American-Saudi Arabia Relations After 9/11

Nobody knows how different the world would be today if on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center didn’t fall, or was even attacked at all. The World Trade Center in New York City that was built in 1973. Both buildings had 110 stories and were home to about 50,000 workers and 200,000 daily visitors. It was the heart of the busy financial district, was a popular tourist interest, and also a symbol of the U.S.’s commitment to progress for the future.

Prior to the attacks, the U.S. had many different relations with other countries than it did after. Relations with Saudis were good in some aspects due to their anti-communist beliefs and oil trade, but bad in other ways such as their feelings toward Israel. Also, the U.S. had poor relations with Iraq, fairly poor with the Soviet Union, and fair with Pakistan before 9/11. The terrorist attacks that occurred in New York City on September 11, 2001, was to this day the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil in U.S. history.

One of the most significant results that occurred because of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, was the creation of problematic relations for the U.S. with foreign countries and organizations.

The attacks on 9/11 caused many problems between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.. One of the first major issues that began shortly after the attacks is a result of the 28 pages. The 28 pages controversy began to arise when the final section of a report relating to 9/11 conducted by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was created in December of 2002.

This part of the report called the 28 pages summarizes skeptical leads suggesting viable financial, logistical and other information provided to the hijackers and allies by Saudi officials and others accused of being Saudi agents. The 28 pages are in a report named Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive Narrative Matters, which haven’t ever been published. Problems first began because the U.S. Congress were brainstorming laws which would allow the families of victims of the attacks to sue Saudi Arabia over possible connections with al-Qaeda terrorists who acted in the attacks on 9/11.

However, the Saudis reaction to this was to consider to sell off $750 billion of American holdings if the bill gets passed by Congress (Sengupta, 1). It was later announced by President Bush that the 28 pages would negatively affect America’s national security by exposing sources and systems that would make it difficult for the U.S. to win the War on Terror, so it was announced by White House Officials that eventually some of the 28 pages would be declassified for the public to see, but not all of it. However, the released pages would still negatively affect Saudi Arabia, so Saudi officials attempted to cover up the pages. Rudy Giuliani, the past mayor of New York, claimed that a Saudi Prince had given him a check for $10 million in an effort to persuade him to deflect attention away from his Kingdom.

The mayor said he returned the check after tearing it up. Mayor Giuliani said he wanted the American people to know what the role of the Saudi Arabia government was in the attacks and how they were entitled to know who killed all 3,000 of the people and who injured nearly 6,000. Major questions still being asked are did these 19 people conduct this very sophisticated plot alone, or were they supported? Who was the most likely entity to have provided them that support? Many officials think all the evidence points to Saudi Arabia and think it covers a broad range of people from the highest ranks of the Kingdom to private entities.

The allegations of Saudi involvement in the attacks come against a background of the very conservative Kingdom’s funding violent Islamist groups. This continued with accusations that the Saudis have supplied money and arms to the most extreme of the rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.