Sen. Bob Graham on Paris Attacks earlier this morning and how this is the same issue of declassifying the 28 pages detailing the foreign sponsorship of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Excerpt from Wednesdays #Declassify the 28 Pages Capitol Press Conference: https://youtube/watch?v=sy97uKT6hjE&list=PLM6byG9IYiESu6VATE-Mxgf-x_cC4C9Qt BOB GRAHAM: Needless to say, my remarks that I will espouse this morning are considerably different than they would have been, but for events in Paris this morning, which in my judgement bring this matter into its proper focus... Frequently those who have defended non-disclosure [of the 28 pages] have said this cannot be made available to the American people because it will be adverse to our national security. There is no threat to national security in disclosure. Im going to make the case today that theres a threat to national security by non-disclosure, and we saw another chapter of that today in Paris. Here are some facts. The Saudis know what they did. They are not persons who are unaware of the consequences of their governments actions. Second, the Saudis know that we know what they did... What do you think the Saudis position would be if they knew what they had done, if they knew that the United States knew what they had done, and they also observed that the United States had taken a position of either passivity of actual hostility to letting those facts be known. What would the Saudi government do in that circumstance, which is precisely where they have been for more than a decade? Well, one, they have continued, maybe even accelerated, their support for one of the most extreme forms of Islam, Wahhabism, throughout the world the world, particularly in the Middle East. And second, they have supported their religious fervor with financial and other forms of support of the institutions which were going to carry out those extreme forms of Islam. Those institutions have included mosques, madrases, and military. Al Qaeda was a creature of Saudi Arabia, the regional groups such as Al Shabaab have been largely creatures of Saudis Arabia, and now ISIS is the latest creature. Yes, I hope and I trust that the United States will crush ISIS, but if we think that is the definition of victory, we are being very naive. ISIS is a consequence, not a cause. It is a consequence of the spread of extremism, largely by Saudi Arabia, and if it is crushed there will be another institution established, financed, supported to carry on the cause. So the consequences of our passivity to Saudi Arabia have been that we have tolerated this succession of institutions -- violent, extreme, hurtful to the region of the Middle East, and a threat to the world, as we saw this morning in Paris. So, I conclude by saying: this is a very important issue. It may seem stale to some, but it is as current as the headlines that we will read today.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 23:07:04 +0000
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