Monday, April 18, 2016

28 PAGES, 15 YEARS AND FAR TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS



SAUDIS “THREATEN” UNITED STATES

OBAMA PREPARED TO BEND TO THEIR DEMANDS



TAGS: Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, Saudis Threaten to Divest US Assets,

Obama’s Betrayal, 9/11/01 Community, Saudi Involvement in 9/11 Plot,

Lies and Treason,  Fealgood Foundation, Zadroga Act








(Sunday April 10, 2016 NYC) On December 20, 2013 a three judge federal panel issued a ruling that allowed for the survivors of victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.  Since 15 of the 19 hijackers who executed the attacks were Saudi nationals there has long been speculation that some in the Kingdom aided and abetted the terrorists.  Various panels tasked with pursuing the multiple avenues of inquiry regarding the Saudi’s in the attacks each independently found compelling if not damming evidence that Saudi both here and in their homeland played significant roles in the financing, logistical planning and support of the terrorists.  Since that federal court’s milestone ruling the issue has been tangled up in the politics of the United States “relationship” with the House of Saud.



The issue has recently reached a tipping point as the U.S. Congress is considering the passage of a bill that would provide strong legal footing for such lawsuits.  The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, (JASTA) gives the victims of 9/11 attacks and other violence the right to sue foreign sponsors of terrorism.  While the legislation has strong support in both Houses of Congress the Obama Administration has maneuvered to block its progress.  The latest twist in this story comes from the Saudis who have “threated the United States” if the bill passes they will divest themselves of $750 million of assets they hold in the US.  Yes, that’s correct, the government of Saudi Arabia has issued a blunt, unequivocal threat to President Obama.  It is difficult to grasp the magnitude of this insult and the unmitigated arrogance of the Saudis.  If the Obama administration capitulates under this threat, the world will see once again that our present administration is terribly weak and a precedent of unknown consequences will be laid bare for all the world to see and potentially exploit.



28 PAGES



Since the issuance of the 9/11 Committee’s Report and subsequent investigations, the fingerprints the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s highest officials and influential citizens have been glimpsed time and again. To this day there remains 28 pages of heavily redacted testimony the Senate Select Committee’s 2004 investigation of 9/11/01.  Only a handful of Senators have been granted permission to view the documents and all agree that the redacted segments very likely hold a key to the puzzle of Saudi’s support of the terrorist while they lived, plotted and trained here in various locations across the country.  Without that 28-page gap being filled in there remain loose ends that very much need to be made public.  The Obama administration has ardently kicked that can down the road, so to speak, for the last 7 plus years despite having promised after his inauguration in January 2009 that his would be among “the most transparent administrations” in modern times.  His failure to address this issue head on along with other errors of commission and omission pertaining to the aftermath of 9/11 is no doubt one of his greatest failings.



YET ANOTHER INSULT



The 9/11 community of surviving members of victims’ families, first responders; Members of Service of the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD, law enforcement and fire service agencies from across the Metropolitan area, the small army of ironworkers, welders, and union tradesman, the truck drivers and heavy equipment operators who accomplished the impossible clean-up and removal of the mountains of debris in a remarkably short time as well as the hundreds of volunteers from across the country who provided the myriad services for those laboring on The Pile.  It is these people who were involved in the recovery and clean-up as well as others who’ve suffered a great deal since that day. And the losses continue to mount as hundreds more have succumbed to the bizarre array of malignant diseases and exotic maladies that have taken their lives.  September 11, 2001 is still killing.  In some profound ways they have been forced over and over again to confront their loses from that day and beyond.  For the most part they have suffered in silence, as a tightly woven community providing all manner of support for each other as well as some very powerful advocacy for the issues that matter most to them.  From demanding Congress launch an investigation from late December 2001, to having to fight tooth and nail for the continuation of the hard fought Zadroga Act , each and every battle represents just how little our government cares.  If not for highly dedicated, almost single-minded individuals from this community such as the indomitable  John Feal of the Fealgood Foundation,  it is safe to say that our community would still be out in the cold in every legitimate area of need and, perhaps most importantly, health care coverage for 9/11 rescue and recovery workers and volunteers exposed to the environment at The Pile and breathed the air there that George W. Bush’s Secretary of the EPA, Christine Whitman claimed posed no threat within hours of the towers demise.  And now, 15 years out from that day of infamy and secrets are being kept for the crassest of politics and political expediency.



