W., Borne Back Ceaselessly

The former president gave a short eloquent speech in Dallas at the memorial service for five police officers murdered by a sniper. In a slap at Donald Trump, a man loathed by the Bush family, W. said: “We do not want the unity of grief nor do we want the unity of fear. We want the unity of hope, affection and high purpose.”

 .. The section details suspicious ties between the hijackers — 15 out of 19 were Saudis — and other Qaeda operatives to the Saudi royal family. In one instance, the first Qaeda prisoner in C.I.A. custody post-9/11 had a phone number that belonged to a company that took care of Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s Colorado home. The former Saudi ambassador was so close to the Bushes he was known as Bandar Bush.

.. If the 28 pages had been released back in 2002, the revelations might have helped stop the Iraq invasion by refocusing attention where it belonged: on possible real links between Al Qaeda and Saudi royals, rather than the fantasy links between Al Qaeda and Saddam pushed by Dick Cheney.
.. W. told Blair he was “ready to kick ass.”