Welcome the ‘fear’ of the enemy

The North Thunder joint military exercise concluded last week with drills and military shows. The bedazzling details of the event was on display and so was its success. The military drills, which brought together armed forces from 20 Arab and Islamic countries, came to an end on Friday with a marching parade attended by leaders of the participating countries.

The exercise, unprecedented in the history of the region, was truly remarkable from a security and defense perspective. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the region, there are those who kept silent out of fear. These include the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq and other similar groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This element of fear has reached the ISIS, which was dealt a major blow recently. On the last day of the drills when the murderers of Badr al-Rashidi, the Saudi Arabian soldier who was shot dead last month, were killed by Saudi authorities after they refused to surrender and exchanged fire with the police.

Muallem’s talk

Syria’s foreign minister Walid al-Muallem continues to talk about Saudi Arabia’s initiative to defend itself and the region. He used a funny description that indicates fear, weakness and political shabbiness. He has repeatedly used the term “reckless” ever since Saudi Arabia declared the possibility of ground intervention in Syria.

It is better to be described reckless by your enemies than to be described as slow; their satisfaction with our performance would indicate a defect in the strategy and preparedness.

The sense of responsibility toward defending the homeland, every inch of it, has been instilled in this growing generation. Display of power and strength becomes necessary to intimidate those who are greedy. Saudi Arabia has experienced wars, it has emerged victorious and has been supported by others in pursuit of its objectives.

Western media outlets have been surprised by the North Thunder exercise, the massive number of participating soldiers and the modern equipment and technologies that have been used. Meanwhile, in countries north of Saudi Arbia, media outlets who oppose the operation continue to suffer from bouts of hysteria.

This article was first published by Okaz on Mar. 13, 2016.
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Turki Al-Dakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies. He tweets @TurkiAldakhil.