The Facts Speak For Themselves

Author: Jon Gold

Thanks to www.historycommons.org.

Before I begin, I would like to say that theorizing about what happened on 9/11, when you’re not being given answers to your questions about that day by the people who SHOULD be able to do so, is PERFECTLY normal. As is suspecting that the reason these answers aren’t being given is “sinister” in nature. As Ray McGovern said, “for people to dismiss these questioners as “conspiratorial advocates”, or “conspiratorial theorists”… that’s completely out of line because the… The questions remain because the President who should be able to answer them, WILL NOT.” When you think about everything the previous Administration did in 8 years, the idea that they might not be giving us the answers we seek because of something “sinister” is not crazy. In fact, it’s the most logical conclusion one can come to at this point. After years of obfuscation, spin, lies, and cover-ups regarding the 9/11 attacks, it is unavoidable to think that criminal complicity is the reason why.

That being said, we have not proven it beyond the shadow of doubt. We do not have documentation that shows they planned it. We do not have a signed confession from someone. We have pieces of the puzzle, and to most of us that have been doing this a long time, those pieces point to more than just Osama Bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and 19 hijackers. If we could somehow download all of our knowledge to every person on the planet, this fight would be over tomorrow. However, we can’t do that. I wish we could. I wish the media would DO THEIR JOB. But, they’re not. Therefore, we have to be smart with how we approach people. This is America, and in America, you are innocent until proven guilty.

As I have often said, we don’t need to come up with a narrative (theory) because our facts speak for themselves. I am going to do my very best to prove my point. A lot of these facts are from mainstream news outlets. Yes, they do report the news, but they DO NOT put the pieces together, they DO NOT ask the tough questions over and over again until they get an answer, they DO NOT give these facts the attention they should, reminiscent of the attention that Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, The Swift Boat Veterans and the “Ground Zero Mosque” got, and they DO NOT portray us in any other light except as “Conspiracy Theorists.”

Fact #1

The core of the Bush Administration was predominantly made up of members of an organization called “The Project For The New American Century.” This group produced a document entitled, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” that said the “process of transformation” they wanted our military to undertake would take an excessively long time, unless there was a “catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.” That document was written in September 2000. This document even cited that “advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.” A lot of the same people were part of a group that wrote a report entitled, “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” that advocated an aggressive Israeli policy in the Middle East.

Fact #2

The Bush Administration came into office wanting to go to war with Iraq. This is so heavily documented that Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas asked the President about it. He denied it of course, and used 9/11 as the justification for what he and his administration have done.

Former Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neill said that Saddam was “topic A” ten days after the inauguration at the very first National Security Council meeting, and eight months before 9/11. According to O’Neill, “it was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying ‘Go find me a way to do this.'”

On November 24th, 2009, the “Chilcot Inquiry” revealed that “Tony Blair’s government knew that prominent members of the Bush administration wanted to topple Saddam Hussein years before the invasion (before 9/11)” […] “We were aware of these drumbeats from Washington and internally we discussed it. Our policy was to stay away from that part of the spectrum,” added Sir William Patey, then head of the Middle East department at the Foreign Office.”

In a 2007 interview with former Counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke, he states that between March 2001 and May 2001, members of the Bush Administration discussed creating a “casus belli” for war with Iraq.

According to Merriam-Webster, a “casus belli” is “an event or action that justifies or allegedly justifies a war or conflict.”

In December 2011, I asked Richard Clarke on Facebook whether or not he thought people in the Bush Administration were actually capable of such an act, and he replied that “some of them were.”

Indeed. On 2/2/2006, it was reported that Bush and Blair discussed using an “American Spyplane in UN colours to lure Saddam into war.” Bush said, “the US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.” On 9/23/2007, it was reported that Dick Cheney “had been mulling the idea of pushing for limited Israeli missile strikes against the Iranian nuclear site at Natanz – and perhaps other sites – in order to provoke Tehran into lashing out.” On 8/1/2008, ThinkProgress reported that “Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President’s office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran.” […] “Hersh explained that, during the meeting in Cheney’s office, an idea was considered to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians, put them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shoot at them. This idea, intended to provoke an Iran war, was ultimately rejected.”

Fact #3

Dick Cheney was the CEO for a company called Halliburton. During his tenure there, he gave a speech at the Institute of Petroleum that said, “while many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the Middle East with two thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow.”

On 10/11/2005, it was reported that the shares that Dick Cheney claimed he no longer had with Halliburton, rose 3281% in one year. In late 2010, Halliburton was kind enough to pay $250Million “to get the government of the African country (Nigeria) to drop bribery charges against the former corporate CEO and other Halliburton employees and operatives.”

Fact #4

In early 2001, Dick Cheney was put in charge of The National Energy Policy Development Group, or “Energy Task Force” for short.

He prepared for this during the transition between the Clinton and Bush administrations.

The task force met with what appears to be every oil executive in existence, even though they denied it before Congress.

It was eventually discovered that one of the topics of discussion during these task force meetings was Iraq’s oil fields. Five months before 9/11.

The Vice President’s office fought long and hard to make sure the information from those meetings never saw the light of day. They even took the fight to the Supreme Court. Many were suspicious of the hunting trip that Antonin Scalia, and Dick Cheney went on prior to the Supreme Court hearing the case. Scalia was proud of the fact that he didn’t recuse himself from the hearings. Ultimately, they sent the fight to an appeals court, and it was decided that Cheney’s Task Force documents may remain secret.

Fact #5

In the months leading up to 9/11, there was an unprecedented amount of warnings that “Al-Qaeda” was about to conduct an attack. So many that CIA Director George Tenet was said to be running around with his “hair on fire,” and so many that a lot were not taken seriously “because of “warning fatigue” arising from too many terror warnings.”

One of those warnings came in the form of a Presidential Daily Briefing entitled, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” that was initially hidden by the White House.

Another came on July 10th, 2001 that spoke of an “imminent threat,” that was completely omitted from the 9/11 Report, and then lied about after it became public knowledge. Condi even had the audacity to ask “does anybody really believe that somebody would have walked into my office and said, oh, by the way, there’s a chance of a major attack against the United States and I would have said, well, I’m really not interested in that information?”

Cheney said that his “Democratic friends in Congress… need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions, as were made by some today, that the White House had advance information that would have prevented the tragic attacks of 9/11.”

Fact #6

There are indications that military action in Afghanistan was planned before 9/11.

On 3/7/2001, the New York Times reports that Deputy National Security Advisor Steve Hadley chairs an informal meeting to discuss Al-Qaeda. The approach is “two-pronged and included a crisis warning effort to deal with immediate threats and longer-range planning by senior officials to put into place a comprehensive strategy to eradicate al-Qaeda.”

On 3/15/2001, Jane’s Intelligence Review reports that the U.S. is working with India, Iran, and Russia “in a concerted front against Afghanistan’s Taliban regime.”

On 7/23/2002, Agence France Presse reports that General William Kernan, commander in chief of the Joint Forces Command said that “the details of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan which fought the Taliban and al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks, were largely taken from a scenario examined by Central Command in May 2001.”

On 6/26/2001, it is reported that “India and Iran will ‘facilitate’ US and Russian plans for ‘limited military action’ against the Taliban if the contemplated tough new economic sanctions don’t bend Afghanistan’s fundamentalist regime.”

In late Summer 2001, the Guardian will report that “reliable western military sources say a US contingency plan exist[s] on paper by the end of the summer to attack Afghanistan from the north.” In early August, a senior Taliban official in the defense ministry will tell journalist Hamid Mir that “[W]e believe Americans are going to invade Afghanistan and they will do this before October 15, 2001, and justification for this would be either one of two options: Taliban got control of Afghanistan or a big major attack against American interests either inside America or elsewhere in the world.”

The President had plans for the invasion of Afghanistan on his desk on 9/9/2001. They “outlined essentially the same war plan that the White House, the CIA and the Pentagon put into action after the Sept. 11 attacks. The administration most likely was able to respond so quickly to the attacks because it simply had to pull the plans “off the shelf.”

On 7/21/2001, three former American officials, Tom Simons, Karl Inderfurth, and Lee Coldren met with Pakistani and Russian intelligence officers in a Berlin hotel. At the meeting, Coldren passes on a message from Bush officials. He later says, “I think there was some discussion of the fact that the United States was so disgusted with the Taliban that they might be considering some military action.” Former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik later says he is allegedly told by senior American officials at the meeting that military action to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan is planned to “take place before the snows started falling in Afghanistan, by the middle of October at the latest.” On 8/9/2009, it is reported that Niaz Naik “was found dead in mysterious circumstances at his residence.”

Fact #7

On the day of 9/11, a number of key personnel were “scattered” across the country, and the world. With few exceptions, including Dick Cheney.

The President of the United States, at a time when America was “under attack” from kamikaze hijackers in commercial airliners, in a highly publicized location, 5 miles away from an international airport, in a classroom full of children, was not whisked away by the Secret Service.

His conduct on the morning of 9/11 changed on the first anniversary. What actually happened was “when Chief of Staff Andrew Card told Bush about the second plane crash into the WTC, Bush continued to sit in a Florida elementary school classroom and hear a story about a pet goat for at least seven more minutes.” […] “But one year later, Card claims that after he told Bush about the second WTC crash, “it was only a matter of seconds” before Bush “excused himself very politely to the teacher and to the students, and he left the Florida classroom.”

Fact #8

On the morning of 9/11, there were several military exercises taking place, some of which allegedly mirrored the events taking place that day.

