Saudi Arabia has long supported Islamic conservative groups. Yet the Saudis came out against the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt this year and against al Qaeda two decades ago. Yet the Saudis have no problem supporting Islamic radicals in Syria, including some who belong to al Qaeda.
What is going on here? It’s simple. The Saud family has always supported Islamic radicals, but only those who agreed that the Saud family should be in charge (of Saudi Arabia and as a leader of the Islamic world). Islamic radicals that changed their minds about this arrangement were crushed.
Thus the Saudis supported al Qaeda until al Qaeda decided that the Sauds were not Islamic enough to be in charge. That led to a dispute in the 1990s that escalated in 2003 and, so far, the Sauds are winning.







