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Page added on September 11, 2014
Islamic State’s Ultimate Goal: Saudi Arabia’s Oil Wells
For the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, Syria and Iraq were a good place to start their campaign, but in order to survive and prosper it knew from the outset that it had no choice but to set its sights on the ultimate prize: the oil fields of Saudi Arabia.
It is in that direction that the battle for control of the world’s largest oil fields is currently heading.
Islamic State — which has its origins in al-Qaeda – knows fully well that in order to sustain itself as a viable and lasting religious, political, economic and military entity in the region, it has to follow the same objectives established by al-Qaeda when Osama bin Laden broke off his relations with the Saudi monarchy and vowed to bring down the
House of Saud.
Bin Laden’s ire at the Saudi monarchy stemmed from the fact that Saudi King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud invited the American military to use Saudi Arabia as a staging area to build up forces to take on the then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein after Iraqi troops occupied Kuwait in August of 1990. Bin Laden objected to the presence of “infidels” in the land of the two holy mosques, and asked the king to allow his outfit to tackle Saddam Hussein’s troops.
Similarly, IS knows that it will only feel secure once Saudi Arabia is part of the Caliphate, and its oil fields are under IS control — which is why the group has two logical next steps.
First, to capture and secure the most important country in the Muslim world: Saudi Arabia.
If the battle for Syria and Iraq attracted tens of hundreds, (some say tens of thousands) of young Muslims, the battle for control of Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, are very likely to attract many more fighters into the ranks of the Islamic State.
And second, to take on the United States — the one remaining superpower that could stop its march on the oilfields of Saudi Arabia, and ultimately the rest of the Gulf.
After much hesitation, it now appears that the Obama administration has come around to realizing the true danger posed by IS. Washington, along with some of its NATO allies, is now formulating a plan to defeat IS.
However, it may be wise to point out that Washington’s track record in dealing with
Middle East problems has not been something to crow about. As a point of reference, one need only mention Iraq and Afghanistan — both prime examples of how not to do things.
Even if the U.S. can defeat IS militarily, any victory would only be temporary since eventually, U.S. troops will pull out and the remnants of IS would emerge from their respective hiding places, as they did after Saddam Hussein’s capture and death. Indeed, a U.S. intervention — through its massive air campaign — will foment even greater animosity toward the West in general, and the United States, in particular. It’s all deja vu.
The one power that can effectively move against IS in a manner that would appear legitimate to other Muslims is Saudi Arabia, as Nawaf Obaid, a fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Saud al-Sarhan, research director at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies pointed out in a joint opinion piece published Sept. 9 in the New York Times.
The authors dispute the widely believed notion that Saudi Arabia created IS and is funding it. “Saudi Arabia is not the source of ISIS — it’s the group’s primary target,” they write.
As Obaid and al-Sarhan put it, “The Saudi leadership has a unique form of religious credibility and legitimacy, which will make it far more effective than other governments at delegitimizing ISIS’s monstrous terrorist ideology.”
What makes IS powerful today is the fact that they laid out their military strategy based on where oil fields are located. The fact that they went after northeast Syria and northern Iraq is not coincidental by any means. Islamic State may be ruthless and brutal, but it is first and foremost a terrorist organization with an astute business plan.
The capture of oil wells in Syria and Iraq has made the group financially self-sufficient. Now it’s all or nothing.
By Claude Salhani of Oilprice.com
16 Comments on "Islamic State’s Ultimate Goal: Saudi Arabia’s Oil Wells"
louis wu on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 10:57 am
Then why isn’t Saudi Arabia doing something about this group right now?They have plenty of fighter jets and other advanced weaponry.The US knows that for a fact because we sold it to them and trained them in how to use it.So use it and stop waiting for and depending on the US.
penury on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 11:26 am
Perhaps some sober reflection by the thinkers in D.C. is indicated. I recommend Joel C. Harris as a text book. Think about the ‘Tar Baby” and the “Briar Patch” and consider the U.S. military involvement in the ME. I understand that the Death by a Thousand Cuts is an outdated philosophy and our military is invincible and all Americans are exceptional but just maybe this should not be our fight, and taking sides in religious wars is not successful method of winning friends. SA is financing ISIS, the CIA trained ISIS. the U.S. thru Syria equipped ISIS. If ISIS were a real threat to SA how long do you think it would take “boots on the ground” to get from Bahrain to SA?
