Posted on 11/21/2007 11:41:42 PM PST by fishhound
BAGHDAD: Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American military officials.
The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid's target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq.
The most significant discovery was a collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006.
The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.
Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far — 305, or 41 percent — American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far — 305, or 41 percent — American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.
...some Saudi fighters are still getting through.?!@#$
We simply must become energy independent. We should put plans into effect that would achieve that in five years.
It is a top priority.
We are indirectly arming the people killing us. :(
No doubt about it IMO. I do think the Saudi King would like to put an end to his people going into Iraq, but he is so in the minority of his people, I just don’t think he has the power short of becoming a real tyrant, to stop what is taking place. Then a Jimmy Carter would come along and cut him off at the knees like he did the Shah.
The source-point for the ideology of terror is in the Kingdom of Saud. That's a fact.
Relax ...
Either by design or default we have a nice Honey Pot going.
As long as the Republi_Cons and Demon-Crats don’t Crawfish any more than normal.
W
You’re correct.
Have you read “Hatred’s Kingdom” by Dore Gold?
It’s an excellent book about the Saudis and their Wahhabi brand of Islam.
Libya is an ally?
Who knew!?
I read Sandra Mackey’s book about the Saudis, and from that I get the impression the king doesn’t have the power of a dictator, or can act like that too much. There’s other princes who will fight him, and the Wahhabis can go ape anytime and order some militia to take him out. We really do protect the king. In a way, we also protect the Wahhabis because all the other Islamic terrorists want to overthrow the Wahhabi rule over Arabia.
Here’s my breakdown on Islamic terrorists...
Wahhabis = Saudi Sunni Muslims who adopt Salafi, protected by KSA and USA
Ikhwan = Wahhabi militia that Saud had to destroy in 1929, son of Ikhwan leader sieged Mecca in 1979, enemies of KSA
Salafis = Sunni Muslims who want to return to original Islamic period (600-1300 AD), anti-KSA, many in Europe
Al Qaeda = Sunni and pan-Islamic terrorists, Salafi anti-KSA
Taliban = Afghan Salafi terrorists, largely Sunni and Pashtun
Hamas = Sunni terrorists, Arab nationalists
Hezbollah = Shiite terrorists, Lebanese nationalists
Muslim Brotherhood = Sunni anti-KSA Islamists, terrorists, more “mainstream” than Salafi, growing in Europe and USA
All these terrorists fight each other, not just the West.
Most of these terrorists want to destroy not just the West but also the Saudi royal family and the Wahhabi rulers. Many are Salafi, the most extreme as far as religion goes.
We sell arms to the KSA to protect both the royal family and his Wahhabi allies. Only the king and the Wahhabi allies can keep the other Wahhabis and bedouins from going ape.
I think the most dangerous are the Salafis and The Brotherhood because they are already here in America and they appear mainstream. The Brotherhood might allow women to show their faces, they’re in prisons, etc. The Salafis talk alot about “freeing” Muslims from the evil Wahhabis in KSA. But they all back terrorism. The Western MSM is confused whether the Salafis or Brotherhood is good or bad.
Actually, I think the best outcome would be to let them keep their oil and their sand and their camels. And then let the rest of the world ignore their asses for all of eternity.
Why make yourself look like the pariah, when a little effort will make it quite clear who the pariah was all along.
The oil cartel has declared war on the rest of the world by helping to limit supply. Okay, we’ll see how great it works out for them when they can’t sell a barrel of oil for $0.25 cents.
Even the richest nations will evaporate without the income stream.
It’s time to take our fate into our own hands and do something about this mess.
It would be great to do this. And, to sell the oil at 20 dollars a barrel to any legitimate sovereign nation that wants it. That defunds the Arabs, the radicals, and starts paying for our military effort and increases available cheap energy world wide. And it would have the side benefit of driving GW moonbats to the greatest depths of frustration.
If we left Mecca alone, and in the hands of the muslims (maybe not Saudis), then that would show how respectful we are of their muslimity.
Thank You.
A nice summation. The case of the Muslim Brotherhood is a little more complex, it consisting of several different factions in several different countries, running from more or less legitimate politicians to formal death squads and the shadowy financiers associated with the Al Taqwa bank. Bin Laden was influenced by a seminal MB member Sayyid Qutb. They are said to be closely associated with Hamas.
Nice, well written and thoughtful posts.
Thanks.
This site is useful.
http://www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com/
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