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Tags: Saudi Arabia | ISIS | Nawaf Obaid | Saud al-Sarhan

Experts: Saudi Arabia Has Power to Demolish ISIS

By    |   Tuesday, 09 September 2014 09:24 AM EDT

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the Middle East with the power and authority to demolish the Islamic State (ISIS), say two experts writing in The New York Times.

In an opinion piece published Tuesday, Nawaf Obaid, a fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Saud al-Sarhan, research director at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, say that while ISIS is intent on conquering the country due to its riches and significance for Islam, the country's track record in fighting terrorism, along with its religious credibility, suggest it has the power to prevail over the terrorist group.

"Saudi Arabia is the only authority in the region with the power and legitimacy to bring ISIS down. Having effectively eradicated al-Qaida in the kingdom, the Saudi government, with its experience fighting terrorism, is uniquely positioned to deal with ISIS, which is, after all, an al Qaida-aligned organization," the experts wrote.

They added that the kingdom's counterterrorism program is considered among the most sophisticated and effective in the world.

Obaid and al-Sarhan also said it would be incorrect to assume that the United States is the only force that can stop ISIS. They note that the Saudi government has been aggressively combating the group by putting it on its list of terrorist sponsors, making it a crime to fund ISIS and arresting ISIS supporters and operatives over the past several months.

"The Saudi leadership has a unique form of religious credibility and legitimacy, which will make it far more effective than other governments at delegitimizing ISIS's monstrous terrorist ideology," they said.

They concluded by calling on the international community to support Saudi efforts to combat the militant group.

"We call on the international community to form a solid coalition with Saudi Arabia to roll back ISIS's military advances while at the same time supporting the kingdom's ever increasing campaign to delegitimize ISIS in the eyes of the wider Sunni world, in order to ultimately destroy it."

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Saudi Arabia is the only country in the Middle East with the power and authority to demolish the Islamic State, say two experts writing in The New York Times.
Saudi Arabia, ISIS, Nawaf Obaid, Saud al-Sarhan
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2014-24-09
Tuesday, 09 September 2014 09:24 AM
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