Opinions do differ on several issues, such as the war in Iraq, the Palestine-Israel conflict, and the crisis in Lebanon, but varying viewpoints exist in every relationship. The key to understanding one another is being open and sincere when expressing ourselves because our ultimate objectives are one and the same. When Saudi Arabia opposed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, it was open and straightforward in expressing its views. But once the invasion began, we knew it was our duty to support the Iraqi people as they made their transition. Since then, we have provided humanitarian assistance in the form of mobile hospitals, medicine, and food, as well as a commitment of more than US$1 billion dollars in financial assistance in the form of loans and export guarantees. The Kingdom continues to support efforts to bring about a peaceful and united Iraqi government that represents all of the Iraqi people, which is why we actively support the Arab League’s role in generating unity in that country.

Some of these activities have gone overlooked, but I believe it is important for the US public, and especially Congress, to maintain an understanding that the United States and Saudi Arabia share the same goals in our respective countries, in the Middle East, and in the world. We cannot allow the misperceptions wrought by terrorism to undermine our longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship.

Myths and Misperceptions

Many of the existing US misperceptions concerning Saudi Arabia were formed after the September 11 terrorist attacks. This event plunged the Saudi-US relationship into confusion and opened the Kingdom up to a period of intense and often unfair criticism. For Saudis, this was a horrible experience as our country, faith, and national character were maligned almost daily in books, in newspapers, and on television. Unfortunately, information outlets such as the news media and popular culture have proved to be unreliable ways of sharing information about Saudi culture, heritage, and politics. Even books published under the guise of scholarship missed the mark and served to spread misunderstanding. Their titles portrayed Saudi Arabia as Hatred’s Kingdom and claimed that the United States was Sleeping with the Devil. Words such as “jihad,” “madrassa,” and “Wahhabism” were used to sensationalize our religion and create fear among US citizens, compounding problems and causing many myths to form about our nation.

One such myth is that we “export a brand of extremism” known as Wahhabism, an interpretation of Islam largely misunderstood in the West. The term refers to the reformist views of the eighteenth-century Arabian scholar Shaikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab. He did not advocate the killing of the innocent or condone acts of suicide. Individuals like Osama bin Laden may claim their origins in Wahhabism, but their faith is perverted. Are we, the Saudi people, conservative? Yes. Are we traditional? Yes. Are we extremists? No, we are not.

There are many outward expressions of our religious conservatism, such as our daily prayer, our dress, and our abstention from alcohol and gambling, but these should not be considered threatening just because they are atypical of Western tradition. Muslims advocate tolerance and moderation. We wholly reject violence and extremism, and Saudi religious leaders consistently condemn terrorist actions and beliefs as a result. As Shaikh Abdulaziz Al-Ashaikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Council of Senior Ulema, recently stated, “Killing and terrorizing innocent people and the destruction of property are not condoned by Islam. Attributing all these horrific incidents to Islam is unjust. Muslims should tell the truth and unveil falseness, and inform all people that Islam is a religion of righteousness, betterment, and progress.” Indeed, our religious community is proving to be the body most qualified to de-legitimize Al-Qaeda’s twisted interpretation of Islam.

Another myth is that the Saudi government has funded acts of terrorism. On the contrary, during the past decade, the Kingdom has been a target, not a supporter, of terrorism. Saudi Arabia has been fighting Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda since the bombing of the National Guard Training Mission in the Olaya district of Riyadh in 1995. During the last three years alone, Saudi Arabia has witnessed more than 25 different terrorist attacks, which caused the deaths of more than 140 innocent people and injured more than 500.

Through acts of violence and horrific crimes, Osama bin Laden has been working to destabilize our country, overthrow the established order, and take over Saudi Arabia, the home of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam. Al-Qaeda continues to oppose the Saudi government because it is trying to modernize and become a more integral part of the world community and economy, as exemplified by the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2005. This was a significant step in the modernization of the Kingdom, but it continues to make us unpopular among extremist factions such as Al-Qaeda.

It would be illogical, therefore, to believe that Saudi Arabia or its officials are financially supporting their own enemy. Even third-party analysis has cleared the Kingdom of this accusation. The 9/11 Commission report, for example, stated that it “found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded [Al-Qaeda].”

The prevalence of these myths demonstrates that greater perspective is needed. US citizens can see quite well that terrorism and extremism are disrupting their lives, but they do not fully understand the ways in which other members of the global community are dealing with this universal threat. US citizens often do not realize that our country also faces the threat of terrorism and the unprecedented war that resulted from it.

Combating the Terrorist Threat Together

The war on terrorism has had a significant impact on the average Saudi citizen. There have been many changes to daily lives and routines, such as roadblocks and checkpoints scattered throughout our cities. Barbed wire and blockades now spoil public areas, and machine gun nests are placed near government buildings, residential compounds, hotels, and high traffic areas. The Saudi people have had to adjust their lives to accommodate the increased security and the fight to eradicate terrorism.