Netanyahu speaks before the US SENATE

Rush first then I went to Netanyahu's site ^ | April 10,2002 | Netanyahu address US Senate

[Kay Soze]

Netanyahu speaks before the US SENATE

Washington, 10 April 2002

Distinguished Senators,

I have come here to voice what I believe is an urgently needed reminder: That the war on terror can be won with clarity and courage or lost with confusion and vacillation.

Seven months ago, on a clear day in the capital of freedom, I was given the opportunity to address you, the guardians of liberty

I will never forget that day - a day when words that will echo for ages pierced the conscience of the free world:

Words that lifted the spirits of an American nation that had been savagely attacked by evil. Words that looked that evil straight in the eye and boldly declared that it would be utterly destroyed. Most important, words that charted a bold course for victory.

Those words were not mine. They were the words of the President of the United States.

In an historic speech to the world last September and with determined action in the crucial months that followed, President Bush and his administration outlined a vision that had the moral and strategic clarity necessary to win the war on terror.

The moral clarity emanated from an ironclad definition of terror and an impregnable moral truth. Terrorism was understood to be the deliberate targeting of civilians in order to achieve political ends. And it was always unjustifiable. With a few powerful words, President Bush said all that needed to be said: ‘Terrorism is never justified.’

The strategic clarity emanated from the recognition that international terrorism depends on the support of sovereign states, and that fighting it demands that these regimes be either deterred or dismantled.

In one clear sentence, President Bush expressed this principle: ‘No distinction will be made between the terrorists and the regimes that harbor them.’

This moral and strategic clarity was applied with devastating effect to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that supported Al Qaeda terrorism.

No false moral equivalence was drawn between the thousands of Afghan civilians who were the unintentional casualties of America’s just war and the thousands of American civilians deliberately targeted on September 11.

No strategic confusion lead America to pursue Al Qaeda terrorists while leaving the Taliban regime in place.

Soon after the war began, the American victory over the forces of terror in Afghanistan brought to light the third principle in the war on terror - namely, that the best way to defeat terror is to defeat it.

At first, this seemingly trite observation was not fully understood. Contrary to popular belief, the motivating force behind terror is neither desperation nor destitution. It is hope - the hope of terrorists systematically brainwashed by the ideologues who manipulate them that their savagery will break the will of their enemies and help them achieve their objectives - political, religious, or otherwise.

Defeat this hope and you defeat terrorism. Convince terrorists, their sponsors, and potential new recruits that terrorism will be thoroughly uprooted and severely punished and you will stop it cold in its tracks.

By adhering to these three principles – moral clarity, strategic clarity and the imperative of victory - the forces of freedom, led by America, are well on their way to victory against terror from Afghanistan.

But that is only the first step in dismantling the global terrorist network. The other terrorist regimes must now be rapidly dealt with in similar fashion.

Yet today, just seven months into the war, it is far from certain that this will be done.

Faced with the quintessential terrorist regime of our time – a regime that both harbors and perpetrates terror on an unimaginable scale – the free world is muddling its principles, losing its nerve, and thereby endangering the successful prosecution of this war.

The question many in my country are now asking is this: Will America apply its principles consistently and win this war, or will it selectively abandon those principles and thereby ultimately lose the war?

My countrymen ask this question because they believe that terrorism is an indivisible evil and that the war against terror must be fought indivisibly. They believe that if moral clarity is obfuscated, or if you allow one part of the terror network to survive, much less be rewarded for its crimes, then the forces of terror will regroup and rise again.

Until last week, I was certain that the United States would adhere to its principles and lead the free world to a decisive victory. Today, I too have my concerns.

I am concerned that when it comes to terror directed against Israel, the moral and strategic clarity that is so crucial for victory is being twisted beyond recognition.

I am concerned that the imperative of defeating terror everywhere is being ignored when the main engine of Palestinian terror is allowed to remain intact.

I am concerned that the State of Israel, that has for decades bravely manned the front lines against terror, is being pressed to back down just when it is on the verge of uprooting Palestinian terror.

These concerns first surfaced with the appearance of a reprehensible moral symmetry that equates Israel, a democratic government that is defending itself against terror, with the Palestinian dictatorship that is perpetrating it.

The deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians is shamefully equated with the unintentional loss of Palestinian life that is the tragic but unavoidable consequence of legitimate warfare.

Worse, since Palestinian terrorists both deliberately target civilians and hide behind them, Israel is cast as the guilty party because more Palestinians have been killed in Arafat’s terrorist war than Israelis.

No one, of course, would dare suggest that the United States was the guilty party in World War II because German casualties, which included millions of civilians, were twenty times higher then American casualties.

So too, only a twisted and corrupt logic would paint America and Britain as the aggressors in the current war because Afghan casualties are reported to have well exceeded the death toll of September 11.

My concern deepened when, incredibly, Israel was asked to stop fighting terror and return to a negotiating table with a regime that is committed to the destruction of the Jewish State and openly embraces terror.

Yasser Arafat brazenly pursues an ideology of policide – the destruction of a state –and meticulously promotes a cult of suicide.

