Flashback: Rudy Refused $10 Million Gift From Saudi Prince Who Blamed America For 9/11

Comments (17)

phil james wrote on November 8, 2007 1:48 PM:

What a curious notion: God punishing us when we all know for sure that God is on our side. The lunacy of the "Christian" "right" is in full bloom--a fetid and debilitating odor once again visits those who demand power.

ihatebeets wrote on November 8, 2007 2:06 PM:

Ah Rudy - that self-righteous paragon of virtue. I don't recall his outrage at the federal government or the City of New Orleans accepting a $250 million gift from Saudi Arabia for Hurricane Katrina relief. Schmuck.

Anonymous wrote on November 8, 2007 2:14 PM:

not to mention that rudy had the nerve to try and re-gift bernie kerik

TheraP wrote on November 8, 2007 2:17 PM:

Looks to me like the commonality for both is "self-aggrandizement." Rudy got the publicity for turning down the millions - but had he accepted it, the Prince would have been the publicity winner. This time Rudy gets publicity by accepting Robertson's endorsement.

So, in my view, the explanations for 9/11 are a red-herring here. The real issue is a man with a huge ego. And whatever feeds that ego is where the man gravitates.

A man without principles. A man in search of publicity.

Matt S. wrote on November 8, 2007 2:22 PM:

Greg, once again you have hit the nail straight on the head. Thanks for all your work on not letting this issue to be overlooked. Kudos.

jim wrote on November 8, 2007 3:06 PM:

In some ways, Robertson's endorsement is worse than the Saudi Prince's money. As far as I can recall, the Prince said that America's foreign policy caused 9/11. Falwell said, and Robertson agreed, that liberals, gays and women caused 9/11 - that the Sodom of New York got what it deserved.

Contrast that with the Saudi Prince saying to the effect that America's foreign policies pissed a lot of Muslims off, and that caused 9/11. But that had nothing to do with deserving 9/11.

gonzone wrote on November 8, 2007 3:12 PM:

Guys, guys, guys.

Come on now, we all know IOKIYAR!

Bill in Chicago wrote on November 8, 2007 6:37 PM:

There's more to the story than that. In his autobiography, Leadership, Giuliani described how he observed Prince Whalid and his entourage smirking at the sight of Ground Zero.

Quite a disturbing passage, you can read it on page 374 here:

http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Rudolph-W-Giuliani/dp/0786868414

And of course, then there's all of this:

www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com

You've got a valid point regarding Giuliani's hypocrisy in embracing the endorsement of Pat Robertson, contrasted with his lambasting Ron Paul. But I think you're straying a bit off the mark here.

What's really disgraceful is that Giuliani, even after his encounter with the grinning Prince, seems content to follow George Bush's lead in kissing the Saudi's royal asses, rather than defending us against them.

Anonymous wrote on November 8, 2007 7:49 PM:

So Rudy's a bigot? What a shock!

NOMOREWAR_FORISRAEL wrote on November 9, 2007 12:40 AM:

The Saudi prince was absolutely correct in that US Mideast policy (in support of Israel's brutal oppression of the Palestinians was the primary motivation for the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and on 9/11 as well). Click on the 'What Motivated the 9/11 Hijackers?' video at the following URL:

The Gorilla in the Room is US Support for Israel

http://representativepress.blogspot.com/2005/08/gorilla-in-room-is-us-support-for.html

SCANDAL: 9/11 Commissioners Bowed to Pressure to Suppress Main Motive for the 9/11 Attacks:

http://representativepress.blogspot.com/2006/09/reviews-of-without-precedent-inside.html

"Sit Down!" The Power to Silence

Leo Braudy says there's only a few minutes left YET he finds time for himself to ask two more questions! When does a panel discussion ever end, go to the Q and A and THEN go back to the moderator asking even more questions of the panel? (when you want to serve Israel's agenda)
It is depraved to deny the main motive for the 9/11 attacks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7EB1FxENxQ

Additional at the following URL:

http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=39590

http://NEOCONZIONISTTHREAT.BLOGSPOT.COM

http://NOMOREWARFORISRAEL.BLOGSPOT.COM

John Martin wrote on November 9, 2007 2:43 AM:

Hey, how come Rudy doesn't boycott Saudi oil and walk around the country. That will show 'em.

Tom Murphy wrote on November 9, 2007 8:11 AM:

Greg, I am disappointed to see you write something like this: "If an Arab sort of blames America for 9/11, it's despicable"

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal neither "blamed America" NOR did he "sort of blame America."

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's statement to the media was, "At times like this, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack. I believe the government of the United States of America should reexamine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause. While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek."

Greg, I noticed you omitted mention of what "the issues" were which were clearly spelled out in the statement, namely the U.S. government's policy of support for Israel and the resulting suffering of the Palestinians. You mischaracterized Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's statement, he did not say "America deserved 9/11."