A lot of different people didn’t know whether or not the hijackings were “real-world or exercise.”

According to Richard Clarke, on the morning of 9/11 at around 9:28am, he says to Gen. Richard Myers during a video teleconference “I assume NORAD has scrambled fighters and AWACS. How many? Where?” Myers, who is at the Pentagon, replies it’s, “NOT A PRETTY PICTURE, DICK (emphasis mine). WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF VIGILANT WARRIOR, A NORAD EXERCISE (emphasis mine), but Otis has launched two birds toward New York. Langley is trying to get two up now [toward Washington]. The AWACS are at Tinker and not on alert.” The 9/11 Report only mentioned one of these exercises, Vigilant Guardian, and in a footnote in the back of the book.

On 2/25/2005, then Rep. Cynthia McKinney asked (realplayer required) Donald Rumsfeld about the exercises that were taking place on 9/11, but did not get an answer on that day.

On 3/10/2005, Rep. McKinney asked Donald Rumsfeld, and Gen. Richard Myers about the exercises again. The first question asked by Rep. McKinney was, “whether or not the activities of the 4 wargames going on on Sept. 11th actually impaired our ability to respond to the attacks.” Gen. Myers responded with, “the answer to the question is, no, did not impair our response. In fact, Gen. Eberhart who was in the command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command as he testified in front of the 9/11 Commission… I believe…I believe he told them that it enhanced our ability to respond.” Then Rep. McKinney asked, “who was in charge of managing those wargames?,” and was cut off by Rep. Duncan Hunter. Gen. Myers never gave a name, but he did say, “North American Aerospace Defense Command was responsible.” She was promised an answer in writing and as far as I know, never received it.

Fact #9

From the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), Dick Cheney allegedly monitored Flight 77 from 50 miles outside of Washington D.C. This, according to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. According to Mineta, “during the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?” The 9/11 Report states that Cheney didn’t arrive in the PEOC until 9:58. No video conferences from within the PEOC have been made available. No personnel records for who was in the PEOC have been made available. The “young man” Norman Mineta mentioned has never been publicly named.

On 7/28/2010, James Dorman finally identified the “young man” as being Douglas Cochrane. According to 9/11 Commission notes, he was interviewed on April 16th, 2004, though we can not see what he said. He is not mentioned in the 9/11 Report.

On 3/12/2011, a document was posted to scribd.com that seems to support Norman Mineta’s testimony.

Fact #10

On the day of 9/11, Donald Rumsfeld started planning the Iraq War.

DoD Staffer Stephen Cambone took down several notes with regards to what Rumsfeld was saying. “Best info fast… judge whether good enough [to] hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at same time – not only UBL [Usama Bin Laden]” […] “Go massive… Sweep it all up. Things related and not.” […] “Hard to get a good case.”

Like Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice started planning for the Iraq War within hours of the 9/11 attacks. Sir Christopher Meyer, “a former British ambassador to the United States says then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice talked to him about Iraq and Saddam Hussein hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.”

Also, “George Bush tried to make a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida in a conversation with Tony Blair three days after the 9/11 attacks, according to Blair’s foreign policy adviser of the time.”

Fact #11

Between 9:30pm and 10:00pm on 9/11/2001, Bush says, “this is a great opportunity. We have to think of this as an opportunity.” He does so again during his State Of The Union speech on 1/29/2002.

Karl Rove said, “sometimes history sends you things and 9/11 came our way.”

Fact #12

In the days and months following the attacks, several people within the administration and elsewhere tried to tie Iraq to 9/11.

General Wesley Clark said, “there were many people, inside and outside the government, who tried to link Saddam Hussein to Sept. 11.”

According to George Tenet, shortly after 9/11, Richard Perle said, “Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday, they bear responsibility.”

Former CIA Director James Woolsey said, “[I]ntelligence and law enforcement officials investigating the case would do well to at least consider another possibility: that the attacks-whether perpetrated by bin Laden and his associates or by others-were sponsored, supported, and perhaps even ordered by Saddam Hussein,” he writes. “As yet, there is no evidence of explicit state sponsorship of the September 11 attacks. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Dick Cheney claimed the bogus Atta-Iraqi spy meeting had been, “pretty well confirmed, that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.”

Since that time, they have done so again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and even Hillary did it.

On 5/14/2009, it was reported that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was tortured “in an effort to produce intelligence tying Iraq to al Qaeda.” According to Colin Powell’s former Chief of Staff, “what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002 – well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion – its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa’ida.”

Fact #13

The heads of the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, Rep. Porter Goss, and Sen. Bob Graham, along with Sen. John Kyl, met with an alleged financier of the attacks on the day of 9/11. George Tenet met with the same individual in May 2001 in Pakistan. Others met with him in Washington D.C. between September 4th-11th, including Marc Grossman, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Joe Biden, and “unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon.”

Fact #14

The Joint Congressional Inquiry, which both Bush and Cheney tried to “limit the scope” of, released a report with 28 redacted pages. Apparently, those 28 pages talk about “possible Saudi Arabian financial links.”

In 2004, Sen. Bob Graham says that the Bush White House is covering up Saudi Arabia’s possible connection to the two hijackers that lived in San Diego. He said the information about them, “present[s] a compelling case that there was Saudi assistance.” He also says that the Bush Administration directed the FBI to “to restrain and obfuscate” any investigations into the connection.

The landlord of the two hijackers was Abdussatar Shaikh, an FBI asset handled by agent Steven Butler. The FBI originally tried to prevent Butler from testifying before the Congressional Inquiry, but when he finally did, he said that he may have been able to uncover the 9/11 plot if the CIA shared their information on the two hijackers. He said, “it would have made a huge difference.” […] “We would have immediately opened… investigations. We would have given them the full court press. We would… have done everything-physical surveillance, technical surveillance, and other assets.”

On 1/8/2008, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “a huge lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia and key members of its royal family was put to a crucial test today as lawyers for victims of the 9/11 attacks urged a federal appeals court to reinstate the government of Saudi Arabia as a defendant.” The Cozen O’Connor law firm in Philadelphia “was the first to file suit against the government of Saudi Arabia in 2003, charging that the desert kingdom bears responsibility for the attacks because it permitted Islamic charities under its control to bankroll Osama bin Laden and his global terror movement.” The lawsuit “suffered a setback in 2005 when New York federal district court judge Richard Conway Casey ruled that the federal foreign sovereign immunity act barred lawsuits against Saudi Arabia and members of the royal family.”

On 11/13/2008, it was reported that “thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks appealed to the Supreme Court yesterday, asking it to overturn a lower court decision barring lawsuits against Saudi Arabia for supporting acts of terrorism.”

On 1/6/2009, it is reported that “lawyers for Saudi Arabia have asserted in court papers that the Supreme Court should reject arguments that the desert kingdom be held accountable for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because, over a period of many years, it financed al-Qaeda. In papers filed with the Supreme Court, lawyers for the kingdom and several high-ranking Saudi royals say that U.S. law provides blanket immunity to Saudi Arabia from lawsuits over the 9/11 attacks.”

On 2/24/2009, it is reported that “the Supreme Court yesterday asked the U.S. Solicitor General’s office to weigh in on whether a huge lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia charging that it was a source of terrorist financing before the 9/11 attacks should move forward.”

On 5/29/2009, the New York Times reports that “the Justice Department, in a brief filed Friday before the Supreme Court, said it did not believe the Saudis could be sued in American court over accusations brought by families of the Sept. 11 victims that the royal family had helped finance Al Qaeda. The department said it saw no need for the court to review lower court rulings that found in the Saudis’ favor in throwing out the lawsuit.” 9/11 Family Member, and “Jersey Girl” Kristen Breitweiser said, “I find this reprehensible. One would have hoped that the Obama administration would have taken a different stance than the Bush administration, and you wonder what message this sends to victims of terrorism around the world.”

On 5/30/2009, the victims family members released two press releases. The first one states, “today the Obama Administration filed in the Supreme Court a document that expressed the Administration’s decision to stand with a group of Saudi princes and against the right of American citizens — 9/11 family members — to have our day in court. Let there be no doubt: The filing was political in nature and stands as a betrayal of everyone who lost a loved one or was injured on September 11, 2001.” The second one states, “on the day that President Obama holds his first summit with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah in Riyadh, the 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism charged that recent actions by his administration would enable five of the king’s closest relatives to escape accountability for their role in financing and materially supporting the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” The second press release lists “allegations made in 2002 of the Saudi royal family’s sponsorship and support of al Qaeda that the families believe have been ignored by the Obama Administration.”

On 6/9/2009, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that this case “is likely to reach a critical juncture this month when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear arguments on Saudi Arabia’s legal exposure.” It goes on to say that “the hurdle for the plaintiffs, both insurers and individual victims, isn’t simply facts and law, but also the political dimensions. Saudi Arabia is one of the United States’ most important allies in the Middle East. It has been a forward staging area for the U.S. military, deemed an important counterweight to Iran’s regional ambitions, seen as a huge source of energy, and a very big purchaser of American goods and services.” Tom Burnett who lost his son on Flight 93 asks, “why would the Obama administration give less weight to the principles of justice, transparency, and security and more to the pleadings of a foreign government? It strikes a blow against the public’s right to know who financed and supported” the 9/11 attacks.” “Kagan’s May 29 brief, representing the opinion of the Obama administration, was significant because the Supreme Court in most cases follows the solicitor general’s lead.”

