It was June 25, 1996 when a bomb exploded in front of a building that housed U.S. Air Force personnel in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. servicemen.

Fifteen years later, a man has visited with President Obama at the White House who has alleged ties to those responsible for the bombing.

Hadi al-Ameri, Iraq’s Minister of Transportation, was among Iraqi officials at the White House on Monday. Linked to the attack through a federal indictment, al-Ameri was at one time the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran.

Now, many, including FBI Director Louis Freeh and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL.) have expressed concern over the visit.

Perhaps those most alarmed, though, are the victims themselves.

“I was furious and honestly just a little bit sick to think of a betrayal on that level,” said William Schooley, a retired Air Force staff sergeant and survivor of the Khobar bombing. “The president disrespected the 19 men who died; he’s disrespected their families; he’s disrespected the survivors, but he’s also disrespected the men and women who serve under him right now.” Schooley demands both a public and private apology.

In a statement it released, the White House, however, maintains that there is no evidence that connects al-Ameri to the Khobar building bombing.

“We have no evidence of al-Ameri’s involvement with the Khobar Towers attacks, nor do we have any evidence of Hadi al-Ameri’s involvement in any act of violence against U.S. citizens. Hadi al-Ameri is the minister of transportation in the democratically elected Iraqi government. He is a longstanding partner and interlocutor of the Unites States Government, going back to the previous administration.”