SPONSORSHIP OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND THE NEED TO DAMAGE OIL-BASED ECONOMIES TO STEM THE TIDE!
Nations in the Arabian peninsula especially Iran and Saudi Arabia were founded on Islamic fundamentalism and their legal statutes are still unpretentiously based on the Sharia.
State judicial officers still freely prescribe mutilative sentences like amputations and beheadings for mundane infractions like "heresy", "blasphemy" and "apostacy".....
These nations cannot persist in deceiving the rest of the world that their committed advocacy for strict interpretation of Islamic laws is restricted to their national boundaries.....or that they are not the direct and indirect sponsors of Islam-fuelled international terrorism!
Of course, they support ISIS and Al-Queida including its branches in the Arabian peninsula and the Islamic maghreb....as well as Al-Shabab and Boko Haram!
They persist in such support using relatively cheap and near-free oil money that they throw around.
Now....western nations particularly the US have been developing alternatives to crude oil and other bio-fuels for some time....solar power, shale oil and even water!
And as more and more motor vehicles are being powered with these alternative energy sources....and as shale oil technology is being perfected, reliance on crude oil, the arrogance, profligracy and prodigality of such sponsors of religious violence should now be well tempered.
The US has so increased its oil output that it is presently the highest global oil producer. Many other non-OPEC nations now also produce oil making OPEC's "quota" of global oil a mere 30%!
.....And with Saudi Arabia (and OPEC) persisting in pushing out excess oil into the market....deluding itself that it can match other world players in a price war, the end is nigh for the OPEC bloc....
With oil prices now below $60 per barrel, my fervent hope and prayer is that this downward slide in oil value continues....to far below $20!.....so that as Arab nations struggle to balance their budgets, they would have less cheap funds to throw around....as foremost sponsors of international terrorism.....in the name of religion!
POST-SCRIPT
Saudi Arabia may easily draw on its huge foreign reserves for budget balancing and shore up its economy in the short term....but for how long can it solely depend on its savings?
Saying that severe global sanctions has not stopped Iran from supporting terror is an equally weak argument.....as her propensity and ability to do so is weakened by its battered economy.
Annual financial windfall from compulsive pilgrimages by Islamic edherents acting as a leeway for the Saudis? Sorry... That's a topic for another day....
Dr Tosin Akindele is a Lagos-based Medical Practitioner, a former Secretary of AGPMPN Ikorodu zone, a former Secretary of the Quackery Committee of AGPMPN Lagos State Branch, founder of Analytical Minds, a good health advocate and public affairs analyst.