These Are Our Allies?

By Eric on November 23, 2007

It’s the time of year to be thankful, and I’m sure one of the things that George Bush is thankful for this weekend is our allies in Iraq–a number that continues to dwindle as mighty Poland removes its troops from the “coalition of the willing.” Unfortunately for Bush, even our allies might not be so friendly to us anymore. In fact, it is increasingly likely that our soldiers in Iraq are fighting insurgents who come from our allies:

In all, 305, or 41%, of the fighters listed were from Saudi Arabia. Another 137, or 18%, came from Libya. Both countries are officially US allies in anti-terrorism efforts.

In contrast, 56 Syrians were listed and no Lebanese. Previously, US officials estimated that around a fifth of all foreign fighters in Iraq came from these two countries.

US officials have also long complained about Iranian interference in the affairs of its neighbour, accusing Tehran of shipping weapons for militants over the border. However, any assistance does not appear to extend to people, the paper said, reporting that, of around 25,000 suspected militants in US custody in Iraq, 11 were Iranian. No Iranians were listed among the fighters whose details were found.

After all of the Bush Administration’s bluster about Iran this and Syria that, the terrorists are really coming from Saudi Arabia and Libya. Of course, this shouldn’t surprise anyone who has successfully completed a connect-the-dots puzzle, since 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and Libya was considered a “state sponsor of terrorism” from 1979 up until they conveniently agreed to “cooperate in the fight against international terrorism.”

Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to successfully wage a “war on terror” any more than a war on nationalism or a war on faith or a war on any other intangible ideological belief. But for those in the Bush Administration and the 24% of America who still think we can “win” this war, explain to me: how are we supposed to win a war when we’re coddling the source of our enemies?

Tags: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, War on Terror

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