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| White House defends FBI probe into Saudi links to 9/11 |
| 2002-11-24 |
| The White House on Saturday defended the FBI's handling of a diplomatically sensitive investigation into reports that Saudi Arabia provided money that helped support two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. In its defense of the FBI, the Bush administration also denied another contention of some lawmakers — that the bureau has not done enough to examine fully the financing of the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi citizens. If I was handling the investigation, that's where I'd have started. If they didn't, whoever's handling the investigation needs to think about a rewarding career in the fast food industry — they don't have any aptitude for intel, police work, or doing crossword puzzles. Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which are conducting a joint inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, expressed misgivings about the FBI investigation. Lawmakers believe the bureau has not examined vigorously the prospect that the Saudi government might have given money to two men who provided financial help to hijackers Khalif al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. The killers' bank and credit card accounts are the keys to their support networks. Money isn't handed over in the U.S. of A. anymore — the green stuff is virtually always the result of an electronic transaction. A spokesman for the Saudi embassy said the allegations that the wife of the Saudi ambassador supported terrorists are "untrue and irresponsible." Nail al-Jubeir, the spokesman, said Princess Haifa al-Faisal is fully cooperating with the FBI. "She wants her name cleared," al-Jubeir said. I expect "urgent personal business" to call her back to Soddy Arabia when the evidence becomes too incriminating. But she's probably not the real finance guy, more likely just a near-untouchable front. The worst that could happen to her would be to be PNG'd, and even that's a near-impossibility unless we break diplomatic relations with the Soddies... Questions about the investigation could become troublesome for the Bush administration, which is seeking the Saudis' help for a possible military campaign against their neighbor, Iraq. Saudi Arabia has been noncommittal, torn between its friendship with the United States and anti-war sentiment among the Arabs. That's likely why this deal hasn't been given any public play at all by the Bushoisie. Even though it gives me great satisfaction personally to see more evidence against the real Bad Guys come out, having it come out now is jiggling the President's elbow, rather than actually accomplishing anything. All this stuff should have been classified, with a release date about 20 years from now, when it'll be of historical interest. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #6 If the Soddy's had wanted to finance anything dealing with 9/11 they would have done it in such a way as being untraceable. This is a tempest in a teapot and will not go anywhere per se. What it will do is allow Bush and his administratiion enough outrage to provide them air cover for getting the Saudi's on board and on message in dealing with Sammy. |
| Posted by: Jack 2002-11-25 08:12:18 |
| #5 ...or this whole issue is designed to put the Saudi's on the defensive, just when we need their airspace for military activities. They are on notice. |
| Posted by: john 2002-11-24 18:00:59 |
| #4 Far be it from me to deprive anyone from their Saudi bashing privileges but this may just be a simple case of the princess spreading money to a Saudi citizen "in need" abroad. Many Saudi's ask for money for school, for doctors, for a sick goat, and this may be just a simple case of spreading the oil wealth. That being said, Saudi is job one for terror financing. The Princess may just be giving money to the wrong person at the wrong time. Time will tell if the doctor reciepts whats his name had were forged. |
| Posted by: PJ 2002-11-24 16:36:18 |
| #3 Nixon had a lot of leaks,too.What with Vietnam negotiations/bombings,COINTELPRO,domestic left-wing terrorism and secret deals with the Chinese,he had a lot of secrets to keep also.That's why he hired the Plumbers.Now I don't think Dubya is going to make the same mistake,but it just goes to show that there's always people willing to trade their inside knowledge for money,favours and ego massage(if you know a lot,it makes you seem more important).This is a good time to make deals with the press if you're high enough in the government food chain. |
| Posted by: El Id 2002-11-24 16:09:14 |
| #2 Doesn't anyone but me find it odd that one of the most secretive admins we've had since Nixon has so many leaks? This one has a fair amount of plausible deniability, but still puts pressure on the Saudis. This guy thinks it's a setup. I think he's an optimist on what's gonna happen, but I do think it quite possible that the leak was deliberate (and I can hope he's right). As he says, "Riyadh delenda est!" |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2002-11-24 15:38:20 |
| #1 She'll be on the first plane home if they develop anything further. Saw Fox Sunday's crew do a good bit on this, followed by a paid ad by "our friends and allies, the Saudi Arabian embassy" What a crock |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-11-24 14:17:39 |