With total control of the media, the schools, and ghoulish kindergarten camps for children that glorifies suicide martyrdom, Arafat’s dictatorship has indoctrinated a generation of Palestinians in a culture of death, producing waves of human bombs that massacre Jews in buses, discos, supermarkets, pizza shops, cafés – everywhere and anywhere.

Israel has not experienced a terrorist attack like the one the world witnessed on that horrific day in September. That unprecedented act of barbarism will never be forgotten.

But in the last eighteen months, Israel’s six million citizens have buried over four hundred victims of terror – a per capita toll equivalent to half a dozen September 11ths. This daily, hourly carnage is also unprecedented in terrorism’s bloody history.

Yet at the very moment when support for Israel’s war against terror should be stronger than ever, my nation is being asked to stop fighting.

Though we are assured by friends that we have the right to defend ourselves, we are effectively asked not to exercise that right.

But our friends should have no illusions. With or without international support, the government of Israel must fight not only to defend its people, restore a dangerously eroded deterrence and secure the Jewish State, but also to ensure that the free world wins the war against terror in this pivotal arena in the heart of the Middle East.

Israel must now do three things. First, it must dismantle Arafat’s terrorist regime and expel Arafat from the region. As long as the engineer of Palestinian terror remains in the territories, terror will never stop and the promise of peace will never be realized.

Second, Israel must clean out terrorists, weapons, and explosives from all Palestinian controlled areas. No place, whether it is a refugee camp in Gaza or an office in Ramallah can be allowed to remain a haven for terror.

Third, Israel must establish physical barriers separating the main Palestinian population centers from Israeli towns and cities. This will prevent any residual terrorists from reaching Israel.

Done together, these three measures will dramatically reduce terrorism, bring security to the people of Israel and restore stability to the region.

Last week, the government of Israel began to take the second of these vital steps. Rather than bomb Palestinian populated cities and towns from the air – an operation that would have claimed thousands of civilian casualties – the Israeli army is taking on greater risk by using ground forces that painstakingly make their way through the hornet’s nests of Palestinian terror.

But instead of praising Israel for seeking to minimize civilian casualties through careful and deliberate action, most of the world’s governments shamelessly condemn it.

For seven months, many of these governments have rightly supported the war against Afghan terror. Yet after only seven days, their patience for the war against Palestinian terror ran out.

The explanations that are offered for this double standard are not convincing.

First it is said that war on Palestinian terror is different because a political process exists that can restore security and advance peace.

This is not so. There can never be a political solution for terror. The grievance of terrorists can never be redressed through diplomacy. That will only encourage more terror.

Yasser Arafat’s terrorist regime must be toppled, not courted. The Oslo agreements are dead. Yasser Arafat killed them.

He tore it to shreds and soaked it in Jewish blood by violating every one of its provisions, including the two core commitments he made at Oslo: to recognize the State of Israel and to permanently renounce terrorism

With such a regime and such failure of leadership, no political process is possible. In fact, a political process can only begin when this terrorist regime is dismantled.

Second, it is said that waging war on Palestinian terror today will destabilize the region and cripple the imminent war against Sadaam Hussein.

This concern is also misplaced.

Clearly, the urgent need to topple Sadaam is paramount. The commitment of America and Britain to dismantle this terrorist dictatorship before it obtains nuclear weapons deserves the unconditional support of all sane governments.

But contrary to conventional wisdom, what has destabilized the region is not Israeli action against Palestinian terror, but rather, the constant pressure exerted on Israel to show restraint.

It is precisely the exceptional restraint shown by Israel for over a year and a half that has unwittingly emboldened its enemies and inadvertently increased the threat of a wider conflict.

If Israeli restraint were to continue, the thousands that are now clamoring for war in Arab capitals will turn into millions, and an avoidable war will become inevitable.

Half-measures against terrorists will leave their grievances intact, fueled by the hope of future victory. Full- measures will not redress those grievances, but it will convince them that pursuing terror is a prescription for certain defeat.

America must show that it will not heed the international call to stop Israel from exercising its right to defend itself. If America compromises its principles and joins in the chorus of those who demand that Israel disengage, the war on terror will be undermined.

For if the world begins to believe that America may deviate from its principles, then terrorist regimes that might have otherwise been deterred will not be deterred. Those that might have crumbled under the weight of American resolve will not crumble. As a result, winning the war will prove far more difficult, perhaps impossible.

But my friends, I must also tell you that the charge that Israel, of all countries, is hindering the war against Sadaam is woefully unjust.

For my country has done more than any other to make victory over Sadaam possible.

Twenty-one years ago, Prime Minister Menachem Begin sent the Israeli air force on a predawn raid hundreds of miles away on one of the most dangerous military missions in our nation’s history.

When our pilots returned, we had successfully destroyed Sadaam’s atomic bomb factory and crippled his capacity to build nuclear weapons.

Israel was safer - and so was the world.

But rather than thanking us for safeguarding freedom, the entire world condemned us.

Ten years later, when American troops expelled Iraqi forces in the Gulf War, then secretary of Defense Richard Cheney, expressed a debt of gratitude to Israel for the bold and determined action a decade earlier that had made victory possible.

