Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a crisis, but its elite is bitterly divided on how to escape it.

Crown Prince Abdullah leads a camp of liberal reformers seeking rapprochement with the West, while Prince Nayef, the interior minister, sides with an anti-American Wahhabi religious establishment that has much in common with al Qaeda.

If we are serious about energy independence, then we can finally be serious about confronting the role of Saudi Arabia in financing and providing ideological support of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We cannot continue this Administration's kid-glove approach to the supply and laundering of terrorist money.

"Imagine those 19 hijackers [on Sept. 11] with other weapons and other plans — this time armed by Saddam Hussein."

The "what if" argument still has power. But there are signs a correction is setting in.

To a degree unimaginable before the Iraq war, critics are now forcefully pressing that latter case. Robert Keeley, ambassador to Greece under Reagan, William Crowe, a retired admiral who was a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Reagan, and Stansfield Turner, another retired admiral and past director of the CIA, were part of a group of 27 high-ranking former officials called Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change who issued a statement last week charging that Bush's policies had left the nation dangerously isolated in the world.

What if, Kerry seems to be arguing, Bush's answers to the toughest "what if" questions have actually made America less secure?

The beheading of US hostage Paul Johnson highlights once again the tense relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia ...

Neither Bush nor Cheney mentioned Saudi Arabia. Powell thanked Riyadh for its efforts to find Johnson.

Kerry had stern words for the Saudis. "It is essential that we have the full cooperation of the Saudi government in tracking down these terrorists and destroying Al Qaeda. This must be our nation’s highest priority," Kerry said in a statement.

Those in the industry of glam and fashion are rarely ever put to the test. In a special series, Sunday asks various models, actors and fashionistas to reveal their beauty secrets. Here, Ayesha Toor (model/actress) answers a few questions.

What was your last beauty buy?
Bronzer

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Gucci Rush

Authorities evacuated the U.S. Capitol on June 9 because of a communication failure between Federal Aviation Administration flight controllers and Washington air defense officials tracking a plane carrying Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) to Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Officials from the Defense and Homeland Security departments ordered two F-15 fighter jets and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to intercept Fletcher's aircraft at 4:25 p.m. without knowing that FAA controllers had been in radio contact with the plane for at least 40 minutes and had determined it was not hostile.

The US Capitol was briefly evacuated after a communication problem involving a plane carrying Kentucky's governor to Washington.

"al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations still have ready access to financial resources, and that fact constitutes an ongoing threat to the United States."

# Saudi Arabia has not fully implemented its new laws and regulations, and because of that, opportunities for the witting or unwitting financing of terrorism persist.

# There is no evidence that Saudi Arabia has taken public punitive actions against any individual for financing terror. As a result, Saudi Arabia has yet to demand personal accountability in its efforts to combat terrorist financing and, more broadly and fundamentally, to de-legitimize these activities.

# Saudi Arabia continues to export radical extremism. "Saudi Arabia funds the global propagation of Wahabism, a brand of Islam that, in some instances, supports militancy... We are concerned that this massive spending is helping to create the next generation of terrorists."

The task force recommends that: