# US Told Saudis to Let Al-Qaida Gunmen Escape **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 4, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548 "2004-06-04T01:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![All\_That\_And](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@All\_That\_And](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_That_And)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/1 "2004-06-04T01:02:14Z")
From [this source:](http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3014134) > [@](#): > > Saudi authorities gave safe passage to three al-Qaida gunmen after the they killed 10 of the hostages they were holding at a hotel in the oil hub of Khobar, a senior security official said. > > The Saudi official said upon hearing hostages had been killed, US officials advised the Saudis that letting the militants go would avert a bigger catastrophe. > > The US embassy in Riyadh did not have immediate comment on the Saudi official’s account, which dovetailed with witness accounts. > > Officially, the Saudi Interior Ministry has said the three used hostages as human shields to escape Saudi commandos on Sunday and a fourth attacker, said to be the ringleader, was captured. > > The official said the three walked away at about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, hours before 80 commandoes landed on the roof of the hotel by helicopter and began knocking on the hostages’ doors to tell them they were free to leave. I thought the US government was being tough on terrorist, what gives? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/2 "2004-06-04T01:11:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought the US government was being tough on terrorist, what gives? Terrorist **s**. Anyway, not a whole lot to hang one’s hat on in that report, IMO, but one possibility could be that the American advisors, whoever they may have been, had reasonable confidence that the militants could be tracked and captured following their staged ‘escape’ and that this course would be preferable to a military assault that would have a high probability of creating more dead hostages. Assuming the story is accurate, what do you think the reason was? ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/3 "2004-06-04T01:13:30Z")
Sounds like a spot decision by a lower ranking person… and someone who has never been to the Moscow School of Hostage “Negotiation” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/4 "2004-06-04T01:24:06Z")
See, it’s like this: **IF** the story is true and U.S. officials had some influence in the matter, the headlines can scream: “U.S. Soft on Terrorists!” If the U.S. had taken the other stance, the headlines would scream: “U.S. responsible for death of 80 hostages!” Pick your poison. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/5 "2004-06-04T01:30:52Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > See, it’s like this: **IF** the story is true and U.S. officials had some influence in the matter, the headlines can scream: “U.S. Soft on Terrorists!” > > If the U.S. had taken the other stance, the headlines would scream: “U.S. responsible for death of 80 hostages!” > > Pick your poison. I dunno, the Russians have been playing hardline for a while now, with generally OK results (ie, they only get about 10% of the hostages killed) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/6 "2004-06-04T19:58:08Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > See, it’s like this: **IF** the story is true and U.S. officials had some influence in the matter, the headlines can scream: “U.S. Soft on Terrorists!” > > If the U.S. had taken the other stance, the headlines would scream: “U.S. responsible for death of 80 hostages!” > > Pick your poison. Hmmm…I thought the U.S. was supposed to have a firm policy of NEVER giving concessions to terrorists. When did that change to “Well, O.K. - if we think it’s the lesser of 2 evils.”? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/7 "2004-06-04T20:19:10Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Hmmm…I thought the U.S. was supposed to have a firm policy of NEVER giving concessions to terrorists. When did that change to “Well, O.K. - if we think it’s the lesser of 2 evils.”? It was when George W. Bush went from “Osama Bin Laden - dead or alive” to “I don’t care where Osama is.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/8 "2004-06-04T20:58:35Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Hmmm…I thought the U.S. was supposed to have a firm policy of NEVER giving concessions to terrorists. When did that change to “Well, O.K. - if we think it’s the lesser of 2 evils.”? I don’t know that it did change. The linked story leaves much to be explained. I’m just sayin’ that bringing the U.S. into the equation was a win/win deal for those members of the press that like to bash America, and a lose/lose deal re: America’s public relations. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/9 "2004-06-04T23:20:14Z")
It could be that one of the terrorists is a CIA operative in deeeeep cover, and the advisor recognized him. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-told-saudis-to-let-al-qaida-gunmen-escape/248548/10 "2004-06-05T05:36:40Z")
“This city will not negotiate with terrorists…is there a city nearby that will?” [/Mayor Quimby]