Indeed, I am confident that in time those who would condemn Israel now will understand that rooting out Palestinian terror today will also make both Israel and the world safer tomorrow.

For if we do not immediately shut down the terror factories where Arafat is producing human bombs, it is only a matter of time before suicide bombers will terrorize your cities.

If not destroyed, this madness will strike in your buses, in your supermarkets, in your pizza parlors, in your cafes. Eventually, these human bombs will supplement their murderous force with suitcases equipped with devices of mass death that could make the horrors of September 11 pale by comparison.

That is why there is no alternative to winning this war without delay. No part of the terrorist network can be left intact. For if not fully eradicated, like the most malignant cancer, it will regroup and attack again with even greater ferocity. Only by dismantling the entire network will we be assured of victory. But to assure that this evil does not reemerge a decade or two from now, we must not merely uproot terror, but also plant the seeds of freedom

Because only under tyranny can a diseased totalitarian mindset be widely cultivated. This totalitarian mindset, which is essential for terrorists to suspend the normal rules that govern a man’s conscience and prevents him from committing these grisly acts, does not breed in a climate of democracy and freedom.

The open debate and plurality of ideas that buttress all genuine democracies and the respect for human rights and the sanctity of life that are the shared values of all free societies are a permanent antidote to the poison that the sponsors of terror seek to inject into the minds of their recruits.

That is why it is also imperative that once the terrorist regimes in the Middle East are swept away, the free world, led by America, must begin to build democracy in their place.

We simply can no longer afford to allow this region to remain cloistered by a fanatic militancy. We must let the winds of freedom and independence finally penetrate the one region in the world that clings to unreformed tyranny.

That in exercising our basic right to defend ourselves Israel is condemned by Arab dictatorships is predictable.

That today a Europe which sixty years ago refused to lift a finger to save millions of Jews has turned its collective back on the Jewish State is downright shameful.

But my friends, I must admit. I expected no better from them.

Yet the America I know has always been different.

History has entrusted this nation with carrying the torch of freedom. And time and time again, through both war and peace, America has carried that torch with courage and with honor, combining a might the world has never known with a sense of justice that no power in history has possessed.

I have come before you today to ask you to continue to courageously and honorably carry that torch by standing by an outpost of freedom that is resisting an unprecedented terrorist assault. I ask you to stand by Israel’s side in its fight against Arafat’s tyranny of terror, and thereby help defeat an evil that threatens all of mankind.

[Mr. Peabody]

That today a Europe which sixty years ago refused to lift a finger to save millions of Jews has turned its collective back on the Jewish State is downright shameful.

But my friends, I must admit. I expected no better from them.

Yet the America I know has always been different.

Wow!

[L`enn]

I also want to see the Powell/Bush response to Sharon's gutsy, pointed, and long-overdue remarks regarding this administrations cave-in on their principles.

[CedarDave]

http://www.netanyahu.org/

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

why dont we see it as a war against fanatical Islam?..

I do. What scares me is the acceptance arafat has gained over the past 8 (at least) years. He is a murderer. He is a coward. He used to be regarded by the world as evil personified. That the world can now see him as anything else is repulsive.

Truth is truth. Terrorism is as evil against innocent Jews as it is innocent Americans. "You are either with us or with the terrorists" applies to us as much as it does the rest of the world. I stand with Israel against terrorism.

As an American, it is the least I can do. It was not too long ago, we had no friends (if you can call them that) in the Arab World. Israel was our ally and our only buffer against the Soviet Union in that part of the world. Now that the world is turning against Israel, the right thing to do is to stand by her side.

[The Great Satan]

What scares me is the acceptance arafat has gained over the past 8 (at least) years

Hmm, almost exactly the tenure of William J. Clinton. What a coincidence.

[Uncle Bill]

Iraq to Join Palestinians in Israel Attack

Arafat Teams Up With Saddam To Plot Attacks

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Arafat "The Terrorist"

ARAFAT SENDS 30 SUICIDE BOMBERS TO JERUSALEM

A Terrorist By Any Other Name

Millions in Counterfeit Currency Found In Arafat's Complex

Arafat and Hitler

Why Palestinians support terror

New evidence Arafat killed U.S. diplomats

The charade of Yasser Arafat as peacemaker

Why Arafat?

By Joseph Farah
April 3, 2002
FR Thread

Please look at the photo accompanying this column.

Stare at it. View it carefully. Study the image.

This is the face of Yasser Arafat's terror. This is what it looks like. This is how he remains in power. This is why we continue to deal with this murdering fiend after more than 30 years.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

This one may be worth many more.

The story behind this photo is simple. It's not unique. The victim is called a "collaborator" by Arafat's "police force." He was one of Arafat's terrorists who was suspected of working with Israel in some way.

The important thing to understand about this photo is that this is how Arafat rules his own people – by sheer terror, by brute force, by barbaric tactics that would be unimaginable to most in the West.

Yet, we continue to deal with him. We continue to support him financially with U.S. taxpayer dollars. We continue to give him credence as an international peacemaker.

