At ProPublica Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella remark on the revelation that the Saudi government was more involved in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 than has heretofore been revealed publicly:
The Saudi government has always denied any role in the attacks, noting that al-Qaida and its former leader, Osama bin Laden, were sworn enemies of the royal family. But the 2016 report shows that FBI agents found evidence that several Saudi religious officials working in the United States had connections not only to people who assisted the hijackers but also to other Qaida operatives and suspected extremists. At the time, there were many Saudis in the country who had diplomatic credentials but were mainly involved in religious activity. The FBI later investigated many of them for extremism.
and
“This validates what we have been saying,†said James Kreindler, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. “The FBI agents working this case detailed a Saudi government support network that was working in 1999, 2000 and 2001 to provide the hijackers with everything they needed to mount the attacks — apartments, money, English lessons, flight school.â€
Not only should this be publicized but there should be repercussions, both for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for the federal officials who concealed it. For the KSA I have two words: civil suits. The figure that should be sought should be in the tens of trillions of dollars, it should be sought not only by the U. S. government but by the families of those killed on 9/11 and those who have died in the various fronts in the War on Terror.
What about the officials? In particular I’d like to know what national interest was served by concealing the KSA’s involvement. U. S. national interest, I mean.
It is as I have been saying for some time: the Saudis are not our friends. They cannot be our friends.
Saw that article and glad you did a post on it.
What the Saudis or any other foreign nation do is one thing, why American give them a pass is a much bigger story.
It’s looking like selling influence has become the norm.
Is the general impression here that the USA is too big to fail, or even that failure is inevitable and grab what you can on the way out.
“In particular I’d like to know what national interest was served by concealing the KSA’s involvement. U. S. national interest, I mean.”
The usual, money. Cant build your hotels or sell them weapons if you piss them off. Then there is the oil. And you cant prance around with a sword and be a manly man with them.
Steve