Creative Speculation

The authors presumably believe Bin Laden was in a position to threaten the royal family because they evidently paid him millions in protection money.

I don't know what the Saudi royals really wanted. My guess is that the protection money theory is a cover story to disguise royal family support of Bin Laden (at least by some members of the royal family). I would like to know the real dealings between Bin Laden, the royal family and US factions.

Bin Laden was definitely on US radar by '96. The Clinton administration tried to kill him in '98 and several other times according to Michael Scheuer (1st chief of Alec Station). So a Saudi murder of Bin Laden blamed on the US or Israel (since Israel was a stated enemy of Bin Laden) would have been expected. Should we believe that the Saudis are unfamiliar with covert operations? That the only way they could kill Bin Laden would have been by openly admitting sponsorship? Of course not.

Most of the discussions about 9/11 related topics are speculative because there is so much secrecy. I would love to know what Prince Bandar discussed with Tenet two days before the attacks or what he discussed with President Bush before and after the attacks. I would like to know the true nature of the dealings between some royal family members and the hijackers. I would like to know why the CIA and FBI UBLU withheld information about al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar from the Cole investigators.