Rebuilding Raqqa: Strengthening Terror Armies with "construction" contracts

 What might really be set to occur in Raqqa now that the US backed PKK terror crew has their fealty flag flying?  In yesterday's post I broached the subject of funneling funds via construction contracts to create terror armies

"U.S. special envoy Brett McGurk is visiting the Raqqa area, accompanied by Saudi Arabian Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan, whose government the Trump administration hopes will put up funds for the effort."And that's how you funnel money to terrorists- Through construction contracts. Particularly with certain connected persons or construction firms. Think Osama bin Laden & Bin Laden construction I've begun work on a post regarding the reconstruction of Raqqa and the ease with which money can be diverted to fund all manner of terrorism. This is how ISIS came to be in Iraq.We'll revisit that soon enough.........."

Before we get to the possible funding of terror armies redux- I want to mention yet again that mouthpieces from the US are insisting that Syria is hindering the US in their "fight" against ISISLink

"The Syrian regime and its allies are hindering the liberation of Raqqah by U.S.-supported forces, the White House charged Wednesday."Instead of focusing on fighting ISIS, the pro-regime forces attacked our partners and attempted to block them from liberating the Syrian people from the brutality of ISIS," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or Daesh."

When the PKK initially raised their giant Ocalan banner the US declined to comment on the unveiling of the huge banner of jailed terror leader Abdullah Ocalan

"The U.S. declined to directly comment Friday on the unveiling of a huge banner of jailed terror leader Abdullah Ocalan by the PKK/PYD in the Syrian city of Raqqah.

Questioned about “a victory enabled by the U.S. that is dedicated to a terrorist group”, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana W. White declined to comment directly.“We work with the SDF,” she told a news conference. “And we work to help them focus on fighting ISIS [Daesh]. That is our sole responsibility. That's our sole commitment. And we'll continue to work by, with and through the SDF to ensure that we defeat ISIS.”

Apparently the US had someone mumble some gibberish later but that (above) was the initial reporting I had saved immediately after the Ocalan banner was put on display for all.Reuters

"Raqqa will be part of a decentralized federal Syria now the city has been freed from Islamic State, the U.S.-backed militias that captured it said on Friday, tying its future to Kurdish-led plans to set up autonomous regions in the north. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the people of the majority Arab city and surrounding province would decide their own future “within the framework of a decentralized, federal democratic Syria”.

Correction: Used to be an Arab majority city. Until the US flattened the entire city displacing nearly 300,000 people- Arabs undoubtedly. Leaving the PKK in control- Previously covered in  number of previous posts.

"The SDF, which is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, says it intends to hand control of Raqqa to a civil council and police force set up under its auspices with support from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State."

Which will be a Kurdish dominated civil council- Most probably PKK dominated. As has been the usual case. The Kurdish led police force will be the Asayish-  Already terrorizing Hasakah, Manbij and beyond Saudi Minister Visits Raqqa for talks with US on Reconstruction

Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer Al-Sabhan has visited the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, which was liberated from Daesh fighters earlier this week, to discuss plans for the reconstruction of the region, Reuters reported today.Al-Sabhan was accompanied by US special envoy to the coalition against Daesh, Brett McGurk, and met the US-backed Syrian Defence Forces’ (SDF) newly formed Raqqa Civil Council.According to Saudi media sources, Riyadh and Washington discussed the rebuilding of Raqqa

“They [Saudi Arabia] promised that they would contribute in construction in Raqqa in the future,” Sido said. “We consider it a first visit, a first step that could be the beginning of future relations.”

Al-Sabhan was accompanied by US special envoy to the coalition against Daesh, Brett McGurk, and met the US-backed Syrian Defence Forces’ (SDF) newly formed Raqqa Civil Council.According to Saudi media sources, Riyadh and Washington discussed the rebuilding of Raqqa, after months of relentless fighting destroyed most of the city’s infrastructure, leaving it uninhabitable.