On 6/11/2009, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “lawyers representing victims of the 9/11 attacks charge that the government sought to “appease” Saudi Arabia by urging the Supreme Court not to hear arguments that the kingdom could be sued for its alleged role in funding the attackers.” A “brief filed by the Center City law firm of Cozen O’Connor and other lawyers representing victims, employed unusually scathing and at times emotional language, suggesting at one point that the government’s brief was timed to coincide with President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia last week.” “A spokeswoman for U.S. Solictor General Elena Kagan said the May 29 filing of the government’s brief had been determined by the schedule of the Supreme Court, which is expected to decide whether to hear the case by the end of the month.”

On 6/23/2009, the Washington Times reports that a “series of closed-door meetings between the relatives’ groups and Justice Department officials, arranged as an update on Mr. Obama’s plan to close the detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, turned instead into a sharp clash over the Saudi legal action.” Apparently, “the family members demanded to be be heard on the White House’s stance during a series of closed-door meetings at the State Department and the Justice Department last week.”

On 6/24/2009, the New York Times reported that “classified American intelligence documents related to Saudi finances were leaked anonymously to lawyers for the families.” It goes on to say that Obama’s “Justice Department had the lawyers’ copies destroyed and now wants to prevent a judge from even looking at the material.” 9/11 Family Member Kristen Breitweiser “said in an interview that during a White House meeting in February between President Obama and victims’ families, the president told her that he was willing to make the pages (28 redacted pages of the JICI) public. But she said she had not heard from the White House since then.”

On 6/29/2009, it is reported that “the Supreme Court has refused to allow victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to pursue lawsuits against Saudi Arabia and four of its princes over charitable donations that were allegedly funneled to al-Qaida.” The “justices refused to review the ruling by a U.S. appeals court in New York that the Saudi defendants were protected by sovereign immunity in the lawsuit brought by victims of the attacks and their families.” The Supreme Court “turned down the appeal without comment.”

Elena Kagan was later confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice.

On 11/28/2010, the New York Times reports on State Dept. Cables released by Wikileaks. Their report states that “Saudi donors remain the chief financiers of Sunni militant groups like Al Qaeda,” and this was further elaborated on by a report released by the Guardian on 12/5/2010.

On 6/30/2011, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan wrote an article for Vanity Fair called, “The Kingdom And The Towers” that spoke of the Saudi Royals connection to the 9/11 attacks. Not long after, the co-chair of the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, Bob Graham, wrote an article that said, “…the (Saudi) agent secured and paid for an apartment. He arranged flight lessons. He introduced them to a tight circle of Muslims, primarily Saudis, who offered additional support.” […] “The (Saudi) agent then tapped another source of funds: a welfare account maintained for the benefit of Saudis in need by the wife of the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States.” The Saudi Ambassador at the time was long-time Bush family friend, Prince Bandar.

On 7/16/2011, 9/11 Family Member Kristen Breitweiser wrote an article addressing the News Corp phone hacking scandal. In that article, she said, “…as someone who has tried to pique the interest of both Congress and the Justice Department to investigate various issues over the course of the past 10 years to no avail, I wonder: what exactly does it take to get Congress and the Department of Justice interested in an issue. Because with regard to Murdoch-gate and 9/11 victims, ironically, it would seem the bar is pretty low.” […] “…if all it takes are allegations made in the media to spark a fire in the “seat” of Congress, then I’d like to re-direct their attention along with Director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, Attorney General Eric Holder, and President Obama to this month’s Vanity Fair article written by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, “The Kingdom and the Towers.”

On 9/8/2011, it was reported that “just two weeks before the 9/11 hijackers slammed into the Pentagon and World Trade Center, members of a Saudi family abruptly vacated their luxury home near Sarasota, leaving a brand new car in the driveway, a refrigerator full of food, fruit on the counter – and an open safe in a master bedroom. In the weeks to follow, law enforcement agents not only discovered the home was visited by vehicles used by the hijackers, but phone calls were linked between the home and those who carried out the death flights – including leader Mohamed Atta – in discoveries never before revealed to the public.” Bob Graham said, “at the beginning of the investigation, each of the intelligence agencies, including the FBI, was asked to provide all information that agency possessed in relation to 9/11.” […] “The fact that the FBI did not tell the Inquiry about the Florida discoveries, Graham says, is similar to the agency’s failure to provide information linking members of the 9/11 terrorist team to other Saudis in California until congressional investigators discovered it themselves.” As a result of these revelations, Bob Graham “called on the U.S. government to reopen its investigation following a news report linking the hijackers to a Saudi Arabian couple who lived in Florida. Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham said he has no reason to doubt the news report, which said the Saudi Arabian couple abruptly abandoned their luxury home in Sarasota two weeks before the attacks, leaving behind a full refrigerator, clothes, furnishings and a new car in the driveway.” The FBI has responded by saying the individuals that left the country were not a threat, and that “all documentation “pertaining to the 9/11 investigation” was given to the congressional Joint Inquiry that examined the 9/11 tragedy.”

On 9/9/2011, it was reported that “nearly 10 years to the day after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a London-based insurance syndicate Thursday filed a new lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, Pa., alleging that the Saudis helped finance and provided logistical support to Islamist terror groups.” […] “The suit, filed on behalf of Lloyd’s Syndicate 3500 by the Center City-based law firm Cozen O’Connor, opens a new front in the long-running litigation over the 9/11 hijackings. An earlier lawsuit, also filed by Cozen O’Connor, has met with mixed success: A federal appeals court in Manhattan found that the Saudi government could not be sued under U.S. law, but a number of charitable agencies affiliated with the Saudi government and financial institutions remain as defendants in that case.” […] “The suit, filed on behalf of an insurance syndicate that paid out $215 million in claims to various 9/11 victims on behalf of airline-security companies, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, and others, names as defendants not only the Saudi government, but also the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Saudi Joint Committee Relief Committee for Kosovo and Chechnya; National Commercial Bank, which has been linked by American officials to al-Qaeda money-laundering, and others.”

On 9/15/2011, ABC News reported that “the latest legal pursuit is that of an insurance syndicate of British insurer Lloyd’s, which says the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its banks and various charities should be financially responsible for the $215 million it paid in insurance settlements to 9/11 victims’ families. William Doyle’s family is one of the families determined to find those who funded the attacks on 9/11. Doyle’s son, Joseph, was killed in the north tower of the World Trade Center. William Doyle told ABC News there are “concrete facts” showing the majority of the hijackers’ funding originated from Saudi Arabia. He said the government helped “shield” some of that evidence when the joint congressional committee investigating the attacks published a report in December 2002 and redacted about 28 pages. Doyle and others believe names of Saudi financiers and companies have been removed. “How could they hide under diplomatic immunity?” Doyle said of those he believes have been protected. “People don’t get missiles to strike down helicopters by themselves. Someone is funding them. If someone is funding them, let it be known and cut out their funding.”

On 9/19/2011, it is reported that “without explanation, a group of insurers today dropped its lawsuit against Saudi Arabia and several Saudi organizations claiming they should cover the $215 million the group has paid out in claims related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Stephen Cozen, a Philadelphia lawyer representing Lloyd’s Syndicate 3500, filed a notice today that the group is voluntarily dismissing its lawsuit. Cozen, by email, refused to discuss the reasons for dropping the case.” Another report says, “Stephen A. Cozen’s motion to voluntarily dismiss his complaint provides no indication of the reason for the move. By dismissing without prejudice, the motion seeks to close the case without precluding its renewal. Typically, when a case is settled, it is dismissed with prejudice.”

On 2/29/2012, it was reported that Bob Graham and Bob Kerrey filed affidavits that call into question the role of the Saudi Government in the 9/11 attacks. Bob Graham said, “I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia.” Bob Kerrey said, “evidence relating to the plausible involvement of possible Saudi government agents in the September 11th attacks has never been fully pursued.”

On 9/11/2012, Bob Graham wrote a piece entitled, “Re-Open the 9/11 Investigation Now” for the Huffington Post. In that article, he states that “the passage of time since September 11, 2001, has not diminished the distrust many of us feel surrounding the official story of how 9/11 happened and, more specifically, who financed and supported it. After eleven years, the time has come for the families of the victims, the survivors and all Americans to get the whole story behind 9/11.”

On 9/21/2012, it was reported that “the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the bipartisan Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA/S. 1894).” If passed, this bill “would correct a 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that no one can be held accountable for financing or supporting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil if they provided the money or support from outside the United States.”

Fact #15

The Bush Administration was the families’ “biggest adversary” when it came to the creation of a so-called Independent 9/11 Commission.

The families had to fight “tooth and nail,” and lobby to get an investigation because the Bush Administration clearly did not want one.

Dick Cheney and George Bush refused to testify under oath before select individuals of the 9/11 Commission even though the families wanted them to. They testified together, not in public, and no recordings were allowed. The families requested the transcripts of their meeting, but were denied.

They made it difficult for the commission to get funding.

They tried to make Henry Kissinger the Chairman of the commission, but he resigned after the families started asking too many questions.

Alberto Gonzales “stonewalled” the 9/11 Commission’s access to the White House.

They appointed Thomas Kean as Chairman, someone “who will be easily controlled by the administration,” and Lee Hamilton, a long time friend of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to be the co-chair. Hamilton participated in two inquiries that resulted in cover-ups. The Iran/Contra Affair inquiry, and the October Surprise inquiry.

Fact #16

Philip Zelikow was the Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission.

