'The Deceit of Jihad': Saudis tackle extremism through medium of TV

A ground-breaking television series in which repentant radical Islamists reveal what they call the "deceit of jihad" is captivating Saudi Arabia, the kingdom that produced 15 of the September 11 plane hijackers.

The five-part series, Deceit in the Name of Jihad, is being aired in prime time on Saudi state television and the satellite channel, Al Arabiya. It includes interviews with Saudis who claim to have fought alongside Muslim fanatics in Afghanistan and Iraq before realising they had been "brainwashed" by al-Qaeda recruiters.

After the programme there is an unprecedented live phone-in, during which callers are encouraged to debate the "deviant ideology" of militant Islam. "It's a must-see programme," said Mahmoud Ahnad, news editor of the Saudi Arab News.

The show is the most dramatic example of the about-face by Saudi authorities who, after years of sweeping aside fears over locally bred terrorism, are tackling the issue head-on.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/11/wsaud11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/11/ixworld.html

that we can't reform them. We must fight there so we don't fight them there, they are evildoers who hate us for our freedom :sarcasm:

Seriously, though, this is a novel concept (at least to government way of thinking) the US should adopt. Got problems, start a real dialog instead of just bombing the bejebus out of them.

It's called Wahhabism, and it originated in Arabia in the 18th century. Go read about some of the massacres committed by Wahhabis against their fellow Muslims, back when they could get away with it.

Better late than never, I guess. The Saudis have spent many decades and billions of dollars exporting exactly the ideology adopted by the Taliban, Al-Queda, the Muslim Brotherhood and others of that ilk. And now they want to put on the brakes, eh?

"Muslim fanatics in Afghanistan and Iraq?" That's playing right to the Average Dumbass American, who actually might have heard of those 2 countries in the past 4 years or so.

But they should talk about the "fanatics" they sent to Bosnia and the former Soviet Islamic republics...the "Muslim warriors" who were so extreme, even the people they were trying to help booted their asses out of the country and told them not to come back.

One minor example: in Bosnia, these Saudi-financed fanatics came loaded with money to "rebuild the mosques damaged in the war." But the mosques in Yugoslavia were influenced by their Orthodox neighbors and by the styles of the old Ottoman Empire. They were beautifully decorated, some with frescoes hundreds of years old.

That sort of thing is offensive to Wahhabi Muslims, who consider it "idolatry." So they totally destroyed the art in those mosques, sometimes by PLASTERING OVER the frescoes! Just like the Taliban did to the ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan.

Well, I do appreciate humor, even when it's unintentional...

(For a great history of Wahhabism, check out the book "Hatred's Kingdom" by Dore Gold.)

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The Saudis have taken a courageous step in confronting this issue in such a direct and positive manner. I hope it has the hoped-for effects on the average Saudi. Any effort to encourage and support Islamic moderates should be applauded.