Ending Financial Havens for Islamic State (Debating)

[Simfan34]

Can I ask how we can stop the flow of monies being raised in "allied" nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

And more broadly, the support given by those nations- by which I mean their governments- and also that of Turkey (which is not entirely established) to Islamist groups in the Middle East? What, if anything can be done about that?

I will say the largest driver of this "Islamist terror" we have seen in recently has been the flow of oil monies, ever since the 1970s, towards supporting the spread of radical Wahabi/Salafi Islam across the world. It is estimated that the Saudi Arabian government alone has spent $100 billion in spreading this intolerant ideology throughout the world. It is frightening how closely, and how often, one can trace this "Islamist terror" back to the support given to Salafi movements back to the Gulf and those two countries in particular.

If we want there to be peace and democracy in the Middle East , we will have to accept that many people sincerely desire some form of political Islam. But there is no inherent reason that must entail intolerance and radicalism rather than an Islamic Democracy, as we in the west have had our Christian Democracy.

We can stop the spread of this radicalism, because it is our "allies" in the Gulf who have been spreading it. And if we are to take more drastic action, we are becoming less and less dependent on Gulf oil by the day. And those nations- by which I mean Russia and China- who we typically find frustrating our efforts in the realm of foreign policy have experienced the effects of this Salafi radicalism first hand and would almost certainly support stopping it.

[Simfan34]

We looked in horror as ISIS smashed shrines and razed mosques and churches. As we did when Ansar Dine burnt ancient mosques and libraries in Timbuktu. And as we did when the Taliban dynamited the Bhuddas of Bamiyan.

Where do you think they got this from? Saudi Arabia has been destroying sacred Islamic sites since the 18th century. They razed the tomb of the mother and father of the Prophet Mohammed. The Grand Mufti of the country has even proposed destroying the tomb of the Prophet himself.