Muslim Coalition Is a Problem Alliance
It was an announcement that many of us have been waiting to hear-- a coalition of Muslim nations has been formed to fight Islamic terrorism.
It sounds great on the surface, but there are serious problems with this new alliance.
The first problem is that its organizer is Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials made the announcement this week that 34 Muslim nations "have decided on the formation of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint operations center based in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations."
The Saudis say this new coalition will "share information and train, equip and provide forces if necessary" in the fight against terror groups.
But let's remember, as we've covered extensively here on CBN News, the Saudis have spent billions of petrodollars over the past several decades spreading radical Wahhabi Islam around the world. That includes building radical mosques and Islamic schools right here in the West.
Wahhabism, the official state religion of Saudi Arabia, and Salafism are really the ideological engines that make Islamic terrorism go.
In the past, the Saudis have funded the terror group Hamas and there continue to be reports that the Saudis are also supporting terror groups in Syria, like the Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra front.
The Saudis aren't exactly credible as a leader in the fight against Islamic terrorism.
The bottom line here is that the Saudis are threatened by ISIS, which makes the exclusion of Iraq, Syria and Iran from this 34-nation coalition very interesting.
Yes, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are battling ISIS right now in Iraq and Syria, but the Saudis despise and fear the growing Shiite superpower in Iran even more than they fear the Islamic state.
The 34 nation coalition the Saudis have cobbled together reflects that and it will be interesting to see if the Saudis and their partners target Iran's terror proxy, Hezbollah, as part of their plan.
The coaltion is already facing problems though. Pakistan says it wasn't even aware that it was being included, and both Malyasia and Indonesia say they will not provide any military assistance.
All of this shows, once again, that when it comes to fighting Islamic terrorism, America must lead the way. if we don't, and we leave this fight to others who are not up to the task and have terror connections themselves, we'll see more Jihadi attacks like we saw recently in Paris and San Bernardino here on American soil.
