Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif receiving CIA's “George Tenet” medal from the agency's director Mike Pompeo on Friday in Riyadh
Seymour Hersh -
The Redirection:
[T]he Administration has cooperated with Saudi Arabia's government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
Former Vice President Biden
explaining who finances Takfiri terrorism (
video):
Mr Biden said that "our biggest problem is our allies" who are engaged in a proxy Sunni-Shiite war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. He specifically named Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"What did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad - except that the people who were being supplied were (Jabhat) Al-Nusra and al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world," Mr Biden said.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
explaining who finances Takfiri terrorism (
original):
... we need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.
ISIS, Iraq, and the Lessons of Blowback:
Qatar's military and economic largesse has made its way to Jabhat al-Nusra, to the point that a senior Qatari official told me he can identify al-Nusra commanders by the blocks they control in various Syrian cities. But ISIS is another matter. As one senior Qatari official stated, "ISIS has been a Saudi project."
CIA honors Saudi Crown Prince for efforts against terrorism
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, received a medal on Friday from the CIA for his distinct intelligence-related counter-terrorism work and his contributions to ensure international peace and security.
The medal, named after George Tenet, was handed to him by CIA Director Micheal Pompeo after the Crown Prince received him in Riyadh on Friday in the presence of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
Comment: For more information on Saudi Arabia's 'counter-terrorism' operations:
More on the award,
from RT:
"The Kingdom has been keen to combat terrorism based on its conviction that terrorism has no identity and no religion, and from its belief that the terrorists are committing these acts stemming from their deviant ideologies and evil thought," Arab news quoted bin Nayef as saying Saturday. "All negative religious, political and social ideologies that use religion as a tool throughout human history do not reflect the absolute truth about religion."
The prince also said the award recognized the Kingdom's anti-terrorism efforts under King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and commended Saudis working in security agencies as well as the Saudi people for their work to combat terrorism.
Bin Nayef highlighted the fact that the Kingdom had successfully prevented several terror plots, including ones against friendly countries, and described the US-Saudi relationship as "strong and historic," saying nothing would come between them or damage their ties.
"Combatting terrorism requires a joint international effort at all levels; financially, intellectually, militarily and through the media," he said. "This should be coordinated and conducted in accordance with the UN's covenants and laws including particularly the principle of sovereign equality."
The gesture has been viewed as ironic on social media, given the controversy around Saudi Arabia. "Worst joke ever," a social media user tweeted. "Giving a Saudi prince a medal for combating terrorism is the equivalent of giving McDonald's a medal for combating obesity," another said.
Comment: For more information on Saudi Arabia's 'counter-terrorism' operations: