Abdulateef Al-Mulhim
Commodore, Royal Saudi Navy (Retired)
Terrorists read my lips… You have no place to hide. And if you think you can drive a wedge between Saudis, then you are totally mistaken. You made the Saudis and everyone who lives in this country more united and more determined to join hands to fight you until you and your beliefs are eradicated. If you attack Saudis or expatriates in the Kingdom in order to scare us and achieve your evil designs, then know that your dream will never come true. We are everywhere celebrating the Eid Al-Fitr and we will prevail and triumph, whereas you will be defeated and you and your deviant ideology will sink into oblivion. If you attack Saudi Arabia to make it weak, then think again because we are getting stronger and stronger. If you are attacking Saudi Arabia to create chaos or disrupt our daily life, then rethink because you are nothing but a sick and brainwashed psychopath. And one thing these terrorists are realizing is no matter who is behind them, supporting them or sympathizing with them, they are losing the battle.
Saudi Arabia had seen three terrorist attacks in the past two days. One was in Jeddah, the second in Qatif and the third one was carried out near the second holiest place for Muslims, the Prophet’s Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi) in Madinah and that too in the holy month of Ramadan. The terrorists are now so desperate that they carried out the first two attacks on soft targets where victims were citizens and expatriates, but the third attack carried out near the Prophet’s Mosque says it all. These terrorists cannot even have the remotest connection with Islam or its teachings.
The attacks were apparently synchronized to disrupt the celebration of Eid in the Kingdom, but minutes after the attacks things were back to normal because the Saudis and the expatriates in the Kingdom now realize that these terrorists are playing a coward game and they are destined to fail. The faith in our government and security forces is getting stronger by the day. The bond between the ruler and the ruled was never this stronger. These terrorist cells are apparently in contact with the so-called Daesh in Iraq and Syria and the world knows the evil acts of this cancerous organization. This terrorist group is not a threat only to Saudi Arabia, but it is a threat to all countries and communities around the world and their intentions are known. Saudi Arabia for many years has been calling for unified efforts to fight terrorism and it is the country that organized an international forum to fight terrorism. It is a trend which is hitting many places around the globe and not only this part of the world.
Today is the second day of the three-day Eid Al-Fitr celebration which comes after the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the Saudi security forces have lost a few of its brave members in these terrorist attacks. Our hearts are with their families and loved ones, but their families didn’t express sorrow for the loss of their loved ones, they have demonstrated pride and readiness to protect the country. We all stand behind our soldiers defending the country from these coward terrorists. And even though it is hard to stop a suicide attacker, we are determined to eliminate them and eradicate their sick ideologies. They have hijacked Islam and their real intention is to distort Islam’s image. No one can understand a group of thugs who attack worshippers in a Mosque and yet speak of Islam. They are motivated by hate and many of the young are controlled by unknown coward elements. And most ironic is that these young terrorists are promised by the ones who send them to their death that they will go to heaven once they kill people. So, why don’t the ones who send them to their eventual death go instead or why don’t they send their children?
It is sad to see young men or women wearing explosive suicide belts heading for their sure death for causes and reasons that are never clear and never known. It is sad to see these young men or women growing up and not becoming valuable assets for their families and countries. Many of the so-called sleeping cells should take a chance to think and think of themselves, their families, their country and return to the path of wisdom and truth. But, at the end of the day the terrorists know that they have not been able to make even a small dent in our country’s unity and love and respect for our leaders — Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Written by Abdulateef Al-Mulhim. Terrorists’ Coward Attack reprinted with permission of Arab News and Abdulateef Al-Mulhim.