28 صفحات مفقودة في 9/11 و ذي الثامنة والعشرون الصفحات 9SEP14

28 صفحات مفقودة في 9/11 و ذي الثامنة والعشرون الصفحات 9SEP14

 

كما رفض نظرية المؤامرة، هناك الكثير منا الذين يعرفون جورج بوش كذبت، ضلل، خدع والتستر على اتصال السعودي ل، ومعرفة، والمشاركة في الهجمات الإرهابية على الولايات المتحدة يوم 9/11 . هناك دليل، وحكومتنا الحفاظ عليه من قبلنا. كانت السعودية جزيره العرب أبدا صديقنا حليفنا، وينبغي أن يكون هذا أحد الاعتبارات الرئيسية في مشاركتنا في العراق وسوريا ومكافحة إيسيل. السعوديون لا يمكن الوثوق بها، وماليا وسياسيا وماديا دعم انحرافا عن الإسلام المعروفة باسم الوهابية أن الأجور الجهاد على بقية العالم. الشركات الأمريكية والمجمع الصناعي العسكري الأمريكي، بمباركة من القيادة السياسية الأمريكية الجمهورية والديمقراطية، ودعم والدفاع عن السعوديين باسم أرباح الشركات والتربح الحرب. في حين أن صورة لمركز التجارة العالمي، وبرج واحد في السنة اللهب والآخر ضرب من قبل الطائرة، قد يعود الرهيبة، الذكريات المؤلمة، فإنه ينبغي أن هزة أيضا يعود بنا إلى واقع اليوم والطريق إلى حرب أخرى في الشرق الأوسط حكومتنا، يتم تحديد الشركات الأمريكية والمجمع الصناعي العسكري لتقودنا إلى أسفل. هذا الوقت ونحن لا يمكن أن نسمح لأنفسنا بأن يؤدي والأغنام، ولكن تحتاج إلى أن تكون يصرخون ويركلون والقتال لحماية حياة الأفراد العسكريين لدينا وكذلك لدينا أموال دافعي الضرائب، ونطالب نحن لا تتورط في حرب الدفاع عن الدول ذاتها الذين يكرهوننا. من القضايا الملحة و  + نيويوركر   .....

28 صفحات مفقودة في 9/11

كان لدينا فجوة 1/2 18 دقيقة مع نيكسون ووترغيت، والآن فجوة 28 صفحة في 9/11 التحقيق. لورانس رايت كبيرة في مجلة نيويوركر اليوم :

في الطابق السفلي من مركز الولايات المتحدة الكابيتول الجديد زوار تحت الأرض "، وهناك غرفة آمنة حيث تحتفظ لجنة الاستخبارات في مجلس النواب ملفات سرية للغاية. وتحت عنوان واحد من تلك الملفات "العثور على والمناقشة والسرد فيما يتعلق ببعض المسائل الحساسة الأمن الوطني". ومن ثمانية وعشرين صفحة. في عام 2002، فإن إدارة جورج بوش رفعه تلك الصفحات من تقرير الكونغرس تحقيقا مشتركا في هجمات 9/11. وقال الرئيس بوش بعد ذلك أن نشر ذلك الجزء من التقرير سيضر العمليات الاستخباراتية الأمريكية، كاشفا عن "المصادر والأساليب التي من شأنها أن تجعل من الصعب بالنسبة لنا لكسب الحرب على الإرهاب."

