Willful Blindness
In the wake of investigations and revelations that show without a doubt the Saudi nationals including government officials were involved in the 911 attack on the United States, threats and counter-threats are the words of the day.
Before diving into the ramifications of alleged "economic war" threats, it's important to understand the Saudi involvement in 911.
60 minutes
The 60 Minutes episode 28 Pages details 28 missing or heavily redacted top secret pages that show Saudi involvement in 911.
Former Sen. Bob Graham and others urge the Obama administration to declassify redacted pages of a report that holds 9/11 secrets.
At the time, Graham was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chair of the bipartisan joint congressional inquiry into intelligence failures surrounding the attacks. The Joint Inquiry reviewed a half a million documents, interviewed hundreds of witnesses and produced an 838 page report -- minus the final chapter which was blanked out -- excised by the Bush administration for reasons of national security.
Bob Graham: I think it is implausible to believe that 19 people, most of whom didn't speak English, most of whom had never been in the United States before, many of whom didn't have a high school education could've carried out such a complicated task without some support from within the United States. ... I remain deeply disturbed by the amount of material that has been censored from this report.
Steve Kroft: You believe that support came from Saudi Arabia?
Bob Graham: Substantially.
Steve Kroft: And when we say, "The Saudis," you mean the government, the-
Bob Graham: I mean-
Steve Kroft: -rich people in the country? Charities-
Bob Graham: All of the above.
Graham and others believe the Saudi role has been soft-pedaled to protect a delicate relationship with a complicated kingdom where the rulers, royalty, riches and religion are all deeply intertwined in its institutions.
Saudi Official Met Hijackers in LA
A CBS Local headline reads Lawmakers Say Redacted Pages of 9/11 Report Show Saudi Official Met Hijackers in LA.
Senator May Back Bill Exposing Saudis to 9/11 Lawsuits
On April 19, the New York Times reported Senator Says He May Back Bill Exposing Saudis to 9/11 Lawsuits
A bill opposed by the Obama administration that would expose Saudi Arabia to legal jeopardy for any role in the Sept. 11 attacks appeared to gain momentum on Tuesday when the senator holding it up said he would be open to supporting it.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in an interview on Tuesday that he would drop his opposition to the bill -- predicting it could pass the Senate next week -- if the sponsors of the legislation agreed to changes that he believed were important to protect American interests abroad. He did not specify what changes he was requesting.
"The goal is to bring people to justice who have been involved in terrorism," Mr. Graham said. But he added, "I don't want Americans to be held liable because of one bad actor in some embassy somewhere."
Obama administration officials have been vigorously lobbying against the Sept. 11 bill, which has broad bipartisan support, arguing that Americans overseas could be put in legal jeopardy if other nations were to retaliate and strip them of immunity in foreign courts. But the measure is gaining support in Congress at a time when many lawmakers are demanding greater scrutiny of Washington's alliance with the kingdom, which for decades has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy in the Middle East and once the subject of little examination on Capitol Hill.
"Very bluntly, they no longer have us in an energy straight jacket," said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, referring to growing domestic oil production that has made the United States less reliant on the Saudis.
Willful Blindness and Our Saudi 'Friends'
The best writeup on Saudi involvement comes from the National Review: Willful Blindness and Our Saudi 'Friends'
It is long, long past time -- for the United States government to come clean with the American people, and with the families of Americans slaughtered on 9/11 by 19 jihadists, 15 of them Saudis. The government must disclose the 28 pages of the 2002 congressional report on the 9/11 attacks that it has shamefully withheld from the public for 14 years. Those pages outline Saudi complicity in the jihad.
It is nothing short of disgraceful that the Bush and Obama administrations, relying on the president's constitutional authority over foreign intelligence and the conduct of foreign affairs, have concealed these materials. It is equally disgraceful that Congress has indulged this decision in the context of its own fact-finding exercise. This has been done under the pretense that the Saudi government is a stalwart counterterrorism ally of the United States -- an absurd proposition that passes the laugh test only if one accepts the even more absurd premise that Islam has nothing to do with jihadist terrorism. The Saudis are the world's chief propagator of sharia supremacism, sharia being the law of the Sunni kingdom.
Several Saudi connections to 9/11, as well as our government's disturbing appearance of not wanting to know the depth of Saudi culpability, have been reported over the years. Let's look at some of the main ones.
