New FBI documents link Saudi spy in California to 9/11 attacks

[DickKessler]

Soon after the 9/11 attacks two decades ago, the FBI quietly launched an investigation into a seemingly obscure Saudi Arabian government bureaucrat in Southern California.

The man claimed to be nothing more than a Saudi aviation official who innocently happened to befriend two Islamic jihadists in the months before they carried out the 9/11 attacks.

That story now appears to be false. The alleged aviation official was really a Saudi spy who reported directly to a Saudi prince who happened to be the kingdom’s influential ambassador in Washington and a close friend of President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials.

The FBI concluded five years ago that there was a "50/50 chance" that this Saudi spy knew ahead of time that the two Islamists he befriended were about to join the plot to hijack commercial jetliners and crash them into buildings in what turned out to be America's deadliest terrorist attack. But the FBI refused to go public with its findings — until now.

https://amp.northjersey.com/amp/9442454002

[Baitball Blogger]

1. So, they protected him until now.

"and a close friend of President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials."

We always knew there was more to 9/11 than they told us. I can understand why MAGAs distrust the government.

[DickKessler]

3. It's stuff like this that makes my blood boil.

Of course the guy whom MAGA people love is the biggest Saudi lover of them all.

So much for the Republican fight against “Radical Islamic Terrorism.” The country who have easily done the most of any single country to spread and support that ideology and in some cases, the jihadists themselves are Trump’s best friends, along with being super friendly the Republican Party in general.

The shameless insincerity and cynicism is so galling.

[Raster]

20. This was Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud...

...also known as "Bandar Bush" because of his close relationship with the Bush* family.

Should also be known that there are DIRECT FINANCIAL LINKS from Bandar and his chief wife to several of the hijackers.

A court affidavit filed on 3 February 2015 claims that Zacarias Moussaoui was a courier between Osama bin Laden and Turki bin Faisal Al Saud in the late 1990s, and that Turki introduced Moussaoui to Bandar. Zacarias Moussaoui stated on oath and wrote to Judge George B. Daniels that Saudi royal family members, including Prince Bandar, donated to Al-Qaeda and helped finance the 11 September attacks. The Saudi government continues to deny any involvement in the 9/11 plot, and claims there is no evidence to support Moussaoui's allegations in spite of numerous previous intense investigations, noting that Moussaoui's own lawyers presented evidence of his mental incompetence during his trial. Leaked information from the redacted portion of the 9/11 Commission Report states that two of the 9/11 hijackers received $US130,000 in payment from Bandar's bank account.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandar_bin_Sultan_Al_Saud

[hedda_foil]

28. Wasn't Daddy Bush having breakfast with Bandar ON 911?

[CanonRay]

2. Both these guys are still alive

They should be charged as accomplices to murder; 3000 counts.

[DickKessler]

4. I wonder what the Bushes, Trump, Kushner etc. know about their Saudi friends.

[Duppers]

12. Of course.

The sooner we all can transition away from oil produced products, the better Everything will be.

[Raster]

21. The main reason we did not begin the transition DECADES AGO was to keep...

...our Saudi "friends" that were flush with cash buying our weapons. The U.S. is the largest supplier of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

The sell petroleum to us. We sell weapons to them.

[Polybius]

26. And Obama and Biden

Both had/have access to the classified info. Biden should release it, which could result in Bush getting arrested.

[Effete Snob]

5. They should be charged on what the FBI calls a "50/50 chance"

Uh huh.

Now, imagine being on the jury and being told it was a 50/50 chance the defendant was guilty.

[stopdiggin]

14. Thank you.

The FBI didn't 'bury' this, so much as recognize they didn't really have a lot. They went over (and over) this with a fine toothed comb. The answer, then and now, is still - Bin Laden was the architect of the attack. And Bin Laden (appears) to have been pretty estranged (for some period of time) from the Saudi power structure. Further support for a terror attack against the United States makes almost no sense from the 'establishment' Saudi point of view.

Yes, the Saudi government was/is guilty of making a devil's bargain with Wahhabi Islam - but this is well known, and has been completely covered with every telling of the story from stem to stern. And still - any direct connection between the Saudi government and the attack has always remained more inferential (and fanciful) than anything with real substance.

[KS Toronado]

18. Thank you !

[lostnfound]

29. Plausible deniability

Plausible deniability for their support for a terror attack against the United States is paramount to 'establishment' Saudi interests.

Doing it and being recognized as the perpetrators would have been a disaster for the Saudis.

But doing it and not being recognized as the perpetrators? That is a more complicated question. What was the expected outcome?

None of us can pretend to know the minds of leadership capable of mass public executions, bone saws for journalists, and hunting to kill wayward daughters for honor.

