While the mainstream media trumpet moral outrage and airstrikes, Patrick Cockburn deftly unveils the elephants in the room. At the heart of Western failure since 9/11 is Washington’s craven unwillingness to confront the political and financial might of Saudi Arabia.

Not a subject Washington wants to talk about: 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report dealing with Saudi Arabia were cut and never published. It was only thanks to WikiLeaks that a Hillary Clinton cable complaining “that donors in Saudi Arabia constituted the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups” came to light. But Cockburn points to another twist: “Jihadist social media is now openly attacking the Saudi royal family.” Is it too late for the Saudi rulers to rein in a jihad of their own making?

Read the full review in The Independent.