"لا يوجد شيء في ذلك عن الأمن القومي،" والتر جونز، عضو الكونغرس الجمهوري من ولاية كارولينا الشمالية الذين تمت قراءة صفحات في عداد المفقودين، يدعي. ". انه عن إدارة بوش وعلاقته مع السعوديين" وقال ستيفن لينش، وهو ديمقراطي من ماساتشوستس، لي أن الوثيقة هي "مذهلة في وضوحه"، وأنه يقدم دليلا مباشرا على التواطؤ من جانب بعض الأفراد السعوديين و الكيانات في هجوم القاعدة على أمريكا. "هؤلاء ثمانية وعشرين صفحة تحكي قصة تمت إزالته تماما من تقرير 9/11" تحتفظ لينش. وقال عضو الكونغرس آخر من قرأ الوثيقة أن الأدلة على الدعم الحكومي السعودي لخطف 9/11 هو "مقلق للغاية"، وأن "السؤال الحقيقي هو ما إذا كان تم اقراره على مستوى الأسرة المالكة او تحت هذا، وعما إذا كان تمت متابعة هذه الخيوط من خلال. "الآن، في مثال نادر على التعاون بين الحزبين، وجونز لينش قد شارك في رعاية قرارا يطلب أن إدارة أوباما رفع السرية عن صفحات.

 وهناك "طن من الأشياء الأخرى" لا تزال سرية، بما في ذلك مقابلات مع بوش وتشيني الخ

9 سبتمبر 2014

وثمانية وعشرين الصفحات

بواسطة لورانس رايت

يلتقي الرئيس جورج بوش مع الأمير بندر بن سلطان، السفير السعودي في الولايات المتحدة، في 27 أغسطس 2002، في مزرعة بوش في كروفورد بولاية تكساس. الائتمان تصوير: إريك Drapper / البيت الابيض عبر غيتي

