According to Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, Princess Haifa al-Faisal, daughter of the late Saudi King and wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Ambassador to the US, seems to have been funnelling money to two of the “advance men” for the 9-11 mass murder. Supporters of civil liberties will be glad to know that the Bush Administration has finally found a case on which it doesn’t want to rush to judgment: they’ve decided that making nice to the Saudis is part of the price of war with Iraq. (Note that Isikoff, a first-rate reporter, is hardly a partisan Democrat: he was last seen chasing the semen-stained dress.)
The New York Times has a story about the draft report from the Congressional committee investigating the performance of the FBI and CIA in connection with 9-11, which mentions a Saudi funding connection, and the FBI”s lassitude about investigating it, but not that it was Prince Bandar’s wife. Of course we knew that Saudi money supported al-Qaeda. But having the royal family involved in paying for 9-11 is a different level of involvement, and a clear casus belli. (Imagine, for a moment, that this were the wife of the Iraqi Ambassador.) The Times story makes pretty clear what Isikoff is more coy about: the source of the stories must be the committee staff.
No wonder the Bush folks were so determined to kill a bi-partisan investigating commission about 9-11.
Thanks to Atrios for the link. It will be fascinating to see whether this story has any legs in the mainstream press, and whether it shows up in the warblogs. (Little Green Footballs has it already, but LGF is generically anti-Muslim rather than specifically in favor of war with Iraq.)
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