SAUDI ARABIA: NO “FRIEND” OF OURS



If there is one painfully obvious fact that anyone with more than a cursory, narrow minded familiarity with our “relationships” with the various countries in the Middle East and Far East (Afghanistan and Pakistan), it is that we have no true “partners” of “friends” in those regions.  Our relations with them, such as they are, are woefully one-sided; we provide everything from generous financial support to military training and equipment, as well as intelligence sharing. For all the US provides in return we receive nothing.  In several salient cases, some of these countries would probably not exist in their current form with their corrupt systems of governance if not for the “protection” their affiliation with the US affords.  Assessing our dealings with these countries, past and present, illustrate just how little we get in return for all we provide.



For one example, Israel would not have survived this long as a “sovereign state” in their “neighborhood of hostility and instability” if not for the unconditional support of the US.  Saudi Arabia itself and the ruling Kingdom of The House of Saud would have been racked by convulsions of internal strife that may well have toppled that repressive government long ago.  They avoided domestic terrorism but expelling Osama bin Laden while providing him and his kind all sorts of support as they took their travelling armies of mujahedeen to other counties including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.  For all the hundreds of billions of dollars in addition to the very precious blood and lives of our military spent in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they remain at their core hostile to the US and the West in general while continuing to have al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS sympathizers embedded in the highest levels of their military and intelligence apparatus.  From Dubai to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, much of our financial support eventually ends up in the hands of the very same people that pose the greatest threat to us.  We literally “buy” their “cooperation” as we build bases and airstrips in some of these countries from which to fight the war on terror. 



RIGHTEOUS ANGER



It has been interesting to follow the presidential primary races currently underway here.  From the day he announced his improbable launch of his campaign, people have assailed, belittled, insulted, and variably taken lightly or vilifies as a threat, Donald Trump has, no matter how ungracefully or un-politically correct, given voice to the angry citizen across the country.  His repeated condemnation of foreign aid and military support for countries that give little to nothing in return resonates with voters.  His firebrand indictments of the extreme dysfunction of our federal government across the board may not be eloquent but is surely accurate.  Politicos, prognosticators and pundits of every stripe have speculated and tried to explain the appeal of Trump and his message.  Such bewildered opining clearly illustrates just how far out of touch such eggheads are with the American populace.  Trump alone has been the only candidate to lay blame for the failure to make an effort to interdict in the months ahead of September 11, 2001 despite dire warnings from the CIA, NSA and FBI that “al Qaeda determined (sic) to attack US” in the lap of George W. Bush.  Admittedly un-beholden to any special interests, lobbyist or the GOP “establishment” Trump has been able to say what so many feel to be true; the US is being knocked around by supposed allies and is engaged in abysmally lopsided relationships with many countries that simply equivocate when called upon to contribute to our military and diplomatic efforts and do not reciprocate for all we give them.



CONTINUED BETRAYAL



The American people have grown accustomed to our government’s betrayals.  Since the fallacy of the Gulf of Tonkin incident used as a precursor for our entry into the war in Vietnam, through Watergate, Iran-Contra, Arms for Hostages, secret guerilla wars, covert interventions in far flung places, up to the financial crisis of 2008 and so many more instances in between, our government has either directly lied or at least have withheld the truth from us.  This 28 pages of redacted testimony is just the latest example of the level of betrayal our government has delivered unto us.



To speculate that these 28 pages hold the Holy Grail of the 9/11 attacks is foolish; they likely are just the virtual tip of the iceberg as so very many questions remain about the actual attacks, who assisted the hijackers, who provided the financial and material needs, who in our vast, incompetent intelligence community and the George W. Bush White House failed us all so fatally and miserably.  For all we know factually there is so much more we don’t know.  This is the highest form of betrayal; our own government lying to us in order to appease a country that has “threatened” to take actions against us if the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act is passed by Congress.  Obama has said repeatedly that if passed he would veto the legislation.  That says much about him as a President, a man and some about us as a country that we continue to tolerate such treasonous governance.



With “friends” like the Saudis, who needs enemies? 



If our own twice elected President will not put the search for truth regarding the most heinous act of terrorism ever enacted on our soil before the threats of a tin pot “Kingdom” of oil-rich Arabs, then to what others levels of betrayal has he or will he stoop to?




























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