Kerry Calls Out Bush On Bin Laden Family 9/11 Flight

[DrFunkenstein]

Winning War on Terror Requires Reconsideration of Saudi Alliance

America cannot afford to hold its nose and play nice with a country whose actions often speak louder than its words when it comes to fighting terrorism. It's time to put the American-Saudi relationship on a frank and balanced basis. Not surprisingly, the Saudi-friendly Bush administration has failed to get this point.

Saudi Arabia's role in financing terrorism is well-documented. A report published by the Council on Foreign Relations tells us that "For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for Al Qaeda. And for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem."

Perhaps even more disturbing is the allegation that Al Qaeda continued to receive money from inside Saudi Arabia long after the September 11 attacks. According to the council's report, "some, whose donations go to Al Qaeda, know full well the terrorist purposes to which their money will be put." The Saudi government now claims to be cracking down on terrorist financing, but its actions have not yet matched its words.

One would think that an American president who threatens the world by announcing "you're either with us or you're with the terrorists" would be particularly troubled by the actions of the Saudi regime. But then one would be underestimating the hypocrisy that has become the hallmark of the Bush administration.

edited by admin: copyright

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.12.12/oped1.html

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[dajabr]

1. Glad he read Michael Moore's article in Rolling Stone!

Hope to see him walking the carpet at the premiere of Farenheit 911.

[Cocoa]

6. Kerry doesn't read Rolling Stone

the bad language offends him. :-)

btw, Kerry wrote a book about fighting terrorism.

[blm]

13. yes...in 1997. Too bad people can't listen to boring, DRY policy.

Yep...it gets in the way of their entertainment.

[burrowowl]

2. About time!

And if the 9/11 Commission could get more support to be a commission, it would help too.

[Sensitivity]

7. IS DEAN GOING TO JOIN KERRY IN ATTACKING BUSH ON 911

I watched the Debate and I seem that our guy was back-tracking on going after Bush on 9/11. Was he blaming Fox News for saying that Bush had been warned beforehand about 9/11.

I thought we know this for a fact. We have to get tough with Bush on 9/11 .
I am glad Kerry is going after Bush on it.

[WiseMen]

9. ONLY KERRY CAN SPEAK WITH CREDIBILITY

The Bush regime will be careful about attacking Kerry because they know that as a veteran of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he can hit them hard with what he know about their shenanigans if they force his hand.

Kerry has survived the secret Nixon hit list in the 70’s and Reagan/Bush attempts to silence him in the 80’s when he went after the Rumsfeld-Sadaam dirty war and the Iran/Contra conspiracy.

Wounded three times on the battlefield during storied acts of valor, recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts, Kerry is almost invulnerable to any Bush attack on his patriotism.

This is what scare me: IF KERRY WINS THE NOMINATION THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY THEY WILL BE ABLE TO STOP HIM.

[adadem]

14. My fear, too

[blm]

17. No doubt. That's why Dean was given a press plane last JUNE.

Too many voters go by name recognition and Kerry really didn't have national name recognition even though he did remarkable work on BCCI, IranContra and CIA drugrunning.

So they made sure the guy who was attacking the other Democrats got all the media oxygen. The news networks didn't even cover Kerry's speech at the VFW convention last summer because he was SCORCHING against Bush and the veterans welcomed him with much more applause than they did Condi and Rummy. But guess who was left out of the coverage? The only Democrat invited to speak....John Kerry.

[Cassandra]

24. About 9/11?

Should I say that only a New Yorker can speak with credibility on that subject?
I'm wondering what, as a Skull & Bonesman, he has on the other guys. Maybe that's why he survived the Repugs.

[sandnsea]

10. May 2003

http://www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=6027.xml

"I am writing to request that you instruct the Secretary of the Treasury to identify Saudi Arabia as a primary money laundering concern under the authority provided in Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56).

I also request that U.S. financial institutions be required to provide enhanced scrutiny of financial transactions from Saudi Arabia, with particular focus on international charity organizations in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the Department of Treasury should immediately issue regulations requiring U.S. financial institutions to impose enhanced due diligence on financial transactions involving Saudi Arabian financial institutions, charities and high net-worth individuals to determine whether any transactions pose an unacceptable risk of being related to the finance of terrorism. I believe this will help ensure that funds designated to assist al-Qa'ida, Hizballah, Hamas or other international terrorist groups do not originate from or pass through Saudi Arabian financial institutions on their way to the United States. It will also help persuade the Saudi Arabian government to crack down on the flow of funds from their country to international terrorist organizations.

Saudi Arabia is a growing financial center in the Gulf Region of the Middle East and should be credited for its increased vigilance in the fight against money laundering since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The Saudi Arabian government has frozen accounts of individuals and organizations in response to information provided by the United States and is currently considering a proposal to develop specific laws dealing with money laundering offenses.

I remain concerned that a number of charity organizations headquartered within in Saudi Arabia and with operations and office around the world are being used as conduits to provide funds for terrorist organizations. There has been a series of published reports alleging Saudi Arabian charities and individual Saudi Arabians have been providing funds to organizations both in the United States and elsewhere which have direct links to terrorist organizations. Last year, an independent task force sponsored by the Council of Foreign Relations released a report on terrorist financing focusing on the connection between Saudi Arabia and al-Qa'ida which stated "... it is worth stating clearly and unambiguously what official U.S. government spokespersons have not: For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al-Qa'ida; and for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to the problem."

