| |
Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Russert grills Bandar
If anything good has come out of Bob Woodward's new book, Plan of Attack, it's that it's forced the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan, out from under his rock. Bandar is normally quite reclusive; he won't talk to the press (at least not on the record), leaving that job up to flaks like the ubiquitous Adel al-Jubeir, his brother Nail, or the Saudi embassy's lavishly-paid spin doctors at Qorvis Communications. But because of the allegations in Woodward's book -- the most serious being that there is a "secret deal" to lower oil prices before the November election to help Bush's re-election -- Bandar has been making the rounds. And he's been everywhere, even calling into the Larry King Live show last week when King was interviewing Woodward.
Most of the Bandar interviews have been pretty boring -- until today. Tim Russert's interview with the ambassador on Meet the Press was the best skewering I've seen on TV in a very long time. When it comes to asking real questions to an interviewee, Russert really has no equal. He also has a crackerjack research team. If you haven't seen this on TV, I urge you to read the transcript. Bandar was blown out of the water, and Russert refused to let up. My favourite passage:
MR. RUSSERT: Prince, the former general consul to the Department of Treasury, David Aufhauser...
PRINCE BANDAR: Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: ...a professional, a lawyer, testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Question: "With regard to the trail of money ... and whether it leads in some cases to Saudi Arabia?" Aufhauser: "In many cases it is the epicenter." Question: "And does that trail of money also show money going to al Qaeda?" Aufhauser: "Yes." "Is the money from Saudi Arabia a significant source of funding for terrorism generally?" Aufhauser: "Yes. Principally al Qaeda but many other recipients as well."
This was the scene in April 2002, when your king, a state-sponsored telethon--and look at these pictures--raised over $92 million and the money was "for Palestinian martyrs"...
PRINCE BANDAR: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: ...suicide bombers who blew up Israeli children, school buses, restaurants. Here's the Treasury Department of the United States saying that Saudi money is funding al-Qaeda. You're having telethons raising money for Palestine suicide bombers, and you sit here and say, "How could people say these terrible things about us?"
PRINCE BANDAR: Yes, I say that very easily because nothing stands still. If you are saying before 9/11 we didn't have our thing together, yes, but nor did you. Look what 9/11 is showing. However, since...
MR. RUSSERT: This was April of 2003.
PRINCE BANDAR: I understand. Since then, since 9/11, when after we recovered from the shock, we looked at all our procedures, and we have come through and we're proud of it. And listen to--you read to me a quote. Let me read to you the same man you quoted in a hearing afterward said exactly the opposite to this. Secretary Snow in public, in Saudi Arabia, and in a briefing here, says the opposite to that. And the Financial Action Task Force of the Organization of the Economic Cooperation and Development--the OECD--just came out with a report in March. It says: "In the area of charitable giving, new regulations to crack down on abusers at Saudi Arabian-based charities probably go further than any country in the world." This is done by the G-7.
Please. Given the magnitude of the rot in the Kingdom, they have done precious little to curb terrorism or terrorist funding. Their "new regulations" on charities amount to having these entities submit an annual report.
President Bush's relationship with Saudi Arabia is being examined more closely all the time. I think it could become a real liability for him in the November election.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:08 PM
|
