Shock: Saudi Arabia leading source of terrorist financing

So what are we doing? Is our relationship with the Saudi’s so important that we can’t take a firm stand on this issue?

And all they get is a mild rebuke from President Bush? Sometimes I really question the political motives of the Bush administration. It just seems lately like they’re more concerned with diplomatic relations than actually fighting the War on terrorism. From funding Fatah, to supporting an Islamic state in Kosovo, to putting up with the failures of Pakistan to fight the Taliban, to dancing with the Saudi’s eventhough we know they are meddling in terrorist activities, it’s just amazing how much the Bush administration has changed since 9-11.

How can you fight a war on terror while slapping the Saudi’s on the hand for something as huge as this?

LA Times

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia remains the world’s leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow, the Bush administration’s top financial counter-terrorism official said Tuesday.

Stuart A. Levey, a Treasury undersecretary, told a Senate committee that the Saudi government had not taken important steps to go after those who finance terrorist organizations or to prevent wealthy donors from bankrolling extremism through charitable contributions, sometimes unwittingly.

“Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world,” Levey said under questioning.

U.S. officials have previously identified Saudi Arabia as a major source of funding for extremism. But Levey’s comments were notable because, although reluctant to directly criticize a close U.S. ally, he acknowledged frustration with administration efforts to persuade the Saudis and others to act.

read the whole article

hattip: Hotair

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