في الطابق السفلي من مركز الولايات المتحدة الكابيتول الجديد زوار تحت الأرض "، وهناك غرفة آمنة حيث تحتفظ لجنة الاستخبارات في مجلس النواب ملفات سرية للغاية. وتحت عنوان واحد من تلك الملفات "العثور على والمناقشة والسرد فيما يتعلق ببعض المسائل الحساسة الأمن الوطني". ومن ثمانية وعشرين صفحة. في عام 2002، فإن إدارة جورج بوش رفعه تلك الصفحات من تقرير الكونغرس تحقيقا مشتركا في هجمات 9/11. وقال الرئيس بوش بعد ذلك أن نشر ذلك الجزء من التقرير سيضر العمليات الاستخباراتية الأمريكية، كاشفا عن "المصادر والأساليب التي من شأنها أن تجعل من الصعب بالنسبة لنا لكسب الحرب على الإرهاب."
"لا يوجد شيء في ذلك عن الأمن القومي،" والتر جونز، عضو الكونغرس الجمهوري من ولاية كارولينا الشمالية الذين تمت قراءة صفحات في عداد المفقودين، يدعي. ". انه عن إدارة بوش وعلاقته مع السعوديين" وقال ستيفن لينش، وهو ديمقراطي من ماساتشوستس، لي أن الوثيقة هي "مذهلة في وضوحه"، وأنه يقدم دليلا مباشرا على التواطؤ من جانب بعض الأفراد السعوديين و الكيانات في هجوم القاعدة على أمريكا. "هؤلاء ثمانية وعشرين صفحة تحكي قصة تمت إزالته تماما من تقرير 9/11" تحتفظ لينش. وقال عضو الكونغرس آخر من قرأ الوثيقة أن الأدلة على الدعم الحكومي السعودي لخطف 9/11 هو "مقلق للغاية"، وأن "السؤال الحقيقي هو ما إذا كان تم اقراره على مستوى الأسرة المالكة او تحت هذا، وعما إذا كان تمت متابعة هذه الخيوط من خلال. "الآن، في مثال نادر على التعاون بين الحزبين، وجونز لينش قد شارك في رعاية قرارا يطلب أن إدارة أوباما رفع السرية عن صفحات.
وأيضا طالب السعوديون علنا بأن يتم الافراج عن المواد. "ويجري استخدام ثمانية وعشرون صفحة بما يقارب من قبل بعض للنيل بلدنا وشعبنا"، الأمير بندر بن سلطان، الذي كان سفير السعودية لدى الولايات المتحدة في ذلك الوقت من هجمات 9/11، أعلنت. "المملكة العربية السعودية ليس لديها ما تخفيه. يمكننا التعامل مع الأسئلة في الأماكن العامة، ولكن لا يمكننا الرد على صفحات فارغة. "
الجهود المبذولة لرفع السرية عن الوثائق يأتي في وقت دعوى قضائية، أحضر قبل عشر سنوات نيابة عن ضحايا الهجمات وعائلاتهم، إلى جانب شركات التأمين الذين دفعوا من المطالبات، تتقدم من خلال نظام المحاكم الأمريكي. الدعوى تستهدف الجمعيات الخيرية السعودية، والبنوك، والأفراد. في عام 2005، تم رفض حكومة المملكة العربية السعودية من الدعوى على أساس الحصانة السيادية، ولكن في يوليو أعادت المحكمة العليا الأمريكية المملكة كمتهم. ويعتقد المدعون أن حجب ثمانية وعشرين صفحة ستدعم الادعاء في أن الخاطفين 9/11 تلقى مساعدة مباشرة من المسؤولين الحكوميين السعوديين في الولايات المتحدة. وفقا لممثلي عائلات ضحايا 9/11، ووعد الرئيس أوباما مرتين للافراج عن المواد كنها فشلت حتى الان للقيام بذلك. وقال "لقد أصبح التنقيح من ثمانية وعشرين صفحة في التستر من قبل اثنين من رؤساء، والتستر يعني التواطؤ" شارون Premoli، وهو الرئيس المشارك للأسر 9/11 المتحدة للعدالة ضد الإرهاب. "إن الأسر والناجين الحق في معرفة الحقيقة كاملة حول القتل الوحشي من ثلاثة آلاف الأحباء وإصابة آلاف آخرين."
رفع السرية تلك الدعوة تقديم حجة قوية وعاطفية في كثير من الأحيان، ولكن الآخرين تقديم أسباب مقنعة أن الوثيقة يجب أن تظل مدفونة تحت الكابيتول. مباشرة بعد الانتهاء من الكونغرس رسالتك المشتركة تقريرها في أواخر عام 2002، واللجنة الوطنية حول الهجمات الإرهابية على الولايات المتحدة والمعروف باسم-بدأت اللجنة عملها 9/11، تحت قيادة توماس كين، الحاكم السابق من جديد جيرسي، ولي هاملتون، عضو الكونجرس السابق من ولاية انديانا. كانت الأسئلة التي طرحتها ثمانية وعشرين صفحة جزءا مهما من جدول أعمال اللجنة؛ في الواقع، مديرها فيليب زيليكو، استأجرت العاملين الذين عملوا لجنة التحقيق المشتركة في هذا القسم بالذات لمتابعة المواد. وفقا لزيليكو، ما وجدوه لا إثبات الحجج التي أدلى بها رسالتك المشتركة وعائلات 9/11 في الدعوى ضد السعوديين. ووصف ثمانية وعشرين صفحة بأنه "التكتل من الأولية والتقارير unvetted" بشأن تورط السعوديين. "كانوا الاتهامات البرية التي تحتاج إلى سحبه"، قال.
كان زيليكو وموظفيه غير قادر في النهاية إلى إثبات أي تواطؤ السعودي الرسمي في الهجمات. يوصي موظف سابق في لجنة 9/11 الذين على دراية وثيقة المواد في ثمانية وعشرين صفحة ضد رفع السرية الخاصة بهم، محذرا من أن الإفراج عن المعلومات التهابات ويمكن المضاربة "ستزيد المشاعر" والضرر العلاقات الأمريكية السعودية.
ويوافق ستيفن لينش أن ثمانية وعشرين صفحة دفنوا من أجل الحفاظ على علاقة الولايات المتحدة مع المملكة العربية السعودية. "وكان جزء من السبب تم تصنيفها حقيقة أنه من شأنه أن يخلق استجابة الحشوية"، قال لي. "سيكون هناك رد فعل." ولكن، وبعد ثلاثة عشر عاما، والتي ما زالت سببا للحفاظ على وثيقة سرية؟

