“It’s Saudi money, not Iranian money, that funds Madrassas in Europe and the US that radicalize young Muslim immigrants. Supporting Sunni Islamism against Shia Islamism is like pouring liquid nitrogen on your hand to treat a fire burn.”
That cash mostly came from people MBS targeted immediately when he gained power. Nasty rich people backing the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a beach head in the US. And MBS is working to stop it, including the cash coming to the US to establish sharia law. Jared Kushner is working directly with him on this and other things, like cutting off funding for the PA. And it’s working.
MBS is a reformer, the best bet for SA to stop their backing of evil Islamists. MBS is being targeted by Iran, Turkey, and asshats here like Ben Rhodes and Brennan and valjar.
That’s the actual reality, and Trump knows it. Hopefully you do, too. If MBS goes, so does middle east reform.
It seems like every 10 years or so, we hear about how Saudi Arabia is going to "reform," "modernize" and "secularize" their society. Reminds me of the sign they put up in a lot of bars saying "Free beer tomorrow."
A lot of people seem convinced that MBS is great because he now lets women drive cars and allows movie theaters to exist. Another century of that and hey, Saudi Arabia may be as modern and secular as Iran or Iraq.
When MBS stops giving oil money to Wahhabi clerics, I'll be impressed. Until then, he has a slick PR campaign and a move to crush his political enemies (he goes after clerics who oppose him, while funding other clerics who are on his side) and not much else. The fact that Javanka (two liberal moles in the White House) and pro-Muslim liberals like Thomas Friedman admire him doesn't really inspire much trust in MBS either.