Sunday, July 15, 2007

GUESS NATIONALITY OF MOST FOREIGN JIHADISTS IN IRAQ - SAUDIS!


Ned Parker of the LA Times writes about foreign fighters in Iraq today. You would imagine after listening to Bush and his fellow neo-con war mongers that the foreign jihadists are made up primarily of Iranians and Syrians. Not so says Parker:

"Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.

"About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said."

There goes another Bush-made myth that it is primarily Iran and Syria which are helping the "insurgents" sending in fighters to kill Americans. And how about the suicide bombers? - those guys who think nothing of killing and maiming Iraqi civilians standing in the way of their real targets, American and Iraqi soldiers? They're almost all Saudi.

"Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.

"He said 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis."

So now what should Bush do when the main nationality of the suicide bombers in Iraq are from a country that the Bush family has close ties to? How about that photo of Bush holding hands with the Saudi king several years ago on Bush's ranch at Crawford?

Writes Parker:

"U.S. officials remain sensitive about the relationship. Asked why U.S. officials in Iraq had not publicly criticized Saudi Arabia the way they had Iran or Syria, the senior military officer said, "Ask the State Department. This is a political juggernaut."

"Last week when U.S. military spokesman Bergner declared Al Qaeda in Iraq the country's No. 1 threat, he released a profile of a thwarted suicide bomber, but said he had not received clearance to reveal his nationality. The bomber was a Saudi national, the senior military officer said Saturday."

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