"Bush's move came in a memorandum to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, required under US law to free up aid from Washington to Riyadh." Aid from Washington to Riyadh? Why is Washington giving aid to Riyadh? Riyadh is rich enough already not to need any kind of aid, isn't it? And why are warnings like Levey's continually unheeded?
From Agence France Presse (thanks to DFS):
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush certified Saudi Arabia as an anti-terrorism ally on Friday, weeks after a top US Treasury official sharply criticized the kingdom's record. Bush's move came in a memorandum to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, required under US law to free up aid from Washington to Riyadh, that the White House released to reporters."I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort," the president said.
In September, Stuart Levey, charged that Saudi Arabia has failed to prosecute the bankrollers of terror groups.
Levey, the undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, told the US network ABC that not a single individual identified by the United States or the United Nations as a terror financier had been prosecuted by Saudi Arabia.
"If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia," Levey told the ABC one day. "When the evidence is clear that these individuals have funded terror organizations ... then that should be prosecuted and treated as real terrorism because it is."
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal dismissed the criticism, saying Levey's public rebuke was at odds with private praise from US officials.
Yes, but is it at odds with the facts?
oh please. I think that the left might be right on something about Bush. He is totally short sighed. Saudi Arabia a parter against terrorrism?!! WHy not Iran, and Palestine and Sudan as parterns aswell?
To much P.C. rhetoric on both sides of the coin. This is why there are so many "former" republicans out there. When your own leaders can't identify the enemy, you know its time to seriously consider the consequences of this inability. We are screwed! Wake up,know your enemy!
George W. is da man!
Their man, not our man. The Saudi's made him. Just like they made many of his cronies.
Just like they made peanut Khadr and Willie Clitman, and his dad before him.
We're selling the family silver before we even know the date of the funeral.
What a disaster.
"George W. is da man!
Their man, not our man."
LOL!
Wait for the usual suspects to turn up and label you a BUSH-HATER(tm) !
Bush certifies Saudi Arabia as 'war on terror' ally - Bush
I can agree to that if he means that Sauides are aiding 'terror' ally. I think he is dispositioned on this topic if he means they helping to fight terrorism. The facts about terrorism point finger straight at the Saudies, no matter from which direction one looks at.
Who has read "Sleeping With The Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude" by Robert Baer?
What do you think of this book?
As one of what I assume to be a rare breed on these pages, a liberal Democratic, Hilary-supporting, gun control supporter, (etc., etc.) but who also subscribes to the basic thesis of Jihad Watch’s creators, namely that we face an existential threat from Islam, let me weigh in on this issue. This farce of a report by our president should illustrate why the struggle that we face is not on left/right, Republican/Democratic issue. Any lover of freedom democracy and this country should be aware of the threat of Jihad and its supporters. Often on these pages we hear about “left-wing” P.C.ers who refuse to even entertain the notion that Islam may be the issue, but here we see a more sinister problem. The immense wealth of the oil rich countries has bought off huge numbers of our politicians, (of both parties, but I would guess more Republicans then Democrats). In short there is plenty of blame to be had on both sides. The Bush family has been brown-nosing the Saudi royal family for over 50 years. Do I think that Bush would actively betray his country to the Saudis? Of course not—but do I think that his “special relationship” with them hurts our country and skews our policies toward them—well just reread the original post—Saudi Arabia on the leading edge on the war on terrorism. Give me a break!
Bush pays Jizya to Saudi Oil Princes for Terrorism
George W. is da man!
Their man, not our man. The Saudi's made him. Just like they made many of his cronies.
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at October 21, 2007 8:17 AM
Now someone is starting to get a part of the true picture. Ask yourself:
- How did Bandar-bin-Sultan became "Bandar-Bush"?
- Why was Saudi Arabia erased from 9/11 commission report?
- Why were Bin-Ladins were escorted when all US flihts were grounded?
- Finally, why were the student's visas, the very visas abused by 9/11 hikjackers, increased?