Paul Sperry explained, “though he has no vote, (Zelikow) arguably has more sway than any member, including the chairman. Zelikow picks the areas of investigation, the briefing materials, the topics for hearings, the witnesses, and the lines of questioning for witnesses… In effect, he sets the agenda and runs the investigation.”

In 1995, Zelikow wrote a book with Condoleezza Rice called, “Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft.”

While at Harvard, “he worked with Ernest May and Richard Neustadt on the use, and misuse, of history in policymaking. They observed, as Zelikow noted in his own words that “contemporary” history is “defined functionally by those critical people and events that go into forming the public’s presumptions about its immediate past. The idea of ‘public presumption’,” he explained, “is akin to William McNeill’s notion of ‘public myth’ but without the negative implication sometimes invoked by the word ‘myth.’ Such presumptions are beliefs (1) thought to be true (although not necessarily known to be true with certainty), and (2) shared in common within the relevant political community.”

Between 1997 and 1998, Zelikow helped to write a report that said “Long part of the Hollywood and Tom Clancy repertory of nightmarish scenarios, catastrophic terrorism has moved from far-fetched horror to a contingency that could happen next month. Although the United States still takes conventional terrorism seriously… it is not yet prepared for the new threat of catastrophic terrorism. They predict the consequences of such an event: “An act of catastrophic terrorism that killed thousands or tens of thousands of people and/or disrupted the necessities of life for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, would be a watershed event in America’s history. It could involve loss of life and property unprecedented for peacetime and undermine Americans’ fundamental sense of security within their own borders in a manner akin to the 1949 Soviet atomic bomb test, or perhaps even worse. Constitutional liberties would be challenged as the United States sought to protect itself from further attacks by pressing against allowable limits in surveillance of citizens, detention of suspects, and the use of deadly force. More violence would follow, either as other terrorists seek to imitate this great ‘success’ or as the United States strikes out at those considered responsible. Like Pearl Harbor, such an event would divide our past and future into a ‘before’ and ‘after.'”

In 1997, Zelikow and Ernest May wrote a report about John F. Kennedy that is “riddled” with errors.

Zelikow wrote the pre-emptive war strategy for the Bush Administration.

Zelikow said that the “real threat” with regards to Iraq’s WMD was to Israel.

Zelikow tried to prevent the 9/11 Commission staffers from talking to the Commissioners.

Zelikow tried to insert a false connection between Iraq and 9/11 into the 9/11 Report, but the families, and the staffers fought against it. Select staffers of the 9/11 Commission dispute this account, though Zelikow ultimately had to approve Mylroie’s testimony before the 9/11 Commission.

It has been alleged that he may have taken direction from Karl Rove who, according to Philip Shenon, was concerned about the 9/11 Commission because “in the wrong hands… [it] could cost President Bush a second term.” The allegation regarding Rove drove the September Eleventh Advocates (formerly known as “The Jersey Girls”) to call for an entirely new investigation. Only Rawstory.com covered that story.

In early 2003, Philip Zelikow and Ernest May wrote a complete outline of the final 9/11 Report. Zelikow, Kean, and Hamilton decided to keep this outline a secret from the commission staffers. When “it was later disclosed that Zelikow had prepared a detailed outline of the commission’s final report at the very start of the investigation, many of the staff’s investigators were alarmed.”

He rewrote the 9/11 Report to be more favorable of Condoleezza Rice.

Zelikow refused to approve half of the interview requests for “Saudi Connection” investigations. He blocked investigators from accessing the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Congressional Inquiry, and then fired investigator Dana Leseman after she tried to get the pages through a back channel. In June 2004, Philip Zelikow and Dieter Snell take part in a “late-night editing session” to delete passages of the 9/11 Report having to do with Saudi support for the hijackers.

During the time of the 9/11 Commission, the families called for the resignation of Philip Zelikow, but were denied that request.

After the 9/11 Commission was finished, Philip Zelikow was given a job with Condoleezza Rice at the State Department.

On October 9th, 2010, during “Freedom Watch” with Judge Napolitano, 9/11 Whistleblower Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer alleges that during a lunch in Philadelphia, a 9/11 Commissioner told him that, “everybody on the commission was covering for someone.” The following week, Judge Napolitano asked Philip Zelikow to appear on the show to talk about this. He REFUSED.

On 9/7/2011, it was reported that “President Obama appointed Philip Zelikow, associate dean for graduate academic programs in the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, to serve on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.”

Fact #17

NORAD gave three different timelines with regards to their response on the day of 9/11.

Sen. Mark Dayton questioned 9/11 Commission Chair Thomas Kean and Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton about NORAD’s false statements to the people and their Commission. He also spoke to Philip Zelikow, a panel of “experts,” and Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers about NORAD’s response that morning.

On 6/17/2004, 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick will question Gen. Myers about NORAD’s mission. “In my experience, the military is very clear about its charters, and who is supposed to do what. So if you go back and you look at the foundational documents for NORAD, they do not say defend us only against a threat coming in from across the ocean, or across our borders. It has two missions, and one of them is control of the airspace above the domestic United States, and aerospace control is defined as providing surveillance and control of the airspace of Canada and the United States. To me that air sovereignty concept means that you have a role which, if you were postured only externally you defined out of the job.” […] “I would like to know, as the second question, is it your job, and if not whose job is it, to make current assessments of a threat, and decide whether you are positioned correctly to carry out a mission, which at least on paper NORAD had.” At the end of this exchange, Gen. Myers asks, “did I answer both questions?” Jamie Gorelick responds, “yes, and no, and my time has expired.” According to information collected by Dean Jackson, NORAD’s mission at the time, coincided with Jamie Gorelick’s understanding of it.

On 8/2/2006, the Washington Post reported that “the Pentagon’s initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public” and that “the 10-member commission, in a secret meeting at the end of its tenure in summer 2004, debated referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation.” Later, it was reported that NORAD’s mistakes were due to “inadequate forensic capabilities” and “poor record-keeping.”

William P. Goehring, a spokesman for the DoD’s Inspector General’s office, said that “the question of whether military commanders intentionally withheld the truth from the commission would be addressed in a separate report that is still in preparation.” To my knowledge, that report has not been released as of this date.

On March 7th, 2009, it is reported that Frank Rich of the New York Times believed “that the Defense Department Inspector General’s office’s investigations over the years may have been cover-ups that were “carried out in response to “orders from above.” He said that any report “over the past five or six years during the war in Iraq” may be suspect, and that “there may be a much bigger story here.” His suspicions seem to have been confirmed in a report from Fox News’ Catherine Herridge that broke on October 7th, 2010. With regards to what is known as Able Danger, “it is made clear that “at least five witnesses questioned by the Defense Department’s Inspector General told Fox News that their statements were distorted by investigators in the final IG’s report — or it left out key information, backing up assertions that lead hijacker Mohammed Atta was identified a year before 9/11.”

Here are some excerpts from Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton’s book, “Without Precedent.” “There were also discrepancies between things NORAD was telling us about their performance on the morning of September 11-things that the agency had stated publicly after 9/11-and the story told by the limited tapes and documents the commission had received”. These were puzzling and disturbing developments, and they account in part for some of the more bizarre and inaccurate conspiracy theories about 9/11.” […] “Farmer believed that NORAD was delivering incomplete records with the knowledge that the commission had a fixed end date that could be waited out.” […] “Throughout the course of our inquiry, the topic that invited the most skepticism-and thus the most conspiracy theorizing-was the performance of the FAA and NORAD on the day of September 11, 2001.” […] “Fog of war could explain why some people were confused on the day of 9/11, but it could not explain why all of the after-action reports, accident investigations, and public testimony by FAA and NORAD officials advanced an account of 9/11 that was untrue.”

On 9/17/2001, NORAD gives a briefing to the White House. 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey will say “it feels like something happened in that briefing that produced almost a necessity to deliver a story that’s different than what actually happened on that day.”

Fact #18

Different pieces of evidence have been destroyed or is being withheld from the public.

Kevin Delaney, the quality assurance manager for the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center, destroyed a tape recorded by six Air Traffic Controllers on the morning of 9/11 “by breaking up the plastic housing and cutting the tape into small fragments, depositing the remnants in trash cans throughout the Center.”

2.5 terabytes of information regarding Able Danger was destroyed in April/May 2000.

The CIA destroyed interrogation tapes.

In 2003, a book was written by Gail Swanson entitled, “Behind-the-Scenes: Ground Zero” that is a “collection of personal accounts” from people that were at Ground Zero on that day. In that book, Firefighter Nicholas DeMasi says “at one point I was assigned to take Federal Agents around the site to search for the black boxes from the planes. We were getting ready to go out. My ATV was parked at the top of the stairs at the Brooks Brothers entrance area. We loaded up about a million dollars worth of equipment and strapped it into the ATV. When we got into the ATV to take off, the agent accidentally pushed me forward. The ATV was already in reverse, and my foot went down on the gas pedal. We went down the stairs in reverse. Fortunately, everything was okay. There were a total of four black boxes. We found three.” The 9/11 Commission says those black boxes were not found.

Most of the steel from the WTC was removed, cut into smaller sections, and either melted at a recycling plant or shipped out of the U.S. Fire Engineering magazine wrote, “We are literally treating the steel removed from the site like garbage, not like crucial fire scene evidence.”

Fact #19

Several Whistleblowers have come forward over the years with information pertinent to the 9/11 attacks.

Most were ignored or censored by the 9/11 Commission.

