Pentagon head General Martin Dempsey established an essay contest to honor the memory of the late Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, the absolute monarch of a fundamentalist Islamic kingdom responsible for exporting terrorism worldwide.
Abdullah died last Thursday at age 90, setting off an outpouring of tributes from leaders across the world — including President Obama, who said he “appreciated our genuine and warm friendship.” The governments of the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia flew their national flags at half mast throughout the weekend.
On Monday the Department of Defense took Abdullah’s eulogy to another level, with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dempsey announcing a research and essay competition in honor of the late leader for students at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. The press release calls Abdullah “a lifetime supporter of his country’s allegiance with the United States,” while Dempsey himself calls the monarch “a man of remarkable character and courage.”
Under Abdullah’s rule as a “cautious reformer,” Christianity and other religions remained outlawed nationwide. Women were unable to drive or leave the house without a male guardian.
Under Abdullah’s rule, public executions — typically by beheading — were performed routinely in the Islamic holy city of Mecca. Those who insulted Islam were sentenced to imprisonment and corporal punishment. Homosexuals and victims of rape often received the same treatment.
And under Abdullah’s rule, Saudi Arabia represented the world’s largest sponsor of international Islamic terrorism. Its citizens funded attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. In 2009, then-Secretary of State Clinton claimed that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” And wealthy Saudi Arabians were a significant source of income for the Islamic State before their seizure of oil resources in Iraq and Syria in mid-2014.