Reply #48: That's an interesting theory, but...

[paulthompson]

Let's say that it's true. The CIA, knowing that these guys attended an important al-Qaeda summit in Malaysia, aren't going to cease caring for them simply because they're Saudi agents. We know now the CIA knew these guys flew to the US and probably even had agents following them on the flight (I have a new timeline entry about that). At that point the CIA wouldn't simply say "whatever." Naturally, they'd keep a close eye on them and see who they meet and what they do. The CIA was well aware that the Saudis were completely untrustworthy, as this entry indicates:

1997: CIA Deems Saudi Intelligence ‘Hostile Service’ Regarding Al-Qaeda
The CIA’s bin Laden unit Alec Station sends a memo to CIA Director George Tenet warning him that the Saudi intelligence service should be considered a “hostile service” with regard to al-Qaeda. This means that, at the very least, they could not be trusted. In subsequent years leading up to 9/11, US intelligence will gather intelligence confirming this assessment and even suggesting direct ties between some in Saudi intelligence and al-Qaeda. For instance, according to a top Jordanian official, at some point before 9/11 the Saudis ask Jordan intelligence to conduct a review of the Saudi intelligence agency and then provide it with a set of recommendations for improvement. Jordanians are shocked to find Osama bin Laden screen savers on some of the office computers. Additionally, the CIA will note that in some instances after sharing communications intercepts of al-Qaeda operatives with the Saudis, the suspects would sometimes change communication methods, suggesting the possibility that they had been tipped off by Saudi intelligence. (Risen, 2006, pp. 183-184)

So it's not like the CIA would just say we'll trust the Saudis completely with these fantastically important al-Qaeda moles living in the US - that would be insane. The CIA would very quickly learn about the other hijackers (since Atta, Hanjour, and others frequently visited them in San Diego, not to mention what they'd learn from monitoring the phone calls), and there's no way they couldn't learn about the 9/11 plot from even the most cursory surveillance of these guys. So if they were Saudi agents it wouldn't be any excuse to explain why the CIA didn't do something about what they must have known.