Some of these people are John M. Cole (Senior Counterintelligence Operations Manager-FBI), Bogdan Dzakovic (Former Red Team Leader-FAA), Sibel Edmonds (Language Specialist-FBI), Behrooz Sarshar (Language Specialist-FBI), Melvin A. Goodman (Former Senior Analyst/ Division Manager-CIA), Gilbert Graham (Retired Special Agent, Counterintelligence-FBI), Coleen Rowley (Retired Division Counsel- FBI), John Vincent (Retired Special Agent, Counterterrorism-FBI), Robert Wright (Veteran Special Agent, Counterterrorism-FB), Mark Burton (Senior Analyst- NSA), Mike German (Special Agent, Counterterrorism-FBI), Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, and Scott Philpott.

9/11 Family Member Patty Casazza said “Sibel came to, actually, the four widows, and asked us if she could get a hearing with the Commission because nobody of the Commission was responding to her requests to testify. And part of the problem with testifying, um… as someone who’s working for one of the agencies, is that, they have to be careful with state secrets, what they reveal. And, in order to be a whistle-blower, and not be retaliated against, most whistle-blowers need to be subpoenaed, cause then their co-workers, and those who might retaliate against them, know that under penalty of, ya know, law, they could be… um… ya know, accused of being traitors and what not, and put in jail, or executed. So, most whistle-blowers were… did not come forward on the basis of what happened to Sibel Edmonds. Um, Sibel brought us many whistle-blowers, and I submitted them personally to Governor Kean, who was the Chairman of the Commission. And I said, “these people are not being subpoenaed. They will not come before the Commission voluntarily unless they are subpoenaed.” And, he promised me… to my face that “every whistle-blower would be… indeed heard.” And, most were not heard. Sibel was only heard because we dragged her in and surprised the Commission on one of the days we were meeting with them… that we had her with us. Um, we met other whistle-blowers on the side of the road in Maryland, ya know, to hear what they could tell us. None of them revealed state secrets to us by the way (laughs)… um, but, they had information… and basically, the Government knew… ya know, other than the exact moment… they knew the date, and the method of which the attacks were supposed to come. (pauses) And none of this made it to mainstream media. None of it made it into the Commission. And yet, again, all of your Representatives, on the day that the Commission book came out, were on their pulpits saying, “What a fabulous job this Commission has done. A real service to this nation.” And it was anything but a service. It was a complete fabrication.”

On October 29th, 2007, Sibel Edmonds agreed to break the gag order that was placed on her, and tell her entire story to the media. Until very recently, the only paper to take the challenge was the Sunday Times. At the time, the media in this country did not give her the time of day with one exception that I know of, and it wasn’t prominently displayed. Sibel’s story mentions the same alleged financier of the 9/11 attacks that Rep. Porter Goss, Sen. Graham, Sen. Kyl met on the morning of 9/11, and people like George Tenet, and others met in the months prior to 9/11, and during the week of 9/11.

On 1/3/2011, the “Memorandum For The Record” of Sibel Edmonds’ testimony before the 9/11 Commission was released by cryptome.org. Almost the ENTIRE document was deemed “9/11 Classified Information.” Sibel wrote, “despite some redactions here and there, and in a few cases fairly extensive redaction, there were no interviews where the entire interview (and the report on the interview) was blacked out in its entirety. Mine was the only one privileged and honored to such degree! Why? I mean, come on, we are talking about interviews with: FBI Special Agent in Charge on Counterterrorism, CIA Officers with Directorate of Intelligence with a Specific Focus on Drugs & Thugs, The Chairman of National Intelligence Council, NSA Chief of Counterintelligence & SIGNIT Support, Senior CIA Analysts. Yet, none of these interviews was redacted in its entirety. None.”

On 9/9/2010, the New York Times reports that, “Defense Department officials are negotiating to buy and destroy all 10,000 copies of the first printing of an Afghan war memoir they say contains intelligence secrets, according to two people familiar with the dispute.” The book in question is “Operation Dark Heart” by 9/11 Whistleblower Anthony Shaffer. The New York Times goes on to say that, “Disputes between the government and former intelligence officials over whether their books reveal too much have become commonplace. But veterans of the publishing industry and intelligence agencies could not recall another case in which an agency sought to dispose of a book that had already been printed.”

On 9/9/2010, it is reported that “specifically, the DIA wanted references to a meeting between Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, the book’s author, and the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, removed. In that meeting Shaffer alleges the commission was told about “Able Danger” and the identification of Atta before the attacks. No mention of this was made in the final 9/11 report.”

On 9/17/2010, Agence France Presse reports that the “publisher has agreed to remove US intelligence secrets from a memoir by a former army officer in Afghanistan after the Pentagon raised last-minute objections, officials said Friday. The book, “Operation Dark Heart,” had been printed and prepared for release in August but St. Martin’s Press will now issue a revised version of the memoir after negotiations with the Pentagon, US and company officials said. In return, the Defense Department has agreed to reimburse the company for the cost of the first printing, spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP.” […] “St. Martin’s press will destroy copies from the first printing with Pentagon representatives observing “to ensure it’s done in accordance with our standards,” Lapan said.” […] “For those portions that will be reflected as redacted we are considering litigation to challenge the determinations,” Zaid said.”

On 1/31/2011, the September Eleventh Advocates released a statement pertaining to 9/11 Whistleblower Berhrooz Sarshar. This statement asked, “that the transcript of Mr. Sarshar’s interview be immediately declassified,” and that they respectfully request, “that the former Chairman, Governor Thomas Kean, Vice-Chairman, Mr. Lee Hamilton and the Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission, Mr. Philip Zelikow, promptly answer the questions herein.”

Neither Thomas Kean, Lee Hamilton, or Philip Zelikow responded. As a result of their refusal to respond, 9/11 Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds released a transcript of one of the times Berhrooz Sarshar testified. This transcript speaks of foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, and an order from above to disregard any knowledge of it. Not one news outlet reported on it.

Fact #20

Apparently, Lt. General Mahmood Ahmed, the head of the Pakistani ISI, someone who met with U.S. elected and appointed officials in the weeks before 9/11, on the day of 9/11, and in the days after 9/11, ordered possible MI6 Agent Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to wire transfer $100,000 to Mohammad Atta. The 9/11 Families’ submitted a question to the 9/11 Commission about this incident.

Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, John S. Pistole stated that their investigation “has traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known al-Qaeda operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the US.”

In January 2002, during a visit to India, FBI Director Robert Mueller was told about Saeed Sheikh’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks by Indian Investigators.

Apparently, “on the eve of the publication of its report, the 9/11 Commission was given a stunning document from Pakistan, claiming that Pakistani intelligence officers knew in advance of the 9/11 attacks.”

On 3/3/2006, the Friday Times reported that “Pakistan gave tens of thousands of dollars through its lobbyists in the United States to members of the 9/11 inquiry commission to ‘convince’ them to drop some anti-Pakistan findings in the report.” This according to FO Official Sadiq. According to the Pakistan paper Daily Times, this story about bribery “triggered” U.S. media interest. I don’t remember seeing any mention of this story at all. If you know of an American media outlet that investigated this story, and reported on the results of that investigation, please let me know.

On 4/10/2006, Pakistan officially denied the allegations of bribery. “Pakistan has never indulged in the illegal activity of bribing or buying influence anywhere in the world,” said a statement issued by the FO spokesperson here on Sunday.

It’s interesting to note that after Osama Bin Laden’s reported death on 5/1/2011, and after the United States started to hypocritically point fingers at Pakistan for either protecting or harboring Osama Bin Laden, it was reported that “Pakistan’s Washington lobbyists have launched an intense campaign on Capitol Hill to counter accusations that Islamabad was complicit in giving refuge to Osama bin Laden.” Then, a report on 7/19/2011 comes out that says, “a Virginia man has been arrested for participating in a conspiracy to act as an agent of the Pakistani government. Court documents identify the man as Syed Fai of Fairfax, Virginia, a U.S. resident. The FBI alleges that Fai funneled millions of dollars to elected officials and high-profile conferences in an effort to influence American policy on Kashmir, a disputed territory along the Indian and Pakistani border. In charging documents, Fai was said to have received funding for his lobbying efforts from Pakistan’s ISI, the country’s spy agency.”

On 10/1/2001, Lt. Gen. Ahmed and Saeed Sheikh may have been involved in another “terrorist attack” together.

Recently, it was reported that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh has been running a terrorist network from prison, and was planning to assassinate President Musharraf.

Former ISI Chief Hamid Gul recently defended Lt. Gen. Ahmed regarding the allegations of the wire transfer.

On 3/15/2002, Condoleeza Rice is asked a question about Lt. Gen. Ahmed. “Dr. Rice, are you aware of the reports at the time that ISI Chief was in Washington on September 11th, and on September 10th, $100,000 was wired to Pakistan to this group here in this area? While he was here meeting with you or anybody in the administration?” Her response was, “I have not seen that report, and he was certainly not meeting with me.” The transcript of this has “ISI Chief” replaced with “–.”

On March 31st, 2006, 9/11 Commissioner Thomas Kean was confronted on this issue. He said he wasn’t aware of it.

It should be noted that a “Memorandum For The Record” from the 9/11 Commission was discovered that said, “there is absolutely no evidence Atta received a wire a transfer from the Pakistani ISI,” but there are major redactions prior to that statement, and after it. Also, there is no mention of Lt. General Mahmood Ahmed or Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. I have never seen a statement from any official explain why the allegations of the $100k wire transfer are wrong or unsubstantiated. Wikileaks states, “U.S. investigators later said that this was a confusion with Mustafa al-Hawsawi, also known as Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad, who is currently held in Guantanamo Bay.” However, when you read the source article of that statement, it refers to “Shaykh Sai’id […] an Egyptian who helped fund bin Laden when the terrorist leader was based in Sudan during the 1990s.” Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is from Britain.

