Official: 15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi
2/06/2002
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia acknowledged for the first time that 15 of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi citizens.

















The great escape
Immediately after 9/11, dozens of Saudi royals and members of the bin Laden family fled the U.S. in a secret airlift authorized by the Bush White House. One passenger was an alleged al-Qaida go-between, who may have known about the terror attacks in advance.
Did the Saudis buy a president?
How much money has flowed from the House of Saud to the Bush family and its friends and allies over the years? No one will ever know -- but the number is at least $1.477 billion.
The Bushes and their allies controlled, influenced or possessed substantial positions in a vast array of companies that dominated the energy and defense sectors. Put it all together, and there were myriad ways for the House of Bush to engage in lucrative business deals with the House of Saud and the Saudi merchant elite.

In all, at least $1.476 billion had made its way from the Saudis to the House of Bush and its allied companies and institutions. It could safely be said that never before in history had a presidential candidate -- much less a presidential candidate and his father, a former president -- been so closely tied financially and personally to the ruling family of another foreign power. Never before had a president's personal fortunes and public policies been so deeply entwined with another nation.



Official: $20 billion arms sale to Saudis in the works
July 28, 2007
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is developing a proposed $20 billion, 10-year arms sales package for Saudi Arabia, a senior administration official confirmed on Saturday.
Posted GMT 4-8-2008 7:27:59

Treasury undersecretary Stuart Levey told a Senate panel that the Saudi government has not taken promised steps to stop wealthy donors from bankrolling al-Qaida and other terrorists through Saudi charities, which are awash in cash thanks to the oil boom.

"Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and the Taliban than any other place in the world," Levey said.

In fact, the terror-funding pipeline is flowing nearly as strong as it was before 9/11 thanks to the bonanza in Arab petrodollars.

Levey says he and other counterterrorism officials are frustrated with official efforts to persuade the Saudis to crack down. He says there's a reluctance to directly criticize a supposedly close U.S. ally.

Both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are content to continue playing footsie with these two-faced sheiks under the diplomatic table. The answer seems to be more carrots and no stick at all.

In fact, despite hearing Levey's bombshell testimony, Congress is rubberstamping a proposed White House deal to export $20 billion in arms to the Kingdom and other Arab states, including smartbomb technology that could be used to harm a real ally like Israel.