The PKK sure has an interesting bunch of friends in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US of course.  Here's where we get to the history of funneling money to terrorists via construction contracts! This has go to be the most obvious way one funnels money to terrorists. Construction contracts.  The Sunni Muslim terror crowd from Saudi Arabia is perfectly placed for this task.  As already mentioned... Bin Laden construction. This is how ISIS & AQ were most assuredly funded in Iraq- Enabling the destruction we are witnessing today. Highly suspicious, overly generous and very ineffective  money spent on reconstruction contracts.. Some years back, I'd done a couple of reports on construction funds being used for everything except reconstruction in Iraq!Flashback to 2014: ISIS- A US created "stay behind" using Iraqs plundered wealth.

An Iraqi hospital administrator told me that when he came to sign a contract, the American army officer representing the CPA had crossed out the original price and doubled it. The Iraqi protested that the original price was enough. The American officer explained that the increase (more than $1m) was his retirement package. When the Iraqi Governing Council asked Bremer why a contract to repair the Samarah cement factory was costing $60m rather than the agreed $20m, the American representative reportedly told them that they should be grateful the coalition had saved them from Saddam.

Millions of dollars in cash went missing from the Iraqi Central Bank. Between $11m and $26m worth of Iraqi property sequestered by the CPA was unaccounted for. The payroll was padded with hundreds of ghost employees. Millions of dollars were paid to contractors for phantom work. Some $3,379,505 was billed, for example, for "personnel not in the field performing work" and "other improper charges" on just one oil pipeline repair contract.

Flashback to 2014 Al Qaeda + "Awakening Councils" = ISIS

In the "Construction Business"
In late 2006, roughly speaking, months before George W. Bush's "surge" strategy sent 30,000 more American troops into Baghdad and surrounding areas, the U.S. began making down-payments on the cooperation of local al-Anbar tribal sheiks and started funding and arming the Sunni militias they were then organizing

The program was soon hailed as a success, and the groups were dubbed anything from The Awakening, to Sons of Iraq (al-Sahwa), or as the U.S. military preferred for a time, Concerned Local Citizens. Whatever the name, most of their members were former resistance fighters (AQ in Iraq) many were also former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party; and significant numbers were -- and, of course, remain -- both.

So, the ' Sunni Sons of Iraq", former Baathists & resistance fighters (AQ) were one and the same as the Awakening councils. It was the usual sleight of hand/rebrand

"As a result, these men obtained backing for their private militias, renamed Awakening groups, and in addition, signed "construction" contracts with the Americans who put millions of dollars in their pockets, even if not always into actual construction sites.

 Construction contracts  funded Sunni Muslim militias , that would include Sunni Muslim Kurdish militias, that went on to form the basis of AQ in Iraq and ISIS2007: How the US sent $12bn in cash to Iraq. And watched it vanish

“The memorandum concludes: "Many of the funds appear to have been lost to corruption and waste ... thousands of 'ghost employees' were receiving pay cheques from Iraqi ministries under the CPA's control. Some of the funds could have enriched both criminals and insurgents fighting the United States."According to Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, the $8.8bn funds to Iraqi ministries were disbursed "without assurance the monies were properly used or accounted for". But, according to the memorandum, "he now believes that the lack of accountability and transparency extended to the entire $20bn expended by the CPA".

That’s how terrorism and terror armies are created.  In my opinion that's what is set to go down in Raqqa! Oh there will be some rebuilding– but not enough to bring all the displaced Arabs home. It's doubtful that is the plan anyway.  Most of the reconstruction money will be funneled to terror groups, in this case, most of it will go to the multitude of Kurdish terrorist groups, branches of the PKK, same as plenty of it did in Iraq!  Enabling the US to expand their terror reach further into Turkey and Iran Hope I'm wrong! Hope that Syria can avoid this extremely destructive "rebuilding" scheme-Iraq's rebuilding sure didn't have any positive outcome for Iraq, did it?