If you care to know more details, the victim was eviscerated after this picture was taken. I have photos of that, too. I will spare you the more gruesome images.

You should also know that Arafat has ordered the murders of dozens of other Arabs – perhaps hundreds – who are suspected of collaborating with Israel. Collaboration, by the way, means disagreeing with Arafat on anything from tactics to goals.

He maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward even the mildest forms of dissent.

And this is how he will continue to rule if he is ever granted his precious Palestinian state.

For more than 30 years, Arafat has resorted to assassination of Arabs who even suggested that peace with Israel was achievable – even while he himself was supposedly negotiating peace in good faith.

Duly elected Arab mayors in the West Bank have been systematically murdered if they cooperated with Israeli officials in any way – even for the betterment of their own people.

But here we have a record of the way it works. Most of the killings take place with much less fanfare, in secret, quietly, without the show.

Nevertheless, the message is always the same: Question Arafat and die. Work with Jews and die. Live in peace with your neighbors and die.

Again, U.S. taxpayer dollars subsidize this wanton slaughter. U.S. diplomats encourage it every time they insist Israel go back to the negotiating table. In other words, we as Americans all have some culpability here. If we're not speaking out, if we're not demanding Congress end the subsidies, we share in the guilt. We're part of the problem, not the solution.

We don't need another police state in the Mideast. That's what it means when we advocate the creation of a Palestinian state under the leadership of Arafat. It means a continuation of this kind of lynching, a continuation of terror against Israelis and Americans. It means a death sentence to any Arab who dares to contradict Arafat or is perceived to disagree with his methods of goals.

Do you want to be a part of that?

Right now, buried news reports suggest a major upturn in persecution against Christians by Arafat's police forces. It's happening in Ramallah. It's happening in Bethlehem. It's happening in Nazareth.

Even though Arafat claims to represent the interests of Arab Christians in his territories, the truth is that religious cleansing is under way. Christian civilians and shopkeepers are being targeted with vandalism and worse.

Why on earth would we in the United States want to be a part of that kind of criminal behavior? Why do we insist that Arafat is the only hope for peace in the Mideast? Where is the evidence for such a conclusion?

If myopic and suicidal officials in Israel want to continue to talk to Arafat, that is their choice. But let's make sure they are not doing so at our insistence. Let's make certain we are not buying the rope that will someday be used to hang us.

Majority in U.S. See Arafat as Terrorist

1997 Terror Act Forgotten - Palestinian Gunman shoots 7, kills self at Empire State Building

The Palestinian Authorities like you never heard them (PA: the Jews are to be exterminated)

Bin Laden joins Arafat: Saudi master of terror ready to strike Israel? - April 20, 2001

Israel evacuates embassies, Palestinians celebrate

Palestinians celebrate attacks with gunfire

Thousands of Palestinians Celebrate 9-11

---

THE KORAN: "Islam Is Peace"

The Koran Briefing:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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A Day In The Life Of George W. Bush

"America is made better by millions of Muslim citizens." - George W. Bush

"I believe in freedom of speech"

"Help is on the Way." So, Trust me.

Bush "War on Terrorism" Now A Big Joke: "Arafat is Not a Terrorist"

U.S. Does Not Regard Arafat As Terrorist

Bush Won't Label Arafat A Terrorist

Powell Says U.S. Won't Brand Arafat A Terrorist Because He's Useful To Peace Process

Powell Shocker: Calls Palestinian Suicide Bombers "Innocents"

The real Colin Powell

"Terror Must Be stopped. No Nation can negotiate with terrorists. For there is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death."
George W. Bush - Source

Powell Calls For Accelerated "Negotiations" To Establish A Palestinian State

Netanyahu: Palestinian State Would Be A "Terrorist State"

BANISH ARAFAT NOW!

Netanyahu Says Powell Mission Doomed

Netanyahu Speaking

Netanyahu Opposes Bush on Troops

BIBI: OUST ARAFAT AND MAKE WAY FOR DEMOCRACY

Netanyahu on defeating terrorism

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, Bush went further than any U.S. leader has in his support of Yasser Arafat as dictator-for-life of a new Arab police state.

Terrorist Arafat in the White House?

The Arafat Apologists

Bush Bends

Lawmakers Press Bush To Stand Up For Israel

Don't Hold Israel Back

The Hypocrisy of George W. Bush

Israeli Operations Will Go On Despite Bush Demand

Israel Ignores Bush Withdrawal Call

Sharon Doesn't Work For Bush

Bush Nuancing Away US Support For Israel

Why is Doublespeak Needed By Bush? Rush Limbaugh Wants To Know

Rush Limbaugh: "What if it were Clinton"

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A Day In The Life of George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Saudi Arabia

Saudi official admits 15 of 19 World Trade Center Terrorist hijackers Were Saudi

Saudi Arabia Was The Center Of Hijack Planning

Saudi Arabia listed with Iraq, North Korea as least free

Americans rank U.S. ally Saudi Arabia ahead of North Korea and Syria as a supporter of international terrorism

BUSH SR. DEFENDS ARAB LEADERS

Former President Bush called Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to assure him of his son's good intentions toward the Middle East

Terrorists Must Be Punished

IS THE FIX IN?