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النظرية وراء الدعوى القضائية ضد السعوديين تعود إلى حرب الخليج عام 1991. كان وجود القوات الأمريكية في المملكة العربية السعودية حدثا تحطيم في تاريخ البلاد، الأمر الذي يشكك في الصفقة القديمة بين الأسرة المالكة ورجال الدين الوهابي، الذي يسمح للعائلة سعود لحكم نعمة. في عام 1992، أصدرت مجموعة من رجال الدين البارزين في البلاد مذكرة المشورة، الذي هدد ضمنا انقلاب الدينية. العائلة المالكة، هزتها تهديد لحكمها، استيعاب معظم مطالب رجال الدين، ومنحهم المزيد من السيطرة على المجتمع السعودي. واحدة من توجهاتها دعا إلى إنشاء وزارة الشؤون الإسلامية، التي من شأنها أن تعطى مكاتب في السفارات والقنصليات السعودية. والصحافي فيليب Shenon يكتب ، نقلا عن جون ليمان، والأمين العام السابق للقوات البحرية ومفوض 9/11 "كان المعروف في دوائر الاستخبارات أن مكتب الشؤون الإسلامية يعمل ك" طابور خامس "السعوديين لدعم المتطرفين المسلمين. "
القصة وقال في تلك ثمانية وعشرين صفحة يختار مع وصول اثنين من الشباب السعودي، نواف الحازمي وخالد المحضار، في لوس انجليس في يناير كانون الثاني، وكانوا 2000. تصل الموجة الأولى من 9 / 11 الخاطفين. لا يتحدثون الإنجليزية بشكل جيد، لذلك بعثة إلى على تعلم كيفية تجريب طائرة بوينغ اردا الجنون بدا-طائرة، وخاصة إذا كان لديهم أي مساعدة.
بعد أسبوعين حصلت الحازمي والمحضار الى لوس انجليس، وهو متبرع ظهرت فجأة. عمر البيومي، وهو مواطن يبلغ من العمر اثنين وأربعين السعودية، كان موظف في شركة خدمات الطيران السعودية دلة AVCO. على الرغم من انه لفت راتبا، وقال انه على ما يبدو لم يفعل أي العمل الفعلي للشركة خلال السنوات السبع التي قضاها في أمريكا. كان بيومي في اتصال دائم مع السفارة السعودية في واشنطن، DC، ومع القنصلية في لوس انجليس. كان يعتبر على نطاق واسع في مجتمع المغتربين العرب ليكون جاسوسا السعودي، على الرغم من أن الحكومة السعودية نفت الذي كان.
بيومي وصديق قاد من سان دييغو، التي كانوا يعيشون فيها، إلى LA بيومي ثم توجه إلى القنصلية السعودية، حيث أمضى نحو ساعة لقاء مع مسؤول في وزارة الشؤون الإسلامية يدعى فهد الثميري، الذي اعتبره مستشاره الروحي. (في عام 2002، جردت الثميري التأشيرة الدبلوماسية له وترحيلهم، بسبب علاقاته المشبوهة للإرهابيين) بعد ذلك، بيومي وصديقه قاد إلى مطعم الحلال في كلفر سيتي. وقال بيومي في وقت لاحق أن المحققين، أثناء تناول الطعام هناك، وحدث انه ليسمعك رجلين-الحازمي والمحضار الناطقة باللغة العربية مع لهجات الخليج. انه ضرب حتى محادثة معهم، ودعاهم للانتقال إلى سان دييغو قريبا. انه إقامتها في المجمع السكني نفسه الذي عاش فيه. لأن الخاطفين في التدريب لم يكن لديهم حساب جار، دفعت بيومي مبلغ التأمين وتأجير الشهر الأول (والتي تسدد فورا وسلم). قدم لهم أيضا لأفراد المجتمع العربي، وربما بما في ذلك إمام مسجد محلي، أنور العولقي في وقت لاحق ليصبح المتحدث باسم الأبرز لتنظيم القاعدة في شبه الجزيرة العربية.
