BUSH, BIN LADEN FREQUENT FLYERS

Sure, anyone who has seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" or read Michael Moore's most recent book, "Dude, Where's My Country?" will know that several members of the bin Laden clan took to the friendly skies in the days after Sept. 11.

But who were they?

A Washington Post story reveals there were 13 people with Osama bin Laden's surname and an array of foreign passports.

Passenger Omar Awad bin Laden had lived with Abdullah bin Laden, a nephew of Osama bin Laden who was involved in forming the U.S. branch of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth in Alexandria. Federal agents raided the office this spring in connection with a terrorism-related investigation. The FBI has described the group as a "suspected terrorist organization."

Among the other passengers was Shafig bin Laden, a half brother of Osama bin Laden who was reportedly attending the annual investor conference of the Carlyle Group, a politically connected investment company in Washington, on Sept. 11, 2001. Also on board was Akberali Moawalla, an official with the investment company run by Yeslam bin Laden, another of Osama bin Laden's half brothers. Records show that a passenger, Kholoud Kurdi, lived in Northern Virginia with a bin Laden relative.

Regardless of who authorized the flights (Bush critics blame the administration and Dumbya's coziness with the terrorist-coddling Saudis; Bush defenders say it was counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke) no one has publicly explained why these folks weren't questioned more extensively by the FBI, nor why they were given such special treatment as Secret Service protection.