Joe Conason: Saudi Secrets Are Safe With Bush

[Raster]

In addition to Smokin' Joe's Journal for Salon, Conason also writes a mighty fine weekly column for The New York Observor. Here is his latest in which he basically calls $hrubco on the 9/11 bullshit and the house of bush connections with the house of saud:

At the nexus of diplomacy and secret intelligence, governments almost never speak forthrightly about their purposes. When ranking officials decide what can be revealed and what must be concealed, political expedience is at least as important as national security. And on the rare occasion when such an official publicly demands the disclosure of embarrassing information, as the Saudi foreign minister did last week, an ulterior motive should be assumed.

So regardless of any claims to the contrary, it seems prudent to remember that the White House and the House of Saud are likewise best served by keeping all the sensitive files locked away. Both houses would be unwise to risk speaking candidly about each other now—a caution that applies with special emphasis when the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue bear the name of Bush.

On July 29, Prince Saud el-Faisal paid an extraordinary visit to the Bush White House. For an hour, he and George W. Bush discussed the 28-page section of the joint Congressional report on 9/11 that evidently implicates agents of his country’s government in the terrorist attack. The prince’s ostensible reason for coming to see the President—whose family has long maintained close connections with the Saudi royals—was to ask Mr. Bush to declassify those 28 pages because, as he declared at a press conference: "We have nothing to hide, and we do not seek, nor do we need, to be shielded."

That glibly ridiculous assertion is contradicted by the repressive habits of his family’s autocratic regime, which has a lot to hide from its own people as well as ours. Besides, the prince knew before he landed in Washington that the President would decline his plea. Foreign ministers don’t meet with any head of state, particularly not the leader of the world’s only superpower, unless they already know what the meeting’s outcome will be. In this instance, the President’s negative answer could have been ascertained via embassy cable within hours, or by telephone within minutes.

<snippity doo dah>

http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/conason.asp

[0007]

1. It all goes straight to the Carlyle Group & poopy

and that fucker James Baker III.

The chickens will come home.

[Unknown Known]

2. Carlyle = House of Saud

I'd bet my last dollar on that one.

I'm sure it was a big lie that the bin Laden family divested itself from Carlyle after their cozy dealings were brought to light. They merely took the name off and are funneling the money through another conduit. These people are experts at moving money around.

[Raster]

3. i believe there exists a tacit arrangement between...

...carlyle and several other consortiums with the house of saud. between them they control war, peace, prosperity and petroleum. most importantly, they ensure that those will CONTINUE to be world priorities for the forseeable future.

[teryang]

4. Keep your enemies closer

Yes there is a complicity in the coverup which serves the mutual but conflicting interests of both the BFEE and the House of Saud. The Saudis have gotten the upper hand lately.

They have driven the multinational oil companies out of Saudi Arabian properties and they have pushed the US Armed Forces out of their country as well. The money with which they have done so are debts (assets) to American central banks. At the same time they are massive creditors to American investment banks. This is without even engaging their dominance of oil pricing. American financial and economic vulnerability to the Saudis is so great that they have assisted in misdirecting Americas venal and dishonest security response against their more vulnerable neighbors. The Saudis are totally up to snuff on BFEE, CIA tricks and methods, and can't be dislodged from their properties or accounts without a fight. If they go down, the economy crashes with them, so it must be violent and quick. The latter is something the BFEE cannot yet dare to undertake.

[KoKo]

6. Terryang, I just posted the same thing and then saw your post!

You gave the info on Saudi involvement in our markets and whole financial system so eloquently my little post shrivels by comparison.

Yes, and neither Democrats or Repuglicans are going to want to bring the US economy (what's left of it) crashing down in a fight with the Saudi's.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. How long can they keep the lid on before a couple of honest Sentate or House Members feel the fate of America is more important in knowing than not knowing......

That will be a tough one......and it may just be spun indefinitely to keep the cover up going as a compromise to hold our markets up.

[KoKo]

5. Saudi's are Propping Up Wall Street! Bush & Co. are Desperate........

I posted on DU that there was already a deal with Prince to reveal the document. I said Bush and the Prince were playing "good cop/bad cop" in that they had already agreed the info would never be released. Other DU'ers agreed

Glad to know our instincts after all this time are picking up the lies faster than we used to.

I don't know how much longer Bush & Co. can keep the lid on this, though. If Conason lays it all out then every other reporter worth anything and those who aren't know this information which we here on DU were the first to assemble on our own with Google searches after 9/ll.

The only problem with getting the info out is that the Saudi's are probably "blackmailing" Bush.....because they are propping up our Stock and probably even the Bond Market big time. They've always been in there bailing us out. Bush needs all the help he can get and when the Treasury and the Fed need money......who do you think they call? Who has that kind of $$$$$$'s lying around.......

This may be why the info has been held back so long. Both Repugs and Dems know it could mean financial disaster letting the truth out.

[teryang]

7. Blackmailing!

You've got that right. The Saudis are in the heart of the financial citadel, where players are above the law.