Obama Administration Makes Stunning Admission: “Seed Money For Al Qaeda Came From Saudi Arabia”

Following a dramatic deterioration in official diplomatic channels between the US and Saudi Arabia when over the weekend the Saudis threatened the U.S. with dumping billions in Treasuries if Congress were to pass a bill probing into their alleged support of Sept 11 terrorists in the aftermath of last weekend’s 60 Minutes report on the classified “28 pages” from the Septemeber 11 commission, moments ago the Obama administration made a stunning admission, when for the first time it revealed on the record that the Saudis were the original source of funding for Al Qaeda.

As Politico reports, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, while speaking to David Axelrod in Monday’s edition of “The Axe Files” podcast said that the government of Saudi Arabia had paid “insufficient attention” to money that was being funneled into terror groups and fueled the rise of Al Qaeda when he was asked about the validity of the accusation that the Saudi government was complicit in sponsoring terrorism.

At first, he tried to tone down what amount to the first official admission of Saudi involvement in September 11, saying “I think that it’s complicated in the sense that, it’s not that it was Saudi government policy to support Al Qaeda, but there were a number of very wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia who would contribute, sometimes directly, to extremist groups. Sometimes to charities that were kind of, ended up being ways to launder money to these groups.”

But moments later the truth came out when he said “So a lot of the money, the seed money if you will, for what became Al Qaeda, came out of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

And then the punchline came out when Axelrod asked if “that happen without the government’s awareness?” To which Rhodes responded that he doesn’t believe the government was “actively trying to prevent that from happening.”

In other words, the Saudi government knew that “a number of very wealthy Saudi individuals” were funneling funds into what would become the organization blamed for the attack on the twin towers.

As Politico adds, “the remarks from Rhodes come as Obama prepares to head to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and confront the strained relations between the two allies. The Saudis are still fuming over an Atlantic magazine article that described Obama’s frustrations with Saudi Arabia’s religious ideology, its treatment of women and its rivalry with Iran. Obama also suggested in the piece that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are “free riders” who rely too much on the U.S. military.”

Friction has also been created by a push from relatives of people who died on 9/11 and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to allow U.S. courts to hold the Saudi government responsible if it is found to have played a role in the 2001 attack.

At first, he tried to tone down what amount to the first official admission of Saudi involvement in September 11, saying “I think that it’s complicated in the sense that, it’s not that it was Saudi government policy to support Al Qaeda, but there were a number of very wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia who would contribute, sometimes directly, to extremist groups. Sometimes to charities that were kind of, ended up being ways to launder money to these groups.”

But moments later the truth came out when he said “So a lot of the money, the seed money if you will, for what became Al Qaeda, came out of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

And then the punchline came out when Axelrod asked if “that happen without the government’s awareness?” To which Rhodes responded that he doesn’t believe the government was “actively trying to prevent that from happening.”

In other words, the Saudi government knew that “a number of very wealthy Saudi individuals” were funneling funds into what would become the organization blamed for the attack on the twin towers.

As Politico adds, “the remarks from Rhodes come as Obama prepares to head to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and confront the strained relations between the two allies. The Saudis are still fuming over an Atlantic magazine article that described Obama’s frustrations with Saudi Arabia’s religious ideology, its treatment of women and its rivalry with Iran. Obama also suggested in the piece that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are “free riders” who rely too much on the U.S. military.”

Friction has also been created by a push from relatives of people who died on 9/11 and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to allow U.S. courts to hold the Saudi government responsible if it is found to have played a role in the 2001 attack.

At first, he tried to tone down what amount to the first official admission of Saudi involvement in September 11, saying “I think that it’s complicated in the sense that, it’s not that it was Saudi government policy to support Al Qaeda, but there were a number of very wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia who would contribute, sometimes directly, to extremist groups. Sometimes to charities that were kind of, ended up being ways to launder money to these groups.”

But moments later the truth came out when he said “So a lot of the money, the seed money if you will, for what became Al Qaeda, came out of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

And then the punchline came out when Axelrod asked if “that happen without the government’s awareness?” To which Rhodes responded that he doesn’t believe the government was “actively trying to prevent that from happening.”

In other words, the Saudi government knew that “a number of very wealthy Saudi individuals” were funneling funds into what would become the organization blamed for the attack on the twin towers.

As Politico adds, “the remarks from Rhodes come as Obama prepares to head to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and confront the strained relations between the two allies. The Saudis are still fuming over an Atlantic magazine article that described Obama’s frustrations with Saudi Arabia’s religious ideology, its treatment of women and its rivalry with Iran. Obama also suggested in the piece that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are “free riders” who rely too much on the U.S. military.”

Friction has also been created by a push from relatives of people who died on 9/11 and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to allow U.S. courts to hold the Saudi government responsible if it is found to have played a role in the 2001 attack.