(no subject)

[winterbadger]

Saudi Arabia could have helped the United States prevent al Qaeda's 2001 attacks on New York and Washington if American officials had consulted Saudi authorities in a "credible" way, the kingdom's former ambassador said in a documentary aired Thursday.

Speaking to the Arabic satellite network Al-Arabiya on Thursday, Bandar -- now Abdullah's national security adviser -- said Saudi intelligence was "actively following" most of the September 11, 2001, plotters "with precision."

They were certainly active. Whether they were "following" or "leading" is to me still an open question.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

What are your reasons for thinking they might have been leading?

[winterbadger]

"Two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had a support network in the United States that included agents of the Saudi government, and the Bush administration and FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship, Senator Bob Graham wrote in a book to be released Tuesday."

The full article details the basis of that allegation by the former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/05/911_hijackers_tied_to_saudi_government_graham_says_in_book/

There's also the "missing" (redacted) portion of a massive congressional report on 9/11.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/30/world/main565782.shtml

President Bush refused on Tuesday to release a congressional report alleging possible links between Saudi Arabian officials and the Sept. 11 hijackers. The White House sought to question a Saudi citizen who befriended two of the hijackers.

Bush said he could not comply with a request by the Saudi foreign minister for a chance to clear the Arab kingdom's name because publication of the report could hurt U.S. intelligence operations.

The foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, said he was disappointed but understood.

The information is widely believed to center on Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers. Saudi Arabia has vehemently denied supporting the hijackers.

See also http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/11/23/saudi.fbi.911/

Elements in the Saudi government seem clearly implicated in funding 9/11 "support staff". *Who* exactly in Saudi did that and why are ... interesting questions.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've glanced at the first two links. Will inspect more carefully as time permits.

[winterbadger]

Here's another

http://www.msnbc.com/avantgo/839269.htm

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

Yeah right. This is the country that only months ago furiously threatened to cease all terrorism intelligence cooperation with the UK because the jokers that run Saudi were about to be publically humiliated by a corruption investigation. Protestations of their sudden proficiency at intelligence gathering, and at their frantic warnings to western countries going unheeded, just sound like absolute crap to me. I imagine they're just trying to get some western support for their campaigns against their own dissidents - including what seems to be most of the world's terrorists, but also including loads of other people who don't agree with the monstrous Saudi regime.