The article starts out slow, but goes into great detail the known involvement of Saudi officials in 911. I highly recommend reading the entire thing.
Other Coverage
ZeroHedge provides other coverage of Saudi involvement.
- Obama Administration Makes Stunning Admission: "Seed Money For Al Qaeda Came From Saudi Arabia"
- Saudi Arabia Admits To John Kerry That It Created ISIS... But There Is A Twist
The 28 pages are under lock and key, no one is allowed to make notes of them or discuss them. The 28 pages are classified Top Secret although many believe president Obama should release them.
Obama Smokescreen
Today ZeroHedge reports White House Set To Release Secret Pages From Sept 11 Report.
This move by president Obama is nothing more than a smokescreen hoping to stop a bipartisan bill in Congress that would allow families of 911 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its involvement in the attack.
Obama's intent is to disclose as few of the pages he can, hoping to quiet things down following the 60-Minutes and other reports.
That pretty much covers what we know about Saudi involvement. Rather, I should say, that covers what we are allowed to know or has been leaked.
Saudi Retaliation
The New York Times reports Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill
Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill's passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom's message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
Nuclear Economic War
The alleged threat of dumping treasuries applies to China as well as Saudi Arabia.
Please consider Peter Schiff: "China is Bleeding It's Secret Account. Hit The Panic Button!"
According to Peter Schiff, China's mass capitulation of Treasuries threatens America's empire. As Peter explains, we've already borrowed far more than we can EVER actually repay, and in under 4:00, Peter explains why the economic collapse for the U.S. is going to be "Economic Armageddon." As a nation, we have followed in the footsteps of every other nation in history that has collapsed before us. Making matters worse, is that we're infinitely bigger than most of them were, which means our crash is going to be infinitely worse. It is completely within the realm of possibilities that people will be "hurting" one another for food. Things could get THAT bad.
Nuclear Economic Nonsense
China has already blown though a half a trillion dollars in US reserves.
Bloomberg reported As China Dumps Treasuries, World Sees No Better Place for Refuge.
This is not "dumping" treasuries to get rid of them. Rather, treasury "dumping" is a mathematical necessity in response to massive capital flight from China.
Chinese investors are desperate to get their money out of China any way they can. The result is massive buying of overpriced land in Vancouver and the West coast of the US.
Fundamentally, every one of those dollars must eventually come back to the US, one way or another. China could also buy shares in US companies, and perhaps it even has.
For all that alleged "dumping" of US treasuries, yield on the 30-year long bond is flirting with record low levels.
And here's the kicker. The US would actually like China to dump treasuries. The Fed wants to hike, and higher interest rates would enable the Fed to hike sooner.
Moreover, the US would welcome a strengthening Yuan to slow Chinese exports to the US, improving the US balance of trade.
Ridiculous Bluffs
The threat by Saudi Arabia to "dump US treasuries" (yes that would constitute a genuine dump), is nothing more than an obvious bluff. If Saudi sold treasuries it would get US dollars. What would it do with them?
Once again, it is a mathematical certainty those dollars would eventually return one way or another. If Saudi Arabia sold the dollars for euros, then it would be sitting on a pile of euros. But someone would still have to hold the dollars.
People who propose dumping of treasuries would amount to nuclear economic war are totally clueless about how trade works as well as what the consequences would be.
Discussion Wrap-Up
- Fifteen of the nineteen 911 attackers were Saudi nationals.
- Immediately after 911, the US grounded all flights, except for flights returning to Saudi Arabia.
- Iran offered to help locate the terrorists, but the US refused Iran's help.
- The US attacked Iraq even though Iraq was not involved in 911 at all.
- Following "victory" in Iraq at a cost of trillions of dollars, the US installed a puppet government that was Shiite.
- The Sunni government in Saudi views the Shiites as a threat.
- Saudi money in conjunction with the vacuum the US created in Iraq led to the formation of ISIS.
- ISIS is a radical group of Sunni terrorists still backed with money from Saudi groups.
- US senators want the Saudi role in 911 disclosed.
- A law working its way through Congress would allow those victimized to file suit against Saudi Arabia.
President Obama does not want that bill to pass, because Saudi Arabia is our friend.
