December 22, 2014
MEMRI Special Dispatch No.5911
Conspiracy Theories In Saudi Government Press: The U.S. Established ISIS To
Further Its Own Aims In The Region
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8344.htm

Against the backdrop of the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) and the spread
of its forces in Iraq and Syria, the Saudi media has published a number of
articles presenting conspiracy theories, including that the U.S. created
ISIS in order to harm Sunni Muslims and plunder their resources; to assure
the continued flow of oil from Iraq and the Gulf to the U.S. and Europe, in
light of Iran's threats to disrupt it; to spread chaos and division in the
Arab world; to shift the arena of the international fight against terrorism
from the U.S. to Iraq; and to redraw the map of the region in a way that
will serve the interests of the U.S. and will facilitate its control of it.

Also published were articles rejecting these conspiracy theories, claiming
that such theories are part of psychological operations by various
intelligence apparatuses, and that the extremist ideologies disseminated
within Saudi Arabia are what gave rise to ISIS.

The following are translated excerpts from a number of these articles in the
Saudi press:

Saudi Columnist: ISIS Fighters Are Mercenaries Of The U.S. Who Serve U.S.
Aims

Ibrahim Ma'touq 'Assas, columnist for the Saudi government daily Al-Madina,
wrote that the U.S. had created ISIS to further its own interests, which he
said was why the group was so strong militarily that even powerful countries
were having a hard time fighting it:

"After long years in which the world was perturbed by the so-called
Al-Qaeda, which former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton said was a
product of the U.S.,[1] the day has come in which the world, and
particularly the Arab region, are perturbed by the so-called ISIS and its
offshoots. Everyone is talking about it. Military miracles are attributed to
it, and people are claiming that it is taking over regions one after the
other, conquering cities, besieging capitals, taking prisoners, killing, and
destroying everything. It and what its members are doing are reported on in
the [media] channels... Can it be that hundreds, even thousands, of
fighters, coming together from every corner of the earth – or intentionally
brought together in intelligence operations – are capable, with the simple
and limited military knowhow that they possess, if any, of attaining the
military achievements attributed to them – [achievements] that even
countries with plenty of aircraft, tanks, and deadly weapons cannot manage?!

"People are [trying to] persuade the world that ISIS has done all this: it
is fighting Syria, racking up triumphs, occupying cities, slaughtering and
skinning [people], and entering Iraq and taking 70% of its territory within
a week. All the operations linked to ISIS are attributed to Islam, which is
innocent of all [these] inhuman crimes and acts. What is most amazing is
that the battles of ISIS are pitched against other Islamic groups and are
fought in Arab Islamic countries. What kind of naive idiot would believe
that these are Islamic groups, not pawns created by the international
intelligence [apparatuses], in which regional intelligence organizations
might [even] be participating?

"...It makes no sense [that these deeds attributed to ISIS and its ilk]
would be carried out by any Muslim who knows the least of his duties towards
a soul that Allah has forbidden him to kill [that is, another Muslim]. This
means that we are facing mercenaries who are playing a specific destructive
role for the enemies of the ummah. The wise men of this ummah must
understand the plots that are being formed against it and take steps to
protect the achievements of our countries – much as [Saudi] King Abdallah
bin 'Abd Al-Aziz did, when the [real] aims of the Arab Spring were exposed
and the destruction was realized.

"With regard to ISIS-shmisis, we must not rule out the possibility that the
day will come when an American official will declare that [the U.S.] created
ISIS so that it could carry out [every possible] loathsome deed, and that
this was done in order to preserve U.S. interests and thus protect the lives
of its soldiers and sacrifice other peoples. These stupid movies bearing the
names of ISIS and other [organizations] will never end. Actually, the role
of one [organization] will end, and new ISIS organizations will be secretly
established that will be called by names that would never occur to any
Muslim..."[2]

Article On Saudi Website: U.S. Created ISIS To Harm Sunnis And Ensure Flow
Of Oil To The West

In his column on the liberal Saudi website elaph.com, Iraqi journalist Jawad
Ghaloum claimed that the U.S. had created ISIS in order to harm Sunni
Muslims and to divide the region, so as to allow it to be easily controlled
and ensure the flow of oil from Iraq and the Gulf states to it and Europe,
in light of Iranian threats to disrupt it:

"ISIS is a clearly an inimitable American product, like the fantastical
movies... that Hollywood creates in its studios. Anyone who believes that
ISIS was created by the Gulf states and is funded by massive petrodollar
capital is sorely mistaken, since the [countries in the region, both] near
and far, could not invent such an amazing and truly impressive pawn, [which
was created] with imagination that surpasses all logic and illogic.

