Terrorist money pipeline a gusher - from middle-East 'allies'

[JohnWxy]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/7325901.html


While U.S. officials in their public statements have been relatively upbeat about their progress in disrupting terrorist financing, the internal State Department cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to several news organizations, offer a more pessimistic account, with blunt assessments of the threats to the U.S. from money flowing to militants affiliated with al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hamas, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and other groups.

A classified memo sent by Clinton last December made it clear that residents of Saudi Arabia and its neighbors, all allies of the U.S., are the chief financial supporters of many extremist activities. "It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority," the cable said, concluding that "donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."(my emphasis_JW)
(more)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WAs there ever a better reason to accelerate replacing gas with biofuels as fast as possible. That is, keep domestic ethanol production going, while importing all the ethanol Brazil or anybody else can supply. We could probably jump to 15% of our transportation fuel supply in a couple years. This would start sending a message to middle-Eastern 'allies'. At the very least it would start reducing the supply of money going to terrorist organizations and countries (IRAN).

Biofuels Bill Aims to Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar joined a bipartisan effort of 14 senators calling on Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to extend the biofuels tax credits that will help reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, invest in renewable fuels infrastructure, and create jobs for middle-class families and economic growth.
(more)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://conrad.senate.gov/pressroom/record.cfm?id=328773">Extension of Credits is Critical to Nation's Energy Independence

Washington – Saying that ethanol offers the most effective alternative to foreign oil and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States, Senators Kent Conrad and Charles Grassley (R-IA) have gathered signatures for a letter to Senate leaders urging action this year on legislation to extend renewable fuel tax and tariff provisions.

The senators said immediate action is warranted to “provide stability and certainty for producers and consumers of renewable fuels.”

“Our country is spending over $730 million a day on imported petroleum this year, money that often ended up in the hands of unstable or unfriendly governments,” Conrad and Grassley wrote. “This is not the time to reduce the supply of a domestic source of fuel and place at greater risk the thousands of well-paying jobs that the renewable fuels industry has created.”

The senators said that ethanol is the only renewable fuel that is working to reduce U.S. dependence on oil. Domestically produced ethanol displaces millions of barrels of imported oil every year from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria and now accounts for almost 10 percent of the U.S. fuel supply.
(more)