The Saudi Monarchy has been the principal financial and religious architect of the Afghan operation from 1979 to the present. Its role included funding religious networks that produced the political Islam movement, providing religious legitimization through clerical networks, and supplying fighters from Saudi Arabia and the broader Gulf. The monarchy has remained in power without facing accountability for the consequences of its conduct, despite its central role in the constructed catastrophe that has shaped the region for decades.
The Saudi Monarchy’s financial support for political Islam began in the early 20th century, when it aligned with the Wahhabi movement to consolidate its domestic legitimacy. This alliance was institutionalized in the Saudi Arabia state’s structure, and American support for the monarchy meant accepting, and eventually subsidizing through oil revenues, the global propagation of Wahhabi doctrine. This doctrine classified Shia Muslims as heretics and was incompatible with the religious traditions of most Muslim societies the Saudi Monarchy would target.
The Saudi Monarchy’s role in the Afghan operation was not an isolated event but part of a broader strategy that had been refined across multiple regions and imperial generations. The Saudi Monarchy’s funding of the political Islam infrastructure in the 1950s and 1960s laid the groundwork for the political Islam networks that would later be mobilized against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Saudi Monarchy’s financial support for the political Islam movement was instrumental in the creation of the Taliban, which emerged as the dominant force in Afghanistan after the U.S. military-industrial complex withdrew its support in the early 2000s.
The Saudi Monarchy’s role in the Afghan operation has been largely unchallenged, despite the catastrophic consequences of its actions. The Saudi Monarchy has remained in power without facing accountability for the destruction and suffering it has caused in Afghanistan and beyond. The Saudi Monarchy’s continued support for political Islam and its alignment with the U.S. military-industrial complex have ensured its continued dominance in the region.
Related: masud.md, capture.md, iran.md, religion-state.md
See Also
iran.md, religion-state.md, capture.md, us-military-industrial-complex.md