The group Judicial Watch just published newly released FBI documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, concerning the quick departure (or getaway) of many Saudi nationals, including members of the bin Laden family. In one document, the FBI concludes that Osama bin Laden himself may have chartered one of the flights.

The documents were only released after UP.SO. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts ordered the FBI to do so. The documents had been previously released but because they had been so heavily and wrongfully redacted, they were of no use. The FBI had originally even censored Osama bin Laden’s name from the reports, to “protect privacy interests.”

The most damning FBI report reads: “ON 9/19/01, A 727 PLANE LEFT LAX, RYAN FLT#441 TO ORLANDO, FL W/ETA (estimated time of arrival) OF 4-5PM. THE PLANE WAS CHARTERED EITHER BY THE SAUDI ARABIAN ROYAL FAMILY OR OSAMA BIN LADEN...THE LA FBI SEARCHED THE PLANE [REDACTED] LUGGAGE OF WHICH NOTHING UNUSUAL WAS FOUND.”

That plane made four stops around the country, before leaving the United States and landing in Paris.

Amazingly, the FBI claims that not one of the Saudi nationals nor any members of the bin Laden family had any information worthy of investigation. However, in one document, the FBI claimed to have conducted interviews with 20 of the 23 passengers on the Ryan International Airlines flight leaving LAX, but on another they claim to have only conducted interviews with 15 of the 22 passengers aboard the same flight.

Despite the fact that Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on September 13, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was the prime suspect in the 9/11 attacks, the FBI does not detain and conduct proper interviews with the bin Laden family before allowing them to flee the country.

After viewing the newly re-released documents, President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton made the following statement: “Eight days after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Osama bin Laden possibly charters a flight to whisk his family out of the country, and it’s not worth more than a luggage search and a few brief interviews?”

Equally troubling is that even though there was a ban in effect on general aviation flights, several private airplanes did fly. Of course, the planes were carrying Saudi royalty and members of the bin Laden family out of the U.S. The Bush administration denied these flights ever took place until 2003, when National Security Agency official Richard Clarke and Sec. of State Colin Powell confirmed the flights took place.

An October 5, 2001 article in the Tampa Tribune interview with two private detectives (Dan Grossi and Manuel Perez), who were hired as bodyguards for the Saudis and flew with them to Lexington, KY, where they boarded a 747 with “Arabic lettering.”

Here are a few of those who the Bush administration allowed to leave a few days after 9/11:

-The son of the Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan, who is being sued for his role in the 9/11 attacks. He has given millions of dollars to al-Qaeda.

-Khalil bin Laden, who the government of Brazil has declared a terrorist.

-Abduallah bin Laden, who was the U.S. director of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. The governments of India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Bosnia have all accused the Muslim charity of financing terrorism.

-Omar bin Laden, was investigated by the FBI in 1996 for espionage and murder. On September 19, 2001, after they let him leave the country, the FBI re-opens their case against him.

-Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen, who is a high-ranking Saudi government official and stayed in the same hotel as three of the Saudi 9/11 hijackers on September 10, 2001.

So let us review...The Bush administration allows dozens of Saudi nationals and even bin Laden family members to fly around the country in private planes, while the ban on such flights was still in place, and then lies about it for two years. They also allow these same people, many with direct terrorist connections to leave the U.S. without even thoroughly questioning them.

It is no longer possible for me to believe any position that the Bush administration has claimed since taking office in January 2001. Bush has no credibility and now appears to be complicit in the 9/11 cover-up, if not the act itself.

God help us all!

Dave Gibson