Friday, February 02, 2018

Send Money, Guns, and Lawyers

The Saudi government's "anti-corruption" drive has netted over $100 billion in assets from the accused. If this defunds pro-jihadi efforts, this might be important in the long run.

That's a lot of money:

Saudi Arabia's government has arranged to seize more than $100 billion through financial settlements with businessmen and officials detained in its crackdown on corruption, the attorney general said on Tuesday.

Sure, it is useful for the government to have that cash to diversify the economy away from oil. But in the long run, Saudi Arabia needs to move away from being a jihadi recruiting center sitting on a sea of oil.

If this guts resistance by wealthy Saudi Islamists to Salman's efforts to reform Islam and move away from the jihadi-friendly environment that Saudi Arabia is, this is good.

If it just gave the Saudi Islamists notice that they need to kill Salman to preserve their wealth and jihadi inclinations, it is bad.

It's a dangerous path Salman has started down. The entire world should wish him well.