That is completely incorrect. In the novels it tells you that the Aiel punished themselves by going to the Waste.

In my TOR paperback copy of tGH its on page 410:

"You call it the Waste," Urien said. "To us it is the Three-fold Land. A shaping stone, to make us; a testing geound, to prove our worth; and a punishment for the sin."
"What sin?" Mat asked. Perrin caught his breath, waiting for the spears in Urien's hands to flash.
Tha Aiel shrugged. "So long ago it was, that none remember. Except the wise ones and the can chiefs, and they will not speak of it. It must have been a very great sin if they cannot bring themselves to tell us, but the creator punishes us well."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiel_Waste

"Despite the daunting environment, the Aiel people make the Waste their home. The majority of Aiel live in and among the rock formations. These holds, as they are called, are approximately the size of villages. The Aiel have their own name for the Waste, the Three-Fold Land: First, because it is a shaping stone to make them; second, it is a testing ground to prove their worth; third, it is a punishment for their sin against Aes Sedai. "

REMEMBER: This is why the Aiel treat Aes Sedai so respectuflly at the beginning. They hold them in high regard and consider themselves servants to them. They DID serve the Aes Sedai faithfully until the end, and they brought as many items of power with them to Rhuidean as they could, but ultimately they felt they had failed the Aes Sedai because so many items of power were lost or discarded along the way.