كما صادق السعودية آخر كان في سان دييغو في ذلك الوقت، أسامة باسنان، الحازمي والمحضار. كما حدث، وكانت زوجة باسنان لتلقي الهدايا الخيرية من زوجة الأمير بندر، الأميرة حيفا. وكان من المفترض سنوات المدفوعات، بقدر 73000 دولار على مدى ثلاث لتمويل علاج حالة طبية أن زوجة باسنان عانت من. وفقا لمرافعات في الدعوى ضد السعوديين، وبعض من هذه الأموال ذهبت لدعم الخاطفين في سان دييغو. لم يجد مكتب التحقيقات الفيدرالي أي دليل على أن المال حصلت في أيدي الخاطفين، ومع ذلك، وجدت لجنة 9/11 لا علاقة للعائلة المالكة.
"نؤكد أن" الجمعيات الخيرية "المزعومة التي أنشأتها حكومة المملكة ، شون كارتر، أحد المحامين الرئيسي في القضية، وقال لنشر الأيديولوجية الوهابية المتطرفة في جميع أنحاء العالم، بمثابة المصادر الرئيسية للتمويل والدعم اللوجستي لتنظيم القاعدة لأكثر من عقد من الزمان أدت إلى هجمات 9/11 " لي. "ليس من قبيل الصدفة، وهذه ما يسمى الجمعيات الخيرية كانت نفسها التي تنظمها وزارة الشؤون الإسلامية، والتي، في عام 1993، تولى من تشكيلها المسؤولية الرئيسية عن جهود المملكة في نشر الإسلام الوهابي."
توماس كين يتذكر أخيرا وجود فرصة لقراءة تلك ثمانية وعشرين صفحة بعد أن أصبح رئيسا لل9/11 Commission- "سرا حتى ان اضطررت الى الحصول على كل التصاريح الأمنية بلدي والخوض في أحشاء الكونغرس مع شخص تبحث على كتفي." ويتذكر أيضا التفكير في الوقت أن معظم ما كان ينبغي أبدا القراءة ظلت سرا. ولكن التركيز على ثمانية وعشرين صفحة يحجب حقيقة أن العديد من الوثائق الهامة لا تزال classified- "طن من الاشياء"، وقال كين لي، بما في ذلك، على سبيل المثال، والمقابلات اللجنة 9/11 مع جورج بوش وديك تشيني ، وبيل كلينتون. "أنا لا أعرف من شيء واحد في تقريرنا هذا لا ينبغي أن يكون الجمهور بعد عشر سنوات"، وقال كين.
قد يكون 11 سبتمبر جزءا من التاريخ الآن، ولكن بعض الأحداث التي أدت إلى ذلك اليوم الرهيب لا تزال المحجبات من قبل الاعتبارات السياسية في الوقت الحاضر. لا مجتمع المخابرات لا تريد أن تضيء فشلها مرة أخرى، ومما لا شك فيه أن إدارة أوباما لا يريد إدخال أصناف إضافية على علاقتها مع السعوديين. في غضون ذلك، فإن القوى التي أدت إلى كارثة لا قبل تستجمع قواها مرة أخرى. توماس ماسي، عضو الكونغرس الجمهوري من ولاية كنتاكي وراعيا لقرار مجلس النواب لرفع السرية عن المواد، قال لي أن تجربة قراءة هذه ثمانية وعشرين صفحة تسببت له إلى إعادة التفكير في كيفية التعامل مع صعود ISIS . جعلت من له أكثر من ذلك بكثير الحذر من رد عسكري. وقال "علينا أن نكون حذرين، ونحن عندما تشغيل الحسابات من العمل، ما التداعيات ستكون" قال.
"في بعض النواحي، انها أكثر خطورة اليوم،" تيموثي رومر، الذي كان عضوا في كل من رسالتك المشتركة و لجنة 9/11، لاحظ. "سلسلة أكثر تعقيدا من التهديدات تأتي معا حتى من قبل 9/11، التي تنطوي على ISIS ، القاعدة، والقدرات التقنية الإرهابية. أكثر الشعب الأمريكي يعرف ما حدث قبل ثلاثة عشر عاما، وأكثر ونحن يمكن أن يكون لها مصداقية، مناقشة مفتوحة "حول احتياجات أمننا. الافراج عن ثمانية وعشرين صفحة، كما قال، قد يكون خطوة إلى الأمام. "ونأمل، بعد بعض الصدمة الأولى والرعب، من شأنه أن يجعل عملية لدينا عمل أفضل. الحكومة لديها التزام للقيام بذلك ".

