With Friends Like These…
Jul 31, 202030.6K Shares510.1K Views
As the Bush administration prepares to sellSaudi Arabia $123 million in smart bomb weaponry, London’s Guardian newspaper has a storythis morning that should stop the deal cold.
It seems that about a year ago, as British investigators were pursuing allegations that the country’s largest weapons manufacturer, BAE, had paid enormous bribes to Saudi royals to seal arms deals, Prince Bandar, head of the Saudi national security council, grew impatient. Flying to London in December 2006, the Guardian reports, Bandar told investigators that the royal family would no longer cooperate in the West’s war on terror unless the inquiries ceased. The result of that non-cooperation, Bandar threatened, would be "another 7/7," a reference to the bus and subway bombs that ravaged London on July 7, 2005.
The Guardian’s David Leigh and Rob Evans write:
Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.
And these are the wonderful allies we want to load up with weapons in the name of fighting terrorism and confronting Iran? More than 100 lawmakers fought to kill the sale, but their window of opportunity closed yesterday. Still, today’s news should raise eyebrows, even from a president who’s practically part of the royal family. I mean, with friends like these, who needs Ahmadinejad?
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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