A BIG Breeding Gound for Terror

Want to read something really thought-provoking about the Iraq dabacle? Try this article: Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers. About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said. You can imagine how unwelcome this information might be: The situation has left the U.S. military in the awkward position of battling an enemy whose top source of foreign fighters is a key ally that at best has not been able to prevent its citizens from undertaking bloody attacks in Iraq, and at worst shares complicity in sending extremists to commit attacks against U.S. forces, Iraqi civilians and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.The problem casts a spotlight on the tangled web of alliances and enmities that underlie the political relations between Muslim nations and the U.S. So, where do we stand? Do we hold the Saudi king to the same level of accountability as the Iranian leaders? It seems that we do not. Why is that, do you suppose?