A man flying in from Saudi Arabia this weekend was stopped by a Customs agent. He apparently had a few pages missing from his Passport (unbeknownst to him, of course). And when the agents looked in his suitcase he had brought along a pressure cooker (maybe not realizing there are Walmarts in the US?)

It has not been a month since terrorists killed and maimed many through the use of a pressure cooker bomb in Boston.

However, the ever helpful people at CAIR urged caution.

“I hope that our government is not criminalizing people if they travel and have cooking items just because they are Muslim or come from the Muslim world,” said Director Dawud Walid. “I don’t think someone flying with an empty pressure cooker elevates to a level of terrorism unless the government has some other sound information.”

The rest of you, who are not so naive can read more at the Detroit News.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss immigration policy and was quickly questioned about a Saudi national who was reported early in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings as a “person of interest.”

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) inquired about Abdul Rahman Ali al Harbi, about whom Napolitano refused to answer questions at a previous hearing. “Before the [Tsarnaev] brothers became the focus of the investigation, authorities questioned a Saudi student who reportedly was on a terror watchlist,” said Grassley, “…if so, how did he obtain a student visa?”

Napolitano’s response contradicts itself in just a few short sentences.

“He was not on a watchlist. What happened is — this student was, really when you back it out, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was never a subject. He was never even really a person of interest. Because he was being interviewed, he was at that point put on a watchlist, and then when it was quickly determined he had nothing to do with the bombing, the watch listing status was removed.”

So which is it? Was he on a watchlist or not? If he wasn’t a “person of interest,” why was he being interviewed? If he was never a “subject,” why was he issued an event file designated 212 3B by federal authorities?

The media has been decidedly silent on the subject of Al Harbi. The front pages of ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, NBCNews.com, and CNN.com do not contain information on the Saudi national, whose whereabouts has not been released by authorities as of the time of this posting.

Glenn Beck’s The Blaze news site has more information and documentation to support claims al Harbi is a dangerous person with a terrorist designation by federal authorities.

* Updates to this story will be posted, as needed, if more information is released.

This administration seems to be more concerned with staying in the good graces of Saudi Arabia, instead of finding out the truth about what happened on Monday. They have the advantage of not having to battle with many of the members of the media over issues like this, as they have long ago abandoned their role as watch-dogs over government. However, it has been reported by Walid Shoebat that this “innocent Saudi” apparently comes from a clan with many Al Qaeda members. By his count, there are no less than 11 active or detained known terrorists in the Harbi clan. Given the past history of Saudi Arabia protecting its own illustrated by Shoebat, even if it would be found later that this man actually did have a hand in the attack, it’s unlikely he will ever face justice on U.S. soil – unless he happens to be an innocent by-stander once again.

According to Al-Monitor’s Pulse, tracking trending media in the region, the above video is trending. Of course, a quick search on YouTube leads one to a “greatest hits” version out of Saudi Arabia:

Gotta give credit to the ones that didn’t opt to cover their heads or faces in those! Here’s hoping they duck any persecution or legal difficulties…

The Wahhab religion, is a form of Islamic Fundamentalism and originates from Saudi Arabia. Similar to Sharia, Wahhabi followers do not regard it as simply one school of thought out of many; rather the only path of true Islam.

Followers of this religion believe women must be modest, covering themselves from head to toe by a burqa in public. A woman is treated always as a minor and as a second-class citizen that needs a male guardian. Women need her male guardian to obtain her identity card or passport and women are not allowed to enter government departments.

Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world where women are still not allowed to drive. While there have been protests against the female driving ban it remains in place.

Recently, it was reported that husbands of Saudi women were being sent text alerts if their wives attempted to leave the country. The new technology of text messages allows husbands to more quickly monitor their wives activities.

In Saudi Arabia, women must have permission from their ‘male guardians’, whether husband, brother or father, to travel outside the country. When women want to travel across the border or at the airport their guardian must sign a permission slip before the women are allowed travel.

Women in Saudi who are caught driving or attempt to leave the country without permission may be beaten by the religious police.

