Here’s an article from Long War Journal, republished at Military.com, noting that one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is trying to recruit Saudi military to the organization. This isn’t anything particularly new. Intelligence officials—Saudi and others—have known for years that extremists have tried to subvert people in the Saudi armed forces and National Guard. They’ve had minor success, that is, they’ve found a few people, but none to carry out a major terrorist operation.
What is perhaps new is that the speaker, Said al Shihri, went through the Saudi rehabilitation program for extremists. He clearly managed to ‘graduate’, but failed to absorb the lessons.
Ex-Detainee Tries to Woo Saudi Soldiers
Thomas JoscelynIn a nearly 15-minute audio tape released in early August, Said al Shihri, one of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) top leaders, tried to convince Saudi soldiers and security officers to serve al Qaeda. Al Shihri set forth a dozen reasons why Saudi citizens should betray the royals, and he offered a cursory plan for doing so.
Al Shihri said it should be “easy” to overthrow the House of Saud if his plan is followed.
Al Shihri called for willing recruits to form cells that can attract logistical support from members of the Saudi Air Force, Army, and office of the Interior Ministry. Al Shihri urged guards for the Saudi royals to turn on “the tyrant princes” and “kill them.” Those in charge of security at “weapons warehouses” inside the Kingdom and employees of the Interior Ministry are especially valuable recruits, al Shihri said.
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Thanks to reader Lori for the pointer!
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September:01:2010 - 12:21
An al-Shihri. Shocking.
September:01:2010 - 12:50
There is recent info on raises for military personel up to 30% of their wages…. “Military staff in the rank of private, who currently receive SR2,160, will now get SR2,800.” Saudi gazette
September:01:2010 - 16:55
The social tensions in our society can be difficult to dispel, given its opaque nature.
It is predictable that there will be rebels and the maladjusted who seek to change the existing order.
These are highly unlikely to attract any real following, especially when they espouse radical extremism.
September:02:2010 - 08:19
Umm Latifa has touched on an important point: the pitifully low income of the Saudi under-class that make up a large proportion of the population. Low ranking soldiers on SR2800; that is not even a living wage. No wonder there is an undercurrent of dissent when the average Saudi employee in the 1995 Toyota sees the obscene vulgarity of the so conspicuous consumption of the House of Saud. Let them eat cake ! The man in the street has barely benefited one iota from the Kingdom’s oil riches and therein lies the seeds of its own destruction.
September:02:2010 - 08:41
I, too, am amazed at how low Saudi salaries are, whether for government employees or in the private sector. I definitely think the Saudi economy could afford higher wages, but then there’s the problem of so many young Saudis will extremely low skill sets. Are they worth paying higher wages just because? I do feel sympathy, though, for those who must compete with foreign workers, with better skills and education, as well as experience, who are willing to work extremely cheaply.
September:02:2010 - 17:43
“I definitely think the Saudi economy could afford higher wages, but then there’s the problem of so many young Saudis will extremely low skill sets. Are they worth paying higher wages just because?”
The non-governmental wage rate should reflect the market value of the labour and its productivity.
The wage rate for military employees is of course set by governmental fiat as there is no market and hence no market value for such labour.
However, military personnel wage rates are largely unrelated to issues of military subversion.
September:02:2010 - 18:21
Well, I think wages that are too low encourage people to find other sources of income. If those sources condition their offers of money on following a particular line of political thought, then it certainly becomes an issue of potential subversion. Most of those caught committing espionage on their own countries are doing it for the cash, pitiful amounts though they are.
September:03:2010 - 04:07
John,
I believe that you confuse correlation for causality.
It may be true that those who are military traitors are paid to betray.
It does not follow that an increase in pay will alter that.
Military culture is one that is primarily fixed on ideals such as patriotism, masculinity, physical action, risk-taking behaviours, etc.
Those motivations drive the young men in military service.
It may be that some small set are unaffected by such stimuli, or it may be that for some such stimuli actually spawn aversion responses, or perhaps other reasons as well.
It would require an analysis of the traitors as well as non-traitors to determine possible causes and thus possible remedies.
It does not logically follow that the correlation need be due to causality by the correlative factor.
September:03:2010 - 05:02
Andrew,
In some developed cultures what you say may be true, that is, men join up for patriotic or reasons of bravado. In my experience that is not the case in poorer societies (although Saudi is hardly poor)where the motivating factor is a job, any job that pays, however little. And then these “jundis” look around them and see what a pittance they are receiving for risking life and limb, and draw conclusions especially when the honeyed words of the persuasive Al Qaeda factions fall upon their uneducated and unsophisticated ears.
September:03:2010 - 06:36
Andew: In general I agree with you. But if anyone–including a soldier–is having trouble feeding his family or keeping them in a standard he believes adequate, then he is vulnerable. I think, too, that there are rather different motivations to become a soldier between Saudis and Americans (only as an example) though both are voluntary services. Military service in the KSA is not sees as among the most honorable professions; when it comes to the SANG, it seems to be more a tribal obligation/way out of the desert than a planned career.
There are many potential causes that motivate a traitor. Not all of them are necessary; any of them can be sufficient: ideology, anger, feelings of having been abused or humiliated, and lack of money. Usually, there’s a combination of the two. Low pay is only one, but it does open a vulnerability to having ideological problems grow and fester. That’s two, again not necessary in themselves, but sufficient to create needless problems.
September:03:2010 - 13:16
John,
While I agree in part, I have male relatives who have and do serve in the SANG, and what attracts them is not that different than what attracts young men many places — the ability to work with dangerous weapons, to be overtly manly, camraderie.
I do not believe that most view military service as lower than honourable, although there may be more honourable things.