Banking 101

FAMILY ENTERPRISES

What's Up In Jakarta?

Feds investigate entrepreneur allegedly tied to Saudis

WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUSH SR. IN BUSINESS WITH BIN LADEN FAMILY CONGLOMERATE THROUGH CARLYLE GROUP

HARKEN ENERGY: U.S. Securities and Exchange Records - George W. Bush Disregarded Federal Statutes

Harken Energy Had a Web Of Mideast Connections;In the Background: BCCI

Saudi Govt. Paper: Billions Spent by Saudi Royal Family to Spread Islam to Every Corner of the Earth

SAUDI ARABIA AND THE ARAB COUNTRIES INSIST ON HOLDING THE ARAB SUMMIT (ARAB FUNDING INTIFADA)

Saudis Admit Bankrolling Palestinian Intifada

Saudi Arabia Sets Aside $50M For Palestinian "Martyrs"

Saudis Funded Palestinian Arms Ship

Saudis Funded Arms Ship

US Sends Arab Leaders Evidence That Palestinian Authority Involved In Arms Ship

US Helped Track Weapons Ship FR Thread FR Thread

Saudi Arabia's Secret Missile City In Desert

Bush must not ignore the Saudi connection

Bush Backs Saudi Plan

Don't Weaken Arafat, Saudi Warns Bush

Saudi slur against Bush: Ambassador to UK says president 'has complexes'

Saudi Arabia

Bush Advisers Cashed in on Saudi Gravy Train

The White House connection: Saudi `agents' close Bush friends

U.S. ties to Saudi elite may be hurting war on terrorism

Saudi official admits 15 of 19 hijackers Saudi

Bush Apologises For Press Reports Criticising Saudi Arabia

Evidence of Terror Plot At a Saudi Aid Agency

Saudi Bank Tied To Terror Has U.S. Links

SHEIK WHO CAME TO DINNER PROVES SAUDI TERROR TIES

Saudi Embassy Supports Palestinian Suicide Bombers

Saudi Intelligence Chief Explains Why Saudis Support Bin Laden Cause, Says Arafat “Man Of Peace”

Bin Laden joins Arafat: Saudi master of terror ready to strike Israel? - April 20, 2001

Saudi Arabia funds `behind Taleban' - September 3, 1998

Saudi Arabia, Iran to sign security pact
Note: Iran's Rafsanjani suggests nuclear attack on Israel

Bush advisers cashed in on Saudi gravy train

Our Friends the Saudis - Two Saudi princes had been paying, on behalf of the kingdom, what amounts to protection money to Osama bin Laden since 1995

Princely payments: Saudi royalty, it is claimed, make out like bandits on U.S. deals

U.S. ties to Saudi elite may be hurting war on terrorism

Former CIA director: Saudis partially to blame for 9/11

Saudis financed terror ship

SAUDIS TELL U.S. FORCES TO GET OUT

A FAVOR FROM THE SAUDIS

U.S. Withdrawal From Saudi Arabia Is Not on the Cards: U.S. Official.

Saudi denounces US agenda behind bombing campaign

Saudi Money Aiding Terrorist bin Laden

USA Today
By Jack Kelley
October 28, 1999

WASHINGTON - More than a year after the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, prominent businessmen in Saudi Arabia continue to transfer tens of millions of dollars to bank accounts linked to indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden, senior U.S. intelligence officials told USA TODAY.

The money transfers, which began more than five years ago, have been used to finance several terrorist acts by bin Laden, including the attempted assassination in 1995 of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia, the officials said.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to raise the issue with Prince Sultan, the Saudi defense minister, during his visit to Washington next week. Saudi Arabia, the main U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, has pledged to fight terrorism.

According to a Saudi government audit acquired by U.S. intelligence, five of Saudi Arabia's top businessmen ordered the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom's largest, to transfer personal funds, along with $3 million diverted from a Saudi pension fund, to New York and London banks.

The money was deposited into the accounts of Islamic charities, including Islamic Relief and Blessed Relief, that serve as fronts for bin Laden.

The businessmen, who are worth more than $5 billion, are paying bin Laden "protection money" to stave off attacks on their businesses in Saudi Arabia, intelligence officials said. Bin Laden, whose family runs the largest Saudi construction firm, has called for the overthrow of the Saudi government.

The money transfers were discovered in April after the royal family ordered an audit of NCB and its founder and former chairman, Khalid bin Mahfouz, U.S. officials say. Mahfouz is now under "house arrest" at a military hospital in the Saudi city of Taif, intelligence officials said.

His successor, Mohammad Hussein Al-Amoudi, also heads the Capitol Trust Bank in New York and London, which U.S. and British officials are investigating for allegedly transferring money to bin Laden. Amoudi's Washington lawyer, Vernon Jordan, could not be reached for comment.

Mahfouz's son, Abdul Rahman Mahfouz, is on the board of Blessed Relief in Sudan. Suspects in the Mubarak attack are linked to the charity.

