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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmerica's Allies Are Funding ISIS
06.14.14
America's Allies Are Funding ISIS
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now threatening Baghdad, was funded for years by wealthy donors in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three U.S. allies that have dual agendas in the war on terror.
The extremist group that is threatening the existence of the Iraqi state was built and grown for years with the help of elite donors from American supposed allies in the Persian Gulf region. There, the threat of Iran, Assad, and the Sunni-Shiite sectarian war trumps the U.S. goal of stability and moderation in the region.
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But in the years they were getting started, a key component of ISISs support came from wealthy individuals in the Arab Gulf States of Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Sometimes the support came with the tacit nod of approval from those regimes; often, it took advantage of poor money laundering protections in those states, according to officials, experts, and leaders of the Syrian opposition, which is fighting ISIS as well as the regime.
Everybody knows the money is going through Kuwait and that its coming from the Arab Gulf, said Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies. Kuwaits banking system and its money changers have long been a huge problem because they are a major conduit for money to extremist groups in Syria and now Iraq.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)They did it to Wikileaks, I don't see why they can't do it to these groups.
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)The level of treason is breath-taking.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)wrong on anything, or admitting it is a propaganda tool of the war hawks and just plain greed and lust for power drives them relentlessly.
And of course God is on America's side, always, have to have that delusion firmly entrenched.
iamthebandfanman
(8,127 posts)duh moment for those of us whove cared to actually delve into the history of the conflicts in Afghanistan in the 70s and 80s...
Saudi Arabia (sunni) and iran (Shiite) both funded their own groups within Afghanistan during the soviet war... it was the conflict between those groups after the war was over that gave us the Taliban..
Saudi Arabia and iran have been funding their religious wars against each other for a pretty long while now.. and they'll use any unrest in the region to capitalize on it..
its time to break Iraq up into 3 pieces. its time for all parties to sit down and negotiate the terms. these groups have oppressed each other too much in the past and can not look past it.. there no sense of 'iraq'.. there no feeling of being Iraqi in Iraq.. just Shiite, sunni, or kurd. one must remember that the entire notion of the nation of Iraq was forced upon them in the first place.
alsame
(7,784 posts)it should be obvious to everyone that all these manufactured countries with artificial borders was a colossal mistake.
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)drunk and ginned up, having a good laughing party when those lines were drawn.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,404 posts)misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)Two names-Same goal
The group changed its name in 2012 from the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), from the Arabic term for Levant, al-Sham. That is sometimes translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It wanted to change its name to include a broader swath of land, as its goal was to create an Islamic state based on Sharia, or Islamic law.
Just for clarification. In case any DUers need to defend your use of either.
Someone called me on my use of ISIS yesterday. Saying it is ISIL not ISIS.
alsame
(7,784 posts)using ISIL while all the media are using ISIS. But you're right, it's the same group.