It is hard to imagine in this day and age that women could be subject to such restrictions.

There is a real war on women.

Read more about this at The Telegraph.

There are many in the US who would like us to simply adopt those here illegally offering them citizenship. Others say offer a migrant worker program for those who wish to remain residents of their homeland and find a way to put the others in the country onto a citizenship track. Still others want to send those here illegally back. After all, just by skipping the immigration lines that others are in they are cheating the system.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have a problem with illegal immigrant workers and they have high unemployment, especially with young, unskilled men. Like the United States companies have hired undocumented workers at low wages with hope that they can avoid a government inspection. Unlike the United States, the governments of the UAE and Saudis have a plan and they’re not messing around.

This week the UAE issued a two-month amnesty to illegal residents who leave the country voluntarily. Those without passports can obtain out-passes and leave the country without penalties and those with passports and an airline ticket with a scheduled departure will have fines dismissed.

The UAE is increasingly tackling the issue of undocumented immigrants in the country and launched a ‘No to Violators’ campaign to educate UAE residents about illegal immigration. Anyone who hires or houses an illegal immigrant could face two months in prison or a $27,777 fine, and employing a foreigner who is not in their sponsorship part-time carries a $13,888 penalty.

The UAE’s Ministry of Interior spokesman warned that if a person is arrested after the expiration of the amnesty deadline, he will face tough legal action.

In a similar effort Saudi Arabia is stepping up efforts to lower unemployment among its citizens by fining private sector firms that employ more foreigners than Saudis.

The policy, which will be implemented at the start of the new Islamic year on Nov. 15, will require private companies with majorities of foreign workers to pay a fee for each excess foreigner. “The aim of this decision is to increase the competitive advantage of local workers by reducing the gap between the cost of expatriate labor and local labor,” it said.

Roughly nine in ten employees of private companies in Saudi Arabia are from other countries; firms prefer to hire foreigners, many from South or Southeast Asia, because they will work for lower wages than locals.

There is no doubt that these countries are smaller than the United States. They also may be more able or willing to enforce these laws than we would. Still, would these plans work in the United States? Which one would be most effective? Our current administration has no willingness to jail or deport those here illegally so would fining the companies, the employers, be an option to which they might be open?

So, with that number of students and perspective in mind, let’s examine three factors that had a effect upon the 9/11 terrorist attack:

• “9/11 Terrorists” – Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. All the terrorists were affiliated with al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden recruitedtwelve of the fifteen Saudi Arabian 9/11 terrorists on highway 15, which runs from Mecca to the Saudi Arabian border with Yemen.
• “Students” – The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) notified the Huffman Aviation flight school of Venice, Florida, that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi had been approvedfor student visas. They were the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center. The approvals came exactly six months after 9/11 happened. But that occurred eleven years ago. What’s going on now?Saudi Arabia paid $6.5 billion for the 65,000 students to come to the US. Saudi Arabian King Abdullah assumed the throne in 2005, and initiated its international scholarship program. He convinced President George W. Bush, to reopen the student visa service after 9/11, saying that the education program was crucial for the two countries’ long-term relationship. But even though Bush approved the student visa program, admitting over 30,000 students, President Barack Hussein “kill list” Obama has exploited it. Since Obama took office, the number of Saudi Arabian students has risen by 46.1 percent.The 65,000 students are more than there are Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Do you really think all of them, or even some of them, are being watched?

  The reason always given is that is that if the students are exposed to us, it will make them like us. But that never seems to work with hard-core, committed terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or Sayyid Qutb, both of whom studied in the US.

