Islamic totalitarianism is real.
It generates public fear and support for opposing it. This means high intel budgets and support for restricting public liberties, granting intel wide latitude for all kids of new powers. This intel world has grown hugely and that will continue as long as this war is fought BUT NOT WON.
Global, protracted low-intensity wars are the mother’s milk of the intel world.
By Saudi standards, MBS is a reformer who opposes Wahabbi Islam, the chief sponsor of Islam fundamentalist terror. He threatens to take SA on a more secular path emphasizing diversification of the SA economy.
My view of the prospect of long-term success of that path in SA is dim, but MBS threatens the cash-cow of the intelligence community.
Sixty years after Ike’s warnings, the US IC is now a furtive, unseen State in it’s own right, a type of secret occupation of the USA.
It is the natural desire of states to grow and a good, long-term Trump/MBS relationship threatens the source of US IC growth.
The nutshell:
Healthy Wahabbism is a healthy UC intelligence community.
US, not UC