Are you telling me you by into Giuliani's manipulative game of insisting that talking about the motive for the crime of 9/11 means that one approves of the crime or sees it as a justifiable act? Giuliani uses a dirty trick in order to prevent the policy of supporting Israel's crimes from being examined. Giuliani attempts to intimidate people into not questioning the policies or angering people so much that cannot think about the policies.

From what you wrote and what you didn't write, I get the impression that you don't want the American people to realize why it is that terrorists attacked on 9/11 or that you don't want the American people to do something about the policies that unnecessarily make us all targets. Tell me this is not the case and that you will work to make others aware of the devious games politicians and pundits have been playing on the American people. Clearly Giuliani serves the agenda of keeping the status quo with regards to the policy of supporting Israel so he deceives the public to prevent them from even thinking changing the policy of supporting Israel.

I can't think of a more vulgar violation of the people's rights then to rob them of the freedom to decide for themselves if they want to risk their lives over specific foreign policies.

Greg, your article morphs Clinton, Bush and other political elites into a single concept called "America" which you then insist is blameless. This is a dirty game because politicians and their horrible policies are not "America itself." Your artificial construct means that the people of the United States can never hold their politicians accountable for political policies. And that is a serious problem because our lives continue to be totally unnecessarily put at risk because of these illegal and immoral policies. These polices are precisely what enrage people into committing acts of terrorism against the U.S. in spite of the lies Guiliani and other politicians tell. "The politicians really are at great fault for not squaring with the American people. We're being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live. And there's a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, both parties for simply lying to the American people." - Michael Scheuer, Former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief

Greg, you can help stop these politicians from putting our lives at risk. The first step is to stop using the term "blame America." The next step is to call for an end to all illegal and immoral foreign policies.

Integrated Circus wrote on November 9, 2007 10:02 AM:

Ah yes, the best kind of anti-semitism; that wrapped in intellectualized verbosity.

Brian wrote on November 9, 2007 10:05 AM:

Rudy's comments are part of what annoys me most about Republicans and their reactions to terrorism. Of course there's no excuse for the attacks, but no person who calms down and thinks rationally about what was suggested would really believe that the Saudi prince suggested Americans deserved the attacks. (Perhaps he does think this, but it's not as if he's saying so in those comments.) All the guy said that there were definitely reasons behind the attack--it's not like these guys were just messing around, after all--and that it's necessary to analyze what might have caused it.

Tom Murphy wrote on November 9, 2007 7:37 PM:

Integrated Circus,

You insult everyone here with your attempt to label honest and open discussion of the motives for the 9/11 attacks as "anti-Semitism".

Do you think everyone here is a fool or do you think you can intimidate people into not discussing the motives for 9/11.

I suggest to the moderator that those who falsely label people as "anti-semitic" should be treated teh same way you would treat someone who post anti-Semitic comments. People who manufacture false insidents of "anti-Semitism" poison public discource.
It should no longer be tolerated.

Ray wrote on November 12, 2007 4:25 AM:

Tom, I think you need to chill a little.
I think you should re-read Greg's blog and notice that the comment you reference is meant to reflect ironically the rather chilling opportunism and blatant double standards of the "Napoleon of New York"...as for "Ingegrated Circus"; while I have no problem with intolerance for hate speech I wouldn't agree with treating the perception of it, whether rightly or wrongly, the same way.

Tom Murphy wrote on November 12, 2007 9:58 PM:

Ray,

I don't need to "chill a little." You need to concentrate on dealing with the issues instead of petty and distracting comments.

Why were we attacked on 9/11 Ray?

Thousands of people were killed, I am not going to "chill."

Why are we at continued risk of getting attacked again Ray?Ray,

I don't need to "chill a little." You need to concentrate on dealing with the issues instead of petty and distracting comments.

Why were we attacked on 9/11 Ray?

Thousands of people were killed, I am not going to "chill."

Why are we at continued risk of getting attacked again Ray?

Again, I am not going to "chill," this is life and death. God knows how many more Americans could needlessly be killed over these horrible policies.

Your comment to me indicates you resent the facts from being clearly stated. You are making excuses for Greg using an extremely manipulative characterization which reinforces the agenda which puts our lives needlessly at risk.

As for "Integrated Circus", you couldn't bring yourself to criticize the guy's dirty little game? How about being a man and coming out and saying that there was nothing "anti-Semitic" in my comment and telling "Integrated Circus" so? Integrated Circus's game is so transparent and outrageous that you really should have said something.

There should be zero tolerance for people running around falsely claiming others are "anti-Semitic," that has no place in public discourse. You not only think the libel should be allowed, you are unwilling to confront it. Thanks pal.

On a positive note, I agree with Brian's statement. More people need to say it. And they should have to worry about being slandered as "anti-Semitic." No help from you on that Ray.

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