Libyan rebels have questionable history, says intelligence source

According to the intelligence source -- who requested anonymity -- the roads leading to the city of Tobuk from the cities of Benghazi and Darnah are saturated with Islamic terrorists, many of whom possess combat training and experience gained in terrorist training camps throughout the Middle East. Some of the Libyan rebels have fought Americans in Iraq as part of the al-Qaeda in Iraq organization. A few were even used as suicide bombers to take out Iraqi police officer and other targets in Baghdad and other locations, said the intelligence source. According to internal CIA and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) reports, the city of Darnah serves as a suicide-bomber farm for much of the Middle East, but the area received minimal attention since Libyan dictator Col. Khadhafi was successful in controlling the country's terrorist population which included a laissez faire policy as long as terrorists did not attack Libyans and Libyan targets. The current anti- Khadhafi military action by the U.S., Britain, France and other coalition members is motivated by UN Security Council resolution 1973 which acknowledged a need to protect the poorly armed and poorly trained rebels who fought Libya modern army. President Barack Obama other U.S. leaders have sold their military intervention as being one based on compassion and not American interests. Obama has repeatedly emphasized that U.S intervention is purely a humanitarian endeavor to prevent a massacre of "pro-democracy forces and human rights advocates" by the highly mechanized Khadhafi military forces. "Everyone [in the Obama Administration] appears to downplay the possible involvement of jihadi terror groups in Libya, the same way they sold Americans a 'bill of goods' that the Muslim Brotherhood was not a problem in the aftermath of the recent Egyptian overthrow of its government," said the intelligence source. There are also fears that Khadhafi indeed still possesses some chemical or biological weapons, although it's not known which type he possesses and what delivery systems he possesses to use weapons of mass destruction. There is also the so-called rebel council that suddenly appeared within days of the civil unrest in Libya. In fact, the exact composition of the council is being kept secret to avoid a Khadhafi-led bloodbath. The intelligence source then recommended an unclassified study of the backgrounds of some of the Arab world's most deadly terrorists and militants. In December 2007, an indepth study by West Point Military Academy authors Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman, found that Saudi Arabia took first place as far as the numbers of terrorists sent to combat the United States and other coalition members in Iraq. Libya, a country less than one fourth as populous, took second place. Saudi Arabia sent 41% of the fighters. According to Felter and Fishman, “Libya was the next most common country of origin, with 18.8% (112) of the fighters listing their nationality stating they hailed from Libya.” Felter and Fishman point out: “Almost 19 percent of the fighters in the Sinjar Records came from Libya alone. Furthermore, Libya contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality in the Sinjar Records, including Saudi Arabia.”