Saudi Arabia facing homegrown terrorism

By Olivier Guitta

I wrote an article last week for the DC Examiner on Saudi Arabia's backlash regarding terrorism.
You can read the full article here.
Here is an excerpt:

Saudi Arabia recently released a list of 85 of its most-wanted terrorists. Eighty-three of the individuals are Saudi nationals, the other two are Yemenis. These individuals are suspected of wanting to revive Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, attack oil facilities inside the kingdom and overthrow the monarchy.
Because of the pedigree of the suspects, the Saudi regime is taking this threat very seriously. Of the 85, 14 were previously detained at Guantanamo Bay and have undergone the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists.
This program that was trumpeted by Saudi authorities as extremely successful is obviously now showing its limits. Indeed rehabilitating hard-core jihadists is a huge challenge, especially when these individuals have been brainwashed since youth.
The Saudi regime has at this point a lot of introspection to do since its education system is at fault along with the hyper-present extremist and intolerant Wahhabism. It is no coincidence that among foreign jihadists in Iraq fighting coalition troops, the Saudis were the largest group.
Most of these jihadists were between 18 and 25 and upon their deaths, preachers would visit their families in Saudi Arabia to underline the virtues of jihad and to confirm their son's martyrdom and his place in paradise.
The role of the Saudi education system in radicalizing its youth is not a secret. Two weeks ago, the Saudi Al Watan published a column entitled: "Who is behind the deviants?"
"Deviant" is the word used in Saudi Arabia to describe terrorists. In this column, the author clearly placed the blame on the education system that teaches youngsters to memorize the Koran but not to learn much in other disciplines.
He also noted that radical preachers have the upper hand throughout the kingdom and pollute the minds of the youth with extremist ideas.