SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES announces it will operate direct 17-hour flights to Los Angeles.

Dumping the post 9/11 policy of extra airport scrutiny for countries with known terrorist ties, the Obama Regime adds Saudi Arabia to the Easy-Entry Trusted Traveler Program

Daily Caller  Saudi Arabia, the nation which produced 15 of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks, has become one of a handful of countries whose travelers can bypass normal passport controls at major US airports. Sources tell the Investigative Project on Terrorism that this will mark the first time that the Saudi government will have a direct role in vetting who is eligible for getting fast-tracked for entry into the United States.

Of the 19 individuals who hijacked American planes on September 11, 2001 — 15 were from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “More recently, following the plot to blow up an international flight over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, the Department saw fit to increase the scrutiny of passengers from countries like Saudi Arabia. This must be a factor in determining who to admit into the Global Entry Program.”

Before the terrorist attacks, Saudis had access to a program called Visa Express, that only required a visit to a travel agent in the Kingdom. That policy was discontinued a few months after the 2001 terror attacks.

But now an updated version is back, only with a reassuring new name — the Global Entry trusted traveler program. Judicial Watch notes “just three years ago the U.S. government actually placed Saudi Arabia on a list of 14 countries whose travelers would face enhanced security.”   GOP lawmakers voiced their concerns about “potential risks” associated with opening the Global Entry trusted traveler program — which “allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States” — to Saudi Arabia