the Saudi government been responsible for. Bin Laden and Al Qaeda hate them as much as they hate the Americans and the Jews. Now, if you’re talking about “charities” to support blowing up some pizzerias in Israel or turn some Israeli schoolchildren into kosher hamburger that’s certainly reprehensible but not “terrorist” attacks against the US and frankly since Hamas stopped engaging in martyrdom operations I’m not sure if that really an issue any more. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/14 "2014-08-15T09:20:59Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Are you trying to suggest the Saudi government was somehow behind 911? The Saudi government was not behind al Qaeda. Officially, the government was opposed to al Qaeda. And al Qaeda was officially opposed to the Saudi government. Unofficially, however, deals were made. Both sides remained official enemies while not taking any serious action against the other. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/15 "2014-08-15T11:16:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Saudi government was not behind al Qaeda. Officially, the government was opposed to al Qaeda. And al Qaeda was officially opposed to the Saudi government. > > Unofficially, however, deals were made. Both sides remained official enemies while not taking any serious action against the other. Well, except for the Riyadh Compound bombings, and the Muhaya bombings, and the time they blew up that police station, and the Yanbu attack, and the al-Khobar massacre, and when the Saudi army assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Khalid al-Haj and Abu Hazm, and the attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, and the suicide bombing at the Interior Ministry, and the Saudi crackdown on al-Qaeda of 2005, and… ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/16 "2014-08-15T13:10:27Z")
[Wikileaks cable article](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding) > [@](#): > > Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba – but the Saudi government is reluctant to stem the flow of money, according to Hillary Clinton. > > “More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups,” says a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state. Her memo urged US diplomats to redouble their efforts to stop Gulf money reaching extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. > > “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide,” she said. Not the same as the Saudi government of course. > [@](#): > > The problem is particularly acute in Saudi Arabia, where militants soliciting funds slip into the country disguised as holy pilgrims, set up front companies to launder funds and receive money from government-sanctioned charities. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/17 "2014-08-15T13:15:15Z")
Keep in mind here that the Saudi royal family is gigantic and includes thousands and thousands of members. I doubt that anyone in a leadership position in that government would support terrorism because, as noted, Al Qaeda hates the Sauds for allowing American troops into the country during the first Gulf War. The people in charge are at least somewhat pragmatic. But that still leaves a lot of room for other disaffected, well-connected rich people to funnel money to Al Qaeda because they don’t like what the people in charge are doing. To put it mildly this sounds like a complicated situation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/18 "2014-08-15T14:02:16Z")
> [@EndlessEntropy](#): > > For the longest time, Saudi Arabia has been accused of state-sponsored terrorism especially in funding groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. **Accused.** Nobody has found any hard proof AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/19 "2014-08-15T14:03:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > To put it mildly this sounds like a complicated situation. 😕 But – but – situations in the MENA are **never** complicated! ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585/20 "2014-08-15T14:07:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **Accused.** Nobody has found any hard proof AFAIK. Saudi Arabia is indisputably a major source of terrorist funding. Just like the USA was for some time regarding the IRA. But in neither case was the government involved beyond not really breaking a rib to stop it for a long time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-saudi-arabia-faced-consequences-for-their-role-in-terrorism/695585.md?page=2)