911: looks like Saudi's did it

It took 14 years but we finally got the 28 pages from the House Senate Joint Inquiry on the 911 Attacks regarding Saudi Arabia's likely involvement in those attacks. No other country; not Iraq, not Iran, not Afghanistan, not Syria got anywhere near the scrutiny Saudi Arabia did. Yet, the only portion of the Report kept secret from the public were these damning 28 pages, that many, especially families of the 911 victims have been demanding to know the truth.

The Bush administration didn't want an investigation in the first place and worked mightily to prevent any scrutiny of Saudi Arabia, from which 15 of the 19 hijackers originated. But the 28 pages reveal numerous connections between the Saudi government and the hijackers, none of which prompted the Joint Inquiry to declare Saudi Arabia's involvement. Nor was there any significant follow up of the leads revealed. Can you imagine if the Bush administration had a single valid morsel of Iraqi involvement, they'd have followed it to the end of the earth. Since they didn't they just made stuff up about Iraq, resulting in hundreds of thousands, including 4,500 GI's, pushing up daisies.

The 28 pages not only contain connections between the Saudi government and the hijackers, they omit any reference to a significant contact revealed by recently declassified FBI and CIA reports. They report that Fahad Thumairy, a Saudi consulate official, brought Khallad bin Attash, a known al Qaeda operative, into the US in June, 2000, so he could meet with Khalid al mihdhar and Nawaf al Hazmi, two of the 911 hijackers. The Saudi consulate official was able to escort bin Attash through INS and Customs at LAX, likely deflecting otherwise certain scrutiny.

Back in 2001, Saudi Arabia was a valued supplier of oil, huge buyer of US military hardware, and tight friends of the Bush family. Sure was a lot easier to use the 911 attacks to take out Afghanistan, Iraq, and then after being greeted as liberators, taking out Syria and Iran to complete the Middle East Grand Slam. And 15 years later, no matter how many heads the Saudi's chop off to keep domestic peace, America is still buying their oil, selling them many billions in munitions, and touting their loyalty as an ally.

With allies like Saudi Arabia, we don't need enemies.