Theres nothing communist about real atheists, nor religious about real anarchists. Anywho, the exchange speaks for itself. He came to thank me for my efforts to bring the Americans, our friends, to help us against the atheists . . . https://youtube/watch?v=V0B0LFd5oPQ CNN LARRY KING LIVE Americas New War: Responding to Terrorism Aired October 1, 2001 - 21:00 ET transcripts.cnn/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/01/lkl.00.html (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: We now welcome to LARRY KING LIVE -- good to see him again -- Prince Bandar, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States. When he comes, he flies his own plane. Hes a pilot of longstanding. Thank you very much, Prince Bandar. What is -- what is -- whats the role of your country in all of this? How do you see it? PRINCE BANDAR BIN SULTAN, SAUDI ARABIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Larry, first, we feel what happened to the United States -- the tragedy and the cowardly attack on the United States -- was not against the United States at all. Its really against all civilized people in the world. And the same group thats been behind this attack was also attacking our interests, too. So our role is to stand solid and shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends, people of the United States of America. In 1990, when we needed your help, you came through for us, and its our turn now to stand up with you. KING: Does it sadden you or how do you explain that many of the perpetrators of the 19 were Saudi Arabian? PRINCE BANDAR: Well, it broke my heart when I found that there are some Saudis with them. I must say that we now are sure that at least half of what we thought, who we thought were Saudis are actually not. Stolen passports, it is stolen identities. But this shows you the evilness of the perpetrators of this cowardly attack. Part of their plan was to split Saudi Arabia and America and put the signature toward it. So yes, but we have -- every religion, every country, every race -- have mostly good people, and we have the oddballs. KING: How far now -- there are conflicting reports -- are you willing to give the United States an air base in your country or not? PRINCE BANDAR: I -- this question I have been asked many times. KING: And I keep reading different reports in the paper. PRINCE BANDAR: Correct. I think what counts right now is two things. One, we are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. There is -- we see eye-to-eye what needs to be done together, and we support what youre doing. Second, we have not been asked to use Saudi air bases. Therefore the question is moot. KING: Well, but hypothetically, if asked... PRINCE BANDAR: But you know, in my job I dont answer hypothetical questions. But... KING: But if youre standing shoulder-to-shoulder and youre with us all the way... PRINCE BANDAR: Absolutely. KING: .. it would seem logical that you would. PRINCE BANDAR: Youre right. Youre right, Larry. And I think your answering your own question. KING: In other words, it answers itself. PRINCE BANDAR: That answers itself, obviously. But this is a very different war. This is not the Desert Storm/Desert Shield. We had an enemy. We had an occupation. We had a target. They were armies, tanks, airplanes. We went and got them out. Right now, this is an unconventional threat and will be met with unconventional means. There are four facets to this fight that we are all together in: political, financial, intelligence, and ironically enough the military is the smallest aspect of this. KING: Smallest? PRINCE BANDAR: Smallest, in my judgment. And I must tell you President Bush has done a marvelous job. Imagine, within two weeks, he managed through a sound, steady foreign policy to galvanize 100 countries with you in a coalition. If you remember the old days in 1990, it took us three months to get (UNINTELLIGIBLE) countries. So I think the president is going the right direction. You have the United Nations behind you. You have -- the Security Council came up with two resolutions supporting what youre trying to do. I think we should concentrate on the bad guys now rather than the nuances between the lines. KING: Would your country have a difficult time if the United States tried to take out the Taliban? PRINCE BANDAR: Our position on this issue was we are with you to get to the perpetrators of this cowardly attack, find and who supports them, and who shelters them. That is -- and we have no reservation on that. As far as Taliban is concerned, I think the loudest answer I can give you is we broke the diplomatic relationship with them, because we do not approve of their behavior sheltering such terrorists. KING: There is a lot of sentiment in the Arab world that maybe because the peace never came about, the Israel peace with the Palestinians, led to some of this. Do you think thats true? PRINCE BANDAR: As a cause of it, I dont think so. Those people hated not just the United States. People in America ask, Why do they hate us? The truth of the matter, they hate you, they hate us, they hate the rest of the civilized world. Our religious people have condemned them and have issued a statement that those cannot be Muslims nor their behavior is Muslim. Any time you commit aggression and terrorism against civilians, regardless of who, that is unacceptable. So in my judgment, those people, with what they have done, just cannot be acceptable to any civilized... KING: Isnt hate stupid? Does Saudi Arabia hate Israel? PRINCE BANDAR: I dont hate anybody to be honest with you. I hate wrong. And some people, somebody would do wrong and you hate it. And some -- the same person might do something right and we do not hate it. You asked about Israel. It is -- it is -- it has influenced the emotions in the region, but its not the cause for this attack. Nobody should use this as an excuse. But we have seen through the