As long as al-Qa'ida retains access to a viable financial network, it remains a lethal threat to the United States. That is why I believe the United States must take any and all necessary measures to stop Saudi Arabian charity organizations from providing any additional funds to international terrorist organizations -- such as al-Qa'ida, Hamas and Hizballah - that could be used to attack either the United States or United States interests abroad.

While the Saudi Arabian government has introduced some controls to limit the transfer of funds to terrorist organizations, I am concerned that their efforts have not gone far enough to stop international terrorist organizations from receiving funding to carry out attacks against the United States or United States' interests around the world. The tragic bombing in Riyadh this month demonstrates the lethal ability of terrorists to operate within Saudi Arabia and raises serious concerns over the Saudi government's ability to incapacitate terrorist networks.

The Department of State reports through the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report that some funds from Saudi Arabian charities have been channeled to terrorist organizations. For this reason, your Administration has classified Saudi Arabia as a country to be monitored for potential money laundering.

The United States has the largest and most accessible economic marketplace in the world. Foreign financial institutions and jurisdictions must have unfettered access to markets to effectively work within the international economic system. In 2000, I introduced legislation that became Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act to provide the federal government with the authority to leverage the power of United States financial markets to encourage countries like Saudi Arabia to reform and enforce their counter-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws. As you are aware, it provides measures that are graduated, discretionary, and targeted, focusing on international transactions involving criminal proceeds, while allowing legitimate international commerce to continue unimpeded.

If we are to lead the world in the fight against terror and increase the security of the American people, we must effectively use our own laws to cut off the flow of laundered funds from terrorist groups through the international financial system. The measured use of Section 311 authority against Saudi Arabia provides the United States an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the fight against international terrorism and money laundering.

I believe the U.S. must press for action by other nations against those Saudi persons and institutions about which there is substantial reason to believe have supported terrorism. This can be done immediately within the framework of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). I urge you to discuss this issue in your upcoming meetings with the European Union, the G-8, and other multilateral forums. Thank you in advance for your consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry

[blm]

12. And THIS is why the media has kept him OUT of play.

All this time they talk about the horserace to keep REAL issues out of the public eye. The so-called debates were set up so VERY LITTLE real issues can be dealt with because they know they can't be explored and explained in less than a minute.

This is why it's so gawddam important that the guy who knows SO MUCH and all the players and how they operate is the guy who faces Bush one on one. Kerry can't say all the really big stuff until the American people are FOCUSED on two men. Kerry and Bush.

[Punkingal]

3. Wow!

That's great! :wow:

[wtmusic]

4. Here, here

Hats off to JK

:toast:

"Reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated"

[KoKo]

5. I told Pitt this.....I told him. I said that Kerry should call for his

impeachment on one of his latest "Kerry & the War" threads. Since Kerry wrote this before Will had a chance to tell him my sentiments :D, I still say BRAVO! This is the kind of thing he should have been doing all along. He knows alot...he ought to start telling some of what he knows. It would soften his IWR vote if he would now attack Bush where he's vulnerable. Say he was lied to, and that other Democrats were lied to. Bobby Byrd didn't believe it, but that's what Kerry needs to do if he wants to stay in this race.

Going after the Saudi "flight out" is a great start.

[blm]

20. Maybe he just read your mind. ;)

Seriously, I have had no doubt that Kerry was preparing to make some great cases against BushInc. The team he assembled is a well-informed one on every level necessary. He needs the greatest audience and time to make that case or risk sounding like a conspiracy theorist.

I also have no doubt that BushInc. has known this and helped set up the circumstances where Dean was given a press plane as far back as last June, and to go with the earlier focus of the media that far outweighed any of the others and a rising tide was created because of that attention.

[JohnKleeb]

8. Good for him

[sandnsea]

11. kick

Kicking threads with substance.

[adadem]

15. Debates

1 - Kerry vs Clark
2 - Kerry vs Dean
3 - Kerry vs Bush
4 - Good-bye Bush

[blm]

16. That''s why Bush will never let it happen

and the media will do its part.

[adadem]

19. Sadly, kick n/t

[molly]

18. Tomorrow is John Kerry's 60th birthday

I probably sound like a broken record, but I'm going to try to make a contribution - even if it's not the 60.00 they are asking. Every little bit will help and wish him many more for all he has done for our country!

https://contribute.johnkerry.com/?team=25

[Sensitivity]

21. Will Kerry take V.P. present for 60th

[blm]

22. The honest guy being pat on the head by the deceiver?

Nope.

If he's the nominee Dean will not beat Bush, so Kerry would have to prepare for another way to mend at least some of the world's ills.

He can go out in the world on his own and accomplish more good with his intellect and progressive solutions acting independent of politics.

[DrFunkenstein]

23. Does This Count As A Conspiracy Theory?

When I watched on Bill Moyers those wives of 9/11 victims laying into the Bush Administration over this, I knew that this had real resonance with people. I think it is a legitimate question to raise, especially in light of the many blank pages in the 9/11 report.