Hey, Georgie, when ya gonna invade Saudi Arabia?

"The authorities can't fail to be embarrassed ... but as to what the

real numbers are, it's difficult to judge," said Neil Partrick of the

International Crisis Group.

"The Saudi position in general is that they have spent a lot of money

on their direct border with Iraq, and they see themselves as having

actively pursued radical messages and fatwas (edicts) issued by Saudi

clerics," he said.

From Reuters, 7/19/07:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19789730.htm

Saudis fighting in Iraq, Lebanon embarrass homeland

By Andrew Hammond

RIYADH, July 19 (Reuters) -

Recent reports suggesting there are significant numbers of Saudis

fighting alongside Islamist militant groups in Iraq and Lebanon have

provoked embarrassment and soul-searching in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq's National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie said this week

that Iraq had tried 160 Saudis for involvement in violence, and a

report in a U.S. newspaper said 45 percent of foreigners fighting in

Iraq were Saudis.

Lebanese officials say dozens of Saudis are among militants of the

Fatah al-Islam militant group which has been battling the army for two

months in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon.

The Saudi-owned Arabic press has countered the reports, citing

officials who say the numbers are exaggerated in both Iraq and

Lebanon.

Columnists are once again wrestling with the issue of the Saudi role

in global Islamist militancy, an issue which first came up after the

Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 where 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi

nationals.

"The question raised since the 9/11 terrorist attacks is whether

Saudis, once known as the most peace-loving people, are aware that

they have become an international problem?" wrote Abdel-Rahman

al-Rashed in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper this week.

"Why Saudis, we may ask? Because they are mentally and politically

prepared to act like time bombs that can be manipulated by regimes

with dangerous political agendas."

Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for stoking radical sentiment in the

region, through backing its allies Syria, Iraqi Shi'ite groups,

Lebanese group Hezbollah and Palestinian group Hamas.

Saudis, in turn, have joined Arabs fighting in the ranks of al Qaeda

in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Estimates on the numbers have varied from hundreds to thousands.

____________________________________________________

Hey, Georgie, ya listenin'?

Harry