MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova - The rise of Islamic State (IS) has been indirectly facilitated by the US government, as Washington has always been turning a blind eye to Saudi support for Sunni radicals in the Middle East and Riyadh involvement in 9/11 tragedy, claims Bob Graham, former chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
"I believe that the failure to shine a full light on Saudi actions and particularly its involvement in 9/11 has contributed to the Saudi ability to continue to engage in actions that are damaging to the US – and in particular their support for Isis," said the former Senator, as cited by the Independent.
Senator Graham stresses that for a long time both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have been relying on a "core group of private donors and charities in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf." According to Mr. Graham, Saudi Arabia, regardless its denials, has been "a central figure in financing ISIS and extremist groups."
It is worth mentioning that according to the Brooking Institution's report "Playing with Fire: Why Private Gulf Financing for Syria's Extremist Rebels Risks Igniting Sectarian Conflict at Home," US diplomats and officials were aware of Saudi support for Sunni extremists in Iraq and Syria. Surprisingly enough, Washington did almost nothing to suspend "this flow of private financing."
Senator Graham emphasizes that the US intelligence services have obviously failed to identify IS as a growing extremist threat in the Middle East partly due to Washington's blind trust to Riyadh, which is still considered to be a loyal and reliable American ally.
The former Senator draws historic parallels between the Islamic State's rise and the events of 9/11, stressing that the Saudi involvement in the New York tragedy of September 2001 has been insufficiently investigated. 15 out of 19 of the hijackers were Saudis, Mr. Graham pointed out and noted Washington's surprising leniency for Saudi aristocracy and civilians: about 144 Saudi individuals were permitted to return to their homeland just a few days after the tragedy. None of them was questioned by the FBI.
"The most striking example of Washington’s willingness to protect the Kingdom over complicity in 9/11 is the 28 pages of the official inquiry that were censored and have yet to be published," writes the Independent and cites an American top official as saying: "If the 28 pages were to be made public, I have no question that the entire relationship with Saudi Arabia would change overnight."
The 28-page document has not yet released publicly, although "there is no national security justification for keeping them a secret 13 years after 9/11," according to Mr. Graham.
The former Senator believes that the apparent failure of Washington's war on terrorism could be explained by the US "policy of covering up Saudi involvement" in both 9/11 events and in subsidizing jihadi groups of the Islamic State.
The former Senator doubts that Obama's plan of creating special training facilities for the so-called "moderate" Syrian opposition in Saudi Arabia in order to contain IS will prove effective. The Saudi's first and foremost goal is to destroy Bashar al-Assad and Shia regimes in the region, he stresses.
