US strategic patience

US President Obama has emphasized the need to confront extremism and terrorism to defend Islam and remove the misunderstandings about the religion.

The president was right when he stated that the extremists do not represent the 1.5 billion Muslims and he deserves praise for that. But such talks were acceptable during the era of George Bush presidency, especially after 9/11 attacks, and not now as the world has changed considerably, especially our region that impacts international security.

The present situation demands practical steps not speeches or strategic patience as proposed by the Obama administration at the end of his second term as president of the United States.

What we need today is action not words, as terrorism cannot be confronted through enlightening speeches, especially in the backdrop of realities such as the killing of innocent people and destruction of countries.

Obama, for example, stresses the need to provide jobs to end extremism. But the issue is not as simple as that. IS militants are not seeking employment, same is the case of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups. We have not heard Hassan Nasrallah talking about employment and education.

In Syria people are not seeking jobs but wanted to stop the war machinery of Bashar Assad that has killed and displaced millions of its people.

Speaking about Iran, the US president says oppression of opposition would lead to extremism and terrorism but we don’t see any terrorism in that country. The big question is why does the Obama administration try to have better relations with Tehran despite the latter’s role in destabilizing the region. This shows that Obama’s statement was not reflecting his good intentions nor his claim of defending Islam. Of course, there are many terrorist groups in the region that exploit Islam for their vested interests.

The Obama administration had backed Brotherhood that caused the disintegration of countries from Sudan to Egypt. Obama should take effective steps to stop the bloodbath in the region.

— By Tariq Alhumayed, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat

IS and Hollywood

THE recent films released by the so-called Islamic State terrorist group shows that it is very good in filmmaking. Experts who have watched the IS films have confirmed that they are produced by highly skilled individuals.

The Times newspaper of Britain has described the latest IS video showing the murder of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, saying its producers have used Hollywood technology and style, adding that it gave the impression of a Hollywood film.

Many terrorist organizations have been transmitting their films during the past years but most of them were poor in quality, as they were produced using hand cameras. But IS has proved to the world that it is capable of producing world-class films of terrorism.

At the same time, doubts have been raised about the credibility of these films, whether they have occurred really or were just Hollywood movies. These questions were raised especially after the murder of the Jordanian pilot and the Egyptian Coptic Christians as the victims were found cool without showing any feelings. On the other hand, all IS militants appeared as huge figures, with almost equal heights while the victims were wearing colorful dresses and were moving in an orderly way as if they were trained to do so before the cameras. Their photos were taken from different sides.

These films and other events that we witness every day, despite their truthfulness that IS like other terrorist organizations are in close contacts with certain agencies that want to keep it ready for fighting to tarnish the image of Islam. Actually, these terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, which is a peaceful and merciful divine faith.

— By Ibrahim Mohammed Badawood, Al-Madinah

Terrorism threat

THE GCC is now passing through a difficult political climate unprecedented in its history because of changing conditions in the neighboring countries as well as in the Arab world and around the globe.

We have seen influential international players such as the US, Russia, Britain, France and Italy as part of the current conflict. There are other players like Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as IS, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. America has become a border country for us through Iraq while Russia has become a border country through Syria. Iran on the other hand is surrounding the Gulf from all the sides, from the east through its stronghold, from the south through Yemen, from the north through Iraq and Syria and from the west through east African countries and the Red Sea.

Russia provides political cover in the United Nations by helping to adopt resolutions and giving logistical support. With Iran’s backing, Russia manages the war in Syria by ensuring adequate supply of weapons.

America on the other hand backs the Syrian opposition by providing them with weapons and intelligence. This has intensified the fighting and increased the pressure on the Gulf.

The Arab Gulf countries will become the next flashpoint for conflicts. Iran, which has exploited the Arab Spring will not take rest and will expand its operations in the region. It has already shown its evil motives through active participation in the wars of Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as in Afghanistan, Caucuses and Central Asia. The US could not get out of the Gulf since 1990 when the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait took place. All these wars were taking place near the oil production centers of the Gulf.

