Author: editor28pages

U.S. Failure to Examine Saudi 9/11 Role Has Aided Rise of ISIS

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Journalist Patrick Cockburn
Patrick Cockburn

Patrick Cockburn, regarded by many as the preeminent journalist covering the Middle East, offers a substantial contribution to the recent flurry of 28-pages news and analysis with a piece published in Sunday’s edition of The Independent, a British national newspaper.

Centered on an interview with former Senator Bob Graham, Cockburn’s story makes a compelling case that the U.S. government’s ongoing practice of turning a blind eye to Saudi support for Sunni extremists has helped ISIS rise to its current menacing position.

Graham, who co-chaired the joint House/Senate intelligence inquiry that wrote the 28 pages on foreign government involvement in 9/11, told Cockburn, “I believe that the failure to shine a full light on Saudi actions and particularly its involvement in 9/11 has contributed to the Saudi ability to continue to engage in actions that are damaging to the US – and in particular their support for Isis.”

Cockburn points to the 28 pages as the prime indicator of  the U.S. government’s continued effort to shield Saudi Arabia from scrutiny:

The most striking example of Washington’s willingness to protect the Kingdom over complicity in 9/11 is the 28 pages of the official inquiry that were censored and have yet to be published. Senator Graham is not allowed to reveal what is in the chapter that was redacted, but other sources say that they are about connections between Saudi government officials and the 9/11 attacks.

Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, in their book The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11, quote a senior American official, who saw the 28 pages before they were excised, apparently on the initiative of President Bush, as saying: “If the 28 pages were to be made public, I have no question that the entire relationship with Saudi Arabia would change overnight.”

Graham  also explained why the FBI and other government agencies may be among the hidden forces opposing the declassification of the 28 pages:

(Graham) says that some government agencies, notably the FBI, have a motive in keeping information from the public about “their actions and their competence at the time of 9/11”. In Sarasota, Florida, the FBI initially denied having any documents relating to hijackers who were based there but has now handed over 80,000 pages that might be relevant under the Freedom of Information Act…

Those are just a few of many points of interest.  Read the whole story, then take action to help push for the release of the 28 pages.

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Video: 28Pages.org Breaks the Set with Abby Martin

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Last night, 28Pages.org Director Brian McGlinchey appeared on RT America’s “Breaking the Set” with Abby Martin. Their discussion of the 28 pages included the search for a Senate champion to work with Congressmen Walter Jones, Stephen Lynch and Thomas Massie, and methods by which Congress can bypass the president and declassify the 28 pages on its own.

We’ve cued it up to Martin’s segment on the 28 pages, but encourage you to watch the entire episode, which also includes an interview with former FBI agent and 9/11 intelligence whistleblower Coleen Rowley.

 

Video: MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” Covers the 28 Pages

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Last night, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes hosted an excellent segment on the 28 pages, including interviews with Congressmen Walter Jones and Stephen Lynch, the two lead sponsors of H.Res.428, which urges the president to declassify the 28 pages.

MSNBC 28 PAGESA few highlights:

  • The segment includes 2003 video of then-President Bush offering a rote rationale for the classification of the 28 pages: “We have an ongoing war against Al Qaeda and terrorists, and the declassification of that part of a 900-page document would reveal sources and methods that will make it harder for us to win the war on terror.”
  • Rep. Lynch noted that, in addition to owing the truth to 9/11 families and victims, releasing “these 28 pages, in my opinion, would inform our anti-terrorism policy going forward.”
  • Rep. Lynch: “The most important thing for members of Congress to do, and people at home, encourage your member of congress, your representative, to go and read the 28 pages, and then I think, after they read that, they will sign on to our resolution urging its declassification.”
  • Regarding Saudi Arabia’s public support for declassifying the 28 pages, Rep. Lynch said, “I think there might be some duplicity on the part of the Saudis in terms of them desiring this to be disclosed.” Hayes said, “You don’t think they actually do,” to which Lynch replied, “No.”

Watch the full segment here.

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Video: Lawrence Wright Discusses 28 Pages on PBS NewsHour

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Lawrence Wright is the author of “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11” and, earlier this week, published a widely-discussed article about the 28 pages at The New Yorker. Tonight, he reviewed the topic in a discussion on PBS NewsHour.

The Great Boatlift of 9/11

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In the 13 years since the September 11 attacks, you’ve no doubt heard countless stories of individual selflessness and sacrifice from that day. On this 9/11 anniversary, we’d like to share a story that may have escaped your notice over these years, despite the fact that it is epic in scale.

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The Great Boatlift of 9/11 in Action

This 11-minute, Tom Hanks-narrated short documentary tells the tale of the Great Boatlift of 9/11, in which hundreds of vessels—ferries, tugboats, party boats, yachts, private vessels, tour boats—rapidly descended on Manhattan to help enormous crowds of stranded people leave the island. It was a remarkable demonstration of humanity’s better instincts—and of spontaneous order. With no prior planning, this huge array of vessels rapidly organized itself into what would become the largest sea evacuation in history—even larger than the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II—transporting nearly half a million desperate people in just about nine hours.

The determination of the boat captains and crew to do the right thing is heart-warming, and their words should serve as inspiration to those who are determined to overcome both hidden agendas and obvious dishonesty to someday deliver all the facts of 9/11 to the nation and the world.

ROBIN JONES“Average people, they stepped up when they needed to. They showed me when the American people need to come together and pull together, they will do it.”                        

Robin Jones, Engineer, Mary Gellatly

ARDOLINO

“I have one theory in life: I never want to say the words ‘I should have.’ If I do it and I fail, I tried.”

Vincent Ardolino, Captain, Amberjack V

 

Brian McGlinchey’s journalism has moved to a Substack newsletter—Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey: https://starkrealities.substack.com/