The Unasked, Unanswered Questions That Got Us Here

Unasked questions

The 9/11 commission should ask who authorized the evacuation of Saudi nationals in the days following the attacks

By Craig Unger, 4/11/2004

IN ITS TOUGH QUESTIONING of Richard Clarke and Condoleezza Rice, the 9/11 commission has already shown itself to be more resolute than some skeptics predicted. Many Americans now realize that multiple warnings of an Al Qaeda attack on American soil crossed the desks of Bush administration officials in the months leading up to 9/11. The administration's previously unchallenged narrative has begun to unravel.
Just another uncounted Iraqi body - after being treated to US "democracy," during the illegal invasion of his country.

But when hearings resume on Tuesday, we may learn exactly how tough the commission is prepared to be. This time the stars will be Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, among others. When they testify -- especially Mueller -- we will see whether or not the commission has the stomach to address what may be the single most egregious security lapse related to the attacks: the evacuation of approximately 140 Saudis just two days after 9/11.

This episode raises particularly sensitive questions for the administration. Never before in history has a president of the United States had such a close relationship with another foreign power as President Bush and his father have had with the Saudi royal family, the House of Saud. I have traced more than $1.4 billion in investments and contracts that went from the House of Saud over the past 20 years to companies in which the Bushes and their allies have had prominent positions -- Harken Energy, Halliburton, and the Carlyle Group among them. Is it possible that President Bush himself played a role in authorizing the evacuation of the Saudis after 9/11? What did he know and when did he know it?

Let's go back to Sept. 13, 2001, and look at several scenes that were taking place simultaneously. Three thousand people had just been killed. The toxic rubble of the World Trade Center was still ablaze. American airspace was locked down. Not even Bill Clinton and Al Gore, who were out of the country, were allowed to fly home. And a plane bearing a replacement heart for a desperately ill Seattle man was forced down short of its destination by military aircraft. Not since the days of the Wright Brothers had American skies been so empty.
But some people desperately wanted to fly out of the country.

That same day, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States and a long-time friend of the Bush family, dropped by the White House. He and President George W. Bush went out to the Truman Balcony for a private conversation. We do not know everything they discussed, but the Saudis themselves say that Prince Bandar was trying to orchestrate the evacuation of scores of Saudis from the United States despite the lockdown on air travel.

Meanwhile, a small plane in Tampa, Fla. took off for Lexington, Ky. According to former Tampa cop Dan Grossi and former FBI agent Manny Perez, who were on the flight to provide security, the passengers included three young Saudis. Given the national security crisis, both Grossi and Perez were astonished that they were allowed to take off. The flight could not have taken place without White House approval.

The plane taking off from Tampa was the first of at least eight aircraft that began flying across the country, stopping in at least 12 American cities and carrying at least 140 passengers out of the country over the next week or so. The planes included a lavishly customized Boeing 727 airliner that was equipped with a master bedroom suite, huge flat-screen TVs, and a bathroom with gold-plated fixtures. Many of the passengers were high-ranking members of the royal House of Saud. About 24 of them were members of the bin Laden family, which owned the Saudi Binladin Group, a multibillion-dollar construction conglomerate.
All this occurred at a time when intelligence analysts knew that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, that Saudi money was one of the major forces behind Al Qaeda, and that the prime suspect -- Osama bin Laden -- was Saudi as well. ...


KKKristol - the political Neo Con hack from the Heritage Institute who spends his life catapaulting the propaganda for this sick, sad, sorry pack of beings who call themselves men and women - the Bush Administration.
(Sorry, standing down for 9/11, then deliberately screwing New Orleans - Katrina disaster - makes me damn testy)
...
"Here you have an attack with substantial links to Saudi Arabia," says John L. Martin, a former Justice Department official who supervised investigation and prosecution of national security offenses for 18 years. "You would want to talk to people in the Saudi royal family and the Saudi government, particularly since they have pledged cooperation."

Robert Mueller had taken over at the FBI just one week before 9/11 and cannot be held responsible for the bureau's shortcomings before the attacks. But he should be asked about the departure of the Saudis. How is it possible that this could have happened? Did the White House order the evacuation -- and thereby interfere in an investigation into the murder of nearly 3,000 people?



...
Fundamentalist "christian" hacks, as harmful as their Islamic counteraparts have high-jacked the RNC and the White House, attempting to shove their homophobic, racist, sexist drivel on the world. Of course they don't believe in evolution - Christ - can you imagine any one of them being capable of evolution?


Where YEARS of unasked, unanswered questions of US INTEL and the Bushs - has led to this - utter disgrace.



Even our beloved Canadian troops are now sucked into this evil vortex, defending the Bush poppy crop in Afghanistan for the CIA drug running corrupt intel agency.

What do Poppy Bush and the little plant to the right have in common?

Run your own search under "Bush, drugs, CIA" and see how YEARS of corruption, greed and war crimes have gone unpunished.

Please run your own search and ask questions of anyone who supports the war or Bush. This administration is criminal and they have not stopped their torture chambers. While we sit, still
not asking questions, other human beings are being abused by these sick people.

Funny, I seem to remember Jesus saying that we are each created in God's image. Sure doesn't seem that way these days does it.

In the meantime, before we sink any further into Bush- Orwellian "newspeak" in Canada, delivered by Bush's hound Harper, let's DEMAND questions are answered concerning Afghanistan. How were the troops assigned in the first place? Why does Harper have the power to extend their mission without referendum to the people, OR to parliament?
The poppy crop is the largest is the history of Afghanistan.

Until we each stand and start demanding answers to some questions, we are getting the democracy we deserve.