The Saudis and 9/11.P

A must read: Ron Suskind's The Price of Loyalty (2004). It's the memoir of Sec. of Treasury Paul O'Neil's service in the Bush II administration.

The chapter on 9/11, starting about page 176, is enlightening as much for what it does NOT say as for what it DOES SAY.

Suskind's book is a MUST READ. It paints the picture of corruption. How it works. Of how economic theory is wielded, twisted to get the result that enriches the already rich and trivializes the misery of the poor.

It is a very small part of the book, but Suskind so accurately describes the corruption of the very possession of great wealth, in this case, the Saudis (and not just the Saudis), their piety, their hypocrisy, their largess, their cruelty, their power, their exoneration set against the ignorant, desperate materialism of the Bushes and American corporations.

I will try to pick four paragraphs, but it's really a tough choice. I can't do the book or Suskind or O'Neill justice.

Please read the whole book or at least this chapter beginning on page 191.

Paul O'Neill was charged with tracking the finances behind 9/11 and the hijackers. His plea for assistance from the Saudi Arabians was rejected when the vice minister of finance stated on September 28, 2001 that "he did not think that they had any accounts that might help terrorism."

Eventually, by late October 2001, O'Neill was able to get official agreements for cooperation from a number of countries and located Al Qaeda's money, $20 million held in the Bahamas. But O'Neill advised Bush that there was still money that could not be obtained. It was "clean money, in charities" -- from what I read between the lines, associated with Saudi Arabia.

About a week after October 7, 2001, PRINCE BANDAR GAVE A PARTY -- two months after 9/11.

Officially, the fete was hosted by Laura Bush, along with the Mosaic Foundation -- an organization comprising the wives of Arab ambassadors to the United States -- and the United Nations Foundation, to raise money for AIDS for Africa. The guest of honor was Nelson Mandela.

. . . .

Virtually the entire American power structure was represented. The underwriter for the evening was ExxonMobil. Benefactors included Chevron Texaco and the Ford Motor Company. Patrons or sponsors included General Dynamics and General Electric, Kuwait Investment Partners, Raytheon, Saudi Aramco, Citigroup, Marriott, Black Entertainment Television, Merrill Lynch, and Pfizer. On one of the undercards -- the Mandela Challenge Grant Sponsors -- were the names Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and David Rockefeller.

. . . .

Prince Bandar stood and the room hushed. He spoke of how the friendship between the United States and Saudi Arabia will 'last for all time.' He said his country is 'doing everything possible to help America in these trying times.'

. . . . . (Bandar sat and one of the guests stood and smiled at him.)

It was Roberta Flack. Still elegant in her sixties, she crossed the room, sat at a grand piano near the picture window, and, tapping the keys expertly, sang a haunting rendition of 'Killing Me Softly.'

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Oh, the sweet seduction of corruption.