Bush Administration Lied About Secret Saudi Flight
From: THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
According to the St. Petersburg Times, "two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at Tampa International Airport, picked up three young Saudi men (including one thought to be a member of the Saudi royal family) and flew to Lexington, Kentucky. From Kentucky "the Saudis then took another flight out of the country." As the newspaper reported, "for nearly three years, White House, aviation and law enforcement officials have insisted the flight never took place and have denied published reports" about the flight. But now, at the request of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (9/11 Commission), the Tampa International Airport acknowledged the flights happened. For its part, the Bush administration "is still not talking about the flights." [2]
According to the St. Petersburg Times, the Commission has now sent a formal letter to the Tampa International Airport asking for more information about "a chartered flight with six people, including a Saudi prince, that flew from Tampa, Florida on or about Sept. 13, 2001" The commission "appears concerned with the handling of the Tampa flight." Meanwhile, former FBI agent Manuel Perez, who accompanied the formerly-secret flight, said the order to allow the flights "must have come from the highest levels of government." [3]
In all, the New York Times notes it is "safe to say that central assertions of fact in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' are supported by the public record." [4]
For more on Bush administration distortion, visit: http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2947901&l=42270
SOURCES:
1. "Michael Moore's Candid Camera," New York Times, 5/23/04. (Republished online in Common Dreams), http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2947901&l=42271.
2. "TIA now verifies flight of Saudis," St. Petersburg Times, 6/9/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2947901&l=42272.
3. Ibid.
4. Moore's assertions supported by record; But '9/11' director may have to defend rapid-fire statistics," San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2947901&l=42273
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------