http://www.aina.org/news/2007029084044.htm
Saudis Funding Iraq's Sunni Insurgents
Black Hawks Down: The downing by Jihadists of six U.S. choppers in three weeks, almost all in Sunni-controlled territories of Iraq, isn't dumb luck. They're clearly using more high-tech weapons. Who's arming them?
Rumors finger Iran, but it doesn't appear that Iran-backed Shiite militias are behind the attacks. Most of the surface-to-air missiles have been fired within the Sunni triangle and outside areas controlled by Shiite militias.
An Islamic group tied to al-Qaida took credit for shooting down the Marine transport helicopter that killed seven Wednesday. It crashed in Anbar province, a Sunni and al-Qaida stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia.
We learned from the Baker report and wire reports that Saudis, not Iranians, are supplying insurgents with the money for shoulderfired missiles and other sophisticated weaponry -- a revelation that has been drowned out by all the hype and saber-rattling over Iran.
Are our Saudi "allies" secretly backing a jihad against U.S. forces next door, while telling us they're cooperating with our Iraq efforts? "Funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia," the Iraq Study Group flatly stated in a throwaway line buried on Page 29 of its 160-page report.
The bombshell went largely unnoticed. It found that the Saudis are "giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles."
The report, filed Dec. 7, quoted senior Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash. Several truck drivers described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for the insurgents. "In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile," the report said.
The Pentagon is downplaying the rash of downed aircraft, saying the insurgents are just getting lucky shooting at our low-flying helicopters with small arms. But that doesn't explain how they took out one of our F-16s a few months ago. The jet crashed Nov. 27 while flying in support of U.S. soldiers fighting in Anbar.
A Sunni insurgent group claimed fighters armed with a Strela missile had shot down the jet. "We have stockpiles of Strelas, and we are going to surprise them (the Americans)," a spokesman told AP.
What's happening to us in Iraq is looking eerily similar to what happened to the Soviets in Afghanistan after Saudi and U.S. intelligence teamed up to supply Osama bin Laden with Stinger missiles that he and the "mujahedeen" successfully used to knock out Soviet choppers. By the time they were finished, Afghanistan looked like a graveyard of mangled propellers and burned-out helicopter hulls.
Iraq is already a graveyard of charred Humvees and armored carriers. Because of the lethality of the roadside bombs, our military has shifted to air transport. But it appears the enemy has already adjusted, using more sophisticated weapons purchased with Saudi cash.
The Saudis also are manning the insurgency. The vast majority of suicide attackers and foreign terrorists in Iraq are Saudi citizens.
But then, the Saudi government knows this. Saudi clerics, including the chief justice of Saudi Arabia's sharia court, have lured young Saudis to fight the "infidels" in Iraq, according to Senate testimony.
Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of support for the terrorists next door. But then, these are the same folks who've denied their country's been a major source of funding for al-Qaida.
They've also denied going easy on terrorists, even as they've released dozens of former Gitmo detainees from jail. An additional 30 were sprung by our so-called ally over Ramadan. Many have rejoined the jihad against the American "crusaders."
It's no secret that the royal family (composed entirely of Sunni Muslims) is worried about the new Iraqi regime (dominated by Shiite Muslims) next door cozying up to Tehran. Iran's growing influence in Iraq is a threat to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shiite, and although they are both Muslim, they are mortal regional foes.
The White House has glossed over the issue of Saudi funding for the terrorist insurgency in Iraq, even as it condemns other state sponsors of terror in the region, Syria and Iran.
Maintaining such a double standard may be politically expedient, but it won't protect American airmen and Marines now exposed to the more sophisticated weaponry -- a la Afghanistan, circa 1986 -- that Saudi money is buying in Iraq.
Saudis Funding Iraq's Sunni Insurgents
Black Hawks Down: The downing by Jihadists of six U.S. choppers in three weeks, almost all in Sunni-controlled territories of Iraq, isn't dumb luck. They're clearly using more high-tech weapons. Who's arming them?
Rumors finger Iran, but it doesn't appear that Iran-backed Shiite militias are behind the attacks. Most of the surface-to-air missiles have been fired within the Sunni triangle and outside areas controlled by Shiite militias.
An Islamic group tied to al-Qaida took credit for shooting down the Marine transport helicopter that killed seven Wednesday. It crashed in Anbar province, a Sunni and al-Qaida stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia.
We learned from the Baker report and wire reports that Saudis, not Iranians, are supplying insurgents with the money for shoulderfired missiles and other sophisticated weaponry -- a revelation that has been drowned out by all the hype and saber-rattling over Iran.
Are our Saudi "allies" secretly backing a jihad against U.S. forces next door, while telling us they're cooperating with our Iraq efforts? "Funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia," the Iraq Study Group flatly stated in a throwaway line buried on Page 29 of its 160-page report.
The bombshell went largely unnoticed. It found that the Saudis are "giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles."
The report, filed Dec. 7, quoted senior Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash. Several truck drivers described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for the insurgents. "In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile," the report said.
The Pentagon is downplaying the rash of downed aircraft, saying the insurgents are just getting lucky shooting at our low-flying helicopters with small arms. But that doesn't explain how they took out one of our F-16s a few months ago. The jet crashed Nov. 27 while flying in support of U.S. soldiers fighting in Anbar.
A Sunni insurgent group claimed fighters armed with a Strela missile had shot down the jet. "We have stockpiles of Strelas, and we are going to surprise them (the Americans)," a spokesman told AP.
What's happening to us in Iraq is looking eerily similar to what happened to the Soviets in Afghanistan after Saudi and U.S. intelligence teamed up to supply Osama bin Laden with Stinger missiles that he and the "mujahedeen" successfully used to knock out Soviet choppers. By the time they were finished, Afghanistan looked like a graveyard of mangled propellers and burned-out helicopter hulls.
Iraq is already a graveyard of charred Humvees and armored carriers. Because of the lethality of the roadside bombs, our military has shifted to air transport. But it appears the enemy has already adjusted, using more sophisticated weapons purchased with Saudi cash.
The Saudis also are manning the insurgency. The vast majority of suicide attackers and foreign terrorists in Iraq are Saudi citizens.
But then, the Saudi government knows this. Saudi clerics, including the chief justice of Saudi Arabia's sharia court, have lured young Saudis to fight the "infidels" in Iraq, according to Senate testimony.
Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of support for the terrorists next door. But then, these are the same folks who've denied their country's been a major source of funding for al-Qaida.
They've also denied going easy on terrorists, even as they've released dozens of former Gitmo detainees from jail. An additional 30 were sprung by our so-called ally over Ramadan. Many have rejoined the jihad against the American "crusaders."
It's no secret that the royal family (composed entirely of Sunni Muslims) is worried about the new Iraqi regime (dominated by Shiite Muslims) next door cozying up to Tehran. Iran's growing influence in Iraq is a threat to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shiite, and although they are both Muslim, they are mortal regional foes.
The White House has glossed over the issue of Saudi funding for the terrorist insurgency in Iraq, even as it condemns other state sponsors of terror in the region, Syria and Iran.
Maintaining such a double standard may be politically expedient, but it won't protect American airmen and Marines now exposed to the more sophisticated weaponry -- a la Afghanistan, circa 1986 -- that Saudi money is buying in Iraq.
