By Cliff Potts, Editor-in-Chief, WPS News

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – July 25, 2025


When the smoke cleared after September 11, 2001, one fact stood out: 15 of the 19 hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden was Saudi-born, and funding for al-Qaeda had clear roots in the kingdom. But instead of holding Saudi Arabia accountable, President George W. Bush allowed Saudi royals to quietly flee the country—just days after the attacks, while U.S. airspace was still shut down.

Roughly 140 Saudi nationals, including two dozen of bin Laden’s family members, were flown out without interrogation (Unger, 2004). The White House gave clearance, a fact later confirmed by multiple investigations (CBS News, 2001). FBI Deputy Director Buck Revell noted this defied standard protocol: “Certainly it would be my expectation that they would do that,” he said, referring to interviewing terrorist relatives.

The why is glaring. The Bush family and Saudi royals were longtime allies, with over $1.4 billion exchanged between Saudi-linked interests and Bush-affiliated companies over 20 years (Unger, 2004). The cozy relationship apparently trumped national security.

Then came the bait-and-switch.

Instead of focusing on Saudi Arabia or Pakistan (where bin Laden was eventually found living a mile from a military academy), Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq—two countries with little to no direct connection to 9/11. Iraq, in particular, was justified with false claims about weapons of mass destruction.

Colin Powell admitted years later that the WMD presentation he gave at the UN was based on falsehoods. “It was a blot,” he said bluntly (Associated Press, 2021). No weapons were ever found. We invaded Iraq on a lie. And that lie cost hundreds of thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and gave rise to chaos and extremism across the region.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, where bin Laden hid, and Saudi Arabia, where the attackers were born and funded, remained U.S. allies. Presidents from Obama to Trump to Biden continued to protect those relationships.

Obama vetoed a bill that would’ve allowed 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia—Congress overrode him. Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign stop, striking a $110 billion arms deal. Biden called them a “pariah” on the campaign trail, then fist-bumped the crown prince two years later.

This was not justice. It was betrayal. And it sowed the seeds for our own decline: endless wars, rising fascism at home, and a loss of faith in our leaders.

We invaded the wrong countries, for the wrong reasons, and let the real financiers of terror walk.

References (APA):


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