Was Saudi Arabia behind September 11?

From our foreign affairs section:

Ever since the infamous terrorist attacks on US targets on September 11, 2001, conspiracy theories have abounded. The internet is full of these theories, with claims and counter-claims about an “inside job”, remote control planes being used, explosives being pre-set in the Twin Towers, CIA involvement, Jewish involvement, you name it.

Perhaps the eagerness of former US President George W. Bush to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to dubiously link Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with the attacks, and with him possessing UN-outlawed “weapons of mass destruction”, is what has given rise to so much suspicion.

Inevitably, people ask the question “Cuo bono?”, or “who benefits?” from the September 11 attack, and the theories arise from there. But no matter how implausible some of these conspiracy theories may seem, what has emerged very recently, is the extent of Saudi Arabian involvement.

Of course, the public was told that global terrorist network Al Qaeda was solely responsible for the September 11 attacks, and that there was no state sponsor involved. But a major report appeared in The New York Times last month alleging heavy involvement by Saudi Arabia. It’s already known that 15 of the 19 Al Qaeda terrorists involved in September 11 were Saudi nationals, and that they received considerable funding from wealthy Saudi individuals.

The US congress compiled an investigative report into September 11 that had a considerable 28-page section (an estimated 7200 words) blacked out by former president Bush. The section dealt with “specific sources of foreign support”.

A pair of US politicians (one a Democrat, one a Republican) were recently allowed to read the redacted section, and according to Paul Sperry’s “Inside the Saudi 9/11 coverup” article, they were “absolutely shocked” at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks.

The article goes on, “Some information already has leaked from the classified section, which is based on both CIA and FBI documents, and it points back to Saudi Arabia, a presumed ally. The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found “incontrovertible evidence” that Saudi government officials — not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom — helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war.”

So, who did “benefit” from September 11? The Wahhabist leaders of Saudi Arabia had long despised Saddam Hussein, secular dictator of Iraq, and were undoubtedly delighted with his removal. It had been only been ten years previous that Saddam, after having conquered his neighbour Kuwait, had advanced his forces in the direction of Saudi Arabia, all set to invade that kingdom also.

Was it a case of arrange the atrocity, then plead innocent, and point the finger at others you know the Americans would be much more eager to blame? Whilst all the time implying you are fully supportive of George W. Bush’s vague and very selective concept of a “War On Terror”?

Was the Saudi regime complicit in September 11 in the hope that it would lead to a Western alliance crushing some of Saudi Arabia’s own Shi’ite or secular Middle-Eastern enemies? Which they themselves were too weak to crush? Get the West to do their dirty work? Was it done to help ensure that Saudi Arabia, over the longer term, would be in a dominant position of increased political strength in the region? Was it done to help bring about a Saudi-approved regional caliphate or caliphates?

The nation of Saudi Arabia is the home of Medina and Mecca, considered the two holiest cities in the religion of Islam. Mecca (considered the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed) is where Muslims must face when praying to Allah. It is also where Muslim pilgrims must aspire to visit at least once in their lifetime. Perhaps because of this, the Saudis see themselves as being the global patrons of Sunni Islam.

But Saudi Arabia is also the biggest oil exporter of any nation on earth, and has all kinds of commerce with the USA and many other countries. Dozens of US firms operate in Saudi Arabia, and some have very large contracts with the Saudi government.

But besides being major oil producers and global investors, the filthy rich rulers of wealthy oil kingdom Saudi Arabia are also religious fanatics, committed to exporting their particular brand of Islam (Sunni Wahhabism) to all four corners of the globe. It’s estimated that since the mid 1970s, the Saudis have spent upwards of US$100 billion promoting Wahhabism throughout the Islamic world ($2-3 billion per year). Plenty of this funding has gone into building mosques and Islamic schools.

But increasingly, the Saudis are throwing their substantial oil wealth into military ventures, including becoming major sponsors of terrorism in central Asia and the Middle East. They have also recently agreed to provide US$3billion worth of military equipment to the Lebanese army for them to help combat the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist movement, which is based in Lebanon.

The Wahhabist Saudis are fierce rivals of the Shi’ite-dominated Iran, which has long been allied to the Assad regime in Syria. And the Saudis are themselves heavily involved in Syria’s bitter and bloody civil war; they are fighting nothing less than a proxy war against the Assad regime, by training, financing and supplying the anti-Assad Sunni Jihadists.

The Saudis are also known to be sponsoring Islamic terrorists in Russia’s northern Caucasus region, inflaming recent tensions with the Russians. It’s been reported that the Saudis have vowed to disrupt the coming Winter Olympics to be held in the Russian city of Sochi. Following terror attacks in the city of Volgograd, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin reportedly vowed to “destroy” Saudi Arabia, if the terrorist attacks continued.

The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been prompting quite an arms race in the region, with Iran and Syria having been supplied for years by the Russians, whilst the Americans have been supplying the Saudis. And in recent years, the Saudis have stepped up the programme to strengthen their own national security, which has included substantially strenghtening and modernising their own military, whilst seeking greater diplomatic cooperation with the other oil-rich Gulf States.

in 2010, even in spite of Saudi Arabia’s suspected involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks, the US agreed to the single biggest arms deal in its history, to supply the Saudis with an estimated $60.5 billion worth of military equipment. And in December 2013, the Saudis announced they were setting up a 100,000-strong joint defence force with their Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbours, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Meanwhile there are signs that the Saudis may be drifting from their longtime ally the USA. Their leaders are reportedly very disappointed that the Obama administration did not bomb Syrian capital Damascus, in retaliation for the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war (which Bashar Assad himself vehemently denies responsibility for). The Saudis are also upset at Obama recently taking a softer line towards Iran. And so the Saudis decided to purchase their US$3billion worth of military equipment destined for the Lebanese army, not from their usual military supplier, the USA, but from the French instead.

Meanwhile, in the litigation-bountiful USA, a New York-based appeals court has ruled that US victims and their families of the September 11 terror attack can now sue the Saudi Arabian government for compensation. Insurance companies who lost billions in the Twin Towers collapse would undoubtedly be licking their chops. However, one couldn’t imagine the Saudis will accept any responsibility, and actually play ball with the US court.

If it is true that the Saudi Arabian regime was complicit in the September 11 attacks on their supposed friend the USA, then the Saudis did nothing less than commit a despicable act of war and treachery, that would warrant some kind of very serious retribution, even all these years after the event. It would also warrant putting all those responsible still alive on trial.

References:
“Saudi Arabia warns of shift away from U.S. over Syria, Iran”, Reuters, 22 October 2013
“Oil reserves in Saudi Arabia”, Wikipedia
“Joint Gulf military command to control 100,000 combat troops”, Russia Today, 22 December 2013
“Riyadh’s $3B arms aid for Lebanon boosts French defense sales”, United Press International, 17 January 2014
“Russia may hit back at Saudi Arabia for Volgogard attacks”, Veterans News Now [Veterans Today Network], 12 January 2014
“Saudi Arabia–United States relations” (“Cold War and Soviet containment” section), Wikipedia
“Wahhabi movement”, Wikipedia
“Inside the Saudi 9/11 coverup”, New York Post, 15 December 2013
“9/11 Families ‘Ecstatic’ They Can Finally Sue Saudi Arabia”, Yahoo News, 20 December 2013
“US Citizens Sue Saudi Arabia for 9/11 al-Qaeda Attack Compensation”, International Business Times, 20 December 2013