FBI Aids Saudis After 9/11 .:. grubbykid.com

FBI Aids Saudis After 9/11

Wow, Michael Moore was right about the FBI helping Saudis leave the country after 9/11, but appears to have been wrong about the timing:

Now, newly released government records show previously undisclosed flights from Las Vegas and elsewhere and point to a more active role by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in aiding some of the Saudis in their departure.

The F.B.I. gave personal airport escorts to two prominent Saudi families who fled the United States, and several other Saudis were allowed to leave the country without first being interviewed, the documents show.

The Saudi families, in Los Angeles and Orlando, requested the F.B.I. escorts because they said they were concerned for their safety in the wake of the attacks, and the F.B.I. - which was then beginning the biggest criminal investigation in its history - arranged to have agents escort them to their local airports, the documents show.

The F.B.I. records show, for instance, that prominent Saudi citizens left the United States on several flights that had not been previously disclosed in public accounts, including a chartered flight from Providence, R.I., on Sept. 14, 2001, that included at least one member of the Saudi royal family, and three flights from Las Vegas between Sept. 19 and Sept. 24, also carrying members of the Saudi royal family. The government began reopening airspace on Sept. 13, but many flights remained grounded for days afterward.

...

In several other cases, Saudi travelers were not interviewed before departing the country, and F.B.I. officials sought to determine how what seemed to be lapses had occurred, the documents show.

emphasis added

The problem is trying to pinpoint when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reopened US airspace to private aircraft which was used to spirit the Saudis out of the US. US airspace was reopened on 12 September 2001 for commercial aircraft to move to preplanned locations and move passengers who were on aircraft during September 11th. Full commercial airspace was reopened on or around 11am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 13 September, but US airspace wasn't opened to private aircraft until 14 September or later. According The New York Times, US airspace was reopened to private aircraft on 13 September 2001 at 5:50pm EST. So, it seems that the Saudis flight was well within the time period allowed by the FAA.

This discussion is besides the point, and misses the big picture. Saudis connected to the Saudi regime, who indirectly support Osama bin Laden, and bin Laden's relatives were given a "get out of jail free card." Why they were allowed out without even a perfunctory examination is unknown, and has not been adequately explained by the FBI, the Administration, or their supporters. Michael Moore's argument of the connection between the House of Saud and Bush allowed the Saudis flight just doesn't cut it with me. It might be a secondary cause, but not the primary cause.

Additionally, it does not matter one wit whether or not the Saudis left before or after the airspace ban. From press accounts at the time, testimony from Richard Clarke, and the 9/11 Commission, it is apparent that the Saudis flight was during the first few days after the ban was lifted. During this time period, the volume of air traffic was between 50-60% normal, and was tightly regulated. The facts we know are that the Saudis were let go without any sort of investigation. Why they were let go, who at the FBI allowed such lax interrogation, and why was Richard Clarke directed by the White House to approve the flights? This is the story, not a conspiracy that the Saudis were let go before the airspace ban.

More documents after the jump, including a timeline, What Fahrenheit 9/11 alleged, what the 9/11 Commission found.

Timeline

12 Sep 2001 - Repositioning of planes & passengers flying on 11 Sep 2001

Only passengers on the original flights could board the diverted flights yesterday, and the flights could only go to their original destinations. The FAA said the planes, their crews and their passengers would be subjected to tough new security rules the agency is imposing on all future flights.

Interrupted Flights Can Resume, But Not Full Service, FAA Says, September 13, 2001 Thursday, via Nexis

13 Sep 2001 - Airspace reopens to US Carriers

14 Sep 2001 - Airspace reopens to private craft @ 5:50pm EST
The New York Times, on 15 Sep 2001:

According to the F.A.A., at 5:50 p.m., after the ban on private planes was lifted, there were 4,111 flights aloft, compared with 6,000 on a normal day.

The New York Times, AFTER THE ATTACKS: TRANSPORTATION; September 15, 2001 Saturday (via Nexis)

Miami Herald, on 15 Sep 2001:

Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration gave some 200,000 private aircraft permission to return to the air. Like commercial air traffic, private planes were grounded following Tuesday's terrorist hijackings.

