CNN: Saudi gov't wants 9/11 report declassified

[knowledgeispower]

Just saw on Lou Dobb's Moneyline that the Saudi Arabian government supposedly wants the Bush Administration to declassify all of the 9/11 report to disprove claims that the report shows Saudi involvement in the attacks. Somebody high up in the Saudi gov't (sorry, forgot the name) is meeting with Bush in the next few days about damaged relations because of the 9/11 report.

Sorry, no link.

What do you all make of this? Is the Saudi gov't NOT the foreign gov't in the report? Is it perhaps Pakistan instead? Or is this just a move by the Saudi's to make it SEEM like they have nothing to hide, when in fact they don't want the report declassified?

[antineocon1]

1. it think it's your last suggestion...

SEEM like they have nothing to hide. They also might feel that if they're going down, so is the Bush cabal.

[NYC]

2. Prince Bandar will be meeting with Bush.

Maybe they want the 28 pages "edited" before they are released.

[knowledgeispower]

15. They want to get their story straight

Sorta like when Blair comes over the pond every now and then just before/after some new scandal over the war breaks.

[phillybri]

3. They know it won't happen...

...but they want to look like they have nothing to hide. They know they won't get called on it...

[Merlin]

4. Kinda puts shrubbie on the spot, don't it?

Here there one excuse for not releasing the mysterious 28 pages was the Saudis. But they're not playing ball!
:wtf:

[knowledgeispower]

6. I think the Saudi's are full of it

It has pretty much gotten out that the Saudi's are the "foreign government" that is in the report as supporting terrorists. I suppose it is possible that this could be false, but I have seen Bob Graham pretty much say it without actually saying it (since he can't), and I don't know why he would want to mislead people.

So my theory (and most others so far seem to agree with this) is that the Saudis are merely trying to cover their backs by making it seem like they want the report declassified. They know that it won't be, and I suspect that this statement was already cleared with the Bush administration before they made it.

[Demobrat]

9. WTF is right.

I have absolutely no idea what to think about this. I don't believe that the Saudis want it declassified, based solely on the fact that so many of the hijackers were Saudi. And considering that we really can't believe a word that comes out of the WH, we'll probably never know the truth.

[tomp]

5. i don't know who's in the report but...

... if saudi arabia AND pakistan aren't in it the investigation is a sham.

[knowledgeispower]

11. My biggest question about the report is if Pakistan is in it

Because there are quite a lot of links between the Pakistani ISI (the equivalent of our CIA) and the 9/11 terrorists. Yeah sure, it could just be coincidence, but it should still be in the report.

[knowledgeispower]

7. Link from MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.com/news/943459.asp?0cv=CA01

U.S. officials said the Saudis were objecting to the Bush administration’s decision to classify dozens of pages of the congressional report, comprising sections that sources said addressed suspected foreign support of those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.
       Although lawmakers have refused to name the suspected country, unclassified parts of the report appeared to point at Saudi Arabia. An entire section on whether there was Saudi support for the hijackers was deleted, as were 26 pages on their foreign financing.
       The decision to keep the passage secret, which U.S. officials told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell was made by officials of the FBI, fueled widespread suspicions that the administration was trying to shield itself and its Saudi allies from embarrassment.
       The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, has been quoted as saying the entire report should be declassified to show that there is no evidence to support suspicions against his government.


...more

[tinnypriv]

8. Maybe the foreign government is...

Iraq!

Wait, that would make too much sense. :crazy:

[hang a left]

28. Crap!

That is exactly what I was thinking. My heart went up into my throat. But congress has seen the classified data and Dems would be alerted and the presidential candidates would have the heads up.

[yowzayowzayowza]

10. There is nothing to keep..

the Saudi government from releasing their own "declassified" information. This excuse is bunk.

[Ozirus]

12. What no one is saying...

How do the Saudis know what's in the classified section of the report? They wouldn't call for it's declassification if they didn't know what it said. It appears they know exactly what's in the report. I don't know what's in the report for sure because it is illegal for me to know and I am a citizen of this country, yet a foreign power who is rumored to have directly or indirectly funded the terrorists who crashed into the wtc and pentagon knows what's in the CLASSIFIED report.

This is utter bullshit.

- Ozirus -

[Demobrat]

13. You're right. Wow.

They can know but we can't. I think it's letter to the editor time.

[knowledgeispower]

14. I hadn't thought about that

Of course, I guess it could be argued that the Saudis know they are innocent, and thus there CAN'T POSSIBLY be anything implicating them in the report. We would all know that to be bullshit, but it would fly none the less.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. So is Bandar calling Bush's bluff?

Maybe the pages that were redacted are going to be ever more embarassing to Bu$hCo, than they will be to the Saudi Royal family? The next few days should be loads of fun for W, oh goody.

[knowledgeispower]

17. I would think it could implicate both

If it implicates the Saudis, it could in turn implicate Bush for his family's many dealings with the royal family. Who knows how far the thing goes, but I am willing to bet both the Saudi Royal Family and the Bush Administration have a STRONG interest in keeping this information from reaching the light of day.

[Fovea]

18. THIS IS A FISH WRAPPED IN DUBYA'S MORNING PAPER

It means, play ball with us, or the whole story comes out.

It is not so much about what is in the report, but what might come out in the trial...

[goforit]

26. Good point!!!...Their own PR as W's a** kissers doesn't look good.

So be it .....fish wrapped up in newspaper!

May it be the Wall Street Journal!!!

[0007]

19. Why doesn't James Baker III

plead the Saudi case to the Supreme Court? LOL!!

It would appears that the Saudis are hidding behing the Carlyle boys, 'eh?

[gulliver]

20. Great lines in Washington Post!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59074-2003Jul28.html

... "The hastily scheduled White House visit, which will take place shortly after Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, demonstrates the level of Saudi anger and the kingdom's clout with the Bush administration."

Clout with the Bush administration? They got a meeting with Bush tomorrow. Tomorrow.

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Yeah, and W is going to have to miss his nappy

The Sauds must be really upset.

[gratuitous]

22. The Saudi masters say, "Jump"

And Bushie doesn't wait to ask "how high," he just jumps.

Something tells me, however, that this is as stage-managed as a pro wrestling match:

"We can't release the classified information, and that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Brain said so!!"

"You release that classified, secret information that nobody (at least in the American public) knows, if ya smel-l-l-l-l-l what the Sauds . . . are cookin'!"

"Bring it on!!"

"Oh yeah, we'll bring it on!!"

{Much posturing and further shouting of challenges and responses later.}

"Okay, the talkin' is done. Time to settle this Horseman-style!!"

{The two juggernauts collide, suddenly The Masked Bug Man (Tom DeLay) runs into the ring and coldcocks both Stone Brain and The Saud with a steel folding chair. The "secret" report the two combatants were struggling over flies up in the air, Bug Man snatches it and runs from the arena while the announcers sputter about what a "travesty of justice" the whole thing was.}

__________

That about cover it?

[canuck]

23. heh, he, -where did I read somewhere...

"forget about the horsemen, imagine instead a fistfight with smashed vodka bottles in a plywood bar"

[Guaranteed]

24. Tin Foil answer...

Not gonna say it. You who the tin foil government is...not gonna perpetuate the rumors...but....still, at least possible.

[goforit]

25. Lou Dobbs???...........Well, take that with a grain of salt!

Dobbs always protects himself and his own kind.

[MetaTrope]

27. Question: Does MIHOP carry much currency in the Middle East?

Wonder if the terrorist organizations would take unkindly to being played for patsies by the Bush junta, and might decide to make it personal?