Kenz300 on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 11:57 am
It is time for countries in the Middle East to go after the terrorists. We can not do it for them.
The old saying ” you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink” still applies……..
Religious extremists have been supported by these countries for decades. It is now coming back to haunt them.
Iraq had a chance to establish an inclusive government. They chose not to…… and now this is what they get. Their decisions have consequences.
Dave Thompson on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 12:34 pm
Who controls the oil, is and will be all any of this is about.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 12:53 pm
Dave T — That’s right. American military in the ME countries has nothing at all to do with religion, with what is right or what is wrong, or with anything else other than OIL. Oil is the ONLY reason we are there. When there is no more (affordably extractable) oil in the ME countries, they will revert back to their pre-oil discovery status of 99% barren desert populated by cutthroat bands of nomadic tribes and their camels.
peakyeast on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 4:38 pm
I do not believe for one second that IS will get anywhere close to Saudi Oil wells.
Before that happens the sky will fall on them with advanced weaponry.
Which is I suppose is the same as saying Allah is great, but the U.S. weaponry is greater.
bobinget on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 7:06 pm
Not once will we hear (Iraqi) “oil” specified as ‘in our national interest”. Yet, this is exactly why Obama is stepping up
the heat on ISIL.
Not time, listen carefully and see if I’m mistaken.
Kristen on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 7:11 pm
Satire at best. IS is guilty of sabotaging several of holy sites cherished by Muslims. The world and Muslims will not sit back and watch Mecca burn.
The Chinese are very invested in Mecca and Riyadh supplies 20 percent of Beijing’s oil. Any confrontation against The Sauds would force Beijing to make some hard decisions, including declaring war. The Americans and the British would intervene as well.
Davy on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 7:48 pm
Maybe we will quit kidding ourselves and admit it is about oil because it is about oil. Liquid fuel and food shortages are extremely dangerous for the global system at this point. No player can avoid the downsides of collapse in an interconnected global world of delocalized locals in a codependency with this unstable global system. Let’s wake up and grow up. All those nice politically correct policies are artifacts of the golden age of growth. A new darker reality is quickly taking its place. That reality is called survival.
Welch on Thu, 11th Sep 2014 10:32 pm
More war in the middle east. Yawn.
Solarity on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 12:14 am
“Washington’s track record in dealing with Middle East problems is not something to crow about.” Everyone knows its not Washington’s failure, it’s Obama’s. After the November election maybe a new Charlie Wilson will step into the leadership void.
Davy on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 5:24 am
Solar said – Washington’s track record in dealing with Middle East problems
Solar, this observation is not sticking up for the DC/Wall Street Mafia or Obama both of whom I hold in very low regards. My observation is who has ever and I mean ever had a track record in the ME since the Ottomans. The Ottomans at least were Muslim and united the region. The DC/Wall Street mafia is right in wasting time there. They have always been right for going where the oil is. That is where survival is especially and never more so than now. The reason I hold these Mafioso in low regard is the hypocrisy. They are right to go after the oil they are wrong to try to dress up that naked aggression as democracy, nation building, and or human rights. I respect people who tell me how it is. I like straight shooters. Our Missouri motto is “Show me” don’t try to tell me, brag, or do a fake strut. The Mafioso are truly parasitic hypocrites but they are not wrong going after the oil. In reality no amount of money is too much to spend at the moment perusing oil. Is it right? No, but BAU survival is about food and liquid fuels. Since we do not have a significant plan B I am OK with this for a short time. The hypocrisy and lies will end with the end of BAU globalism which the more I research the more I figure is within 5 years. At least the beginning of the end has started so I can tell myself this unholy life we live in BAU is soon to reset to something more in line with reality and following historic human standards in relation to the ecosystem and human relations. What we have today is a hyper unholy mechanization of corruption, manipulation, power concentration, wealth transfer, lies, and finally inhuman treatment of our environment. This must end and we deserve something painful and ugly for our transgressions as a species.
