Saudi Connection. A discussion of the 9/11 investigations

January 26, 2020 1:22 PM

A NYTimes long read uncovering information about the terrorists that we never knew What did US intelligence know, and when did they know it? This article explores FBI discoveries and why we never got to hear about them.

Some of the information in the article has been known for more than a decade, some is new to me at least, but it casts a new light on many actors, including Robert Mueller, and it puts the current administration's fascination with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a very stark bright light.

posted by mumimor (7 comments total)

For someone looking for a non-paywalled version, the story is reported here by ProPublica.
posted by suelac at 1:56 PM on January 26, 2020 [16 favorites]

I wouldn’t bet against elements in the FBI knowing of the general outline of the hijacking plot but letting it go down because who doesn’t love a good runway hostage drama on cable tv...

I know, I know . . . Hanlon’s Razor and all, but we do have more than a few head cases in government...
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:53 PM on January 26, 2020

"the terrorists we never knew"? More like "the terrorists who were - and still are - our friends"
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:31 PM on January 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

Thank you for the link, suelac, and for the post, mumimor.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 5:58 PM on January 26, 2020

Previously
posted by blue shadows at 6:31 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

From 2016: Congress releases long-classified ‘28 pages’ on alleged Saudi ties to 9/11

A long-classified document detailing suspected connections between Saudi Arabia and the hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was released Friday by the House Intelligence Committee after being redacted by U.S. intelligence agencies.

The document, referred to as the “28 pages” throughout a years-long battle over whether it should be made public, had taken on a near-mythic status. Victims’ families and some lawmakers had pushed for its release, charging that the government had tried to cover up possible Saudi links to the attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

From 2017: One Man’s Quest to Prove Saudi Arabia Bankrolled 9/11

posted by kirkaracha at 3:35 PM on January 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

Experience: I made bombs for al-Qaida

I grew up in Saudi Arabia, the youngest of six brothers. By the time I was 13, I had lost both my parents: my father in a traffic accident and my mother to a brain aneurysm.

Not long after they died, in 1992, the Bosnian war began. The evening news detailed atrocities perpetrated against defenceless Muslims, and the papers praised the bravery of the Saudi men who went to fight alongside them. My eldest brother had lectured us on the importance of fighting in defence of Islam, and when I learned that a childhood friend had decided to join the Bosnian mujahideen, I felt someone was paving the way for me.

I found the training empowering. A few weeks earlier I’d been a bookish nerd living in a conservative police state. Now I was in a training camp, high in the mountains, holding my first AK-47. It was intoxicating. I became a committed jihadist – when we were shot at, the adrenaline would take over and I’d retaliate. Always, I was willing to die. In the back of my mind, was the thought: this could be the day I cross into eternal bliss.

I met al-Qaida’s Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who would go on to mastermind 9/11, at a wedding after the Bosnian war ended, where he spoke passionately about the need to rid the Muslim world of American influence. He persuaded me to begin training with them. Before the year was out I had met Osama bin Laden and sworn an oath of allegiance.

posted by mumimor at 10:31 AM on February 16, 2020