Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Now I Get It

From the long-suppressed - December 2002 - missing 28 pages of the US Congressional Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before & After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001:

"20. Finding: While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support and assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government. There is information, primarily from FBI sources, that at least two of these individuals were alleged by some to be Saudi intelligence officers. The Joint Inquiry's review confirmed that the Intelligence Community also has information, much of which has yet to be independently verified, indicating that individuals associated with the Saudi Government in the United States may have other ties to al-Qa'ida and other terrorist groups. The FBI and CIA have informed the Joint Inquiry that, since the September 11 attacks, they are treating the Saudi issue seriously, but both still have only a limited understanding of the Saudi Government's ties to terrorist elements. In their testimony, neither CIA nor FBI witnesses were able to identify definitively the extent of Saudi support for terrorist activity globally or within the United States and the extent to which such support, if it exists, is knowing or inadvertent in nature. The FBI's Washington Field Office created a squad devoted to... [redaction]. Only recently, and at least in part due to the Joint Inquiry's focus on this issue, did the FBI and CIA establish a working group to address the Saudi issue. In the view of the Joint Inquiry, this gap in US intelligence coverage is unacceptable, given the magnitude and immediacy of the potential risk to US national security."

Oh... so that's why the United States took on Saudi Arabia Iraq in 2003. Now I get it.

1 comment:

Paul said...

Talk about raising on a busted flush. Next we'll have the five dancing Saudis.