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ISIS is fundamentally different from Al Qaeda and the sort of Wahhibist terrorism that the Saudis have historically been involved in. It is a direct threat to t
by beat 12y ago
ISIS is fundamentally different from Al Qaeda and the sort of Wahhibist terrorism that the Saudis have historically been involved in. It is a direct threat to the Saudi government, and every other Arab government.
I'll point out that the Saudis have actively bombed ISIS. They're militarily involved in this war. It's a huge, huge deal for them.
- crdoconnor 12y agoISIS was actually partially funded from Saudi Arabia.
- beat 12y agoIt was partially funded by the US too, until everyone realized what a monster it was.
- Mikeb85 12y agoIndividuals in Saudia Arabia who are against the monarchy. Not the Saudi government per se. Although the lines are certainly blurred when you consider that both the US and Saudis funded 'moderate' rebels in Syria, many of whom weren't so moderate and joined ISIS. And then of course Qatar and Turkey have also funded and assisted various rebel groups in Syria, many of whom are now ISIS as well.
- beat 12y agoISIS has tremendous popular support. A lot of ordinary people throughout the Arab world applaud their return to a pre-westernized Arab society. They actively provoke Arab governments, because it can lead to revolution in those other countries. So yeah, lots of wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia have funded them. But the government itself is terrified.
- nailer 12y ago> ISIS is fundamentally different from Al Qaeda ISIS's old name was 'Al Qaeda in Iraq'.
- dragonwriter 12y ago> ISIS's old name was 'Al Qaeda in Iraq'. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) -- sometimes called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- has had only one previous name, the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Arguably, even that's not really a previous name but just one of two groups that formed ISIL, though the other was itself an offshoot of ISI, so the point is debatable either way. Among the organizations that came together to form ISI was the group formerly known as "al-Qaeda in Iraq", but even for that group, the name change in 2004 to "al-Qaeda in Iraq", was an opportunistic rebranding reflecting the currency of the "al-Qaeda" brand (and, arguably, also the simultaneous weakness of the actual substantive "al-Qaeda" organization, which made it interested in having in-name-only affiliates) in radical Islamic circles in 2004; it wasn't the original name of the group, which had been around for several years before affiliating itself with the al-Qaeda brand. So the statement that ISIL -- or ISIS, if you prefer -- is "fundamentally different than al-Qaeda" is fairly accurate even if the main component of ISIL is a group that was for a few years affiliated loosely with al-Qaeda.