Videotape of bin Laden implicates Saudi Arabia

While Osama bin Laden's admitted involvement in the Sept. 11 bloody terrorist attacks in the United States has dominated newspaper headlines and television news programs, there is a subplot to the "bin Laden videotape" that also warrants attention from the United States.
The videotape, made public this week by the Bush administration, was discovered during a search of a private home in Jalalabad, Afghani stan. It shows the mastermind of international terrorism laughing and boasting about the attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., that claimed more than 3,000 lives. His comments show beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was an active participant in the planning of the suicide missions by Islamic extremists.
"We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower," bin Laden is shown on the tape telling several visitors. "We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors."
As for the reaction of his followers when the radio news broadcast they were monitoring reported that a jet had slammed into one of the Trade Center towers, bin Laden says, "They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient." In other words, he knew that a second fuel-laden jet was headed for the towers and that at least two other planes had been hijacked and were being flown to other targets, including the Pentagon
Threat: The world now has incontrovertible proof that bin Laden has declared war on America. But it is also clear that his Al-Qaida terrorist network is operating in many countries around the world and, therefore, poses a threat to any government that refuses to embrace its extremist philosophy. Therein lies the subplot to the bin Laden videotape.
A transcript of the tape shows a Saudi Arabian sheik offering news and praise for bin Laden from religious figures in the oil-rich nation, which has long enjoyed the protection of the United States.
"That day the congratulations were coming on the phone nonstop," the sheik tells bin Laden, referring to the reaction of Saudis to the terrorist attacks. "The mother (of one of the hijackers) was receiving phone calls continuously. Thank Allah. Allah is great, praise be to Allah."
Just as bin Laden's words implicate him in the Sept. 11 mass murders, the sheik's comments suggest that Saudi Arabia is providing a safe haven to supporters of Al-Qaida.
Shortly after Sept. 11, President Bush drew a line in the sand in this nation's war on terrorism. The president said that those who harbor terrorists are terrorists themselves and, therefore, are enemies of the United States. Many of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
Betrayal: The U.S., which has soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia to ensure that the rulers are not overthrown by oppostion forces and are not threatened by countries such as Iraq, has every right to feel betrayed by the government in Riyadh. In launching the global war on terrorism, the Bush administration has said this is not just America's fight.