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There has been such a tsunami of lies, diversions and dissembling from the Bush Administration over the years, it is baffling as to where to begin to unravel the truth.

But when it comes to the major demagogic tool of the Busheviks to stay in power and make the Democrats on the Hill cower in fear, there is nothing like the cudgel of Al-Qaeda to conquer the truth.

The truth is that Al-Qaeda is a creature born and nurtured in Saudi Arabia and by Saudi Arabians. Although the Saudi Arabian government officially is an "ally" with the Busheviks in the so-called "war on terror," the royal family,the military and the police are riddled with behind-the-scenes supporters of radical Islamists. Furthermore, the Saudi royal family has allowed the most extreme Wahhabi mullahs to spread anti-Western hate through the creation of radical schools throughout the Middle East. This buys the royal family time to stay in power by giving extremists a lot of running room to promote terrorism against the West.

The attack on Iraq was one of the biggest bait and switches of all time when it comes to dealing with Al-Qaeda. Saddam had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda; they posed a threat to his tyrannical rule in a basically secular state. Saudi Arabia has had everything to do with Al-Qaeda, including funding the small Al-Qaeda force in Iraq (less than 5% of the insurgency by most accounts; 95% of the opposition to the occupation is indigenous Iraqi.) In fact, the largest percentage of the small Al-Qaeda force in Iraq is composed of Saudi Arabian fighters, following in the path of their Saudi Arabian leader who Bush perhaps intentionally let get away, Osama bin Laden.

But "The Siege of Mecca" is not about recent events, although it is a new book, published this September.

It is about the pivotal historical event in 1979 that gave birth to the modern Al-Qaeda movement, the siege of Mecca by Islamic extremists.

This is a fascinating, dramatic account about how Islam's holiest shrine was taken over by fundamentalists who captured more than 100,000 pilgrims, holding off the Saudi military for nearly three weeks. In fact, it was only with the arrival of a French anti-terrorist unit that the takeover of the Grand Mosque was ended in a bloodbath.

It's a riveting, dramatic tale that provides historical background, when you put it in context, as to why the Iraq War was a con job extraordinaire.

From the Publisher:

On November 20, 1979, worldwide attention was focused on Tehran, where the Iranian hostage crisis was entering its third week. The same morning�the first of a new Muslim century�hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam�s holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen countries, launching the first operation of global jihad in modern times. Led by a Saudi preacher named Juhayman al Uteybi, they believed that the Saudi royal family had become a craven servant of American infidels, and sought a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. With nearly 100,000 worshippers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca�s bloody siege lasted two weeks, inflaming Muslim rage against the United States and causing hundreds of deaths.

Despite U.S. assistance, the Saudi royal family proved haplessly incapable of dislodging the occupier, whose ranks included American converts to Islam. In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini blamed the Great Satan�the United States �for defiling the shrine, prompting mobs to storm and torch American embassies in Pakistan and Libya. The desperate Saudis finally enlisted the help of French commandos led by tough-as-nails Captain Paul Barril, who prepared the final assault and supplied poison gas that knocked out the insurgents. Though most captured gunmen were quickly beheaded, the Saudi royal family responded to this unprecedented challenge by compromising with the rebels� supporters among the kingdom�s most senior clerics, helping them nurture and export Juhayman�s violent brand of Islam around the world.

This dramatic and immensely consequential story was barely covered in the press in the pre-CNN, pre�Al Jazeera days, as Saudi Arabia imposed an information blackout and kept foreign correspondents away. Yaroslav Trofimov now penetrates this veil of silence, interviewing for the first time scores of direct participants in the siege, including former terrorists, and drawing on hundreds of documents that had been declassified on his request. Written with the pacing, detail, and suspense of a real-life thriller, The Siege of Mecca reveals how Saudi reaction to the uprising in Mecca set free the forces that produced the attacks of 9/11, and the harrowing circumstances that surround us today.

In conversation with Yaroslav Trofimov:

If November 20, 1979 had never happened, do you think there would have been a September 11, 2001?

The uprising in Mecca was the first operation of global Jihad, and the way the Saudi regime repressed it made a lasting impact on the young Osama Bin Laden. It was one of the factors that caused him to see the House of Saud as apostates and enemies of Islam. On the other hand, the Saudi government reacted to that uprising by trying to buy off the radical clerics, and by financing their campaign to spread ultra-orthodox Islam around the world�a proselytizing effort that produced many of Al Qaeda recruits in subsequent decades.

The Mecca upheaval was the beginning of a process that led to the tragedy of September 11, and a turning point in the history of radical Islam.

Why has this story never been fully told?

At the time, Saudi Arabia imposed a near-total news blackout on the Mecca events. No independent observers were allowed in the city during the siege, and even visiting Jeddah or Riyadh was nearly impossible for foreign reporters. And, obviously, no one could tell the story of what happened among the insurgents because every suspected gunman found in the mosque was arrested. Most were promptly beheaded, and only a few have survived long prison sentences to tell their stories.

In following years, the uprising in Mecca became a taboo subject in Saudi Arabia. Even a book of official statements on the issue, published shortly after the siege, was outlawed and withdrawn from libraries.

It is only now that people in Saudi Arabia are somewhat less terrified of speaking about the crisis�a change that allowed me to interview former terrorists and military officials involved in the siege. Also, the passage of time made it easier to get the U.S. government to declassify its documents about the crisis.

What was the US's role in the Siege of Mecca?

There were American citizens on both sides of the barricades. The gunmen occupying the Mosque included a number of African-American converts to Islam. Retired American military personnel were employed flying Saudi helicopters above the Mosque in support of the mission in Mecca. And the CIA provided tear gas and advice on the ground. At the end, however, it was the role of the French commandos that proved decisive in the final assault on the shrine.


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