Inang on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 8:21 am
Actually, this goes all the way back to the US 9/11 GENOCIDE, when Mossad infiltrated al-Qaeda, at the highest rank levels! Israel and its Western-Zionist allies who have conquered the CIA-MI6-NATO-German Intelligence, want to conquer the $TRILLION oil-gas-rich ‘Levant’ (that also include Iraq and Libya)/Levant Basin Province-Leviathan gas field /that include Egypt Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Greece and Cyprus), now by creating ISIS/ISIL (Snowden revealed how Mossad created these ‘Islamic’ terror groups) see http://counterpsyops.com/2012/12/02/oil-and-gas-find-offshore-syria-motive-for-us-israeli-mercenary-uprising-and-bloodshed-in-syria/, Oil and Gas find offshore Syria motive for US Israeli mercenary uprising and bloodshed in Syria, Source: PressCore ( August 21st 2012 ), Dec 2 2012; at – http://www.voltairenet.org/article173018.html , THE NEW MEDITERRANEAN OIL AND GAS BONANZA – PART 2: Rising energy tensions in the Aegean Sea, by F. William Engdahl, 6 March 2012; and at – http://revolution-news.com/bombing-oil-gaza-israel-levant-basin/, Bombing for Oil: Gaza, Israel and the Levant Basin, 07/22/2014!
Look at what happen to the Navy Seals who killed Osama – see http://topinfopost.com/2013/06…, Over 20 SEALs Who “Killed Osama Bin Laden” Now Dead, By DNA , June 21, 2013.
And see how Mossad/Israel is involved in 9/11 – at http://www.thetruthseeker.co.u…, 9/11 and Zion: What Was Israel’s Role?, By Nick Kollerstrom on August 31, 2012, Nick Kollerstrom (with Jim Fetzer) – Veterans Today August 22, 2012:
A nation can survive its fools, and even the
ambitious, but it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is
less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the
traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling
through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. – Marcus
Cicero, to the Roman Senate, 42 BC.
One may feel shocked by this title. Zionists have such
a grip upon “The Guilt Industry”, virtually a monopoly, politically speaking.
Was 9/11 an inside job? America was in some degree seeded with the perpetration
of this event, from outside, and various echelons of its security services and
military then responded by co-operating and then weaving a Muslims-did-it
story. That is the hypothesis we will here examine. So when Netanyahu said the
very next day, ‘This is very good for Israel”, he wasn’t just blurting out
something indiscreet, he was publicly congratulating the various agents who had
worked so hard….. (Read further).
Bob Owens on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 6:31 pm
It’s time to tackle the real problem: oil and how to get off it. Once we start doing that for real all the ME oil powers will shrink back into the desert they came from, killing each other along the way. Then we can get back to trying to be decent and civilized to each other. How about it, America?
Davy on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 6:38 pm
Bob sounds great but to achieve that we need a contraction equal to a great depression to change attitudes and lifestyles. This will leave people cold, hungry and without jobs. Unless you have an alternative plan to get there? I am all ears. We are heading there soon anyway. Why not live like a king for 3-5 more years than most of us can go back to being peasants, surfs, and or slaves
Bob Owens on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 7:18 pm
If we had spent the Iraq, Afghanistan war money on solar, wind, efficiency, etc, we would be off oil by now. Starting today things would be tougher but we have to start. A small air interdiction against ISIS and getting moving on solar would start getting us down the road. From now on things will not be easy no matter what we do but we need to start. A Depression is not necessary. A clear resolve with Adult attitudes can get us there.