House of Bush, House of Saud
House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a simple question: How is it that two days after September 11, 2001, when American air traffic was all but shut down, 140 Saudi citizens, many kin to Osama bin Laden, were permitted to leave the country? Why didn’t the FBI initiate formal questioning of the people on the planes? Why did a Saudi billionaire socialize in the White House with President George W. Bush on September 13, and why did Saudi Arabia—the birthplace of fifteen of the 19 hijackers—get preferential treatment from the White House even as the World Trade Center continued to burn?
The answer to these questions—and ones far more troubling—lie largely in the hidden relationship that began in the mid-1970s, when the oil-rich House of Saud set out for America in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo and soaring oil prices. Saudi Arabia needed American military protection and a place to invest its billions of petrodollars. Like wildcatting oil drillers, the Saudis began prospecting among promising American politicians, including the Bush family. And with the Bushes, the Saudis hit a gusher—direct access to presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as to Secretary of State James Baker, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus.
What followed was an amazing weave of influence, investment, and policy between the House of Bush and the House of Saud that arcs straight into today’s headlines. The two parties conferred intimately on war, oil, funding for Afghanistan’s Mujahideen (led by Osama bin Laden), illegal arms deals, banking, and much more. By the time George W. Bush was elected, the House of Saud had transferred astounding sums of money to the House of Bush in deals involving dozens of companies—among them, the Carlyle Group, an enormous, politically connected private equity firm. But the significance of the Bush-Saud relationship goes far beyond money, and even the fact that Saudi Arabia possesses the world’s largest oil supply. More than any other county, Saudi Arabia is responsible for the rise of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism that threatens America today.