As the security situation in Iraq deteriorates and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) continues to battle the security forces of the Maliki government in Iraq, SUSTG and SUSRIS hosted a special edition of FocusKSAwith experts to discuss the implications of these developments for Saudi Arabia and the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Joining the panel was Jamal Khashoggi, veteran Saudi journalist and editor-in-chief of Al Arab TV, who shared his thoughts on the advance of ISIS/ISIL and what the challenges are for the Saudi government in dealing with the threat.
Khashoggi, speaking from Bahrain, noted that as the situation develops, there are two countries who “are doing the right things whether by design or because they realize their limitations and abilities to change the situation on the ground, and that’s Saudi Arabia and the United States. It’s good they’re keeping their distance and I think they should continue doing so.”
Khashoggi spoke to the weaknesses of ISIS, noting that the violent Sunni extremist group seeks out areas of political and social weakness and exploits those conditions to impose their brutal governance.
“Can we live with ISIS? Of course not…but do we have a choice? The answer is no,” said Khashoggi as he recommended the U.S. and Saudi Arabia continue to work together and to wait for ISIS to make one of two fatal mistakes, “as they’ve done in the past.” The first is to wait for the local population to turn against ISIS. Right now, Khashoggi said, the local population “is welcoming them because they hate and despise the Maliki government” but once ISIS imposes its typically harsh rule, that will give Saudi Arabia and the United States an opening to support alienated enemies of ISIS.
The second thing that could trigger swift U.S. and Saudi Arabian action against ISIS is a terrorist attack on the West that originates from ISIS-held territory, which Khashoggi said was a real threat because the extremist Sunni group, with sovereign territory, will have time to “sit and plan” such attacks.
“If that happens,” Khashoggi said, “that will change the mood in Washington and that will be a direct threat to American security, and it will be 9/11 all over again.”