Bin Laden faces U.S. criminal charges for allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Bin Laden, who is in Afghanistan, denies the charges.

Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan declined to comment on the reports.

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The White House Connection: Saudi `Agents' Close Bush Friends

Boston Herald.com
By Maggie Mulvihill, Jonathan Wells and Jack Meyers
Source Article
Tuesday, December 11, 2001

A powerful Washington, D.C., law firm with unusually close ties to the White House has earned hefty fees representing controversial Saudi billionaires as well as a Texas-based Islamic charity fingered last week as a terrorist front.

The influential law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld has represented three wealthy Saudi businessmen - Khalid bin Mahfouz, Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi and Salah Idris - who have been scrutinized by U.S. authorities for possible involvement in financing Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network.

In addition, Akin, Gump currently represents the largest Islamic charity in the United States, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in Richmond, Texas.

Holy Land's assets were frozen by the Treasury Department last week as government investigators probe its ties to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group blamed for suicide attacks against Israelis.

Partners at Akin, Gump include one of President Bush's closest Texas friends, James C. Langdon, and George R. Salem, a Bush fund-raiser who chaired his 2000 campaign's outreach to Arab-Americans.

Another longtime partner is Barnett A. ``Sandy'' Kress, the former Dallas School Board president who Bush appointed in January to work for the White House as an ``unpaid consultant'' on education reform.

In September, a federal grand jury issued subpoenas for Holy Land records around the same time terrorist investigators froze the assets of a North Texas Internet firm hired by Holy Land.

Holy Land shared office space with that firm, InfoCom Corp., which was raided by police on Sept. 5, just days before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

Holy Land has denied any link to Hamas.

According to Akin, Gump, the firm represents Holy Land in a federal lawsuit filed against the charity and another suspected Hamas entity by the parents of a man allegedly murdered by Hamas operatives in the Middle East.

In a statement issued Friday, Akin, Gump said it decided last week to decline a request to represent Holy Land in its defense of terrorism-related charges made by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Akin, Gump, which maintains an affiliate office in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, is also a registered foreign agent for the kingdom. It was paid $77,328 in lobbying fees by the Saudis during the first six months of 2000, public records show.

In addition to the royal family, the firm's Saudi clients have included bin Mahfouz, who hired Akin, Gump when he was indicted in the BCCI banking scandal in the early 1990s. In 1999, the Saudi's placed bin Mahfouz under house arrest after reportedly discovering that the bank he controlled, National Commercial Bank in Saudi Aabia, funneled millions to charities believed to be serving as bin Laden fronts.

A bin Mahfouz business partner, Al-Amoudi, was also represented by Akin, Gump. When it was reported in 1999 that U.S. authorities were also investigating Al-Amoudi's Capitol Trust Bank, Akin, Gump released a statement on behalf of their client denying any connections to terrorism. One year earlier, the firm had co-sponsored an investment conference in Ethiopia with Al-Amoudi.

Akin, Gump partner and Bush fund-raiser Salem led the legal team that defended Idris, a banking protege of bin Mahfouz and the owner of El-Shifa, the Sudanese pharmaceutical plant destroyed by U.S. cruise missiles in August 1998.

The plant was targeted days after terrorists - allegedly on the orders of bin Laden - bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa. The U.S. Treasury Department also froze $24 million of Idris' assets, but Akin, Gump filed a lawsuit and the government later chose to release the money rather than go to court. Idris, who insists he has no connection whatsoever to bin Laden or terrorism, is now pursuing a second lawsuit with different attorneys seeking $50 million in damages from the United States.

Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan political watchdog group, said Akin, Gump's willingness to represent Saudi power-brokers probed for links to terrorism presents a unique ethical concern since partners at the firm are so close to the president.

The concern is more acute now, Lewis said, because Bush has faced stiff resistance from the kingdom in his repeated requests to freeze suspected terrorist bank accounts.

``The conduct of the Saudis is just unacceptable by international standards, especially if they are supposed to be one of our closest allies,'' Lewis said.

Speaking of Akin, Gump partner Kress' office in the White House, Lewis added: ``That's not appropriate and frankly it's potentially troublesome because there is a real possibility of a conflict of interest. Basically you have a partner for Akin, Gump . . . inside the hen house.''

But another longtime Washington political observer, Vincent Cannistraro, the former chief of counter-intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency, said the political influence a firm like Akin, Gump has is precisely why clients like the Saudis hire them.

``These are cozy political relationships . . . If you have a problem in Washington, there are only a few firms to go to and Akin, Gump is one of them,'' Cannistraro said.

Cannistraro pointed out that Idris hired Akin, Gump during the Clinton presidency, when Clinton confidante Vernon Jordan was a partner at the firm. ``He hired them because Vernon Jordan had influence . . . that's a normal political exercise where you are buying influence,'' he said.

Akin, Gump is not the only politically wired Washington business cashing in on the Saudi connection.

Burson-Marsteller, a major D.C. public relations firm, registered with the U.S. government as a foreign agent for the Saudi embassy within weeks of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

One of Burson-Marsteller's first public relations efforts for the Saudis was to run a large advertisement in the New York Times reading: ``We Stand with You, America.''