Miami Herald, September 15, 2001 Saturday; TRAFFIC REMAINS LIGHT AT AIRPORTS (via Nexis)

15 Sep 2001 - Saudis prepare to depart US

19 Sep 2001 - Saudis depart US

Although much was already known about the "bin Laden flight," Lautenberg provided additional details, including the information that the plane, a 727 owned by DB Air and operated by Ryan International, began its flight in Los Angeles and made stops in Orlando, Dulles International Airport and Boston before continuing to Gander, Newfoundland; Paris; Geneva; and Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. The aircraft, tail number N521DB, has been chartered frequently by the White House for the press corps traveling with President Bush.

A staff report by the Sept. 11 commission this spring said the flight was one of six chartered flights carrying 142 people, mostly Saudi nationals, from the United States between Sept. 14 and 24 after airspace was reopened. The U.S. government had allowed, before commercial airspace was reopened, at least one domestic flight for Saudis who had feared for their safety, Lautenberg's staff said.

The commission reported that there were 23 passengers and three private security guards on the bin Laden flight. However, the manifest lists 25 passengers, plus the three guards employed by CDT Training Inc. of Elmwood Park, N.J. After a request for permission to allow the bin Ladens to leave reached Richard A. Clarke at the National Security Council, the flight departed Logan Airport in Boston at 11 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2001.

The Washington Post, Plane Carried 13 Bin Ladens; July 22, 2004 (via Nexis)

Fahrenheit 9/11
This is what Michael Moore said (from an incomplete transcript & correction):

SEN. BYRON DORGAN: We had some airplanes authorized at the highest levels of our government to fly to pick up Osama bin Laden's family members and others from Saudi Arabia; transport them out of this country.

NARRATOR: It turns out that the White House approved planes to pick up the bin Ladens and numerous other Saudis. At least six private jets and nearly two dozen commercial plans carried the Saudis and the bin Ladens out of the U.S. after September 13th. In all, 142 Saudis, including 24 members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the country.

...

NARRATOR: Did the authorities do anything when the bin Ladens tried to leave the country?

CRAIG UNGER: No, they were identified at the airport, they looked at their passports, and they were identified.

NARRATOR: But that's what would happen to you or I if we were...

CRAIG UNGER: Exactly. Exactly.

NARRATOR: "So a little interview, check the passport, what else?"

Unger: "Nothing."

9/11 Commission
According to September 11^th Commission,

(1) Did any flights of Saudi nationals take place before national airspace reopened on September 13, 2001?
(2) Was there any political intervention to facilitate the departure of Saudi nationals?
(3) Did the FBI screen Saudi nationals thoroughly before their departure?

First, we found no evidence that any flights of Saudi nationals, domestic or international, took place before the reopening of national airspace on the morning of September 13, 2001.²⁴ To the contrary, every flight we have identified occurred after national airspace reopened. ²⁵

Notes

24. During the morning of September 11, the FAA suspended all nonemergency air activity in the national airspace.While the national airspace was closed, decisions to allow aircraft to fly were made by the FAA working with the Department of Defense, Department of State, U.S. Secret Service, and the FBI.The Department of Transportation reopened the national airspace to U.S. carriers effective 11:00 A.M. on September 13, 2001, for flights out of or into airports that had implemented the FAA's new security requirements. See FAA response to Commission questions for the record, June 8, 2004.

25. After the airspace reopened, nine chartered flights with 160 people, mostly Saudi nationals, departed from the United States between September 14 and 24. In addition, one Saudi government flight, containing the Saudi deputy defense minister and other members of an official Saudi delegation, departed Newark Airport on September 14. Every airport involved in these Saudi flights was open when the flight departed, and no inappropriate actions were taken to allow those flights to depart. See City of St. Louis Airport Authority, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, May 27, 2004; Los Angeles International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 2, 2004; Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Orlando International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 8, 2004; Metropolitan Washington Airports Author-ity,Washington Dulles International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 8, 2004; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, JFK Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 4, 2004; Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan International Airport, and Hanscom Airfield response to Commission questions for the record, June 17, 2004; Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 22, 2004; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Newark Airport response to supplemental question for the record, July 9, 2004.

Comments

niklas says:

duuurrrrr.

*blink*

I'd highly recommend everyone seeing "This Divided State." It's a pretty eye opening look into how the fight for free speech is alive and well, even in the reddest of states (in this case, Utah). Greenstreet does an amazing job capturing a town's desire to hear more than the propoganda fed to them by their government.