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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Top general casts doubt on Tehran's link to Iraq militias
| quote: | Originally posted by hardcore trancer
You are bringing a very interesting point opus here,who is exactly funding the sunnis? I was actually thinking about this awhile back myself and I find it a bit strange that nobody is asking any sort of question regarding the support behind Sunni's. |
Yes, very strange. Guess we should turn to that darn ISG report that our Administration has chosen to believe is nonexistent:
| quote: | Funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, even as those governments help facilitate U.S. military operations in Iraq by providing basing and overflight rights and by cooperating on intelligence issues.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packag...61206_btext.pdf |
As the AP reported back in December:
| quote: | Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.
Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.
But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.
Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.
Some Saudis appear to know the money is headed to Iraq's insurgents, but others merely give it to clerics who channel it to anti-coalition forces, the officials said.
...
Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of financial support for the insurgents.
''There isn't any organized terror finance, and we will not permit any such unorganized acts,'' said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. About a year ago the Saudi government set up a unit to track any ''suspicious financial operations,'' he said.
But the Iraq Study Group said ''funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.''
Saudi officials say they cracked down on zakat abuses, under pressure from the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The Iraqi officials, however, said some funding goes to Iraq's Sunni Arab political leadership, who then disburse it. Other money, they said, is funneled directly to insurgents. The distribution network includes Iraqi truck and bus drivers.
Several drivers interviewed by the AP in Middle East capitals said Saudis have been using religious events, like the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a smaller pilgrimage, as cover for illicit money transfers. Some money, they said, is carried into Iraq on buses with returning pilgrims.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/wor...&pagewanted=all |
Well the evidence against the Saudi government being behind the funding for Sunnis is about as strong as the Iranian government for Shiite militias. With this rationale, I can't WAIT to invade the Sauds after we get finished with Iran!
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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...
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