[stopdiggin]

30. I'm hardly a fan of the Saudis

or of Saudi interests. But I'm also not a fan of conspiracy and innuendo.
(we also had/have people hawking the idea that the twin towers were taken down from inside - a false flag operation conducted by the U.S. government. and of course 'jewish space lasers'! and pedophile pizza parlors. so it's well established that people actually want to believe a lot of really crazy sh*t. I can't help that, but I don't have to buy into it.)

In this case the lack of evidence, coupled with the lack of any 'rational' articulated motive on the part of the Saudi government - means that this one stays safely in the corner of "didn't happen" - unless somebody comes forward with solid evidence that it did.

[Effete Snob]

31. Can you remind me why they did it?

If the plan was backed by the Saudi establishment, perhaps you can fill me in on the goal they had in mind.

[musette_sf]

6. MIHOP/LIHOP are back

Here we go…

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Law and order must include those at the top

Covering up for elites must end.

[jaxexpat]

15. If that's so, we'll need GW Bush and R Cheney front and center ASAP.

All the nation's airplanes were grounded except for those with Saudis returning to Saudi Arabia. Do not ask questions about those people! You, as an American citizen, are on a need-to-know basis about this and you don't need to know anything about this.

We were putting a temporary handrail on the 4th floor of a hotel just south of the Charleston International airport when we noticed, overhead about 400', every type of plane imaginable lined up to land for about 2 hours. Weird day, that was. I wonder what was going through the mind of the guy driving the Cessna sandwiched between two FedEx monsters being tailed by some military transport jets just to liven up the mix.

[jalan48]

8. Didn't we just sell the Saudi's billions in armaments?

[blogslug]

9. He worked for Prince Bandar?

wow

[Kid Berwyn]

10. Whatever happened to Bandar Bush, anyway?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10024250984#post2

[Duppers]

13. TY!

[albacore]

11. Hey.... I have an idea! The Saudi's were complicit in 9/11...

... a lot more than Iraq ever was...
So...
Let's "Kick their ass and take their gas!"

(Remember when the goobers chanted that shit when the US invasion of Iraq began?)

[Botany]

16. We attacked the wrong country after 9/11

Our good friends the Saudis

BTW Prince Bandar's wife was paying for the room and board of 3 or 4 of the hijackers too.

[gab13by13]

17. This is nothing new,

the news is what we all thought was true.

Remember how Michael Moore was trashed when he produced his documentary film, Fahrenheit 911. Pretty much everything in his film was accurate. Remember how all planes were grounded except for planes that flew Saudis out of America?

[stopdiggin]

19. Michael Moore was trashed because

he is/was an ideologue and rank propagandist? Why do we mock the conspiracy buffs when they're watching another channel?

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. Wow.

Stay off the Fox News.

Or list all the instances in his award winning films, where he said something later proved wrong?

[stopdiggin]

25. Sorry. Not a fan of Michael

And I learned a while ago not to climb on board with propagandists - even if they happen to be promoting a point of view I agree with. Tomorrow they'll be massaging the truth on something else.

[LiberalLovinLug]

27. You still haven't posted any examples of Moore purposefully lying about anything

Isn't that what separates journalism from propaganda?

Moore is known for meticulously listing sources and backing up everything he says in his films. Go ahead and google just how many times he's been sued successfully. Latest is a Flint businessman claimed Moore used a clip of film he owned of the Obama visit he did not give permission to use for Fahrenheit 911. I don't think that one is resolved yet as far as I can see. But that is not an instance of propaganda, by any stretch.

Only one I found was successful,

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/08/19/flint-man-sues-michael-moore-fahrenheit-11-9-clip/8202786002/

“Roger & Me” led to a defamation lawsuit from an attorney who appeared in the film and claimed it made him appear racially insensitive, the Associated Press reported. In 1993, Moore was ordered to pay Larry Stecco $6,250 for portraying him in a false light.

That may be one small example of using footage that makes someone look worse than they are. But one instance you can find like this, does not counter all the truth he has exposed. He's an American hero as far as I'm concerned. There is a perpetual Right Wing smear machine against him, for exposing so much corruption, and its sad how well it works, even on Democrats.

And how do you define "propaganda"? You are saying that if a documentary promotes a point of view you actually agree with, especially if done professionally and entertainingly.....you are afraid it may be some form of propaganda? And that scares you? I don't get it. So a story is propaganda like a Tucker Carlson pro Putin rant....but also propaganda is, say, some 60 Minutes piece you agree with? I just find that a bit odd. Sounds like a very cynical outlook. What about news stories posted on here? Do you believe them? Is everything "propaganda"?

Lately he put out a documentary on the new, even progressive backed, Bio-fuel industry and how the cost is a massive clear cutting of trees. Who was he propagandizing for there? He made enemies with powerful people on both the left and the right with that one.

Democrats seem to have such a vicarious appetite for their own.

[msfiddlestix]

33. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ n/t

[Joinfortmill]

22. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what next?

[UTUSN]

24. Too late: We already attacked Iraq.

[DickKessler]

32. Bump.

[rockfordfile]

34. Saudi spy