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.
So is this a sign that the fervor to enlist in the Arab world for the great jihad in Iraq is waning?
A Europe-wide sweep disrupted an Islamic cell that was recruiting potential suicide bombers for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, Italian police said Tuesday, announcing the arrests of 20 terror suspects.
If recruiting in the Arab heartland is waning, relying on European recruits is far more dangerous for the terrorists since the Europeans are not reluctant to use their extensive police powers to crack down on jihadis. Remember, they'd rather treat the war as a police problem, and boy do they have a lot of police powers. Europeans would wet their pants if they had to fight internal jihadis with our relatively weak police powers.
Oh, and the Italians say the group has been indoctrinating in militant Islamism since 1998, back in the sensitive decade and well before the Iraq War.
