The pressure on Obama to reveal the Saudi connection to the 9/11 attacks is working, while Saudi threats to hit the US economy if the connection is revealed still looms.
By: AP and World Israel News Staff
Director of the National Intelligence James Clapper. (AP/Alex Brandon)
President Barack Obama said a top-ranking US intelligence official is reviewing classified material in a report on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks that families of victims and some lawmakers are demanding be made public.
Several members of the House and Senate, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, have joined 9/11 families in pressuring for declassification of 28 pages that are part of government documents compiled on the 9/11 attack amid speculation of a possible connection to the attacks by Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack and more than 6,000 others were injured.
In an interview with CBS‘s Charlie Rose, Obama was asked if had read the 28 pages. “I have a sense of what’s in there,” he replied.
Obama also revealed that James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, “has been going through this” to ensure that whatever is made public does not damage US national security interests.
“My understanding is that he’s about to complete that process,” the president said.
Former Senator Robert Graham, who helped write the report that includes the 28 redacted pages, recently told CBS‘s “60 Minutes” the secret material could reveal possible Saudi backing for the men who hijacked airplanes, flying two into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in western Pennsylvania.
Graham, a Democrat, declined to cite any details on the portion of the report that remains classified.
Obama also voiced concerns about a legislative move to allow victim families to bring lawsuits against other countries believed to have provided support for attacks.
President Obama and Saudi King Salman. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
“This is a matter of how generally the United States approaches our interactions with other countries,” he said. “If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.”
Obama’s remarks come as reports have emerged of threats made by the kingdom that it will hinder the US economy and destabilize the US Dollar if Congress pursues legislation which would enable it to examine the kingdom’s connection to the September 11 terror attacks.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts, the New York Times reported.