Another shocking article on how the current administration lavishes favors on its adored Saudi friends, many of whom — Osama Bin Laden’s relatives among them — were rushed out of the US following the 911 attacks thanks to their friends in the White House.
“We did everything that needed to be done,” said John Iannarelli, a bureau spokesman. “There’s nothing to indicate that any of these people had any information that could have assisted us, and no one was accorded any additional courtesies that wouldn’t have been accorded anyone else.”
But the Vanity Fair investigation quotes Dale Watson, the former head of counterterrorism at the F.B.I., as saying that the departing Saudis “were not subject to serious interviews or interrogations.”
Mr. Watson could not be reached for comment today.
The official who architected the great escape “said in an interview that he was driven by concern that the Saudis ‘would be targeted for retribution’ by Americans after the hijackings.”
Can he really say this with a straight face? Of all the concerns the nation was undergoing at this historic moment, this was our highest priority — to coddle and mother a group of billionaire sheiks and Bin Laden relatives? Some of them were even chauffeured out on special flights at a time when all other flights had been grounded.
Can Americans really just shrug their shoulders and accept it?
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By greg
i was ranting about this in….like…..september, 2001
September 6, 2003 @ 1:05 am | Comment
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By richard
I didn’t realize this was a controversy back then. If it was, it definitely speaks volumes about the US media’s sheepishness. To me, this is beg news and the best indicator yet of where the Bush Admnistration’s loyalties stand.
September 6, 2003 @ 2:50 am | Comment