Posted on 07/01/2002 8:11:19 AM PDT by xsysmgr
On Fox News Sunday yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell told host Tony Snow, "We have been very appreciative of the role that Saudi Arabia has played, and especially Crown Prince Abdullah, in putting forward a vision for the Palestinian people of how we can find a solution to this crisis."
Powell's remark was bizarre enough, but even more so when put into context. It was in response to a question from Snow about the Saudis giving money explicitly to the families of Palestinian homicide bombers — a charge the Secretary of State all but acknowledged. The best he could muster in terms of moral clarity was that "that this kind of payment [to organizations such as Hamas] should stop."
With the Saudis incentivizing suicide bombings by doling out cash to the perpetrators' families after-the-fact, exactly what sort of "vision" are the Saudis providing for the Palestinians? It would seem that without the benefit of moral relativism, the Saudis might even seem like an enemy — perhaps because they are.
The documents that made the Secretary of State squirm were found by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) troops in the offices of a Hamas affiliate during the West Bank incursion earlier this year. According to financial records found at the Tulkarm Charity Committee (TCC), a "charity" tied to Hamas, the Saudi Committee for Support of the Intifada al Quds (al Quds is Arabic for Jerusalem) earmarked money explicitly for families of homicide bombers. The payment sheet provided by the Saudi Committee, which spearheaded the infamous $109 million telethon this spring, lists not only the names of terrorists, but in many cases the locations of the attacks — laying bare any myth that Saudi petro-dollars reached families of homicide bombers inadvertently.
The Saudi Committee — headed by Saudi interior minister Naif Ibn Abed al Aziz and financially supported by the royal family — knowingly gave money to suicide bombers and other terrorists responsible for attacks that killed more than 90 Israelis and wounded over 600. And that's just in the last of ten payment rounds — the only one analyzed by the Israeli government so far. Even before the bonanza telethon, the Saudi Committee had transferred at least $55.7 million to various groups in the West Bank and Gaza; according to informed sources, the actual amount most likely is significantly higher than that.
The TCC, the recipient of the Saudi petro-dollars, works hand-in-glove with Hamas, the group responsible for nearly 40 percent of the homicide bombings during the intifada. The TCC doles out social and welfare benefits to Palestinians, which constitutes the chief means by which Hamas buys support among the Palestinian people. The headquarters of this supposedly humanitarian group had materials encouraging the murder of Jews, and even a celebratory poster of the homicide bomber who murdered 29 and injured 140 in the Netanya Passover Massacre.
The State Department has full knowledge of the terrorist activities of both the Saudi Committee and the TCC, yet has done nothing to curb the finances of either organization. Why? State's Bureau of Near East Affairs (NEA) is "holding on like tigers to the Mideast peace process and Saudi Arabia," explains a senior administration official — which means, in practice, that many groups openly funding terrorism in the Mideast are given a free pass by America's career diplomats. Another administration official says that NEA careerists are so enamored with Arab states — including Saudi Arabia — that they "would not let facts get in the way of their analysis." The official goes on to say: "No one seriously doubts the veracity of the information contained in [the documents seized by Israel]." The NEA knows of the documents, and does not dispute their authenticity; it just refuses to attach any significance to the uncontested evidence that Saudi petro-dollars fuel terrorism.
The blind eye being turned to Saudis funding families of known terrorists is symptomatic of a larger problem at the State Department. In spite of mounting — some might say overwhelming — evidence that the Saudis are not our friends, careerists at State have doggedly maintained its infatuation with the House of Saud in the same way a naïve teenage girl refuses to believe her loving boyfriend has been making the rounds with the rest of the cheerleading squad.
The generous assessment is that as the Saudis shake our hand with one hand, they're reaching around to stab us in the back with their other hand. Nothing else explains the desire to entice future suicide bombers with the promise of financial security for family members left behind, while at the same time championing a "peace plan."
The most troubling result of State's blissful ignorance of Saudi involvement in terrorism is that some of the blood money intentionally destined for known terrorists passed through U.S. banks. This would seem like a colossal failure of the administration's "block-and-freeze" list, but neither the Saudi Committee nor the TCC are on the list of terrorists with whom U.S. banks cannot deal. In fact, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which has claimed credit for more homicide bombings than any other terrorist group, was not added to the list until March 27, 2002 — nine months after the original executive order was signed, and more tellingly, the same day as the Passover Massacre in Netanya.
In fairness to Powell, he's at least made some small progress in his attitude toward the House of Saud. He conceded to Snow, "I think it's a real problem when you incentivize in any way suicide bombings." But with all due respect to Powell, the "real problem" is that the Secretary of State adamantly adheres to the dangerously misguided notion that Saudi Arabia is our friend.
— Joel Mowbray is an NRO contributor and a Townhall.com columnist. This is a version of a piece that appears in the July 17, 2002, issue of National Review.
The facade of their proxy war against the US is falling. The evidence is blinding. The Saudis are the enemy.
The real question, how long will $500Billion $ worth of Saudi investment in the US economy hold us hostage to the perfumed, perverted, princes of the tragic kingdom.
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Blaming "Saudis" for "incentivizing" terrorists by aid to Palestinian families is right there with blaiming "Americans" for "incentivizing" arson by aid to burnt-out families.
Wealthy Saudis continually give money to mid-east families for trips to American hospitals for mercy treatment.
Their concepts of charity are very difficult to translate into our language and into our culture.
Oh, yeah, newbie, and I just bet you're going to tell us how we should understand their "concepts of charity," including why the Saudis give $5300 to every family of a homicide bomber.
I'm just going to sit back and allow you to "translate" that "into our language and into our culture."
OH WAIT! This must be part of the Saudi advertising blitz to make us all warm & fuzzy about them. It's not working.
I'm touched by your response, however. How long have you been in Hamas? Or is it Islamic Jihad? Hezbollah? Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade? Pick one or more.
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