Homegrown Jihadists

Because Abu Ali pursued religious studies in Saudi Arabia - after graduating as valedictorian from the Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia - his case has not been considered one of homegrown terrorism. Yet the seeds of his poisonous beliefs were likely sown in the U.S., not overseas. Found in the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., just miles from the Saudi Academy, was the following: "To be dissociated from the infidels is to hate them for their religion, to leave them, never to rely on them for support, not to admire them, to be on one's guard against them, never to imitate them and always to oppose them in every way according to Islamic law." If Saudi vitriol is allowed to fester or even spread, how many more Abu Alis will there be?

Since 9/11, the Saudi embassy has been staging a lavish public-relations campaign directed at American audiences. (The December 12, 2005, edition of The New Republic, for example, contains seven full pages of Saudi advertising.) But if it wants to score points with the West, why isn't the House of Saud in full-throated protest against the Tehran madman? Why the insistence that Saudi condemnations be unofficial and "off the record"?

The Saudis are coy for a reason. An open and unequivocal condemnation of Ahmadinejad's outbursts by the Saudis would make them look like hypocrites to home audiences. As is well known, what the Saudis say in English differs greatly from their statements in Arabic. Wiping Israel off the map is exactly what Saudi authorities have been avowing for years to Arabic-speaking audiences. Saudi publications collected from American mosques that were translated from Arabic this year by Freedom House are replete with such statements.