The Washington chairman for Burson-Marsteller, which also maintains an office in Saudi Arabia, is Craig Veith, who ran communications for the Republican Party in the 1996 elections.

Other GOP heavyweights who have held top positions at the PR giant include Sheila Tate, the campaign press secretary for the elder George Bush; Leslie Goodman, deputy director of communications for the 1992 Bush-Quayle campaign; Craig L. Fuller, chairman of the 1992 Republican National Convention and elder Bush's vice presidential chief-of-staff.

Hug Your Kids, They're Coming To Kill, Steal and Destroy

---

Robert the Bruce Father(Leper): I'm the one who's rotting but I think your face looks graver than mine. Son, we must have alliance with England to prevail here. You achieved that. You saved your family, increased your land. In time, you will have all the power in Scotland.

Robert the Bruce: Lands, titles, men, power, nothing.

Robert the Bruce Father(Leper): Nothing?

Robert the Bruce: I have nothing. Men fight for me, because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and their children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I've never had. And I took it from him when I betrayed him and I saw it in his face on the battlefield, and it's tearing me apart.

Robert the Bruce Father(Leper): Well, all men betray. All lose heart.

Robert the Bruce: I don't want to lose heart. I want to believe as he does. I will never be on the wrong side again.
BRAVEHEART - 1995

[ppaul]

BOOKMARKED for posterity.

Searched the web. Nobody is reporting or commenting on this.
A media blackout.
Instead, the anti-Israel propaganda machine is in full swing.
Tonight, Dan Rather ended the CBS News broadcast saying that "neither side" seems to want peace.
What an outrageous and destructive lie!
Rather knows better.
So why say such a thing?

[texlok]

Benjamin Netanyahu is what Bush should be. He wouldn't cave into the left as Bush has, he wouldn't cave into the EU. The list goes on.

Is there anybody that can challenge Bush on the Republican ticket in the next election, without selling out their morals less than a year or two down the road???

[texlok]

Really? Why doesn't the president seal the borders of the United States? Why have 50,000 visas been issued to Middle Easterners (non-Israeli) SINCE September 11th? An America with open borders cannot be secure.

We could have open borders, at least with Canada, if we had a President who was actually committed to the war on terrorism.

You see, he, Ridge, and General Ashcroft, would rather fight the war on terrorism in our airports, on the airwaves, and on the internet and in the courtrooms, and subvert the Constitution, rather than goto the source.

In other words, they would rather fight the war on terrorism here in America rather than overseas. It's a lot easier to make American citizens suffer while doing whatever "for the good of the people" than going overseas and going after the extremists.

Either they believe Americans don't have the stomach for our troops going door to door in the hot spots of the world (such as the Israelis are having to do), or they'd rather increase the size/power of the government.

[rdavis84]

I'm starting to get a bit suspicious about the Bush Family and their ties to Arabs. 'Specially the Saudis.

Must have been some little piece of info that caught my eye and raised that suspicion. Have you got any links to anything that MIGHT tie the Bushs to those Arab folks?

Any help will be much appreciated! ;-)

[nunya bidness]

It's about time you started a "Day In The Life" Thread.

Thanks.

[PhilDragoo]

Those words were not mine. They were the words of the President of the United States.

And now we are supposed to swallow Bush-Powell telling Israel to withdraw, and Powell meeting with Arafat.

We've had the Tony Blankley "explanation" and it still doesn't wash.

There is ONE war on terror--and "you're either FOR us or AGAINST us."

Memo to Bush and Powell:

I know you're being fed perfume and poison, but the truth is:

Israel is FOR us;

The EU eunuch antisemites are AGAINST us;

The UN eunuch antisemites are AGAINST us;

Yassir "50 Years of Terrorism" Arafat is AGAINST us;

The League of 22 Arab Jew-killing Dictators is AGAINST us;

The media of Peter Jennings and Dan Rather et al is AGAINST us;

Tom "Fifth Column" Daschle and the Carvillian Partisans are AGAINST us--

When the sh!t hits Baghdad, WHO can we trust to NOT stick a knife in our back?

Enough with the gag-a-maggot "engagement"--support our ally Israel.

[OKCSubmariner]

Do we have a monster in the White House?

Is he blinded by loyalties to his business deals, advice from his father and advisors on Saudi Arabia (alAmoudi,Mahfouz,Jackson Stephens,BCCI,Harken,etc.) while the Saudis pay terrorists to attack America?

When(?) he conquers terrorism will he give us a world where he has unilateraly disarmed the US of its nuclear weapons but helped the Chinese and Russians build up theirs?

When(?) he conquers terrorism will he give Jerusalem and Israel to the PLO?

When(?) he conquers terrorism how many of the Constitutional freedoms will be left in America?

Even Rush Limbaugh has been saying for two weeks that he is way out of line with his Middle East polices toward Israel and the Saudis and the PLO.

I am not writing about William Jefferson Clinton.

The AntiChrist agenda is getting a lot of help these days.

[OKCSubmariner]

Netanyahu was born in the US wasn't he? If so he could run for President.

