A report that may implicate Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks continues to cause controversy, with many saying it should be released.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton have all called for its release, which President Obama already promised victim’s families, but has yet to deliver.
According to The Hill:
“Information in the report, according to the New York Post, includes evidence of several phone calls between a handler for one of the hijackers in San Diego and the Saudi Embassy in Washington, as well as the transfer of $130,000 from the family checking account of then-Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar to another San Diego handler. Strangely enough, as first reported by The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, in the days immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks, when all commercial flights were banned, 140 Saudi nationals were safely escorted out of the United States by the FBI.
Even though on two different occasions, in 2009 and 2011, President Obama promised relatives of the 9/11 victims he would make public the missing 28 pages, he has yet to do so. Now, with time running out before the end of his term, he’s under increased pressure.
In the House, Republican Walter Jones of North Carolina and Democrat Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts have introduced a resolution calling for release of the pages. In the Senate, New York Democrat Charles Schumer and Texas Republican John Cornyn are co-sponsoring legislation to permit families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia based on whatever information is contained in the secret pages. Saudi Arabia has responded to that bill by threatening to dump $750 billion in U.S. assets.
Threats or no threats, there is no excuse for any further delay in releasing the Sept. 11 Papers. And now is the perfect time. On Wednesday, Obama arrives in Saudi Arabia for an official state visit. He should personally deliver a copy of the newly released 28 pages to King Salman.
We don’t really know whether they will implicate the government of Saudi Arabia or exonerate it, but the American people deserve to know the truth. The wounds of 9/11 are still fresh. It’s important to know who our friends are and who our friends are not — even if it proves embarrassing to the Saudi royal family.”