"... ISIS is no beggar, and needs no Gulf petrodollar support. It has a much
greater fortune: the treasures of the U.S. and its Hollywood imagination,
[with which] it motivates a gaggle of fighters and gathers them from all
over to play on the strings of the 'Sunni region.' [ISIS] is exploiting
marginalized, unwanted people from what is left of the Ba'th [party], people
who have been struck blind and lost their judgment, and foreigners who
arrived en masse from around the world, to take the first step towards
dividing [the region]. [This will] begin in Iraq, which will be divided into
three parts to facilitate controlling it and to impose plans for division
and dismantling there, so as to create a new Middle East in line with Yankee
wishes.

"Today, the U.S. seeks to ensure the continued existence of the strategic
oil reserves in Iraq and the Gulf. [The U.S.] will stop at nothing, even
using ISIS methods, to realize its aspiration of sucking every last drop [of
oil] from this massive reserve. And who [if not ISIS] can promise the U.S.
that it will get what it wants when faced with the Iranian rhinoceros, which
has awakened and begun to produce non-conventional weapons, with its nuclear
reactors that terrify the U.S. and EU? Because [Iran] could one day rise,
tie [a rope] around the U.S.'s neck and strangle it, tightening the noose
around it in the Strait of Hormuz."[3]

Saudi Writer: ISIS's Creation Aimed At Shifting International Terror Threat
From U.S. To Iraq

Saudi writer Hamdi Bashir wrote in the official Saudi daily Al-Madina that
the U.S. established ISIS in order to transform Iraq into a hotbed of
terrorist activity, thus shifting the security threat from U.S. soil to
Iraq. He also claimed that the U.S. is using terrorism to destabilize the
region and re-divide it in order to ensure that the U.S.'s regional allies
maintain control:

"Many analysts in the West and East [the Arab world] do not disagree that
terrorism was clearly created by the U.S. In truth, it is part of the
tactics of the intelligence apparatuses and national security mechanisms
meant to indirectly harm rivals, destabilize [the region], carry out plots
to overthrow [existing] regimes, divvy up countries to redraw the regional
map in a way that ensures the hegemony of their regional allies, eliminate
any rising regional force, impose a certain political agenda, or influence
the position of the country under attack.

"When the U.S. was in Iraq, Washington enabled [ISIS] to grow, to the point
where Iraq became a central breeding ground for the rise of these extremist
groups, especially after the U.S. military withdrew. This prepared the Iraqi
arena, and the region, for a war against terrorism – thus exporting the
U.S.'s security crisis of global terrorism outside of its own soil..."[4]

Saudi Journalist: Even If ISIS Is A Foreign Plot, Fighting It Is Up To Us

In his column in the official Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, prominent Saudi
journalist 'Abdallah bin Bakhit downplayed the claim that ISIS was the
result of a plot by the U.S., Zionism, Iran, or any other foreign element,
and stressed that even if this were true, Saudis still had a responsibility
to combat it. He criticized the extremist content in the educational
curricula and the media in the kingdom, which he said prepares the ground
for the absorption of ISIS's message and ideology by young people:

"What do we stand to gain by blaming the West, Zionism, the Freemasons, or
the Templars for the rise of ISIS? Even if we are certain that ISIS is a
Western plot, does that absolve us of responsibility? Even if we discover
that our problems are the result of an America, Zionist, or Safavid
[Iranian] plot, their solution will still be our responsibility, no one
else's...

"Some people say that the U.S. created Al-Baghdadi and several [global
jihad] commanders. Others say that Iran created them, and still others say
it was the Bashar Al-Assad government. In any event, what concerns us is not
Al-Baghdadi, since he and the other ISIS leaders are beyond our grasp, and
we can merely curse them, condemn them, and express our hatred of them.

"Al-Baghdadi has succeeded in establishing a force of strong, dedicated
fighters. He didn't create them, they are not his sons, they are not his
tribesmen, and they are neither Zionists nor liberals. [So] who are they?
And Al-Baghdadi does not have widespread apparatuses that can reach into
schools, universities, and Koran memorization schools in order to influence
people and lure them into fighting with him. Al-Baghdadi is not an historic
leader, nor does he have an [illustrious] past in which the ummah can take
pride and that has an impact on young people. He emerged suddenly out of
nowhere. [But even] if we can't control Al-Baghdadi and the CIA, we can
control these soldiers that Al-Baghdadi attracts and lures into working with
him.

"Who created them, trained them, placed them in [Al-Baghdadi's] path as easy
prey, and enabled the U.S. and Zionism to exploit them?... Who is it that
emotionally and culturally prepared them to not only welcome [Al-Baghdadi's]
invitation [to fight], but to also be willing to easily lay down their lives
for him? This is the aspect that concerns us. The plot is the conditions
taken advantage of by the conspirator in order to enter our [territory]. Who
is preaching sectarian content [to our young people]? Are the sectarian
[television] channels that are being revived in our surroundings and in our
lands – and I am referring only to Saudi Arabia – funded by the American,
Zionist, or Safavid conspirator, or by a bank that charges interest? Is the
director [of those channels] American? Is the program host a Zionist or a
liberal?