Bibi for Prez in 2004!

Wouldn't it be ironic if Bibi ran against and defeated Hitlery CLinton given that Carville engineered the defeat of Bibi in Israeli elections and that Hitlery once praised Arafat and hugged his wife in Egypt?

[Uncle Bill]

"When(?) he conquers terrorism will he give us a world where he has unilateraly disarmed the US of its nuclear weapons but helped the Chinese and Russians build up theirs?"

Hope all is well with you my friend.

Netanyahu: Terrorists Will Nuke New York

Bush Says U.S. Should Reduce Nuclear Arms

Be Afraid, Very Afraid (North Korea Has Nukes, Long-range Missles)
Note: Not a problem, George can protect us. Wink for Bush.

N Korea eyes Russia as nuclear partner

US Faces Increasing Threat from Russian Nuclear First Strike and US Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament

Presidential Traditions

Bush's Proposed Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament Measures Will Increase Chances of Nuclear War - See links #6 and #8

Bush Says "Russia is No Longer Our Enemy"

Bush: Russia Is Not an Enemy

U.S. is being hoodwinked into financing an upgrade of Russia's weapons complex

Russia Will Honor Its Nuclear Commitments to Iran - Links

Kharazi in Moscow; Russia to Continue Nuclear Cooperation With Iran

Iran's Rafsanjani suggests nuclear attack on Israel

Bush Seeking Funding Boost for Russia Nuclear Nonproliferation
Note: BR0WN & ROOT SERVICES RECEIVES CONTRACT TO ELIMINATE RUSSIAN INTER-CONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES

Did Russia share FBI intelligence?
Note: FBI Admits It Heard About Hanssen in 1997 and did Nothing

Robert Hanssen, the veteran FBI agent accused of spying, may have sold Russia some of America's most precious intelligence secrets, including information on how the United States tracks foreign submarines and sniffs out nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, intelligence experts said Tuesday.

Colin Powell dubs China a US friend

Powell: China is US trading partner, not an enemy

Colin Powell, fresh from his talks with Chinese leaders, said that China would continue to keep American cities within striking distance of its missiles and modernise its nuclear weapons.

Powell: China poses no danger in canal

China threatens U.S. with missile strike

China backing Yasser Arafat - 'Palestine Authority is the indispensable and legitimate party,' Beijing tells U.N.

Spy 'has given China every US nuclear secret'

Communist China says thank you, and thank you, and thank you, and drives a red mercury instead of a blue chevrolet.

All in the family and Price is right.

Engaging Red China
"Whatever the price of the Chinese Revolution, it has obviously succeeded not only in producing more efficient and dedicated administration, but also in fostering high morale and community of purpose.... The social experiment in China under Chairman Mao's leadership is one of the most important and successful in human history."
David Rockefeller, 1973.

Bin Laden 'received United Nations cash'
Note: United States Thrown Off United Nations Human Rights Commission
Note: BUSH ADMINISTRATION OPPOSES RETALIATION AGAINST UNITED NATIONS
Note: United Nations Day Proclamation {By the President of the United States of America}

A New National Security Strategy for America

[Uncle Bill]

I'll see what I can do. 8-)

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I do not agree and here is why. Which is easier, eliminating evil from the world or keeping evil people from walking through the front door of your house?

A world war against terrorism is a world war against evil. The United States will never have enough resources to eliminate evil from the world. Fighting such a war is futile and will eventually demoralize and bankrupt any country no matter how wealthy or well-intentioned. The United States does have enough resources to build fences and walls along its borders and to provide serious, armed patrolling of those borders. We also can reduce the number of foreigners granted visa entry into this country.

The big lie of global trade and open borders is that everyone just wants to get along. That is preposterous. Many countries are ruled by brutal, murdering dictators and unelected tyrants. Their populations are deliberately kept unarmed, poor and ignorant which is a recipe for massive unrest and violence. These are the billions of folks with no hope for a better life. Because of these realities, a very large number of the world's people are understandably prone to violence against others.

A true war on terror would have to focus on removing ALL unelected leaders in the world. The U.S. government will not even support removing ONE known unelected terrorist tyrant -Yasser Arafat. Listen to the arguments our own government makes about this. They claim removing these brutal tyrants leaves a vacuum no other decent leader is available to fill. Our own government looks at people like Arafat as the best among his people. What a cynical and hopeless position they take! The assumption underlying that kind of thinking is that the Palestinians must ALL be unredeemable anarchists, tyrants and murderers WORSE than Arafat.

Why does America have to keep picking up the world's hitchhiking troublemakers? Everyone agrees the INS and State Department are absolutely unable to properly screen the massive numbers of people being granted entry into the U.S. It is sheer madness to allow this to continue without proper screening. The borders should be sealed until a working system of screening and tracking can be installed.

[texlok]

Everybody maybe against us, but Bush doesn't care, he sees only the next election. He has become what we did not like about clinton, a consumate politician who only sees the polls.

[Uncle Bill]

Arafat's Documents

[Betty Jo]

Good question! Why arnt our borders sealed????