Despite the intelligence community’s unequivocal conclusion that Iraq had nothing to do with either 9/11 or al-Qaida, the administration let Americans believe the contrary.Ĭonsequently, the United States went to war in Iraq on a false pretense that it was somehow avenging those killed by al-Qaida. The Bush administration was eager to mobilize the anguish of the 9/11 attack to support the war. The United States did go to war with Iraq soon enough. He argued that the Palestinian conflict was the driving force behind al-Qaida’s popularity and legitimacy. The king pressed the president to take action to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. On September 28, Bush received Jordan’s King Abdullah. The Saudis pressed Bush to come out publicly in support of a Palestinian state as he had privately promised Crown Prince Abdullah Al Saud. The Saudis were alarmed that attacking Iraq would only benefit Iran and set in motion severe destabilizing repercussions across the region. Indeed their history was of being antagonists.Īfterward, Bandar told me privately that the Saudis were very worried about where Bush’s obsession with Iraq was going. He told Bush that the Saudis had no evidence of any collaboration between Osama bin Laden and Iraq. His questions to Bandar show his bias.” Bandar was visibly perplexed. My note says the president “clearly thinks Iraq must be behind this. Vice President Richard Cheney and Rice were there as well. The meeting took place on the Truman Balcony. On September 18, a week after 9/11, Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan came to the White House to see Bush. Of course, there was none, which British intelligence knew.
He pressed Bush for evidence of Iraq’s connection to the 9/11 attack and to al-Qaida. Bush immediately said he was planning to “hit” Iraq soon. On September 14, I was with Bush when he had his first phone call after 9/11 with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology
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