September 8, 2012
from
WashingtonsBlog Website
Spanish version
Did Iran Back
9/11 Hijackers?
Saudi Arabia?
Iraq?
Afghanistan?
America?
Israel?
In December, an American court
entered a default judgment against Iran
for allegedly having a hand in the September 11th attacks.
1
On the other hand, a 9/11 Commissioner and
the Co-Chair of Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 both say in sworn
declarations that
the Saudi government is linked to the 9/11 attacks.
2
Then again, right after 9/11, Bush, Cheney and
Rumsfeld
accused Iraq of having a
hand in the attacks.
People may not remember now, but - at the
time - the supposed Saddam-9/11 link
was at least as important a justification for the Iraq war as the alleged
weapons of mass destruction. 3
Of course, the
Afghanistan war was
largely based upon the allegation that the leaders of that country - the
Taliban - had harbored Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda terrorists. In other
words, the U.S. government treated Afghanistan as being complicit in 9/11 by
giving refuge to the 9/11 attackers. 4
At a minimum,
America unintentionally
created an atmosphere in which Al Qaeda terrorists could thrive. But
numerous former U.S. military and intelligence officers
think that rogue elements within the U.S. government intentionally
allowed or facilitated the attacks.
A government official
told Fox News:
Evidence linking these
Israelis to 9/11 is
classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered.
It’s classified information.
Israelis were clearly spying on the 9/11
hijackers within America before 9/11. See
this,
this,
this,
this and
this.
While many people say that Israel only spied
on the hijackers - and didn’t withhold actionable intelligence from the U.S.
government - others, including some former military officials (like
this guy), allege that Israel withheld information from the U.S. or even
had a hand in the attacks, pointing to suspicious activities regarding
moving vans and explosives on 9/11. See
this,
this,
this,
this and
this.
What does this mean? We don’t know for sure
which nation or nations backed the 9/11 terror attacks.
But as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Inquiry
into 9/11 and former Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee Bob Graham
told PBS Newshour in 2001, 9/11 was state-sponsored terrorism, and it is
vital for America’s national security that we get to the bottom of who the
backing country was (and whether more than one country was involved):
[Question]: Senator Graham, are there
elements in this report, which are classified that Americans should know
about but can’t?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: Yes… I was surprised at
the evidence that there were foreign
governments involved in facilitating the activities of at least some of
the terrorists in the United States.
I am stunned that we have not done a better
job of pursuing that to determine if other terrorists received similar
support and, even more important, if
the infrastructure of a foreign government assisting terrorists still
exists for the current generation of terrorists who are here planning
the next plots.
To me that is an extremely significant issue
and most of that information is classified, I think overly-classified.
I believe the American people should
know the extent of the challenge that we face in terms of foreign
government involvement. That would motivate the government to
take action.
[Question]: Are you suggesting that you are
convinced that there was a state sponsor behind 9/11?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: I think
there is very compelling evidence that
at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing -
although that was part of it - by a sovereign foreign government
and that we have been derelict in our duty to track that down, make the
further case, or find the evidence that would indicate that that is not
true and we can look for other reasons why the terrorists were able to
function so effectively in the United States.
[Question]: Do you think that will ever
become public, which countries you’re talking about?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: It will become public at
some point when it’s turned over to the archives, but that’s 20 or 30
years from now. And, we need to have
this information now because it’s relevant to the threat that the people
of the United States are facing today.
Notes
1
The 9/11 Commission Report
states:
We have found no evidence that Iran or
Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11
attack.
The same lawsuit had
previously named Iraq as a culprit, but dismissed Iraq when it
became obvious there was no connection (see note 3).
A default judgment - such as the one against
Iran - means that the defendant doesn’t appear in court, and so does not
present a defense or contrary evidence. The judge instead often accepts
virtually whatever the plaintiff claims, without examining or
considering any contrary evidence.
2
The 9/11 Commissioner and the Co-Chair of Congressional Inquiry into
9/11 who say that Saudi Arabia is behind the 9/11 attacks are calling
for either a “permanent
9/11 commission” or a
new 9/11 investigation to get to the bottom of it.
3
This claim that Iraq is linked to 9/11 has since been debunked by the
9/11 Commission, top government officials, and even - long after
they alleged such a link -
Bush and
Cheney themselves.
4
The Taliban allegedly
offered to hand over Bin Laden to the U.S., but the U.S. refused the
offer, and started bombing instead.