The FBI originally said that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was a financier of the attacks.

Fact #21

On the morning of 9/11, a homemaker by the name of Maria will notice a group of people sitting on top of a white van.

She says, “They seemed to be taking a movie” at the time of the first impact.

She calls the police. At 3:31pm on 9/11, the FBI issues a BOLO (be on the lookout) that says, “White, 2000 Chevrolet van…with ‘Urban Moving Systems’ sign on back seen at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ, at the time of first impact of jetliner into World Trade Center…. Three individuals with van were seen celebrating after initial impact and subsequent explosion. FBI Newark Field Office requests that, if the van is located, hold for prints and detain individuals.”

At 3:56pm on 9/11, these individuals are arrested.

On 9/14/2001, the owner of Urban Moving Systems flees to Israel.

Because of great pressure in late October 2001, the arrested men, allegedly Israeli spies, are released in November 2001.

One of the men claims “our purpose was to document the event.”

It is interesting to note that “four of the five Israelis arrested on 9/11, Paul and Sivan Kurzberg, Omer Marmari, and Yaron Shmuel, file a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the US Justice Department. They claim they were arrested illegally, then held without charge and interrogated and tortured for months.”

Apparently, there were Israeli Art Students, possibly Mossad, spying in the U.S. at the time of 9/11. It is said that these “art students” were the source of a warning the Mossad passed along to the CIA on 8/23/2001. The Mossad gave the CIA “a list of 19 terrorists living in the US and say that they appear to be planning to carry out an attack in the near future. It is unknown if these are the 19 9/11 hijackers or if the number is a coincidence. However, four names on the list are known, and these four will be 9/11 hijackers: Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, Marwan Alshehhi, and Mohamed Atta.”

Fact #22

No one has been held accountable, and instead, people that didn’t deserve it, were promoted.

Fact #23

On 9/11/2006, 9/11 Family members Donna Marsh O’Connor, Michele Little, and Christina Kminek, along with Kyle Hence (Executive Producer of 9/11: Press For Truth), and Paul Thompson (www.historycommons.org, author of “The Terror Timeline”), called for a new investigation (RealPlayer required) at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. I believe this is the only news outlet to cover it.

Over the years, different family members like Bob McIlvaine, Lorie Van Auken, Daniel Wallace (RIP), and Barry Zelman, as well as many others have spoken out for the truth.

The September Eleventh Advocates have released letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter trying to get some truth. The media has been silent.

In late 2009, there was an effort in New York to get a new investigation onto the ballot. Over 100 9/11 Family Members endorsed this effort. The city argued that a real/new investigation into 9/11 is “not a proper subject to be placed before the voters.” When Supreme Court Justice Edward Lehner asked city counselor Steve Kitzinger “if the City had done anything to investigate 9/11. Kitzinger flatly responded, “No.” In disbelief, Judge Lerner responded with, “the City never did anything?” 9/11 Whistleblowers Coleen Rowley, and LTC Anthony Shaffer endorsed this initiative.

Fact #24

The United States Government has not fully cooperated with international investigations into 9/11.

With regards to Abdelghani Mzoudi, the United States “would not allow Mzoudi’s defense to cross-examine bin al-Shibh,” and as a result he was acquitted. During an appeal, “Kay Nehm, Germany’s top federal prosecutor, again appeals to the US State Department to release interrogation records of bin al-Shibh to the court. However, the US still refuses to release the evidence, and a list of questions the court gives to the US for bin al-Shibh to answer are never answered.”

With regards to Mounir El-Motassadeq, his conviction having to do with the 9/11 attacks was overturned after finding that “German and US authorities withheld evidence.” He was later convicted for his “Al-Qaeda” membership, but not for 9/11.

Fact #25

As I mentioned in the introduction, the Mainstream Media has not covered the questions concerning the 9/11 attacks as they should, and for the most part, with the exception of small town news, have attacked those that do.

According to James Goodale, the founders of the United States “enacted the First Amendment to distinguish their new government from that of England, which had long censored the press and prosecuted persons who dared to criticize the British Crown.” On 10/31/2005, Reporters Without Borders reported that the United States ranked 44th in the world for Freedom Of The Press “mainly because of the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and legal moves undermining the privacy of journalistic sources.”

At the 2008 RNC, several journalists, including Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow were arrested.

Over the years, the Mainstream Media has essentially used George Bush’s policy of never tolerating “outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September 11th – malicious lies that attempt to shift blame away from the terrorists themselves, away from the guilty.”

At first, and still, they have referred to anyone that questions the events of 9/11 as “Conspiracy Theorists.” They have done so again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

The Mainstream Media has also repeatedly focused on what is considered the “fringe” of the 9/11 Truth Movement, and has ignored the more credible researchers.

Several celebrities have spoken out for 9/11 Truth. Each time one has done so, almost in unison, the Mainstream Media has attacked them. They have done so again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

They have portrayed those who question the official account as “unpatriotic,” and also as “terrorist sympathizers.” We were even painted as Holocaust Denying murderers.

As pointed out in Fact #23, the media has also ignored the 9/11 Family Members who question the official account, but they have also given a lot of attention to people like Ann Coulter that have attacked some of those family members again, and again, and again. The September Eleventh Advocates responded to Coulter’s remarks.

The media has heavily promoted movies like “Path To 9/11” which are factually incorrect, and ignored movies liked “9/11: Press For Truth,” which calls into question the entire 9/11 Report, and is endorsed by the family members that fought for it.

The MSM have also repeatedly said that if you question the official account of 9/11, you are dishonoring the family members.

Fact #26

The 9/11 Commission was mandated to give a “full and complete accounting” of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and recommendations as to how to prevent such attacks in the future.”

The 9/11 Commission had the power of subpoena, but rarely used it. Instead, they used what were called “document requests” which could be, and were ignored.

As mentioned in Fact #19, several whistleblowers were brought forward, but were either censored or ignored by the 9/11 Commission. Early on, the 9/11 Commission didn’t hold people under oath.

At one point, an advertising campaign was started that asked for people to be held under oath.

On 4/27/2009, a memo was discovered that talked about “Government Minders” intimidating witnesses. According to Kevin Fenton’s article, they “answer[ed] questions directed at witnesses,” they “acted as “monitors, reporting to their respective agencies on Commission staffs lines of inquiry and witnesses’ verbatim responses.” The staff thought this “conveys to witnesses that their superiors will review their statements and may engage in retribution,” and they “positioned themselves physically and have conducted themselves in a manner that we believe intimidates witnesses from giving full and candid responses to our questions.”

The 9/11 Commission said that a “Failure Of Imagination” was partly to blame for what happened. Eleanor Hill’s opening statement to the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, as well as 9/11 Family Kristen Breitweiser’s opening statement shows this was not the case.

The following are some quotes from 9/11 Commissioners Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton from their book “Without Precedent.” “The two sides decided to split the difference, allowing eighteen months for the inquiry-a period of time that proved insufficient” [….] “The White House also suggested some candidates for executive director for our staff. The importance of this position cannot be overstated” […] “”we seriously only considered one candidate: Philip Zelikow”. Zelikow was a controversial choice. In the 1990s, as an academic, he had co-authored, with Condoleezza Rice, a book about German unification, and he later assisted Stephen Hadley in running the National Security Council transition for the incoming Bush administration in 2000-2001″ […] “After Philip Zelikow came on board as executive director, he began recruiting and interviewing candidates”. Zelikow was selected with little consultation with the rest of the committee, but several commissioners had concerns about the kind of inquiry he would lead” […] “We soon encountered problems, both in obtaining information and with the laborious conditions placed on our access to some information” […] “We decided against an aggressive use of subpoenas for several reasons”. Furthermore, we knew that many of the most important documents we sought were potentially the subject of an executive privilege claim-meaning that the president might not be legally compelled to share that material with another branch of government, even with a subpoena” […] “We were supposed to be independent, not necessarily confrontational. We were investigating a national catastrophe, not a White House transgression; this was 9/11, not Watergate” […] “Senior officials from the FAA and NORAD-Jane Garvey and Craig McKinley-made statements about the timeline of 9/11 that were later proven to be inaccurate” […] “Many interviews were recorded, though we were not permitted to record those conducted with current officials from the Executive Office of the President” […] “We were set up to fail.”

The 9/11 Family Steering Committee was made up of 12 family members, including the “Jersey Girls.” They monitored the commission, they worked with the staffers of the commission, and they provided 100’s of well researched questions for the commission to answer. According to 9/11 Commission Chair Thomas Kean, “They monitor us, they follow our progress, they’ve supplied us with some of the best questions we’ve asked. I doubt very much if we would be in existence without them.”

The 9/11 Commission only answered 30% of the families questions.

Fact #27

The level of fear that resulted from the attacks of 9/11 was nourished and maintained, and still is to this day.

Reich Marshal Hermann Goering once said “of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”

On 6/23/2007, Glenn Greenwald wrote about how insurgents in Iraq were being referred to as “Al-Qaeda” more frequently. He states, “what makes this practice all the more disturbing is how quickly and obediently the media has adopted the change in terms consciously issued by the Bush administration and their military officials responsible for presenting the Bush view of the war to the press.”

Fox News once suggested “Al-Qaeda” was responsible for starting California Wildfires.

Keith Olbermann ran two stories that I know of regarding the political usage of “terror threats.”

The New York Times recently ran a massive story on how military analysts with “ties to military contractors” were being used by the Pentagon to “shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.” They “have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated.”

Fact #28

The 9/11 Report was, and is promoted as a triumph.

The Washington Post reported that it is “a useful analysis of the changes that have taken place since, as well as the changes that have not taken place,” and calling the commission’s unanimity and comprehensiveness “impressive.” WaPo also reported that “the final report is a document of historic sweep and almost unprecedented detail, offering the sort of examination of a highly classified subject that customarily would not be possible for decades after the fact. From the findings of spy agencies to the tactics of fighter pilots, from the conversations of heads of state to the verbatim texts of secret presidential briefings, this is the government laid bare.”

The New York Times reported that it was “uncommonly lucid, even riveting,” and is an “improbable literary triumph.”

Time Magazine said the report was “meticulous in its reconstruction of the attacks and unflinching in its conclusions about why the government failed to stop them.”

The 9/11 Commission’s report was nominated by the National Book Foundation in 2004 for best in Non-fiction.

Former Representative Katherine Harris referred to the 9/11 Report as “one of the most important publications of our age.”

Senator Hillary Clinton said the 9/11 Commission’s report was “a great testimony to the their willingness to search hard for the truth, to get at the facts.”

Senator Charles Schumer said the 9/11 Commission did an “incredible job.”

In 2004, Bush’s Presidential Campaign said “the Commission’s report makes the case for the policies that U.S. President Bush has been pursuing in the War on Terror and eliminates any doubt that the best defense against the threat of global terror is a strong offense.”

Bush said, “I agree with their conclusion that the terrorists were able to exploit deep institutional failings in our nation’s defenses that developed over more than a decade.”

A different kind of praise for the 9/11 Report has come in the form of requests for “9/11-Type Commissions” for other horrible events in America’s history such as Katrina and the recent “financial crisis.”

Fact #29

Osama Bin Laden has not been indicted for the 9/11 attacks.

Some time before 9/26/2001, FBI spokesman Rex Tomb says, “there’s going to be a considerable amount of time before anyone associated with the attacks is actually charged.” He continues, “To be charged with a crime, this means we have found evidence to confirm our suspicions, and a prosecutor has said we will pursue this case in court.”

On 9/23/2001, then Secretary of State Colin Powell is asked, “will you release publicly a white paper which links [bin Laden] and his organization to this attack to put people at ease?” He responds by saying “we are hard at work bringing all the information together, intelligence information, law enforcement information. And I think in the near future we will be able to put out a paper, a document that will describe quite clearly the evidence that we have linking him to this attack.” The following day, then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer when asked about Powell’s statement says “I think that there was just a misinterpretation of the exact words the secretary used on the Sunday shows.” I’m not aware of anybody who said white paper, and the secretary didn’t say anything about a white paper yesterday.”

On 10/4/2001, Tony Blair will present a paper that makes the case for Osama Bin Laden’s involvement before Parliament. It says, “this document does not purport to provide a prosecutable case against Osama bin Laden in a court of law.” Nevertheless, it continues, “on the basis of all the information available [Her Majesty’s Government] is confident of its conclusions as expressed in this document.”

On 6/6/2006, Rex Tomb will say, “the reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.” This according to Ed Haas of the Muckraker Report.

On 8/28/2006, the Washington Post will report about this story. They state “from this point of view, the lack of a Sept. 11 reference suggests that the connection to al-Qaeda is uncertain. Exhaustive government and independent investigations have concluded otherwise, of course, and bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have proudly taken responsibility for the hijackings.” They speak to Rex Tomb who says “There’s no mystery here” […] “They could add 9/11 on there, but they have not because they don’t need to at this point. . . . There is a logic to it.” According to David N. Kelley, a former U.S. attorney, “It might seem a little strange from the outside, but it makes sense from a legal point of view,” said Kelley, now in private practice. “If I were in government, I’d be troubled if I were asked to put up a wanted picture where no formal charges had been filed, no matter who it was.”

Contrary to WaPo’s claim that “bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have proudly taken responsibility for the hijackings,” Osama denied any involvement in the attacks on three separate occasions.

On 9/16/2001, he says, “I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks, which seems to have been planned by people for personal reasons.”

On 9/28/2001, he says, “I have already said that I am not involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other human beings as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of battle.” The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself; the people who are a part of the US system but are dissenting against it. Or those who are working for some other system; persons who want to make the present century as a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation, country, or ideology can survive. They may be anyone, from Russia to Israel and from India to Serbia. In the US itself, there are dozens of well-organized and well-equipped groups capable of causing large-scale destruction. Then you cannot forget the American Jews, who have been annoyed with President Bush ever since the Florida elections and who want to avenge him.” Then there are intelligence agencies in the US, which require billions of dollars worth of funds from Congress and the government every year.” They needed an enemy.” Is it not that there exists a government within the government in the United Sates? That secret government must be asked who carried out the attacks.”

On 12/26/2001, Bin Laden releases a tape that says the U.S.’s invasion of Afghanistan is “a vicious campaign based on mere suspicion.”

On 9/10/2008, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino will be asked a question. “But Osama bin Laden is the one that – you keep talking about his lieutenants, and, yes, they are very important, but Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11 – Her response is to say that “No, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of 9/11, and he’s sitting in jail right now.”

It’s interesting to note that after years of referring to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as the “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks, instead of Osama Bin Laden, after his supposed death on 5/1/2011, the media again started referring to him as the “mastermind” of the attacks. There are several examples of this.

On 5/6/2011, Noam Chomsky wrote, “I stress “suspects.” In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it “believed” that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany. What they only believed in April 2002, they obviously didn’t know 8 months earlier, when Washington dismissed tentative offers by the Taliban (how serious, we do not know, because they were instantly dismissed) to extradite bin Laden if they were presented with evidenceâ€¹which, as we soon learned, Washington didn’t have. Thus Obama was simply lying when he said, in his White House statement, that “we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda.”

On 6/17/2011, it was announced that “U.S. criminal charges against Osama bin Laden were formally dropped Friday, 13 years after he was first indicted and seven weeks after his death.”

Fact #30

The authenticity of video and audio recordings that have been released over the years allegedly from Osama Bin Laden have been disputed.

On 10/29/2007, MSNBC reported about a “running debate among video analysts about whether al-Qaida faked” a video that was released on 9/7/2007.

The so called “confession video” has been disputed from three different points of view. The translation of the tape was disputed. Professor Gernot Rotter from the University of Hamburg says, “this tape is of such poor quality that many passages are unintelligible. And those that are intelligible have often been taken out of context, so that you can’t use that as evidence. The American translators who listened to the tape and transcribed it obviously added things that they wanted to hear in many places.”

The date the video was made is disputed by analyst Maher Osseiran. Several commentators questioned whether the person depicted in the video is actually Osama.

According to CNN, Bush was asked about the authenticity of the tape, but “scoffed” at the idea “that the videotape of Osama bin Laden discussing the September 11 terrorist attacks might not be authentic.” He said, “It is preposterous for anybody to think that this tape is doctored” […] “That’s just a feeble excuse to provide weak support for an incredibly evil man.”

On May 25th, 2010, Jeff Stein of the Washington Post reports that the CIA’s Office of Technical Services “actually did make a video purporting to show Osama bin Laden and his cronies sitting around a campfire swigging bottles of liquor and savoring their conquests with boys, one of the former CIA officers recalled, chuckling at the memory. The actors were drawn from “some of us darker-skinned employees,” he said.”

Fact #31

The majority of the testimony from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks, something the 9/11 Report is heavily based on, was gotten through torture, and “third-hand – passed from the detainee, to the interrogator, to the person who writes up the interrogation report, and finally to [its] staff in the form of reports, not even transcripts.”

Because of the latter, the 9/11 Commission decided to add a disclaimer to the chapters that are heavily based on detainee interrogations. The disclaimer says, “Chapters 5 and 7 rely heavily on information obtained from captured al-Qaeda members. A number of these ‘detainees’ have firsthand knowledge of the 9/11 plot. Assessing the truth of statements by these witnesses-sworn enemies of the United States-is challenging. Our access to them has been limited to the review of intelligence reports based on communications received from the locations where the actual interrogations take place. We submitted questions for use in the interrogations, but had no control over whether, when, or how questions of particular interest would be asked. Nor were we allowed to talk to the interrogators so that we could better judge the credibility of the detainees and clarify ambiguities in the reporting. We were told that our requests might disrupt the sensitive interrogation process. We have nonetheless decided to include information from captured 9/11 conspirators and al-Qaeda members in our report. We have evaluated their statements carefully and have attempted to corroborate them with documents and statements of others. In this report, we indicate where such statements provide the foundation for our narrative. We have been authorized to identify by name only ten detainees whose custody has been confirmed officially by the US government.”

The 9/11 Commission became unhappy because the government’s investigators were “not asking the detainees the kinds of questions [it wanted] answered.”

On 8/6/2007, the New Yorker reports that a former CIA official estimates that about “ninety percent of the information was unreliable.”

KSM’s interrogations are mentioned as a source in the 9/11 report 211 times.

On 6/15/2009, the Associated Press reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he would “make up stories” in order to get them to stop torturing him.