Add all that up and one will find that Bush family was in wahhabbi back-pocket even before Bush Sr. became the president. You see, global Jihad requires to pocket the powerful Bush family. For the Bush family, it was very important to grab the highest office, the hold over US tax dollars (to grant "aid" to Riyadg, the ultimate masters). So what if Riyadh's global Islam subjugates unsuspecting, hard-working, trusting and tax-paying Americans? This is politics .... Oh.. and don't forget to leave the borders open for all, inclding Jihadis. Americans will have to sit back and do some serious thinking about the mistake of electing GWB. It will take a Tom Tancredo, to close the borders, stop global Jihad, sanitize white house of Saudi stench and save America which is in mortal Danger http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50309
Congressman's heart is in the right place. And his record speaks for himself: http://www.teamtancredo.typepad.com
The Arabians clapped their hands and the magic genie named Bush granted all they desired and all their probelms went away.
Bush has to be (1) nominated for the Dhimmi award and (2) must win it. I suggest Carter not be put on the list this year because he will always win it. He should just get a Dhimmi HOF award or put him in the international category because after all he is now a citizen of the world.
Bush for American Dhimmi 2007!
Come on he is now borderline traitor with this move. His own terrorism people are even telling him the Arabians are bad news and he still does it. He has gone rouge! Everybody who was screaming about what wonderful allies the Turks are and why Bush is right need to explain this strategical move. This is worse then anything the stupid dems have come up with in some time....and that is saying alot.
Folks also remember who did 9-11....now you know why we get pushed around. People keep saying we must stay in Iraq becuase if we leave the enemy will laugh at us yet when Georgie gets up on a pole and strips for his Arabian masters that some how gets ignored. That makes us look really weak. Like we can be paid off even for 9-11. What whores! The dead of 9-11 cannot sleep as long as Bush dances and plays with their killers.
Also lets not forget the kiss in the rose garden! And I screamed about the Clintons use of the lincoln bedroom back in the day! If only I had known how much worse it would get...our president kissing some Arabian Muslim on the mouth in public and in the rose garden...ohhhh it is so over.
Hi All,
From the article:
"Bush's move came in a memorandum to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, required under US law to free up aid from Washington to Riyadh, that the White House released to reporters."
Excuse me, but with the price of crude over $80 per barrel, exactly why does Saudi Arabia need aid from anywhere, including the USA?
Magooey
Whiskey
Tango
Foxtrot
AID? What kind of aid? Economic? Intelligence?
The "You're either with us or against us" President is quite the gambler. . . doubling down on dawa using our tax dollars.
Feeling L U C K Y ?
Who has read "Sleeping With The Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude" by Robert Baer?
What do you think of this book?
Posted by: optimistic at October 21, 2007 8:54 AM
I read it back in 2004. That was/is a good eye-opener about state dept. and white house rotting from saudi oil-stench. A recommended read on how white house / state dept. sold it's soul to Riyadh: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400052688/bookstorenow600-20
@ esquared, et al
Excellent posts.
I suspect people are beginning, slowly, to wake up to the nature of the danger they face.
It's becoming easier to speak out about their growing concerns openly and calmly.
Importantly, there's more information available to the growing number of people who are asking these questions.
What did you say George, you blubbering idiot?
Now what about those nukes in Syria George -- remember this one?
Well, who built that nuclear facility in Syria?
George, how did the North Koreans get the expertise to build light water reactors that will produce nuclear bombs? Go ahead George, tell us!
What? Well how many employees does this "Halliburtion subsidiary" have George?
Well George, just what does this company do primarily?
How much did you say this nuclear contract was worth to Buhn & Dogale?
Just how are the going to build light water reactors in North Korea then?
George, I gotta hand it you. You should get some kind of award for this one.
So thanks to you, we now have nuclear plants in Syria via North Korea AND SAUDI ARABIA IS ARE ALLY AGAINST TERRORISM.
G@D@MN IT GEORGE!
Saudi Arabia is wealthy. They don't need anyone's money. They park their Rolls Royce's on carpets.
No western country should be 'giving' them money. They are already rich while the west is debt ridden.
It is not a left or right issue. It is right or wrong.
I'll be glad when an alternative to saudi oil is found. Or when they fianlly run out.
One more thing about this Israeli raid...
