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To: Sully- who wrote (46517)	1/16/2002 3:58:27 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Levin Says U.S. Military Should Consider Quitting Saudi Arabia By Nedra Pickler Associated Press Writer Published: Jan 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States should consider moving its military personnel from Saudi Arabia because the Saudi government has been antagonistic toward them, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Tuesday. "We need a base in that region, but it seems to me we should find a place that is more hospitable," Levin said. "I don't think they want us to stay there." Levin didn't suggest where the U.S. troops should go. The U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia includes remote Prince Sultan Air Base, used for regular patrols to enforce flight-interdiction zones in Iraq; a smaller facility outside Riyadh, called Eskan Village, administers a training and sales program for the Saudi National Guard; and individual military advisers work in the country. Before Sept. 11, 4,600 American personnel were in Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials have refused to update the figure since the terror attacks. Levin said the Saudi government has isolated American military personnel and made them feel unwelcome. Also, he said, it's unfair that female members of the U.S. military are required to wear head-to-foot black robes, ride in the back seats of vehicles and be accompanied by males when off base. "I just think the Saudis actually think somehow they are doing us a favor by having us be there helping to defend them and helping to be in a position to go after terrorists and terrorist states," he said. The Bush administration has thanked Saudi Arabia for its cooperation in the war on terror and said the Saudis have done willingly all that has been asked of them. After Levin spoke, his committee's senior Republican, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., issued a statement praising the Saudis as "a valued partner in the Persian Gulf region for many years." He said the United States occasionally must re-evaluate military commitments, but "given U.S. commitments to the world in the war on terrorism, it would not be wise to significantly lessen the American military and security relationships" with Saudi Arabia. Critics say the Saudi government has done too little to crack down on terrorists and extremists within its borders. Fifteen of the 19 operatives who participated in the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings were Saudi nationals. And the al-Qaida terror network's leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, was exiled and stripped of his citizenship in the early 1990s after he was caught smuggling weapons from Yemen. "There are an awful lot of Saudis in al-Qaida, and that's troubling," Levin said. Bin Laden's war on America has been fueled in part by anger over the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's two holiest shrines. Levin said he doesn't believe the United States would be seen as giving in to bin Laden's demands if it removes the troops. But if it turns out that's the perception, he said, then the troops should stay. ap.tbo.com

To: Sully- who wrote (46517)	1/16/2002 4:48:24 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

WTC, the Afghan War and Enron-Parallels... from Yahoo Finance's Enron Thread: by: pithian (25/M/Seattle,WA) 01/16/02 03:46 am Msg: 202130 of 202152 A few on, and almost on analogies to cogitate over: Enron came down just like the WTC. Victims of both either lost their lives, their life savings, or both. Ken Lay is the Osama bin Laden of Corporate America. Enron Corporate Management played the part of al-Qaeda. Arthur Andersen played the part of the Taliban.