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| Fifth Column |
| AP Admits Bad Reporting Fuels Insurgency (Well, sort of) |
| 2005-09-21 |
| Originally the title related to Saudi insurgents being in the minority. DC Examiner, page forward to page 13. Reprinted in full. CAIRO, Egypt â Saudi fighters make up only about 1 percent of Iraqâs insurgency, but each contributes thousands of dollars to the cause â and they make sure their roles as âmartyrsâ are known when they carry out suicide attacks, and even if they do not - see below helping draw more recruits, a new report said. About 30,000 fighters are believed to be involved in the insurgency, approximately 90 percent of them Sunni Arab Iraqis motivated by fear of Shiite domination or anger over lost power, said the report by the Washington based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Or anger about Abu Ghraib and Gitmo - read on. Of the estimated 3,000 foreign fighters, the largest number â about 20 percent â comes from Algeria, followed by Syria and Yemen with about 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively, said the report issued Monday. About 15 percent come from Sudan, 5 percent from Egypt and 5 percent from other countries. Of about 350 Saudis who entered Iraq by August 2005, about 130 are believed to have been killed or captured, it said. The report, written by Nawaf Obaid and Anthony Cordesman, was a contrast to accounts contending that Saudis make up a large proportion of foreign fighters as opposed to a large proportion of the financial support in the insurgency that has persisted since the fall of Saddam Husseinâs regime in March 2003. The study by the CSIS, an independent think tank, said its information was compiled from estimates provided by Saudi intelligence services based on interrogations of captured militants and other sources, and by intelligence agencies of other, unidentified governments in the region. The âmain pillarâ of the insurgency is not former Saddam loyalists, though they do contribute expertise, the report said. Instead the bulk of fighters are members of Sunni Arab Iraqi tribes. âAlthough they do not support a return to Saddam Husseinâs regime, most are Sunnis wary of a Shiite-led government,â it said. Most of the Saudis what about the rest of the hard boyz? who join the insurgency âwere motivated by revulsion at the idea of an Arab land being occupied by a non-Arab countryâ and anger over allegations allegations. They said it. AP's word was allegations, but also fueled by over-reporting and false Koran-flushing articles, et cetera. of U.S. abuses at the Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay prisons, it said. They average in age between 17-25. Notably, most of those caught by Saudi authorities trying to enter Iraq âwere not militants before the Iraq war,â it said. Thank you, MSM, for your significant contribution to the deaths of American troops! Eighty-five percent were not on any government watch list or known to be al-Qaida members. Instead, they were âradicalized almost exclusively by the coalition invasion,â and the reporting thereof. It wasn't the invasion that made them mad, it was what they read or saw in the media! the report said. The Saudis provide money and propaganda for the insurgents, it said. Unlike fighters from poor Arab nations, Saudis sometimes bring in âpersonal funds between $10,000 and $15,000â to contribute, the report said. There also is a system for spreading the news of suicide bombings carried out by Saudis, unlike suicide bombers from Algeria or Egypt, whose families may never be notified, the report said. Saudi bombers leave their colleagues a contact number to notify next of kin. âThe media attention their deaths as âmartyrsâ bring to the cause ... is a powerful recruiting tool,â the report said. And Saudi exploits are exaggerated in Internet statements issued by insurgent groups. It noted that analysis of some lists of âmartyrsâ posted on Islamic militant Web sites found that some said to have carried out suicide attacks were living in Saudi Arabia. Why be a martyr if you can't have any of the fame? Many of the Saudi fighters were inspired to go to Iraq by militant clerics, who also helped the young men get there, often through Syria. |
| Posted by:Hupereting Sputing8806 |
| #1 Seems to me we discussed the CSIS report a couple of days ago. I recommended then, and I reiterate now, that anything coming from them should be carefully examined for ingrained, virtually unrecognized bias on the part of many members. This group should be given the same scrutiny as DEBKA, IMHO. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-09-21 16:47 |