Here is GW's (and he has been great in winning in Iraq so far) GW's greatest failing.
He has been so seduced and hoodwinked and enriched by the smiles and petrodollars from the House of Saud, that he is blinded to the connect between Osama, the Saudi 'royalty', and the infiltration of the West by islamic supremicism.
It's almost as if the Saudi bastards own him.
Wake up George.
You're a lot better than this.
So the Saudis are our ally in the war in terror even though they are the financial instrument that is building waahabist run mosques all over America.
Osama Bin Laden and his followers are Waahabists, most of the 9-11 hijackers were waahabists. President Bush has surrounded himelf with ignorant people who haven't a clue about the aspirations of waahabism apparently.
The next president better dam well have a clear understanding of this gathering storm of Islamic extremism in America, or within another decade we could be looking like the British,the Netherlands,France,Belgium,and Denmark not to mention already Jackson Heights New York,Minneapolis Minnesota,Phoenix,Arizona, and Dearbornistan,Michigan.
Just a few comments here that I know will ingratiate me to many of you. Look, I share your deep skepticism of the Saudis. They're bastards but for the time being, even though they give with one hand and take away with the other, they're our bastards. As long as America (and America's allies like Japan) is dependent on Middle Eastern oil, we can't tell the Saudis to f---off. And you can thank both major parties here in the United States for not moving quickly and appropriately to energy independence. I blame the Democrats more than the Republicans because they're so stupidly gooey about the environment and thus have held up oil drilling where it should occur (like ANWR) and even the building of more gas refineries, though many Republicans can be blamed too for being such wimps on this vital issue. Something else. Anyone here who thinks Bush has sucked up to the Saudis, just wait and see what happens if Hillary becomes our next President. Her hubby has been taking mega-dollars from UAE for years now and the Clintons have a thing about acquiring money, no matter what, that should even make a life-long Democrat worry.
I know those who post here have different political leanings and I respect that. I like Bush personally and give him some credit for keeping us safe here at home these past six years. But there are many writing to JW that viscerally don't like the guy. Well, that's OK with me. But remember, whether for political or ideological reasons, many Democrats have opposed almost every anti-terror measure that has been implemented since 9/11. And I am chagrined at the fact that no major candidate for President from either party seems to understand what a mortal threat to our American liberties the entire Islamic religion poses. I'm not trying to pick a fight here with anyone, but I would maintain that being the President of the United States means you're a lot more restricted in what you can say publicly than what folks like us who post here can. Skillfully, very skillfully must a President in these times indicate reservation about the entire Islamic faith while not seeming to do so.
I'll close with this observation. Soon, very soon, we're going to need a guy like Andrew Jackson for President. I really don't see anybody like that out there, though Giuliani shows me touches of old Andy at times. Perhaps we can all agree, though, that we need a very special human being to lead us in these dark and dangerous times. Anyone out there have anybody in mind?
President Bush said
I am under no illusion that the next President, whether Democrat or Republican, will be fundamentally more honest about Islam and the danger that it presents. But this particular sh*t, certifying Saudis as our "strong ally" and giving gazillionaire sheiks more of our money, is going to come to an end. Not soon enough.
For the record, the Saudi royal family is willing to fight al-Qaeda exactly as much as it will maintain their hold on power. If it is to the benefit of the royal family to instead fund al-Qaeda, then that is what they have done and will do. The Saudi royal family is willing to allow their airbases to be used to attack and weaken foreign governments like Saddam's Iraq, in exact proportion to how much danger that foreign government presents to Saudi Arabian interests. If the US is willing to attack the Shi'ite Iranians or the Baathist Syrians, that would be fine with the Sunni Saudis too. We are a tool for the Saudis, we are doing their dirty work and paying them for the honor of doing it. I am embarrassed and disgusted.
"I blame the Democrats more than the Republicans because they're so stupidly gooey about the environment..." Posted by wellington
Isn't it too bad we can't create a panic about all that filthy oil polluting our earth, from within? LOL It might sell--the global warming myth has.
Wellington said
The answer to our dependence on oil is not to drill more oil wells and build more oil refineries. There is another way forward besides burning decayed dinosaurs to fuel our world.
