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| U.S.-Saudi Anti-Terror Operation Planned |
| 2003-08-27 |
| Task Force Will Target Funding By Douglas Farah Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 26, 2003 EFL Saudi Arabia and the United States have for the first time agreed to set up a joint task force that will station U.S. law enforcement officials in the desert kingdom to target individuals suspected of funneling millions of dollars to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, officials from both countries said yesterday. PR we’ve all heard before... Senior officials of the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service are flying to Riyadh today to iron out the operational details of the group, which will focus on mining information from bank accounts, computer records and other financial data to track and shut down the money flow, according to senior officials from both governments. Ah, the IRS - so they are getting serious as these guys rival the Saoodis in arrogance. Other similarities will be left for another day... Although several joint task forces have been tried before, none allowed U.S. officials to live in Saudi Arabia or have access to Saudi documents and investigations. U.S. and Saudi officials said the impetus for strengthening cooperation between the two nations came from al Qaeda’s attacks in Saudi Arabia in May, when suicide car bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh killed 34 people, including nine assailants. The turnover rate (snicker) of the task force will be something to watch. I could give them a few pointers about where to eat, useful escapist activities, hotel with the best Russian prostitutes, etc, but the IRS has never been half so nice to me, so... naw, phuck ’em. Heh. U.S. officials said the creation of the task force is an important step whose effectiveness will depend on how seriously the Saudi government takes the issue. And how many of them speak Arabic so they’ll know when they’re being excluded from the good shit... "I don’t think there is a more immediate way to test the joint resolve of our countries than to have a joint investigative unit, with the linguistic and computer resources of both our countries, that is capable of focusing on specific targets, rather than talking in generalities," said David Aufhauser, the Treasury Department’s counsel general, who helped negotiate the agreement. "We now have a testable proposition of people’s resolve." Loooong overdue. Dennis Lormel, head of the FBI division investigating terrorist financing, agreed that "it is one thing for the Saudis to say they will cooperate and another to commit the resources to making this work. It was agreed to at a very senior level, so we hope this specifically focused group will work." More... All that bad publicity (14 Saudi 9/11 bombers, paymaster activities for terrorists, dirty charities, the missing pages, asshat madrassah funding - the whole nine yards) may finally yield something akin to cooperation. What I wonder is what happens when the smoking gun is located firmly in the grip of a prominent Royal’s hand? Now that will be the real test... |
| Posted by:.com |
| #10 This is good news. But .com has the crucial caveat in his conclusion. Saudis round the wagons when a khawaji (Western ferner) shows a bit of independence, like say demoting one who doesn't show up for work on a regular basis. The khawaji gets a phone call from a higher up (Western or Saudi) who asks him to give the troublemaker another "chance". IRS and FBI cannot play footsie with their counterparts on the other side of the table. Read the agreement, understand it, and stick to it. Literally. Otherwise, if the Saudis offer cars and other perks not mentioned in the agreement, don't accept them boys. If you do, they will come to you for favors not covered in agreement. You don't play ball, they will stonewall you and you won't know what hit you. Hope our boys know this and are willing to say no. This will rub against the hosts so much as there is an aversion in their culture to refusing a request. I've seen it again and again. Just like the "Godfather" Remember the scene, folks? Movie producer: Tell Corleone I'll do anything for him except give Johnny Fontaine this role. Duval: Mr. Corleone doesn't ask for other favors if his original one has been turned down. The stakes are a bit higher here, though. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-8-27 5:05:29 PM |
| #9 This is excellent! Iraq becomes a magnet for terrorists so they go there rather than threaten the Home Front. NOW Saudi Arabia becomes a magnet for IRS agents, so they there rather than audit us. This is an unexpected plus from the War on Terror. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-8-27 3:45:05 PM |
| #8 The Royals vs the Jihadis vs each other, when mapped out, remind me of a rootbound plant when you remove the pot. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-8-27 1:49:12 PM |
| #7 i think both anon and crawford are right - theres both a struggle between Crown prince abdullah against some of his half brothers, for control of the state, and a struggle of the state against the jihadis, one in which elements of the state support the jihadis as it suits them, and in which such support as one of the tools in the succession struggle. Maybe a better example would be the French revolution, with different factions struggling among the revolutionaries (jacobins vs Girondins,etc) while the revolution as a whole fought the Vendeens, etc. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-8-27 11:56:33 AM |
| #6 Not a civil war -- a war for succession. It's a fight within the royal family. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-8-27 10:29:44 AM |
| #5 And switching sides regularly... the old shifting sands bit... Which reminds me very little of the old Bedu and the Rabbi joke. The rabbi shows up at the oasis and asks the Bedu, "How may mullahs does it take to... |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-27 10:24:43 AM |
| #4 I like to think that about half of this crap is true. The Saudis basically have a civil war on their hands, with lots of people on both sides at once. (Lots of Yankee Union Army guys with a house full of slaves) |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-8-27 10:15:25 AM |
| #3 Yeah, right - that's they plastered it all over the Washington Post. This is as believable as those Saudi PSAs they run during Limbaugh's show. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2003-8-27 7:59:58 AM |
| #2 Everyone fears them To paraphrase Wellington: They damn sure scare me. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-27 7:44:27 AM |
| #1 Dont knock the IRS. Everyone fears them, and they can get people the law cant get to. Just ask Al Capone. |
| Posted by: flash91 2003-8-27 7:06:20 AM |