Efforts should be made to stop these wars and the wise men around the world should work together for peace, especially at a time when all the terrorist groups have assembled in Libya, threatening Europe and its unity. Eastern Islamic countries may also become parties in the new open conflict, which could reach to the Central Asian Islamic republics, giving the conflict a new Islamic color.

—By Abdul Aziz Al-Jarallah, Al-Jazirah

Intellectual security

HOME, school and society are three basic factors that play a significant role in ensuring intellectual security. The family should enlighten their children about the need to keep away from deviant thoughts and extremists.

The story of a 10-year-old boy in a Saudi school needs special attention. The boy told her sister that his teacher had told them about the importance of avoiding attractive abayas, the black loose gown worn by Saudi women. The teacher had told these small children that these abayas cause fitna or temptation.

The boy’s sister then asked him whether her abaya gives the feeling that she shows off her beauty. In reply the boy it was the opinion of his class teacher.

The sister then explained to her little brother about what is meant by showing off beauty and that it has nothing to do with the abaya color or form and that the dress should cover all parts of the body.

When the woman wanted to celebrate her birthday and asked her father to give some gifts, the boy intervened saying it is prohibited according to his teacher. This shows the misunderstanding of some people about religious instructions. There are some people who insist on their personal believes that has no bearing on their religious faith. Should we teach a 10-year-old child about attractive abayas or the basic teachings of Salah, Fasting and reading the Qur’an? Should we educate our children about basic Islamic teachings or make them extremists and followers of IS and other terror groups. I believe that authorities should keep a watch on extremist teachers who try to inject their thoughts into their students. Why these teachers go beyond their syllabus to teach little children about impressive abayas. This article is not aimed at attacking teachers but to highlight some dangerous trends in our schools.

— By Abeer Al-Jabar, Al-Sharq

Economic progress

THE newly-established Council of Economic and Development Affairs in the Kingdom faces a number of challenges. It should focus on realizing the vision and objectives related to economic growth and revise existing economic strategies. The council should address the issues such as unemployment and development; diversification of revenue sources, the disrupted government projects in various parts of the country, housing, corruption and poverty.

All the above-mentioned problems are inter-related and demand an integrated move by all the relevant government departments to solve them.

We know that individual solutions presented by the government departments in the past years were not successful in tackling the problem altogether. We need the cooperation of all government departments to address this interlinked issue. I am sorry to say that the solutions presented by the Labor Ministry to address the unemployment problem were not successful in ending the problem, because it was fighting this issue alone and trying to impose its views on other departments.

On the other hand, its activities should have integrated with that of the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Economy and Planning, SAGIA and Modon in order to establish value added industries to create more jobs, attracting investment that create job opportunities for Saudis.

The Nitaqat program, Hafiz and salary identification programs had been instrumental in promoting fake Saudization but did not contribute to real employment of Saudis. It created most of the jobs in the construction field.

The new council should set its priorities and try to solve interlinked problems with the cooperation of all the relevant government departments and organizations. It should give priority to attracting value investments that would lead to the establishment of industries to diversify revenue sources. This will definitely reduce unemployment and eradicate poverty.

— By Mohammed Al-Aufi, Al-Riyadh

Working from home

THERE is an unending controversy that why we accommodate more than 11 million foreign workers when we have equally capable men and women who are unemployed. We have adopted a number of methods to solve this problem and some of them were successful while some others failed.

We should know that many countries were successful in solving the unemployment problem by applying global best practices. Working from home is an ideal solution that has been successfully implemented in European and Asian countries. I believe that Japan is a leader in introducing this system.

There are lots of benefits for this system, it avoids free mixing of men and women employees, reduces unemployment among Saudi women, reduce congestion, and this is very good solution for reducing unemployment among women and the handicapped.

A number of countries have successfully imported the system, closing all loopholes that could be misused by visa traders.

—By Yousuf Al-Kuwaileet, Makkah Newspaper