Biden: More foreigners, especially Saudis, fighting U.S. troops in Iraq

[ECH1969]

WASHINGTON (AP) More foreign fighters than ever are crossing Iraq's porous borders to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces, and a growing number are from U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia, a Senate Democrat said Thursday.

''The mix is changing,'' said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., citing conversations last week in Iraq with Marine and Army generals. ''Now, the mix is increasingly more Islamist crossing the border ... and a lot of them are Saudis. It presents a different profile'' that is harder for U.S. forces to confront.

Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, gave no specific numbers, for foreign fighters as a whole or for the percentage from Saudi Arabia. He said he was told repeatedly that the totals are going up and that Saudis are ''a disproportionate number.''

Asked about estimates that Saudis make up 40 percent of suicide bombers recruited to Iraq by the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Saudi Arabia differs from other nations that may export fighters to Iraq because it is also fighting al-Qaida insurgents on its own territory.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/160/wash/Biden_More_foreigners_especial:.shtml

[GetTheRightVote]

1. This is getting interesting now, Our allies the Saudi, this is rich

really, really rich.

:kick:

[bpilgrim]

16. General Taluto said "99.9 per cent" captured fighting the US were Iraqis

"General Taluto said "99.9 per cent" of those captured fighting the US were Iraqis, but was also adamant most people in Iraq wanted a free, democratic and independent country."

source...
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=168406

peace

[skooooo]

2. I thought the Saudis were our friends!!

Were all those commercials they aired wrong?!!

[SpiralHawk]

8. The Bush Family is "friends" with the Saudis

They like to hold hands, and make billions on arms and munitions. It's a Family Affair.

[NorCalDem]

3. The Saudis are NOT our friends

but the royal family is friends with our royal family. The common man, women, or child in Saudi isn't very fond of us, or their own royal family for that matter. It was the Royal Families embrace of industrialization (sold to them by the US) that helped spark the Islamic Fundamentalism in Saudi. Why do you think that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups get most of their money from Saudi Arabia?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. That point was made by most who opposed the Iraq invasion

Most of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. Not a single one was from Iraq.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Anybody could have predicted this 3 years ago.

But, this could all be bullshit intended to make us believe that the problem isn't the Iraqis.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. These aren't Saudis; these are Arabians

I wish we'd stop calling it Saudi Arabia, as if the country were the fiefdom of the House of Saud.

Most likely, the House of Saud is just a happy to have these people in Iraq; if they were still in Saudi Arabia, they'd probably be trying to oust the Sauds from power.

[ogradda]

11. I don't understand, what do you mean?

Saudi isn't part of the name of the country? Is Saudi the family name of the ruling family?

[Jack Rabbit]

12. Yes, Saud is the name of the ruling family

Calling these people Saudi a little like calling a Russian peasant prior to 1917 a Romanov.

[ogradda]

18. Well I'll be darned.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

[applegrove]

7. Saudi Arabia is an oligarchy. Those people are covered in tribal

slime to they have nothing in life, no economic opportunity, except for Islam.

See what an elite run religious tribal society garners? Trouble. Give people nothing to hope for economically or individually and then impose all sorts of customary law on them, teach them to hate everything but old fashioned ways & then watch them blow themselves up. (paraphrasing some quote found in Gwyn Dyer's book)

[Coexist]

9. bite your tongue - the Saudis are untouchable in this adminstration

do you want to piss Bush and Co. off? LOL!

[Gloria]

10. This general isn't so sure, Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto...Gulf News

1//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates Published: 9/6/2005, 06:25 (UAE)

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=168406



‘GOOD AND HONEST’ IRAQIS FIGHTING US FORCES

By Phil Sands, Staff Reporter



Tikrit: A senior US military chief has admitted "good, honest" Iraqis are fighting American forces.

Major General Joseph Taluto said he could understand why some ordinary people would take up arms against the US military because "they're offended by our presence".


SNIP

General Taluto, head of the US 42nd Infantry Division which covers key trouble spots, including Baquba and Samarra, also said some Iraqis not involved in fighting did support insurgents who avoided hurting civilians.



snip


His comments come in stark contrast to the assertions of other top US figures, who persist in claiming all insurgents are either Baathists or Al Qaida terrorists.



General Taluto also admitted he did not know how many insurgents there were. "I stay away from numbers how can I quantify this? We can make estimates by doing some kind of guesswork," he said.



"I think there is a small core of foreign fighters. I don't know how big that is but there is some kind of capability here, and it's being replenished.





(MORE)

[Rose Siding]

13. Isn't that remarkable?

But I'll bet Biden -powerful, comfortable Washington pol- has the version that will get more play.

[oblivious]

24. Wow! That's quite a headline and quite an interview.

It's sad that the only reason I say WOW is that it's so rare for someone to speak honestly in the whole Iraq context.

Everything else is just war propaganda.

[Jacobin]

14. Right. The Iraqis just love having us there

It's those 'foreigners', yeah, that's the ticket.

Biden is such an asshat

[wookie294]

15. Iraq's government says there are 200,000 insurgents

The Iraqi government says the number of insurgents in Iraq is 200,000. See link...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1425022,00.html

I disagree with Biden. I think he's being manipulated by people in the Pentagon who want Americans to think the Iraqi people support our troops and that most violence is from "foreigners." Or, perhaps Biden is part of the cabal to fool Americans into thinking most of the insurgency is "foreign."

Washington Post: “Even with the reported rise in foreign fighters, several senior officers said, the number estimated to be coming into the country each month is still relatively small -- in the neighborhood of several score. In numerical terms, they said, the insurgency remains essentially homegrown. Iraqi members of extremist Islamic factions, such as the Ansar al Sunna Army, continue to account for many insurgent attacks.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800838_2.html

[roseBudd]

21. I believe Biden when he says this war has attracted fighters from ...

Arabia because that is what happened with the Russain war against Afghanistan. The arabian fighters either didn't return or were no longer welcome in Arabia and thus Al Quaeda was born. OBL was an arabian soldier for Afghanistan.

Iraq is the new training ground.

[wookie294]

22. I agree, but 90 percent of the fighters are not foreign

It's mostly the politicians who emphasize the existence of "foreign fighters" while the military people on the ground say most of the insurgency is comprised of Iraqi citizens. It works to Bush's political advantage to say most of the insurgents are "foreign," which is one reason why I think most of the insurgents are NOT foreign.

"Certainly no more than 5 to 10 percent of our operations ever find a foreign fighter or show involvement of foreign fighters." – CENTCOM Commander, Gen. John Abizaid

"While the resistance continues, Abizaid said he thinks there are fewer than 1,000 foreign fighters in Iraq." – Department of Defense press release

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said fighters associated with al-Qaeda and Zarqawi represent "a fairly small percentage of the total number of insurgents."

[roseBudd]

27. I agree, but the presence of foreign fighters going to Iraq is chilling...

beacuse it is the new training ground for Al Quaeda. This war has made us infinitely less safe.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Biden: PNAC mouthpiece, corporate whore EOM

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. Finally.

[Gyre]

20. Biden can go to hell!

:evilgrin:

Gyre

[MrPrax]

23. What Orwellian Garbage...

The only 'foreign fighters' in Iraq are US troops and their 'coalition' partners...or are we suppose to think that the US illegal war and occupation of the country is somehow legitimate...

Biden is a fuckin' idiot and should be froghopped to the Hague like the rest of his buddies...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. Folks, consider the source for these remarks....just another NeoCon.

[Rex]

26. OBL sending his troops from the homeland?

Anyone looking for his ass in Sudan? Guess he just "got away". :eyes: