Let me paraphrase your generality and make it specific based on proven information:

Only the Bush Administration cares more about the inconvenience of the Saudis than security, based upon proven links to 911. See this old article:

...Saudi officials acknowledged Saturday that Princess Haifa Faisal, the wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador, gave money to the family of Osama Bassnan....

DonsAdvisor, please elaborate as to how that article is an example of "Bush Administration cares more about the inconvenience of the Saudis."

The first link below has the article mentioned above. (I can't link straight to it when I tried again - I'm not sure if you read it). Bear in mind that I am following DJ's tone of voice, so don't take him literally. But do see the articles below.

If you want to be literal, than I would infer that Bush's calculation was to overlook the Saudi connection for 9/11 in return for Saudi assistance in attacking Iraq. One can argue whether it was a good trade-off or not, but it seems disengenuous to deny any evidence of a Saudi/9-11 link (15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi).



The use of Saudi air bases was critical to the swift U.S. victory in the Gulf War, and President George W. Bush will need to use them again if he
leads an attack on Iraq, which shares most of Saudi Arabia's northern border. Saudi officials have made no such commitment this time and have sent contradictory signals about their intentions.


http://www.polarhome.com/pipermail/nasional-m/2002-November/000486.html

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1095169722130960.xml

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,71273,00.html

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=2974

I presume the innocent lives include Cat Stevens

Spelling Mistake To Blame for Cat Stevens Terror Scare

"Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, was refused entry into America because of a spelling error. The 57-year-old singing star - who abandoned a successful solo career in 1977 to become a Muslim - was on a flight from London to Washington on Tuesday when his name was spotted on a US security 'watch list' and his flight was diverted before officials deported him back to Britain. Aviation sources, with access to the "no-fly" list, now insist there is no entry on the list under the name 'Yusuf Islam', but that there is a 'Youssouf Islam' on the list. The US Transportation Safety Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied. In a statement Islam says, "We have now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered. The amazing thing is that I was not given, and have still not been given, any explanation whatsoever as to what it is I am accused of, or why I am now deemed an apparent security threat - let alone given an opportunity to respond to these allegations. I was simply told that the order had come from on high."

I presume the innocent lives include Cat Stevens [/b][/quote]The point is Senza Mamma, that you or I don't have a clue how "innocent" Cat Stevens is. There's a reason he is on the no-fly list. I don't care if they put the pope on a no-fly list, I wouldent fly with him....well ok maybe the Pope

I presume the innocent lives include Cat Stevens [/b][/quote]The point is Senza Mamma, that you or I don't have a clue how "innocent" Cat Stevens is. There's a reason he is on the no-fly list. I don't care if they put the pope on a no-fly list, I wouldent fly with him....well ok maybe the Pope [/b][/quote]Someone here certainly doesn't have a clue, but its not Senza Mama.



Yusuf Islam, formerly the singer Cat Stevens, was deported from the United States because of a spelling error, with US officials confusing the former pop star with a man with a similar name who is on a "no-fly" list, Time magazine claims.


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/26/1096137097889.html?oneclick=true

It looks like besides needed a course in Muslim names and spelling, the FBI could use help translating. Tom Ridge says we don't need a person with budget authority to oversee the intelligence departments?


FBI Not Translating All Terrorism Material -Audit

2 hours, 31 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI (news - web sites) does not have enough translators to handle a growing backlog of documents and intercepts in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto, a federal audit said on Monday, confirming criticism by U.S. elected officials and experts.

An unclassified summary of a July 2004 report by the U.S. Justice Department (news - web sites)'s inspector general said while the FBI has increased the number of translators of languages used in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan (news - web sites), it still cannot keep up with the backlog of material flowing into the system.

Yeah. I suppose that's what happens when polticians would rather keep paying into social security instead of boosting defense.

Being a Middle Eastern myself I don't mind to go through three hours safety check procedures at the port of entry to the US. Some people miss their connecting flights and it is frustrating sometimes but if that can help to prevent tragedies like 9/11, so be it. It is better than after the accident accusing certain race or nationality for that matter. Frankly I don't think being a terrorist has anything to do with race, beliefs, nationality or religion. This is a sickness that has to be prevented by raising safety measures. Also I don't think that terrorists communicate with a certain language. I think nowadays encrypting such materials is as easy as working with a computer. Mistakes in these procedures are inevitable; hopefully they'll get better every day for the sake of humanity.