When those of us in the U.S. think of nations where future members of ISIS might be recruited, our own country is probably not at the top of our list. Yet it turns out that foreign students who study at our universities are recruited into that terrorist group in alarming numbers.
The Institute for Gulf Affairs issued an exclusive investigative report detailing Saudi nationals living in the United States who joined the terrorist group ISIS in the past three years. According to our investigation, approximately 400 Saudi and Kuwaiti nationals living in the United States mostly on government scholarships have joined terrorist groups, mainly ISIS.
Some of them hold dual citizenship as they were born in the United States during their parents’ schooling here.
These are among the nearly 80,000 Saudi students and family members who are currently in the United States.
Now that’s reassuring, isn’t it? “American, educating the next generation of terrorists.” That’s not a slogan that we want, and vigorous investigation and action is imperative.
However, it is questionable whether that will ever happen with our so-called friends, the Saudis, in the middle of this.
The report provides names, photos and details obtained exclusively by the Institute since 2014. The report also reveals how the Saudi government blocked this information from U.S. authorities and did very little to stop the flow of Saudis in the U.S. from joining ISIS and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
This was reflected in President Donald Trump excluding Saudi Arabia from his first and second executive orders to ban the citizens of seven countries from entering the United States for 90 days.
According to the currently available information, Saudi nationals make up the largest number of U.S. residents who left the United States to join ISIS, AlNusrah and other groups described as terrorist groups by the United States government.
The number of Saudi and Kuwaiti nationals who lived in the United States then left to join ISIS and other terrorist groups is larger than this list.
The Saudi government knew of these individuals but chose to hold this information from the United States, according to our investigation.
So, if we understand this correctly, the Saudis are complicit in a project that develops terrorists at US universities while claiming to be one of our allies. It would be easy to presume there must be a reason why American political leadership, regardless of its stripe, would allow this to continue.
The report from which we have sourced this information goes on to examine several such students turned terrorists.
It offers the following recommendations.
1 -Senate should hold hearings on the apparent failure to investigate and cover up with this matter. The hearing should request the testimonies of former FBI director James Comey, former CIA director John Brennon, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who should be questioned on the issue.
2 – Senate should form an ad hoc commission to review Saudi record of supporting terrorism and extremism at all levels including education and spreading extremist Islam to other countries. The commission should review all former FBI, CIA and nationals security agencies financial and personal ties to Saudi Arabia and to Saudi – linked entities.
3 – Reinforce visa sections at American embassy in Saudi Arabia and expand its vetting procedures to reduce the risk of Saudi nationals with extremist views entering the United States.
When to begin these hearings? They should have started years ago.
Source: Institute for Gulf Affairs
True! This usually where the students are targeted to back the ideals they want to fight for them. They know that enough students respond like sheep!