Evan Kohlmann at the Counterterrorist Blog: Surprise, Surprise: Yet More Evidence that the Majority of Foreign Fighters in Iraq Come from Saudi Arabia.

It seems that the evidence of the involvement of Saudi Al-Qaida recruits in the Iraqi insurgency has become so plainly obvious that even the New York Times has taken note. In an article published this week, Times writer Richard Oppel cites statistics derived from a “trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border”, featuring a “collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006.” According to the Times article, at least 305 of those biographies—or 41%—were of fighters from Saudi Arabia: “Among the Saudi fighters described in the materials, 45 had come from Riyadh, 38 from Mecca, 20 from Buraidah and the surrounding area, 15 from Jawf and Sakakah, 13 from Jidda, and 12 from Medina.” Compare this to Tony Cordesman’s suggestion in his 2005 report on the Iraqi insurgency that Saudi nationals represent only 12% of the total number of foreign fighters. Quite obviously, Cordesman’s estimate was way, way too low.

I should add that the latest evidence cited in the New York Times is hardly an incredible revelation. Other independent researchers—such as Reuven Paz and myself—who rely primarily on information obtained directly from insurgent groups—have long pointed to Saudi Arabia as the main source of Al-Qaida’s recruits in Iraq. The evidence is almost unmistakable—in the form of countless video recordings, photographs, interviews, and written testimonials. Our motivation for reporting these facts has not been political or financial, but out of a genuine concern that one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East has been nearly as unhelpful in Iraq (wittingly or unwittingly) as the regimes who have been routinely painted as America’s most troublesome regional adversaries, namely Syria and Iran. Indeed, as noted by the New York Times piece, “whatever aid Iran provides to militias inside Iraq does not seem to extend to supplying actual combatants: only 11 Iranians are in American detention, United States officials say.” I rarely find myself in agreement with Juan Cole on the issue of foreign fighters in Iraq, but even I can admit that he makes a fair argument when he points out: “Which country is providing a lot of foreign suicide bombers? US ally Saudi Arabia. Has any general or Bush administration official called a press conference to denounce Saudi Arabia? No. Has Joe Lieberman threatened it with a war? No. Everything is being blamed on Iran… regardless of the facts.”