When did we Saudis stop beating your American wives?
: It had to be the oddest advertising meeting since the intro of New Coke: Saudi Arabia starts a campaign of radio ads in America to convince us they didn’t help attack us. Not officially, anyway.
Stung by criticism about its role in fighting terrorism, Saudi Arabia has launched a radio advertising campaign in 19 U.S. cities citing the Sept. 11 commission report as proof that it has been a loyal ally in the fight against al-Qaida….
The ads don’t address commission criticism of Saudi Arabia, which the report called “a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism.” It said Saudi-funded Islamic schools have been exploited by extremists and, while Saudi cooperation against terrorism improved after the Sept. 11 attacks, “significant problems remained.”
Here’s the Saudi press release. Here’s the text of the ads.