We're living in a George Jetson society that is powered by a energy source from the time of Fred Flintstone.
"I would maintain that being the President of the United States means you're a lot more restricted in what you can say publicly than what folks like us who post here can. Skillfully, very skillfully must a President in these times indicate reservation about the entire Islamic faith while not seeming to do so. "
I'd have more sympathy for this view if it wasn't for the mounting evidence of Bush and his families longstanding (half a century?) ties with the Saudis.
The evidence is mounting day by day of their incompetence. Their gross incompetence.
"Skillfully, very skillfully must a President in these times indicate reservation..."
On current form that just doesn't sound like George or his inner team.
He might have hidden depths and all this might be a game of bluff to hide his hand though.
Lulling the enemy into a false sense of security.
special_guest: I respectfully submit that I do not share your very negative assessment of petroleum reserves as a source of energy. I'm not maintaining that such reserves are a perfect source or even the optimum one, but oil gets way too bad a rap from too many folks. And there's still a hell of lot of it, including in this country, that has yet to be tapped. The only other really viable source of energy in abundant amounts is nuclear and there, too, one finds too negative assessment of this source. Windmills and solar power have their uses but virtually every expert I have ever heard has said these are of limited potential. Coal reserves, I should add, are not to be despised. And ethanol's a joke. For now, though, it's either oil or nuclear or both. Numerous safeguards are already in place to lessen (though not guarantee) environmental damage in any great amount from both of these too heavily inveighed against sources of energy. And even assuming there's a whizbang source out there (which, by the way, you didn't name), conversion to such a source could not occur overnight and thus at least for a decade or so our dependency on oil would remain and so would the geopolitical situation of our times.
They don't need the money.
It's dhimmi tax.
Makes them look good in front of the other mohammedans to be getting dhimmi tax from America.
What GW thinks is in it for us (or even for him) is beyond my powers of imagination.
It just makes us look lame.
the "right" won't do anything about islamosupremacism
the "left" can't do anything about islamosupremacism
and "right" has now joined with the "left" in support and further enabling of the totalitarians beasts
the "middle" - is content with what it has at hand right now
One thing is fairly clear, the ruling elites of the industrial world have decided to integrate the mohammedan ruling class and render them respectable.
That it requires pandering to their racism, their insane hatred of Jews, and their bizarre customs seems to be getting taken in stride.
There does not seem to be excessive concern about what the subject mohammedan populations are apt to do to the rest of our communities and cultures. And there appears to be almost no concern about straightforward matters of right and wrong.
"It's such a bother when there's fighting between the help" is the impression I get of elite attitudes.
"Let's talk and see if we can't smooth this over."
The weird unreality of realpolitik.
Congress eliminates aid to Saudi Arabia Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 9, 2006
The House of Representatives voted Friday to forbid US aid to Saudi Arabia, a statement of far more symbolic importance than economic.
The 312-97 vote was to eliminate $420,000 from the $21.3 billion Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. The money has financed $20,000 in military training and education and a $400,000 anti-terrorism program.
President George W. Bush considers Saudi Arabia a vital ally in his campaign against terror, which he began after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Bush administration has praised the Saudis for cracking down on terror operations within their borders but has complained about women's rights and other aspects of Saudi domestic policies.
For its part, Saudi Arabia has wanted a more active US role in mediating the Arab-Israeli problem. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal complained about the Bush administration's decision to shut off direct aid to the elected Hamas-led Palestinian government.
Spokesmen for the Saudi Embassy and the White House did not immediately return telephone requests for comment.
"American taxpayer dollars should not be supporting Saudi hate and terror," Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who sponsored the amendment, said in a statement. "The Saudis have not cooperated with American investigations, they continue to provide financial support to terrorists, and they continue to nurture fanatical Wahhabism."
Wahhabism is the fundamentalist branch of Islam followed by Saudi Muslims. Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida mastermind whose Saudi nationality has been revoked because of his terrorist activities, advocates a particularly austere version of Wahhabism.
In his statement, Weiner said the Saudis have violated assurances that they would stop financing terror organizations that have attacked the United States and Israel.
He said Saudi schools "continue to cultivate hate and intolerance despite claims of a `modernized' education system."
$420,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Indication that the leadership still doesn’t get it. The parallels people have been using about allying with Stalin against Hitler are not accurate.
1. Stalin was actually fighting Hitler. The majority of losses to the Wermacht in men and material were on the eastern front, and the Red Army incurred millions of casaulties in the process. Saudi efforts in the war on terror are nowhere near where they could be considered an ally.
2. Stalin wasn’t secretly funding Nazism with millions of dollars under the table as the Saudis are and the Lend Lease material did not end up secretly transferred to the Nazis for use against US troops, as is likely to happen to any aid we send to the Saudis.
This move by Bush is more like the Non-Aggression Pact Stalin made with Hitler, and we all know how well that turned out for Stalin.
Essentially, you got a bunch of barbarians that happened to pitch a tent while herding their goats on top of oil. They didn’t make the oil, they themselves had no use for it other then treating camel sores. Now they are taking the money we are paying them, then turning around and giving it to terrorists who are killing our civilians. They are saying if we don’t like that, they are going to charge us more for the oil and give more money to terrorists who are going to kill more of our civilians. But fortunately for us, we the military capability to kick their @ss instead and take the oil for free. (If their muslim brethren have a problem with that, well we have plenty of nukes to go around). We should do it. Screw Amnesty International and US liberal college professors. We’d be doing the world a big favor. We could give special oil price breaks to countries such as Serbia, non-muslim regions of Sudan, and Thailand that lost civilians to the Saudi funded terror network. They lost the moral right to be paid for that oil the moment they turned around and used it to create a terror network that killed tens of thousands of civilians in the past decades. I say that oil rightly now belongs to the countries that were victims of Saudi aggression as war reparations, and US army should take it on behalf of all the victims of the Saudi terror, and distribute it. If the Saudis wanted to keep that oil, they shouldn’t have knowingly used oil money to fund groups that murder civilians.
"Bush's move came in a memorandum to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, required under US law to free up aid from Washington to Riyadh." - JW
Good, if this were to pi$$ the Iranians. It may well be the case. I can't imagine Bush trusts anyone of those slime-balls, after the recent shocking experience with Turkey.
There is a lot more going on behind the scene than at the front.
You know it's serious now that some Little Green Football commenters are begining to hint at possibly questioning a few of President Bush's policies and actions.
But they've been down on Secretary Rice for quite a while- think she & the State Department are rogue players.
greatcometof1577, great line:
"The dead of 9-11 cannot sleep as long as Bush dances and plays with their killers."
But then we are told that the folks in KSA really do have us over a barrel of crude. Actually I don't think they do since the aparatus works both ways and all sides stand to lose a lot if someone decides to rock the boat. Formulaic politicians nowadays are deathly afraid of instigating any bumps in the economic road, of something that might drop quarterly earnings for the next presidential term or two. Capitalism is super-duper great but we (humans) should be running it, not the other way around. Makes it kinda difficult to make a stand on principle when your greatest fear is the wealth of a small elite.
With all of the Bushes' deep, historic oil interests in Mexico, Arabia and beyond, we should not be surprised they have found ways to justify their positions on immigration, placating the Saudis, etc.
Ethanol not viable? Tell that to the Brasilians. They have effectively weaned themselves of petroleum imports. Nothing ever works until it does.
Insider tip of the day: rubber. Right, it is not a fuel source but think of all the stuff that petroleum gets made into like plastics, tires (tires are still 60-70% natural rubber). People are scheming furiously now to establish plantations in Colombia and other countries. Of course it could be a huge boom-bust just as before.
"If the Saudis wanted to keep that oil, they shouldn’t have knowingly used oil money to fund groups that murder civilians.
Posted by: godfreyofbouillon "
Great post godfreyofbouillon. It is the last line that has me thinking. The sowdis are not interested in anybody called as a "civilian" ; all that they recognize is "believer" and "infidel". And as everybody knows, infidels are not to be trusted, they are pigs and apes, and they must either pay the jaziyah or be killed, and their women are booty, and their children belong to the harem of a devout "believer".
Reckon we have a problem ?