Bush's bungled Saudi deal-making (Saudi coverup in 9/11 report sort of...

[mumon]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/07/23/saudi_deals/index.html



A series of early favors the Bush administration did for the Saudis helped set the tone for what was to come. The Clinton administration had pushed specific initiatives against al-Qaida and the Taliban, some of which were successful, including sending an American delegation to the kingdom to discuss terrorist financing. As described in the 9/11 commission's staff report, "In Saudi Arabia the team concentrated on tracing bin Laden's assets and access to his family's money, exchanges that led to further, fruitful work." In contrast, the report continues, "the Bush administration did not develop any diplomatic initiatives on al Qaeda with the Saudi government before the 9/11 attack," a serious mistake considering the belief of counterterrorism experts that the real possibility of a huge strike against the United States required pressing the Saudis hard.

...On June 3, 2002, columnist Michael Barone published in U.S. News & World Report a frank piece titled "Our Enemies the Saudis." It summarized what the press corps had learned from Bush's own Treasury Department, among other sources: "Al Qaeda was supported by large contributions from Saudis, including members of the Saudi royal family. The Saudis' cooperation with our efforts to track down the financing of al Qaeda appears to be somewhere between minimal and zero."


...Some may wonder what caused the Bush White House to express such delight in Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack," an account that in many respects gives a highly disturbing picture of the administration. One thing is that the book presents the White House's line geared for American consumption (presumably originating from Bandar) about the sincerity of Saudi support for the U.S. occupation of Iraq....


In return, Riyadh got the base closure on an agreeable schedule, with a nice cover story about how the closure followed naturally from the base's no longer being needed with Iraq occupied (actually the base remained needed and was quietly moved at American expense to Qatar), but without having to address the American public's post-9/11 interest in full Saudi housecleaning reforms.



It's amazing what we're not being told by the propaganda media...

this article is good dot-connecting

[mumon]

1. (Shameless self-kick)

Folks, IMHO, this article bears some discussion- especially since it's got info that's gonna go down the memory hole otherwise.