Strings Attached to Saudi Donations?

BEWARE STRANGERS WITH CANDY Bangladesh (Photo: Getty Images)

Bangladesh suffers 4,000 deaths after a cyclone tears across its coast. China kicks in a million bucks in aid. The U.S. drops a cool , and the European Union does a $100 large better with its $2.2 million wad of help. The U.N. ups the ante with a package. Then, like some wicked-rich sheik at the high-rollers table, Saudia Arabia casually slides $100 million across the table.

According to Forbes, that money will go toward providing "food, medical, and other relief assistance to the victims." Like the Xenu-battling, thetan-slaying Scientologists who set up shop on a devastated Virginia Tech campus, the Saudis have a track record when it comes to serving up aid with a side of soul-saving. During the tsunami of 2005, Saudis were charged with importing a little "a hard-line religious message" with its monetary assistance. And the glut of terrorism-related groups in the cyclone ravaged region of Bangladesh makes it the ideal satellite location for the more nefarious monied interests rooted in Saudi Arabia.