We stood with Saudi Arabia in the 1980s when they and the Gulf States started supporting jihadi terrorism, we stuck with them in the 1990s when they built al Qaeda (and helped them to a degree), and we stuck with them after 9/11 when it became clear that their ideology was directly fueling the hatred of the US. We stuck with them in 2005 when they were sending foreign fighters to kill US soldiers in Iraq. We stood by them while they, Qatar and others built ISIS out of fear of Iranian power entering the vacuum Obama left when he abdicated all leadership in the region. While the Kingdom appears to have finally realized the threat that their own ideology now poses to their continued existence, I can only hope it isn't too little, too late. Our policy there has been consistent.

The other consistency of our foreign policy is that we get involved and then leave. We did it in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Afghanistan in the 1980s, in Iraq in 1991, in Iraq in 2003-2009, in Yemen, in Somalia...

The Wahhabi ideology was the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and it was liberally disseminated throughout the Islamic world by oil money. Much of the vehemence with which it was propagated was to counter Iranian propaganda following the 1979 revolution. This conflict predates Islam - Persians and the peoples of Mesopotamia and Arabia have been at odds since the dawn of recorded history. By saying our foreign policy is the root of this gives us too much credit and buys into a false narrative that the terrorists have spread as a justification.