In his magnificent address to Congress last September 20, President Bush put the world’s leaders on notice. “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists,” the president declared. Saudi Arabia has chosen to stick with the terrorists.
As demonstrated by documents the Israeli Defense Force recently uncovered on the West Bank, Saudi Arabia not only offers humanitarian relief to Palestinian refugees (as the U.S. government does) but pays money to the families of homicide bombers who have killed more than 90 and wounded over 600. My NRO colleague Joel Mowbray, has reviewed translations of these papers from the offices of the Tulkarm Charity Committee, a Hamas-affiliated organization. He furnished the information I used to compile this exclusive chart.
The Israeli government has analyzed these ledgers and discovered at least 10 instances where cash from the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada al Quds was given to families of specific bombers who targeted, maimed and murdered Jewish civilians. The original documents name the suicidal terrorists and the locations of their homicidal attacks, five of which came after September 11 and the initiation of the war on terror . This belies the official Saudi claim that their philanthropy is aimed broadly at Palestinians and not targeted to encourage bloodthirsty killers. In fact, they offer rewards of $5,300 each to families that often celebrate as their sons (and a few daughters) detonate themselves en route to supposed rendezvous with Allah.
The Saudi leadership deserves the back of America’s hand rather than Washington’s constant diplomatic cover-ups. The Bush administration’s refusal to confront Saudi Arabia publicly on this and a long train of abuses and usurpations diminishes the moral clarity of the war on terror . So far, the House of Saud has been given little reason — material or otherwise — to mend its ways. With documents like these on the table, however, it’s high time Washington read Riyadh the riot act.