"Who is running this tactical mechanism from within Saudi Arabia? Is it
Al-Baghdadi, the CIA, Zionism, or liberal journalists? If we answer this
honestly – and we all know the answer – then the plot will cease to exist,
and the efforts of the Americans and Zionists will fail."[5]

Former Iraqi Ambassador To U.S.: The Claim That The U.S. Established ISIS Is
Patently False

Writing in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, former Iraqi Ambassador to
the U.S. Samir Al-Sumaidaie dismissed the theory that ISIS was established
by the U.S., saying that his own research showed that the claim that former
secretary of state Clinton had acknowledged that the U.S. was behind ISIS
was false, and speculated that the claim was part of psychological warfare
on the part of various intelligence apparatuses:

"In the torrent of [my] email messages, I received one titled '[Hillary]
Clinton: We Established ISIS'... I read a few lines, which said: 'In her
book Hard Choices, former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton dropped a
significant bomb by acknowledging that the American administration had
established the criminal gangs of ISIS in order to divide up the Middle East
region.'

"At that time, I did not finish reading the message, because it stank of
fabrication, and I deleted it. As Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S., I maintained
ties with Hillary Clinton from her time in the Senate and through her term
as secretary of state, and I attended many meetings on matters having to do
with Iraq. At that time, I worked not only with state department officials,
but with other important people and institutions, such as the national
security advisor, the White House, the Pentagon, etc.

"I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if such statements had appeared in
Clinton's book, they would have sparked chaos in the U.S. long before doing
so in Iraq. [This is] because the press here [in the U.S.] is usually
informed about politicians' books even before readers are. It eagerly seeks
out sensational stories – and could anything be more sensational than [the
claim] that the U.S. established a terrorist organization like ISIS?
However, just to be sure, I went to the nearest book store, purchased Hard
Choices, and took it [home] to read it and remove any shadow of doubt.

"I read the sections of the book concerning Egypt, Iraq, Syria, The Muslim
Brotherhood, and the Arab Spring, and found nothing that had even the most
tenuous connection to that [email] message. I discovered that it was a pure
lie without a shred of truth.

"The obvious question is: Who is behind this phenomenon of fabricating news
stories? We know that the intelligence apparatuses of several countries have
departments specializing in media deception and spreading rumors – so called
'disinformation.' This is because today's wars and conflicts are waged not
just with military weapons, but also with information and lies, and because
psychological warfare is an important aspect of traditional warfare. Those
who 'produce' these lies are professionals who are well aware that some
people will expose them as lies, but they pay them no mind. They rely on the
fact that [the lies] are spread in part, and accepted, by some people, who
might be very numerous – especially if [the lies] are in line with their
ideology – and gradually will become undisputed facts, as far as they are
concerned."[6]

Saudi Columnist: We, Not The U.S., Created ISIS

Similarly, London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Amal 'Abd
Al-'Aziz Al-Hazzani claimed that Saudi Arabia, and not the U.S., had created
ISIS, and added that the organization is deeply rooted in Saudi culture and
heritage. She wrote:

"Some claim that ISIS is an American product. This is a claim that eases the
conscience. It is [indeed] good that we have a wall to hide behind in order
to conceal our shameful ideology.

"But the problem is that ISIS is not Coca-Cola, a hamburger, or a car. [Its]
ideas and behavior are raw materials that are locally grown, and are hard to
produce outside their [natural] environment. Every day since the ISIS forces
appeared in Mosul last summer, evidence has been piling up to support the
fact that the roots of this terrorist organization, which we see far away in
Iraq and Syria, are deep and widespread in our own culture and heritage –
that is, it was not created out of thin air...

"There is no point in developing theories regarding its terrorism and risks,
when among [our own] decision-makers and legislators in official bodies
there those who lean towards zealotry and extremism. [Therefore,] it is
shameful to proceed to accuse the U.S. of creating ISIS. It is we who
created ISIS, and if the West has used it against us, as they claim, then it
is our own goods that are being sent back to us."[7]


Endnotes:


[1] Since August 2014, there have been reports in the Arab media that in her
book Hard Choices Clinton acknowledged that the U.S. had created ISIS in
order to divide the Middle East. See for example Al-iraqnews.net/new, August
6, 2014, and Eremnews.com, August 7, 2014.


[2] Al-Madina(Saudi Arabia), June 29, 2014.


[3] Elaph.com, June 28, 2014.


[4] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), September 8, 2014.


[5] Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), November 5, 2014.


[6] Al-Hayat (London), August 13, 2014.


[7] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), November 25, 2014.


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