The Oh, Hello and

welcome to Behind the News. My name is Doug Henwood. Today we talk with Andrew

Coburn about Saudi involvement in 9-11 and Assad-Higer

about identity and politics. First, Andrew Coburn. Many electrons have been

excited by conspiracies around 9-11, but the only one for which there's any

evidence gets comparatively little attention, Saudi involvement.

Most of the hijackers are Saudi, as was bin Laden himself.

There have been hints of more from the first, but much effort has been devoting to

suppressing the news.

The congressional report on the affair was issued in

December 2002, minus 28 pages which were classified because they

contained sensitive material about Saudi Arabia. Soon after the publication of

the bolderized report, Florida Senator Bob Graham

pressed for the release of the 28 Troublesome Pages but the leadership of the

Senate Intelligence Committee rejected his request saying publication could

adversely affect ongoing counterterrorism efforts.

Finally, after years of lobbying by Graham, a few other congresspeople and the 9-11 families,

the 28 pages were declassified in July 2016. A few months later Congress passed over Obama's

veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act Jasta which lifted the immunity against lawsuits

Saudi Arabia and other states it as sovereign entities.

In March of this year, 1,500 survivors and 800 family members of 9-11 victims filed a class action

lawsuit against the Saudi government.

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