• “Madrassas” – A madrassa is an Islamic religious school that teaches Wahhabism, a very austere and rigid form of extreme Islam which comes from Saudi Arabia. They are financedprimarily by Saudi Arabia and are located primarily in Pakistan. There was a growth of madrassas during the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan (1979-1989) that focused not on Islam, but on making war on infidels. Now the US the target of the madrassas teachings of making war on infidels. Saudi Arabia officials strenuously deny these allegations.Now we learn that Saudi Arabia financed madrassas are being built in previously moderate regions of Pakistan, where recruitment has become intense. One recruiting tool is “martyrdom.” The recruit’s family is promised that if their son(s) are “martyred” both the sons and the family will attain “salvation” and the family will obtain God’s favor. The family usually receives about $6,500 per son. The sons, usually aged eight to twelve, are sent to extremist madrassas in southern or western Punjab, Pakistan. There they are taught sectarian extremism and hatred for non-Muslims.

And let’s not forget the first NY Trade Center bombing in 1993, led by Omar Abdel Rahman, the Blind Sheikh. He was squired around NY in the early 1990s by Siraj Wahhaj. Guess who is leading a DNC activity and speaking at the DNC. That’s correct: Siraj Wahhaj. Wahhaj has said that the US will fall unless it “accepts the Islamic agenda.”

Will the US and its politicians never learn? Or will an event similar to 9/11 have to occur before they wake up from their eleven year induced sleep?

But that’s just my opinion.

Please visit RWNO, my personal web site.

Clinton continued that Saudi Arabia, from which Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists came, is “a critical financial support base for al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during the Haj and Ramadan.”

From former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, “We pay Saudi Arabia $160 billion for its oil, and $3 or $4 billion of that goes to the Wahhabis, who teach children to hate.”

So… can the US do without Saudi Arabia’s oil? In a word, “Yes!” The US, as of 2011, imported 9.67 million barrels per day, with 1.2 million barrels per day coming from Saudi Arabia. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) also estimates that the US produces 5.36 million barrels of crude oil per day. BTW, we also import 2 million barrels per day from Canada and 1.2 million barrels per day from Mexico.

If we choose to forego Saudi Arabia’s oil, from where will its replacement come? In 2011, the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that, with (then) current technology, the US has approximately 50 billion barrels of producible crude oil. Most of those estimates were made before the current horizontal drilling and fracking procedures were developed. The North Dakota Geological Survey and Oil and Gas Division places the Bakken generated value at 200 – 300 Billion barrels. Some estimates place the Bakken formation generation as high as 132 Billion barrels of oil in North Dakota and Montana.

Alberta, Canada, sits atop the biggest petroleum deposit outside the Arabian peninsula – as many as 300 billion recoverable barrels of oil sand and another trillion-plus barrels that could one day be within reach using new retrieval methods. Recent improvements in mining and extraction techniques have cut oil sand production costs nearly in half since the 1980s, to about $10 per barrel, with more innovation on the way. Yet in January, 2012, Obama killed the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline that was to transport Canadian oil sand to the US gulf coast.

And now (May, 2012) the USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions. It estimates that the Green River formation, a stretch of largely vacant federal lands in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, may hold more recoverable oil than all the rest of the world combined. The “problem” is that nearly three-quarters of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies beneath federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

If only 30 percent of those royalty revenues from the oil in the Green River formation went into the US Treasury, that would be enough to pay off the entire national debt without raising tax rates or cutting federal spending. If federal overregulation does not stand in the way, oil and gas extractable in North Dakota and in the Green River Formation of the Rocky Mountains may solve many social and economic problems.

Even though the US can easily do without Saudi Arabian oil, let’s examine why Obama will not alter his energy policies in order to protect Americans, despite what Hillary Clinton says about Saudi Arabian terrorism sponsorship.

Percy Sutton, the former borough president of Manhattan and founder of Inner City Broadcasting, said Dr. Kahlid al-Mansour contacted him to ask a favor: Would Sutton write a letter in support of Obama’s application to Harvard Law School? Sutton says while he was raising money for Obama’s law school education, al-Mansour was representing top members of the Saudi Royal family seeking to do business and exert influence in the United States.

In April, 2012, Saudi Arabia Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz visited Washington to discuss key issues and stress strategic cooperation. Both Abdul Aziz and Obama stressed in their meeting the strong and strategic partnership that ties the two countries.

