Bandar considers himself an American Hamiltonian conservative . Before the 2000 U.S. presidential election was decided , he invited George H. W. Bush to go pheasant shooting on his English estate in a " Desert Storm reunion " . After the September 11 attacks in 2001 , in an interview in the '' New York Times '' , he stated , " Bin Laden used to come to us when '' America '' through the CIA and Saudi Arabia , were helping our brother mujahideen in Afghanistan , to get rid of the communist secularist Soviet Union forces . Osama bin Laden came and said ' Thank you . Thank you for bringing the Americans to help us . ' At that time , I thought he could n’t lead eight ducks across the street . " Bandar argued some researchers " learn to speak a few words of Arabic and call themselves experts about the affairs of my country . " In 2007 , during his tenure as National Security Secretary , Bandar proposed that the Kingdom have greater contact with Israel , because he regarded Iran as a more serious threat than Israel
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud