Saudi Arabia's other major export product: Suicide terrorists

While the world can't yet figure out how to live without Saudi oil, some Saudis at least only want to live to kill the rest of us. The New York Times reports:

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.

Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.

He said 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.

That's 4,000 Iraqis. As the Times report continues:

The Saudi government does not dispute that some of its youths are ending up as suicide bombers in Iraq, but says it has done everything it can to stop the bloodshed.

"Saudis are actually being misused. Someone is helping them come to Iraq. Someone is helping them inside Iraq. Someone is recruiting them to be suicide bombers. We have no idea who these people are. We aren't getting any formal information from the Iraqi government," said Gen. Mansour Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry.

"If we get good feedback from the Iraqi government about Saudis being arrested in Iraq, probably we can help," he said.

While this sounds like a pretty lame excuse to me, the Iraqi government should make a dramatic gesture of stepping forward to give the Saudis names and photos so they can do something about this.

But wait, check this out:

U.S. officials had not shared with Iraqi officials information gleaned from Saudi detainees, but this has started to change, said an Iraqi source, who asked not to be identified. For example, U.S. officials provided information about Saudi fighters and suicide bombers to Iraqi security officials who traveled to Saudi Arabia last week.

Iraqi advisor Askari asserted that Vice President Dick Cheney, in a visit to Saudi Arabia in May, pressured officials to crack down on militant traffic to Iraq. But that message has not yet produced results, Askari said.

. . .Asked why U.S. officials in Iraq had not publicly criticized Saudi Arabia the way they had Iran or Syria, the senior military officer said, "Ask the State Department. This is a political juggernaut."

So it takes the Vice President himself to give the Saudis the bottom line here? Poor Cheney, he always has to be the bearer of bad news.

Not surprisingly, many Iraqis (Americans too, I might add) suspect that Riyadh knows very well who comprises their volunteer suicide bombing brigade. But they prefer these disgruntled souls to blow themselves up in Iraq as opposed to at home. (Can't say as I blame them.)

Many Shiites, on the other hand, think that what's going on in Iraq is the Saudi's proxy war with Iran.

But now consider this bit of information:

Al Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliate groups number anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 individuals, the senior U.S. military officer said. Iraqis make up the majority of members, facilitating attacks, indoctrinating, fighting, but generally not blowing themselves up. Iraqis account for roughly 10% of suicide bombers, according to the U.S. military.

To do the math for you, that means 90% of the suicide bombings are the work of foreign jihadists.