On 8/6/2010, it is reported that “four of the nation’s most highly valued terrorist prisoners were secretly moved to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003, years earlier than has been disclosed, then whisked back into overseas prisons before the Supreme Court could give them access to lawyers, The Associated Press has learned. The transfer allowed the U.S. to interrogate the detainees in CIA “black sites” for two more years without allowing them to speak with attorneys or human rights observers or challenge their detention in U.S. courts.”

Fact #32

The Military Tribunals taking place at Guanatanamo Bay are a slap in the face to those seeking justice for the crimes of 9/11, as well as to the rest of the world.

The level of secrecy is counterproductive. As the September 11th Advocates state, “prosecuting these men within a system that is secretive in nature and lacking in due process, and which uses evidence tainted by questionable interrogation methods and possibly even torture, is a dangerous endeavor.” Several other family members have voiced their concerns about the secrecy.

Unlike U.S. Federal courts, “the Guantanamo tribunal permits hearsay evidence as well as information gleaned from coercion and makes no guarantee that the accused will be able to confront his accusers or know all the evidence against him.”

As far as the media goes “only a handful of journalists will be allowed in the courtroom, confined to a glass enclosed booth where they can be shut off from hearing testimony on the judge’s instructions.” […] “Audio recordings and pictures of the proceedings are barred.”

The ACLU charged that “the U.S. government is blocking the American Civil Liberties Union from paying attorneys representing suspected terrorists held here, insisting that the ACLU must first receive a license from the U.S. Treasury Department before making the payments.”

Once the Supreme Court ruled that detainees “have the right to challenge their detention in civilian court,” the Bush Administration decided “to rewrite the official evidence against Guantanamo Bay detainees, allowing it to shore up its cases before they come under scrutiny by civilian judges for the first time.”

A propaganda film was shown to the court room. “The video is entitled “The Al Qaeda Plan,” an echo of “The Nazi Plan” made by Oscar-winning director George Stevens as evidence in the Nuremberg war crimes trials of German leaders after World War II.” Judge Keith Allred approved the video, but said, “The planes crashing into the towers and the people screaming doesn’t prove anything.”

Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti said that Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the Pentagon official who oversees the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, was “abusive, bullying, unprofessional.”

Detainee lawyers say that “political interference taints the proceedings.”

On 4/18/2008, it was reported that the families would be able to watch the trials. According to Army Col. Lawrence Morris, “we’re going to broadcast in real time to several locations that will be available just to victim families.” Later, the military decided against that. However, they were going to allow Debra Burlingame, a 9/11 Family Member that happens to be pro-Bush to attend. Several family members released a statement that said, “selectively inviting only 9/11 family members whose views are in alignment with those of the Bush administration is only one example of the repeated attempts to infuse politics into what should be an impartial process that has the goal of achieving justice.” On 10/27/2008, it was reported that “the Pentagon has made plans to bring victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — chosen by lottery — to watch a hearing of reputed al Qaeda kingpin Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s death penalty trial.” Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said, “Soon, some of those victim families will have the opportunity to see firsthand the fair, open and just trials of those alleged to have perpetrated these horrific acts.” The Miami Herald cites, “a long-promised victims witness program, which will enable thousands of family members of the Sept. 11 dead to watch the eventual trial through satellite feeds to four U.S. military bases.”

On 12/10/2008, a group of 31 9/11 family members, along with the ACLU released a statement that said, “many of us do not believe these military commissions to be fair, in accordance with American values, or capable of achieving the justice that 9/11 family members and all Americans deserve.”

On 11/13/2009, the NYTimes reported that “Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, a federal law enforcement official said early on Friday.” After that announcement, there was a tremendous amount of backlash. Many people in Government insisted that KSM and others be tried in a military court. On 4/4/2011, ABCNews reported that “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and four co-conspirators will be tried in a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Department of Justice officials said today.” There are many problems already transpiring. An extensive archive of the KSM trials is available here.

Fact #33

The resulting dust from the collapse of the buildings on 9/11/2001 was toxic, and people like Condoleezza Rice and Christie Todd Whitman lied about it so things like Wall Street could reopen. As a result, several 1000 9/11 First Responders, and residents of New York are sick and dying. Both local and Federal Governments have ignored them in their time of need.

Finally, on 12/22/2010, after YEARS of hard work by people like John Feal, Anne Marie Baumann, Glenn Kline, Sean Riordan, Charlie Giles, and myself, and select elected officials such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act passed, and the 9/11 First Responders finally got the help that they needed. No thanks to the Republicans.

Fact #34

Suspicious trading in the world markets took place before 9/11/2001.

On or around 8/6/2001, what appear to be “suspicious” put option purchases are made. According to one analyst, “from what I’m hearing, it’s more than coincidence.”

In early September 2001, “suspicious” short selling of reinsurance company stocks take place.

Also in September 2001, suspicion of insider trading takes place in many other countries, resulting in the creation of several investigations. The countries mentioned are Belgium, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monte Carlo, Cyprus, U.K., Italy, and Japan.

On 10/3/2001, the San Francisco Chronicle will report that the NYSE sees “unusually heavy trading in airline and related stocks several days before the attacks.” Some of those companies are American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, United, and US Airways.

In early September 2001, there is a sharp increase in short selling of American and United Airlines stocks.

Between 9/6/2001, and 9/10/2001, suspicious trading of put options on American and United Airlines occur. Ernst Welteke, the President of a German central bank, says that his bank has done a study. “There are ever clearer signs that there were activities on international financial markets that must have been carried out with the necessary expert knowledge.” His researchers have found “almost irrefutable proof of insider trading.”

During the time of the 9/11 Commission, the families pressed for answers about this suspicious trading.

The 9/11 Report states, “highly publicized allegations of insider trading in advance of 9/11 generally rest on reports of unusual pre-9/11 trading activity in companies whose stock plummeted after the attacks. Some unusual trading did in fact occur, but each such trade proved to have an innocuous explanation.” […] “The SEC and the FBI, aided by other agencies and the securities industry, devoted enormous resources to investigating this issue, including securing the cooperation of many foreign governments. These investigators have found that the apparently suspicious consistently proved innocuous.”

On 4/30/2010, it was reported that “initial speculation after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that plotters made financial bets against airlines or other companies hurt by the events was unfounded.” […] “We have not developed any evidence that suggests that those who had advance knowledge of the attacks traded on the basis of that information,” the SEC said. “In every instance where we noticed unusual trading before the attack, we were able to determine, either through speaking directly with those responsible for the trading, or by reviewing trading records, that the trading was consistent with a legitimate trading strategy.”

On 8/17/2011, it was reported that “the SEC has violated federal law by destroying the records of thousands of enforcement cases in which it decided not to file charges against or conduct full-blown investigations of Wall Street firms and others initially suspected of wrongdoing, a former agency official has alleged.”

When I asked Matt Taibbi, the originator of the SEC corruption story, if we should trust the SEC’s conclusions concerning the “suspicious trading” of 9/11, he said, “the whole notion that US interests would have insider-traded 9/11 is the dumbest thing you people have ever thought up, and that’s saying quite a lot. Have you even stopped for a second to think about this rationally? Any person that would be in a position to know about the 9/11 attacks from within the U.S. government would also have access to mountains of other vital economic information — like changes in interest rates, information about military contract awards, or the results of USDA or CBO or Bureau of Labor reports. It is exponentially easier to trade on interest rate shifts or unemployment statistics than it is to short the freaking airline you’re going to use in a terrorist attack, and doing so has the additional benefit of not leaving physical evidence tying you to the crime. If in fact anyone did inside-trade 9/11, that to me would be proof that it had to be Arab terrorists, or somebody similarly unsophisticated, because nobody with the wherewithal to pull off an “inside job” on the scale you folks believe in would bother trying to steal a few nickels in such a crude/silly way. That’s like accusing a man who’s just robbed three Rembrandts from the Met of ripping the head off a parking meter with a wrench on the way home. The fact that you believe this stuff to me indicates that you have no idea at all how the financial services industry works. There are a million easier ways for people in that position to make money.”

I responded by saying, “we thought it up? Obviously you didn’t pay attention to the news regarding the allegations of insider trading. Nor did you pay attention to the fact that when the families asked the FBI about it, they were essentially ignored. Got it… we should trust the SEC.”

It should be noted that Matt Taibbi and I have corresponded on 9/11 before.

Fact #35

The 9/11 Report says, “to date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance. Al Qaeda had many avenues of funding. If a particular funding source had dried up, al Qaeda could have easily tapped a different source or diverted funds from another project to fund an operation that cost $400,000-$500,000 over nearly two years.” The 9/11 Commission repeats this in a document entitled, “The Financing of the 9/11 Plot.” “To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. As we have discussed above, the compelling evidence appears to trace the bulk of the funds directly back to KSM and, possibly, Qatari, but no further. Available information on this subject has thus far has not been illuminating. According to KSM, Bin Ladin provided 85-95 percent of the funds for the plot from his personal wealth, with the remainder coming from general al Qaeda funds. To the extent KSM intended to refer to wealth Bin Ladin inherited from his family or derived from any business activity, this claim is almost certainly wrong, because Bin Ladin was not personally financing al Qaeda during this time frame. Ultimately the question of the origin of the funds is of little practical significance. Al Qaeda had many avenues of funding. If a particular source of funds dried up, it could have easily tapped a different source or diverted money from a different project to fund an attack that cost $400,000-$500,000 over nearly two years.”

Fact #36

“Al-Qaeda” and other “terrorist organizations” have curious connections to intelligence agencies all over the world.

Wikipedia defines “Al-Qaeda” as “an international Sunni Islamist movement founded in 1988. Al-Qaeda have attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, the most notable being the Se