The Elusive Saudi Connection

An op-ed piece in today's NY Times discusses the Saudi connection to the 9/11 attacks, and the failure of the 9/11  Commission to scrutinize that connection in great detail. I don't entertain many conspiracy theories, but in this case it certainly seems that there is more than meets the eye when talking about Saudi assistance of the 9/11 hijackers. I don't believe there was any official connection by the Saudi government to the terrorists, but I do not rule out the possibility that certain Saudi royals helped to fund Al Queda in general as the group was preparing for these attacks. I do believe that this connection is something that will never get the serious attention it deserves from anyone in our government. The truth is we have far too much at stake in our relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia, in that we have vast economic interests in the oil that is lying under their desert sand. We simply cannot afford to call the Saudi royals to the carpet for any participation they may have had individually or as groups with Islamic terrorists while we remain beholden to the oil that they sell us. Changing this relationship requires a fundamental change in energy policy on our part, away from our reliance upon vast quantities of oil for our cars and our industries. Unfortunately there is no incentive to do this either in the Republican or the Democratic party, as many politicians believe that we Americans are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to change our policy. For now we simply must accept the bland assurances of the 9/11 Commission, and wait for a day when our energy policy is not the prime determinant of our national security policy.