Feb 13, 2011
Soon
after the September 11th attacks, the US government actively tried
to minimize and oppress information relating to a possible role in
the attacks by Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the 9-11 Commission
cleared Saudi Arabia of any role in
the terrorist attacks despite many anomalies including the fact
that 15 of the 19 high jackers were
actually from Saudi Arabia.
In December 2002 Congress released its’ Joint Intelligence
Committee Inquiry into the 9-11 terrorist attacks. When released,
this document contained 28 pages of redacted information that
allegedly pointed to foreign state-sponsorship of the attacks,
specifically Saudi Arabia. The 9/11 Commission Report failed to
ascertain the contents of the censored 28-pages of the report.
Victims family members asked President Bush why he refused to
release this information and got no answer.
Years earlier, in August 2002, victim family members publically
announced a $1 trillion lawsuit against alleged Saudi bank rollers
of Osama Bin Laden. This lawsuit has been stalled and defeated at
every turn. In November 2002, the lawsuit
became even bigger and costlier at $15 trillion dollars as more
than three-dozen new defendants were added, including members of
the Saudi Royal Family. Interestingly, three members of the
Saudi royal family have since been given legal immunity from
prosecution. Attorneys for the victims' families
told the Staten Island Advance in 2006, that it could be "another
several years before the lawsuit goes to trial. "
In July of 2003 9/11 Commissioner Max Cleland was interviewed by
Frank Sesno of PBS. In that
interview, he stated: "You can read between the lines and see that
there were foreign governments that were much more involved in the
9/11 attack than just supporting Islamic fundamentalist teachings
and schools. Now, that has been redacted. A whole 28 page
section."
The 2008 book “The Commission”, by New York Times reporter Philip
Shennon revealed that 9/11 Commission Executive Director, Phillip
Zelikow blocked other 9/11
commissioners who were working on the Saudi
connections from accessing the 28-page redacted section.
In August 2003, an anonymous official told New Republic magazine that the
28-page redacted section outlines “connections between the
hijacking plot and the very top levels of the Saudi royal
family.”
In September of 2004, a month after the official close of the 9/11
Commission, Senator Bob Graham accused the White House of
covering-up the involvement of Saudi government officials in the
9/11 plot.
Despite attempts by family members to
get this information made public and promises from the Obama
administration to do so, the redacted 28 pages of the Joint
Intelligence Committee Inquiry into 9-11 remain secret and are
likely to remain so. In May of 2010, Supreme Court nominee Elena
Kagan refused to give the victims' families’
lawsuit a hearing. Her argument was that US foreign
policy would be interfered with if the lawsuit was allowed to go
ahead.
Secrecy continues to cloud the possible role of Saudi Arabia in the
events of September 11th. Despite calls from members of Congress,
victims family members, and even one of the 9-11 Commissioners to
dig deeper into the role of Saudi Arabia, no such inquiry has yet
to take place. Why would the US government and the 9-11 Commission
protect Saudi Arabia?