last decade, when the peace process is going, when there are agreements being signed -- Madrid, Oslo, Washington agreement, the Arab agreement -- the sentiments of the people goes, that tension goes down. When the reverse, when there is no movement for peace, we have boiling sentiment. So I cannot tell you it does not affect the sentiment or the reactions... KING: But not the cause. PRINCE BANDAR: But it cannot be -- you cannot justify killing innocent people for any reason. KING: Prince Bandar, do you know the bin Laden family? PRINCE BANDAR: I do very well. KING: What are they like? PRINCE BANDAR: Theyre really lovely human beings. He is the only one. I never -- I dont know him well. I met him only once. The rest of them are well-educated, successful businessmen, involved in a lot of charities. It is -- it is tragic. I feel pain for them, because hes caused them a lot of pain. KING: What was the circumstance under which you met him? PRINCE BANDAR: This is ironic. In the mid-80s, if you remember, we and the United -- Saudi Arabia and the United States were supporting the Mujahideen to liberate Afghanistan from the Soviets. He came to thank me for my efforts to bring the Americans, our friends, to help us against the atheists, he said the communists. Isnt it ironic? KING: How ironic. In other words, he came to thank you for helping bring America to help him. PRINCE BANDAR: Right. KING: And now he may be responsible for bombing Americans. PRINCE BANDAR: Absolutely. KING: What did you make of him he when you met him? PRINCE BANDAR: I was not impressed, to be honest with you. KING: Not impressed? PRINCE BANDAR: No, he was -- I thought he was simple and very quiet guy. But I dont think he has the capacity to do what he has done now. I think there are people around him who are the brains... KING: Oh, really? PRINCE BANDAR: Absolutely. KING: Hes just sort of the leader type? PRINCE BANDAR: I think hes the charismatic leader, being used for that. KING: Are the people in your country fearful? Are they worried? Theres worry all over America. About anything? About something happening there? PRINCE BANDAR: No, we believe -- we in the Middle East and we Muslims particularly believe that whats written is written, and your day, when it comes, nothing can stop it. And we believe in God. No, we are not fearful, but we are conscious. We have tasted some of this terrorism against us by the same groups, and they are misguided. And you know what? If you brought in a room everybody who is anti-Islam, and hates Islam and Muslims, and asks them to do -- to come up with an idea that would be the worst thing you can do to Islam, they couldnt have done what those people did. How dare they say they are Muslims or theyre fighting for God? They are not. They are not. They hate Islam. They hate Islam. They hate Judaism. They hate Christianity. They hate -- they hate everybody. KING: Are you worried about the people here in your embassy? PRINCE BANDAR: No, Im not at all, because the American people are good people. Initially, there was emotions. I was worried. I have about 4,000 students in... KING: Didnt the king ask to protect them? PRINCE BANDAR: We -- we -- yes, absolutely. There was -- this is a story for -- you had about 24 members of bin Ladens family, and... KING: Here? PRINCE BANDAR: In America, students. And His Majesty said its not fair for those innocent people to be subjected to any harm. On the other hand, we understood the high emotions. So with coordination with the FBI, we got them all out. But you know what hurt me. A young man said to me, Prince Bandar, I always couldnt understand why the American Japanese wanted a memorial. Whats the big deal? He said: Suddenly I realize: Im a rich man, Im in Harvard, and I have to leave my school, not because I was guilty, but because the emotions are high. That really touched me, Larry. And I am so impressed with how President Bush, how most of the respectable people in the media, the Congress, have preached against hate and against this kind of reaction, although initially its understandable. People are human beings, and they saw tragedy. KING: Are you -- are you worried -- do you consider about money laundering through Saudi Arabia? PRINCE BANDAR: We... KING: Money has got to pay for this. PRINCE BANDAR: Absolutely. We -- we think, as you say in America, follow the money. But here is the funny part, or not so funny part. We are confident that nothing that is -- that we can know, that we know about in Saudi Arabia, no money is going to these organizations. But we know that it goes to Europe, comes back to America, and from America it goes out and its clean. Kosher. Now, when we come to our American friends and say, where is this money, sorry we have privacy laws, we have this laws, we have that laws. Now, were working hand in hand to try and crack this dilemma. I think the presidents regulations that he just came out with are excellent. But furthermore, part of the success of your foreign policy has been youve galvanized the world, everybody on board. The Security Council just issued a resolution that made it mandatory, mandatory, every country in the world must cooperate. This week, Im having, my government is sending the deputy secretary of our treasury, deputy of our federal -- like a Federal Reserve -- to come and work with their colleagues here to make sure... KING: Find the money. PRINCE BANDAR: ... if theres any loose ends, we can close it. KING: Prince, well be calling on you again. Its always great seeing you. PRINCE BANDAR: Thank you very much, Larry. My pleasure. KING: Prince Bandar, he is ambassador from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States. Senator Bob Dole is next. Tomorrow night, the first lady and the attorney general. Well be right back with Bob Dole right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 08:30:40 +0000
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