Just another boring PBS "Newshour," the droning voices of predictably safe panelists putting us to sleep, when, all at once, we are jolted wide awake:
GWEN IFILL: "Senator Graham, are there elements in this report, which are classified that Americans should know about but can’t?"
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: "Yes, going back to your question about what was the greatest surprise. I agree with what Senator Shelby said the degree to which agencies were not communicating was certainly a surprise but also 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."
So now we have it from a U.S. Senator: a foreign government was involved in 9/11 – and notice his use of the plural: governments. Heavy-lidded Gwen perked up as the Senator spilled the beans:
"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."
Oh yeah, I sure am shocked – shocked! – to learn, from a government insider no less, that the authorities aren’t pursuing this angle. After all, they’ve been telling us since 9/11 that another terrorist attack – perhaps bigger than the first one – is "inevitable." And they’ve been saying they’re doing everything possible to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But, here, let the Senator tell it:
"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."
This isn’t the first evidence of state-sponsorship. While the alleged Saudi connection seems dubious, at best – in spite of the strenuous efforts of the War Party to connect 9/11 to Riyadh – over a year ago, you’ll recall, Carl Cameron of Fox News reported:
"There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that they Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are ‘tie-ins.’ But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, ‘evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It’s classified information.’"
They always classify the good stuff. Or else what’s the point? But, as I’ve said all along, this story is too big to stay covered up, and it looks to me like it’s about to break. One can only imagine the querulous look on Gwen’s face as she asked Graham:
"Are you suggesting that you are convinced that there was a state sponsor behind 9/11?"
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."
A recent news story in Die Zeit, the respected German weekly, leaked information gleaned from French intelligence sources that the Mossad was tracking the hijackers 24/7: "Everything indicates that the terrorists were constantly observed by the Israelis." Der Spiegel and the BBC reported on this, but not a word about it in the American media. They are too busy trying to find the Klan robes in Trent Lott’s closet to bother with such a minor story as the possible connection of certain foreign governments to the worst terrorist attack in American history.
At this point in the interview, Gwen’s eyes were practically bugging out of her head, but she managed to blurt out an approximation of the right question:
"Do you think that will ever become public, which countries you’re talking about?"
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."
It isn’t clear if the good Senator knows which countries are involved, or if he’s just trying to find out. If the former, he ought to be locked in a room and forced to listen to the complete works of Eminem until he breaks down and let’s us little people in on the secret. If the latter, then we ought to wonder why a leading member of the Senate Intelligence Committee has decided to go public with his complaint about being kept out of the loop.
You can bet that if Iraq was one of the culprits we would have heard about it a long time ago. And while I don’t rule out the possibility of a Saudi connection, the thrice-removed "financial assistance" rendered some of the hijackers by the wife of the Saudi ambassador doesn’t impress me one bit. Considering the number of people who have already resigned from the official 9/11 "truth commission," one suspects that the truth, when it is finally discovered, is apt to be too hot to handle politically. All of which points in the direction I’ve been pointing all along – to an Israeli connection.
Let’s see if I get this straight: twenty or thirty years from now we get to know the truth about 9/11? I don’t think so! Which brings me to the reason for this unusually short – but snappy! – column….
I’m almost finished with what I hope is the final draft of my new book, The Terror Enigma: Israel and the 9/11 Connection, but I’ve gotta get moving: my deadline is January 1, 2003! I’m back on my regular schedule, but it’s going to be short and sweet for the duration. So long, until Friday….
