Another innocent American had been beheaded by the savages known to the world as Al Qaida. The terrorists had paraded him before the cameras, made some demands everyone knew would not and could not be met, and then, a few days later, poor Paul Johnson's headless body appeared on some Islamist web site.

Then came the news that the Saudi security services had already found and killed the Al Qaida leader who committed this horrible crime. Wow, I thought, that sure was quick work.

I decided to call one of my contacts to get his impressions of this incident. This particular person is very familiar with the ÒSaudsÓ as he calls them. As a member of U.S. Special Operations forces, he served as an adviser to the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) for the better part of a year in the early 1990s.

ÒThat poor guy Paul Johnson never stood a chance,Ó he said sadly.

ÒWell at least they got the terrorist that did it, so he won't be murdering any more innocent civilians,Ó I responded.

Ò#*@+!,Ó he exclaimed, ÒYou don't believe for a second that was the result of some manhunt do you?Ó

ÒWhat do you mean?Ó

ÒI worked with the SANG for a year and those guys are ALL fundamentalists. I bet the guys who killed Johnson were buds with folks in the SANG. You can be sure that they go to the same mosques and worship with the same dad-gun mullahs,Ó he explained.

ÒThen why do you suppose they killed the terrorists who did it at all? Why not just keep ÒsearchingÓ indefinitely?Ó

My friend answered, ÒBecause when they killed Johnson like they did they went over the line in that if the Sauds didn't take some action, the US might just get fed up, so they decided that particular terrorist's time was up.Ó

ÒSo the Saudi forces knew who had Johnson and where they were holding him the whole time,Ó I thought out loud.

ÒOf course they did. The Sauds have the best HUMINT in the world inside their own borders. There isn't much they don't know, especially when it involves extremistsÓ

ÒRemember a few weeks back when some Al Qaida terrorists took some hostages and a Saudi hostage rescue unit moved in and got the hostages? If you do, you probably also remember that 4 of the terrorists escaped.Ó

ÒYes, I remember,Ó I responded.

ÒHave you ever heard of terrorists ESCAPING in that kind of scenario before? After all, they were surrounded and the area was secure enough for the Sauds to send in a HRU. I got news for you: the terrorists didn't Òescape.Ó I guarantee you the SANG let them go. They are cut from the same cloth.Ó

ÒWhere does the Royal family fit in?Ó, I asked.

ÒIt depends on who you're talking about. There are 30000 members of the Saudi Royal family. Some are sympathetic to Al Qaida. Some are indifferent and some are scared to death of Al Qaida and want them wiped out.Ó

ÒBut that's not the whole story. The Royal family really created the conditions that led to Al Qaida. They fund and harbor the radical Wahabbi movement and its radical mullahs. They also fund the worldwide Wahabbi school system, the Madrassas schools, which have been the breeding ground for the Taliban and Al Qaida. So Al Qaida is kind of like Dr. Frankenstein's monster. They created this monster but have no idea what to do with it and they are scared to death of itÓ

ÒWhy do the fundamentalists in the SANG follow the Royal family's orders?Ó, I asked.

ÒBecause the House of Saud has sworn an oath to protect the holiest sites in Islam as caretakers of Mecca and such. The SANG members have taken an oath of allegiance to the Royal family.Ó

ÒIf the SANG ever turned on the Royal family, they'd be toast, huh?Ó

ÒYou bet and the chances of that happening are closer to 50/50 than you might think. All it would take is for the right Wahabbi mullah to write a fatwah declaring that the House of Saud had violated its sacred duty as caretakers of the holy land, thus releasing the SANG from their oath to the Royal family. That's why they haven't tried to rein in the Wahabbis. They're fearful for their lives.Ó

In conclusion, two very important steps to combatting terrorism of the Sunni variety are actually very obvious but not at all likely:

1. The shut down of Madrassas schools and withdrawal of funding for the Wahabbi movement.

2. A true crackdown on Al Qaida in Saudi Arabia.