Thursday, February 02, 2006

Bush Invites Saudi Conspirator to SOTU

Jeremy Scahill on HuffPO:

A 9/11 Conspirator in King Bush's Court?

While Cindy Sheehan was being dragged from the House gallery moments before President Bush delivered his State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt honoring her son and the other 2,244 US soldiers killed in Iraq, Turki al-Faisal was settling into his seat inside the gallery. Faisal, a Saudi, is a man who has met Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants on at least five occasions, describing the al Qaeda leader as "quite a pleasant man." He met multiple times with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Yet, unlike Sheehan, al-Faisal was a welcomed guest of President Bush on Tuesday night. He is also a man that the families of more than 600 victims of the 9/11 attacks believe was connected to their loved ones' deaths.

From the Center for Cooperative Research: Profile: Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz al Saud

October 18, 2002: Saudi Acquaintance of bin Laden Given Immunity by Becoming ambassador

Saudi Arabia announces that Turki al-Faisal will be its next ambassador to Britain. Turki is a controversial figure because of his long-standing relationship to bin Laden. He has also been named in a lawsuit (see August 15, 2002) by 9/11 victims' relatives against Saudi Arabians for their support of al-Qaeda before 9/11. It is later noted that his ambassador position could give him diplomatic immunity from the lawsuit. [New York Times, 12/30/02]

He was, indeed, dismissed from the 9/11 victims suit on the grounds that he was acting in an official governmental capacity and therefore immune from suit.

How could Bush put this man in the hall for the State of the Union? He is a vile, cruel man. I mean Bush. The other guy, too.

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