Well-versed in modern media strategies, Al Qaeda is using the Saudi Arabia controversy to its advantage. In the past weeks, the organization has published two essays on the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, advancing an interpretation of the two countries’ relationship that portrays Saudi Arabia as the slave to President Trump and the U.S. It depicts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad as a “spoiled boy…addicted to video games,” and uses the Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House bestseller as citations. It also interprets U.S. action in light of the group’s perspective on history writing, “let us not forget that some of the bigger factors that necessitated the retreat of the U.S. are the economic, political and social predicaments that befell her as a result of her long war with the Muslim Ummah and its jihadi vanguard in Afghanistan as well as other armed Islamic transformative and awakening movements in Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, the Islamic Maghreb, Niger and other countries involved in the Islamic-American conflict.” The US faces a choice, according to one of the publications, either it will continue to suffer “a series of enormous human and financial losses,” or it will be faced with a “disgraceful and shameful withdrawal crowned with defeatism.” The narrative, a mix of propaganda and a clever interpretation of past and present events, continues to inspire the groups followers and generate new recruits.
Source: Al Qaeda tries to capitalize on Saudi controversy | FDD’s Long War Journal
