I used John’s spelling in the title, which is no doubt correct. The variety of english translations of the Arabic wrecks havoc with Google queries – we need that "semantic web" soon!
If John sees this post, a question: did the Saudis in fact request/demand that the US remove the troops policing the Iraqi no-fly zones in April, May 2003 (as asserted by Stratfor)?
Dear reader, hopefully you will digest more than the Terrorism section of Crossroads Arabia. As motivation, here is an excerpt on bin Laden that I found revealing:
No matter the accommodations made to take into account cultural sensitivities, bin Laden saw the mere presence of non-Muslim forces on the ground as an affront to Islam. He interpreted their presence as an assault on the sacred lands that could be rectified only by their removal. In the end, even that was not enough, however.
In 2003, following the end of major military operations in Iraq, the US and Saudi Arabia mutually agreed that the international forces which supported Operations Southern Watch were no longer necessary. Operation Southern Watch was set up to interdict Iraqi aircraft movements in soutshern Iraq, where Saddam Hussein’s army and air force had been visiting devastating damage to the Shi’a majority. Once Hussein was removed, the threat no longer existed. Thus, the need for alliance planes to be based in Saudi Arabia no longer existed. The end of the operation was announced on April 30, 2003. Similarly, Operation Northern Watch, which served a similar protective mission over northern Iraq, was concluded on May 2, 2003.
The end of US military presence in Saudi Arabia, however, did not satisfy bin Laden’s goal. Clearly, while used as a rallying cry, it was not his real goal.
Bin Laden’s arguments against the presence of "infidels" in the holy lands are also factually challenged. The country of Saudi Arabia did not exist until 1932. Previously, there was the brief "Kingdom of the Hijaz and of the Nejd and its Dependencies"; earlier than that, separate kingdoms/sheikhdoms for each of the many regions that comprised "Arabia". So what constitutes the "land of the two holy places"? An argument can be made that the "holy places" are exclusively Mecca and Medina, two holy cities from which non-Muslims are prohibited. But the city of Jeddah, for instance, has always had non-Muslim residents, as have various cities along the coast of the Eastern Province. No "infidels" have occupied Mecca or Medina.
Equally, bin Laden’s call for resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian dispute is a late addition to his list of causes. Likewise, his concern for Iraq.
Bin Laden’s true cause seems to be eschatological: the rebirth of the Islamic Caliphate, the return of Spain to the Islamic fold, and the universal ascendency of Islam.
Undeniably, the message of Usama bin Laden is attractive to many Saudis. It accords, generally, with their fundamentalist view of the world. His interpretation of Islam, however, goes beyond fundamentalism, beyond Wahhabism/Salafism, into a real of heresy that is unacceptable. It has taken some time for the Saudi ulema to realize that, but it appears that finally they have.
“Osama” or “Usama”, it doesn’t really make much difference in comprehension, the real point in communications. The US gov’t uses “Usama” and “UBL”, and that’s what I’m used to writing. But since the Arabic letter “ain” doesn’t exist in the Roman alphabet, they’re both approximations. I don’t think it makes a difference… unless your name happens to be O/Usama!
The Saudis did not ask the US to remove forces–American or coalition–from Saudi Arabia. The USG was well aware that UBL was making hay with the allegations and that it would remove pressure, both from the KSA and the USA, for those troops to be gone. The Saudis didn’t need to ask. The removal had been planned several years in advance, particularly with new facilities being built in Qatar that would serve as the foreward HQ for CENTCOM. As soon as the need for Southern Watch expired, the USG took the initiative and, in consulting with the Saudis, picked the time to withdraw the forces. It doesn’t get written about much, but exactly the same thing was happening for Northern Watch, though with the slight difference that the Adana airbase continued to welcome US planes. Adana is a Turkish base that houses NATO forces. It did so before, during, and after Northern Watch.