The Eleventh Day_ The History and Legacy of 9_11 - Anthony Summers [323]
10 “condemned”: statement, 9/11/01 cied in Cordesman, “Saudi Official Statements on Terrorism, After the Sept. 11 Attacks,” Center for Strategic & International Studies, 11/01;
11 Abdullah fumed/declined/snapped/“I reject”/Bush responded: WP, 2/10/02, New Yorker, 3/24/03, Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, 241–, Online NewsHour: Inside the Kingdom, www.pbs.org.
12 Abdullah pulled: Atlantic Monthly, 5/03, Lacey, Inside the Kingdom, 232, WP, 2/12/02. Though Saudi Arabia at the time produced only some 18 percent of the crude oil consumed by the United States, it has what other oil-producing countries do not have—the world’s only surplus production capacity. It means that world oil prices are controlled by Saudi Arabia, according to its decisions as to how much oil to make available at any given time. It had used the oil weapon in 1973, after the Yom Kippur War, by joining with other countries in cutting off the oil supply and in 1990–1991—in reverse—by increasing supply when Iraqi oil was cut off during the Gulf War (Atlantic, 2/21/08, Statistical Abstract of the U.S., 2007, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 2007, 821).
13 15 were Saudi: Newsweek, 11/19/01, New Yorker, 3/24/03;
14 “That was a”: transcript, Frontline: “House of Saud,” www.pbs.org;
15 75 royals/Caesars Palace: Las Vegas to Counterterrorism, 9/25/01, FBI documents obtained under FOIA by Judicial Watch;
16 One of OBL’s brothers: Unger, 7;
17 more than 20: e.g., re International Flight 441 from Boston, 9/17/03, “Ryan Air folder,” B70, T5, CF;
18 Prince Ahmed/yearling: Jason Levin, From the Desert to the Derby, NY: Daily Racing Form Press, 2002, 1, 15, Unger, 7, 255–;
19 unable to charter/flight on 13th: MFR of Dan Grossi, “Dan Grossi, Tampa-Lexington Flight,” B70, T5, CF, “his father or his uncle”: ibid., Unger, 9;
20 Bandar statement: press release, 9/12/01, www.saudiembassy.net;
21 Bush appointment/welcomed/cigars: Unger, 7, William Simpson, 315, New Yorker, 3/24/03;
22 assistant rang/Watson/Clarke: int. of Bandar, Meet the Press, 4/24/04, Staff Report, 9/11 & Terrorist Travel, 171–, MFR 04019823, 6/3/04, CR, 557, Shenon, 287;
23 photo published: Woodward, State of Denial, facing p. 274;
24 “not inclined”: corr. Jodie Steck, George W. Bush Presidential Library, 2011.
25 Florida/Kentucky flight: e.g., Unger, 7–. The confusion about the Tampa charter persisted in part because the FBI accepted, even after having been challenged by journalists, a secondhand report that Prince Ahmed’s son and his friends had driven rather than flown to Lexington, and because the Bureau’s own reports reflected confusion as to when U.S. airspace reopened to charter flights (Final Draft of response to October 2003 Vanity Fair article, “Saudi Flights,” B68, T5, CF, The Saudi Flights—A Summary, “Saudi Flights,” B6, Dan Marcus Files, CF, CTD to Counterterrorism, 9/24/03, FBI 265A-NY-280350, serial 1234567890, Vanity Fair, 10/03).
26 after airspace open: FAA Notices to Airmen [NOTAM], 1/9817, 1/9832, 1/9853, www.aopa.org, corr. Laura Brown, FAA. The records show that U.S. airspace was open to almost all aircraft—including charter flights—as of 11:00 A.M. EDT on September 13. The exception was for “general aviation” flights—which, contrary to previous reporting, did not include charters such as the Tampa flight. In any event, the Tampa-to-Lexington flight took off at approximately 4:30 P.M.
27 on their way home: Staff Report, 9/11 & Terrorist Travel, 171–, 270n49/50;
28 charter: Judicial Watch press release, 6/20/07, Counterterrorism to Boston, 9/21/01, FBI 265A-NY-280350, serial 1652;
29 watchlist: CR, 558, n31;
30 most not interviewed: CR, 557n28. It has been reported that one of those interviewed was Prince Ahmed, but there is no evidence of such an interview in FBI files thus far released (The Saudi Flights—A Summary, “Saudi Flights,” B6, Dan Marcus Files, CF).
31 agents interviewed family/Omar: FBI 302s of ints. Bin Laden family members