In December, 2011, the Obama administration announced a weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, saying it had agreed to sell F-15 fighter jets valued at nearly $30 billion to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

We have all heard that “blood is thicker than water.” With Obama, “politics is thicker than blood.” Especially when it comes to Saudi Arabia and terrorism.

But that’s just my opinion.

“It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.” – Ronald Reagan

Cross-posted at RWNO, my personal web site.

Yet the big, theatrical, megalomaniacal laugh that should have been coming from the general direction of Tehran was drowned out by the snickers of millions when they heard Attorney General Eric Holder state, “The United States is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions.”

Really? Why start now?

The Obama administration is already talking about more sanctions – which, by the way hasn’t seemed to deter Iran from continuing to build a nuclear weapon, despite their claiming to need it for “energy” reasons.  They’re floating on a sea of oil, folks.

There can really only be one reason why a yet still non-nuclear country (we think) like Iran would risk the wrath of the U.S., post-9/11 – the have no fear of real reprisal.

Such was, is and will always be the response of despots to the hand of appeasement.  Such people’s disdain and hatred only increases in the face of pacification.  To them, it is a sign of weakness, ineptitude and the embodiment of everything they despise about our culture and society.

For most in the civilized world, this type of thinking seems, well, foreign.  We have been brought up to believe that we should look for commonalities and work toward bridging gaps – they want to blow up those bridges or, in this case, ambassadors.

They will only respect one thing – a firm powerful punch to the solo plexus followed by the willingness to deliver another blow.  Iran’s leadership knows that this administration simply doesn’t have the stomach for that.  In fact, the President goes out of his way to telegraph to the world that he has no intention of keeping those types of options on the table whatsoever.

A wise Jewish carpenter once said, “how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?”  It’s even easier if the strong man voluntarily ties himself up!

I am reminded of one of the most memorable line in movie history that came from the low-budget cult classic Terminator.  It rings in my mind every time I hear some talk of placating our modern enemy and so I adapt it slightly for our modern reality:

“That [terrorist] is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!”

The days (and years) after 9/11 found us kicking ourselves for not taking Al-Qaeda seriously.  Will history look upon this date with the same remorse?

OK, his worship has decreed that, starting in 2015, women will gain the right to run and vote in local elections for the first time in the history of the kingdom.  Of course, they still can’t drive or show their faces in public, but they will have the right to dip their fingers in the purple ink.

In his announcement that came at his annual address to the Shura Council, the king said, “We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society and in every aspect, within the rules of Sharia.”  Evidently driving a car doesn’t fall into the category of “every aspect”, but it is significant progress.

Municipal elections are a fairly new phenomenon in Saudi life as it is, as the institution was not established until 2005.  So in the grand scheme of things in the oil rich country, 10 years doesn’t seem all that bad.

Indeed, this is a significant leap forward for the women of Saudi Arabia.  Abdullah, who is considered a reformer, may have used the act to placate Saudi women, especially in light of the massive unrest that has swept the region.

It is not my intention to belittle the women’s courageous stance or the king’s forward thinking (which actually is pretty radical for that area of the world).  What I do want to point out is how the White House invariably will release statements applauding the king’s actions, but will continue to malign the “Tea Party” as racist, sexist, homophobic and bigoted.

To date, no one who has truly been affiliated or even loosely associated with the Tea Party Movement, has ever demanded our women cover their faces; no one has ever demanded that they gives up their drivers licenses (I REALLY could make a woman driver joke here but…) and, contrary to some media reports and democrat insinuations, NO ONE in the movement advocates racism, sexism or any other discrimination – as demonstrated by Herman Cain’s victory in the Florida Republican straw poll last Saturday.

Will their ever be a time when our politicians, on both sides, will return to intellectual honesty?  Yes, celebrate with the women of Saudi Arabia who, after centuries of inequality, are getting a glimpse of freedom, but let’s keep it in perspective and realize that just because your political opponent doesn’t want to run up ungodly debt, it doesn’t mean they are bigots.

So, if you are going to praise the Saudi king for his actions, be prepared to do so for Americans who just their country live on for their kids.