Those Benevolent Wahhabis
Charles Johnson
Sat Aug 2, 2003 at 6:03 pm PDT • Views: 134
As the Saudis throw out every possible excuse in their damage control efforts, their latest inept attempt at spin is that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda took advantage of the naive, benevolent, peaceful, tolerant Saudi population to collect funds for terrorism: Al-Qaida Exploited Muslim Charity. (Hat tip: Parabellum.)
The editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper suggested that al-Qaida, headed by Saudi-born and educated Osama bin Laden, had knowledge of Saudi society and laws and took advantage of both to collect funds.
“The reality that the (Congressional) committee sought not to admit is that al-Qaida is a highly developed organization, extremely secretive, and took advantage of the benevolence and naivete of Saudis,” Abdul-Rahman al-Rashid wrote in Saturday’s Arab News newspaper.
Al-Hattlan said he received help when he first went to the United States to study in 1992, and later wrote checks himself to help fellow Saudi students.
“If I lend money to someone, I don’t track it down. I don’t know if it’s used to buy books or to hijack a plane. Before 9-11, there was no concept that this money could be used for terrorism,” al-Hattlan said.
Frank says: