PRESS RELEASE

Sen. Graham Blasts Obama Again for Saudi 9/11 Coverup

Sept. 14, 2014 (EIRNS)—Former Senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who chaired the original 9/11 Joint Congressional Inquiry, gave an interview to The Independent’s Patrick Cockburn, published today, once again blasting President Obama for his continuing coverup of the Saudi role in 9/11, including his refusal to declassify the 28- page chapter of his report which detailed Saudi funding of the hijackers. Graham 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 U.S.—and in particular their support for ISIS.”

Cockburn noted that Graham believes that the failure of the U.S. to face the reality of Saudi complicity in 9/11 and in ongoing Sunni jihadist terror blindsided, U.S. intelligence to the rise of the Islamic State until it took over Mosul in June.

Cockburn noted that Sen. Graham’s criticism of the Obama Administration’s Saudi policy comes at a critical moment

“amidst growing doubts in the U.S. about the wisdom of President Barack Obama’s plan announced on Wednesday to look to the Gulf monarchies as crucial allies in the U.S. campaign to contain and, if possible, push back ISIS after its victories in Iraq and Syria during the summer.”

Noting that under the Obama plan, Saudi Arabia has agreed to host a training facility for “moderate” Syrian rebels, Sen. Graham reiterated that the Saudis are “a central figure in financing ISIS and extremist groups,” and due to the alliance between the Saudi Monarchy and the Wahhabi clergy, the Saudis support “the most extreme elements among the Sunni” worldwide.

Sen. Graham told Cockburn that, while the Bush family maintained a close personal relationship to the Saudi Kingdom, he is still perplexed as to why the “policy of covering up Saudi involvement [in 9/11] persisted under the Obama administration.” He noted that Obama pledged to declassify the 28 pages in meetings with 9/11 families, but now six years later, he has failed to release them. Sen. Graham warned that there is a “dark side” to Saudi Arabia and so long as this is tolerated by the U.S. and other Western governments, their so-called “war on terror” wil continue to fail. He cited the rise of ISIS as the latest evidence of this ongoing failure.