Submitted by Debra (United States), Mar 2, 2009 at 14:49
Prince Turki is a complex character. He has often been one of the more pro-American Saudis. But like anyone in the Royal Family he has to please the more fanatical religious clerics w/whom the Royal family have formed sort of an unholy alliance. This just sounds like a bunch of standard puff rhetoric aimed at pleasing them. Kind of like Obama having Rick Warren speak at his inauguration to appease Christians.
The Royal Family has indulged fanatics but only to a certain degree. Bin Laden was kicked out of Saudi Arabia when his fanaticism rose to the level of criticizing the Royal Family as a bunch of infidels. It is far more convenient to support the drive for religious purity when it does not interfere with the political goals of the Saudi Royal family.
And the truth of the matter is that Saudi's have been funding Jihad training camps in Afghanistan and elsewhere since the 1990's so what's really new?
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