The LA Times confirms a two-year old story
newsflash! suicide bombers in iraq are most likely saudis
By Charles Bird Posted in War — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
We can give the LA Times credit for two things, that al Qaeda has a significant influence in Iraq (hear that, Mr. Hoyt?), and that the most likely suicide bombers are Saudis. In Iraq, suicide bombings are pretty much the exclusive province of al Qaeda and its affiliates, and the damage they have wrought is significant:
In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.
If the central front of this war is Afghanistan as Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi suggest, why are so many being killed and injured by suicide bomb in Iraq? Could it be that the main front in this war happens to be the place where they want to withdraw troops?
More below the fold...
But this story is nothing new. A jihadist who is inspired to martyr himself in Iraq will fly to Syria and then surreptitiously cross into Iraq to meet his comrades. In May 2005, the Washington Post reported the following:
Who are the suicide bombers of Iraq? By the radicals' account, they are an internationalist brigade of Arabs, with the largest share in the online lists from Saudi Arabia and a significant minority from other countries on Iraq's borders, such as Syria and Kuwait. The roster of the dead on just one extremist Web site reviewed by The Washington Post runs to nearly 250 names, ranging from a 13-year-old Syrian boy said to have died fighting the Americans in Fallujah to the reigning kung fu champion of Jordan, who sneaked off to wage war by telling his family he was going to a tournament.
[...]
In a paper published in March, Reuven Paz, an Israeli expert on terrorism, analyzed the lists of jihadi dead. He found 154 Arabs killed over the previous six months in Iraq, 61 percent of them from Saudi Arabia, with Syrians, Iraqis and Kuwaitis together accounting for another 25 percent. He also found that 70 percent of the suicide bombers named by the Web sites were Saudi. In three cases, Paz found two brothers who carried out suicide attacks. Many of the bombers were married, well educated and in their late twenties, according to postings.
[...]
Evan F. Kohlmann, a researcher who monitors Islamic extremist Web sites, has compiled a list of more than 235 names of Iraqi dead gleaned from the Internet since last summer, with more than 50 percent on his tally from Saudi Arabia as well. In some cases, he found photos or videos of dead foreign fighters posted online. One Kuwaiti policeman who died was featured in a Zarqawi propaganda video called "Winds of Change," while the bloodied corpse of a Turkish al Qaeda disciple, Habib Aktas, was shown on another video celebrating his "martyrdom."
The Saudi government is certainly friendly with the U.S. government, but many of its citizens have joined the enemy or are financing the enemy. Most Saudis adhere to the fundamentalist strains of Islam (Salafism and Wahhabism, which aren't far leaps from Islamism) and its government is one of the least free on earth. The precursors are there for breeding terrorists, no matter how hard "officials" try to downplay what is happening.
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The LA Times confirms a two-year old story 5 Comments (0 topical, 5 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Iran vs. Saudi Arabia...Isn't that a lot like "Alien vs. Predator"?
Seriously, you are correct. That is one of the main reasons I have supported our continued presence in Iraq. Our troops are a magnet for these jihadists. (A magnet that can inflict some serious hurt.) If the jihadists cannot drive us out of their own backyard it is a major defeat for them and hurts their credibility. The longer we stay, the worse it gets for them. I think that part of the argument is often overlooked.
"Our troops are a magnet for these jihadists"
True. Their presence also creates more jihadists. Can we kill them faster than they are made?
In 2006, when the Pentagon released the names and national origins of 558 Guantanamo detainees, Afghan citizens represented only the second largest group. Despite being captured in Afghanistan, there were more Saudis on that list than any other nationality. Yesterday, sixteen Saudi detainees were released. As reported by Associated Press:
A total of 77 Saudis have now been returned from Guantanamo, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told SPA. He said 53 remain incarcerated at the US military facility in Cuba, a source of tension in US relations with Saudi Arabia, which is a close ally of Washington.
...kill them only as fast as we want to. It's never been a question of can we win? It's always been one of do we want to? The Democrats are gambling the safety and well being of every man, woman, and child living in this nation with their replay of the Appeasement at Munich, September, 1938; in the hopes of hanging an (L) onto George W Bush's legacy, in the hopes of guaranteeing Liberal domination of this country's politics 'ad infinitum'.
Historically, dictators and other forms of authoritarian states have always assumed that Democracies are inherently weak and vulnerable to their own presumed possessed superior strength.
Bin Laden's attack on the United States on 9/11 was based on the presumption that the United States was a 'weak Horse" and all it would take was a little push to cause the 'horse' to topple. The Democrats are in the process of proving Osama correct, and in the process, catching the attention of any other country interested in seizing world domination.
It was the Japanese, astounded by just how graciously accomodating the Western Democracies were to Hitler at Munich, deciding "That's for me!" as well, who made WWII a truly global conflict, instead of a localized European one.
Fools should be careful what they wish for.
The British and French were smart enough, after Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia six months after Munich, to realize the jig was up.
How much more, after the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, World Trade Center I, the twin US Embassy bombings, Khobar Towers, Iran's seizure of the US Embassy hostages, the USS Cole, World Trade Center II, and Iran's meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan will it take for the Democrats to reach the same level of situational awareness the Brits and the French achieved after March, 1939.
Is anyone conjuring up a mental image of an ostrich with his head stuck in the sand?
You ask: "If the central front of this war is Afghanistan...why are so many being killed and injured by suicide bomb in Iraq?" A paragraph later you write "A jihadist who is inspired to martyr himself in Iraq will fly to Syria and then surreptitiously cross into Iraq to meet his comrades."
You answered your own question. It's a lot harder for a Saudi to get to Afghanistan than to Iraq and far easier to blend in once there. Heck, they can probably drive to Iraq. Not to mention the fact that the number of US targets in Iraq is far higher which might be an appeal for a martyr.