وكان لورانس رايت كاتبة الموظفين في مجلة نيويوركر منذ عام 1992.

• الحيوية
• جميع الأعمال

The 28 Missing Pages on 9/11 & The Twenty-Eight Pages 9SEP14

 

DISMISSED as conspiracy theorist, there are a lot of us who know the george w bush administration lied, misled, deceived and covered up the saudi arabian connection to, knowledge of, and participation in the the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9/11. There is proof, our government is keeping it from us. saudi arabia has never been our friend, our ally, and this should be a major consideration in our involvement in Iraq and Syria and the fight against isil. The saudis can not be trusted, they financially, politically and materially support the perversion of Islam known as wahhabism that wages jihad on the rest of the world. Corporate America and the American military-industrial complex, with the blessings of the American republican and democratic political leadership, support and defend the saudis in the name of corporate profits and war profiteering. While the picture of the World Trade Center, with one tower in flames and the other being struck by the plane, may bring back horrible, painful memories, it should also jolt us back to the reality of today and the path to another Middle East war our government, corporate America and the military-industrial complex is determined to lead us down. This time we can not allow ourselves to be lead as sheep, but need to be kicking and screaming and fighting to protect the lives of our military personnel as well as our tax dollars and demand we do not get involved in a war defending the very nations who hate us. From Pressing Issues and the +The New Yorker  .....

The 28 Missing Pages on 9/11

We had the 18 1/2 minute gap with Nixon and Watergate, and now 28-page gap on 9/11 probe.  The great Lawrence Wright at The New Yorker today:

On the bottom floor of the United States Capitol’s new underground visitors’ center, there is a secure room where the House Intelligence Committee maintains highly classified files. One of those files is titled “Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters.” It is twenty-eight pages long. In 2002, the Administration of George W. Bush excised those pages from the report of the Joint Congressional Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks. President Bush said then that publication of that section of the report would damage American intelligence operations, revealing “sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror.”

“There’s nothing in it about national security,” Walter Jones, a Republican congressman from North Carolina who has read the missing pages, contends. “It’s about the Bush Administration and its relationship with the Saudis.” Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, told me that the document is “stunning in its clarity,” and that it offers direct evidence of complicity on the part of certain Saudi individuals and entities in Al Qaeda’s attack on America. “Those twenty-eight pages tell a story that has been completely removed from the 9/11 Report,” Lynch maintains. Another congressman who has read the document said that the evidence of Saudi government support for the 9/11 hijacking is “very disturbing,” and that “the real question is whether it was sanctioned at the royal-family level or beneath that, and whether these leads were followed through.” Now, in a rare example of bipartisanship, Jones and Lynch have co-sponsored a resolution requesting that the Obama Administration declassify the pages.

 And there's a "ton of other stuff" still classified, including interviews with Bush, Cheney etc. 

September 9, 2014

The Twenty-Eight Pages

By Lawrence Wright

President George W. Bush meets with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, on August 27, 2002, at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Credit Photograph by Eric Drapper/The White House via Getty

On the bottom floor of the United States Capitol’s new underground visitors’ center, there is a secure room where the House Intelligence Committee maintains highly classified files. One of those files is titled “Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters.” It is twenty-eight pages long. In 2002, the Administration of George W. Bush excised those pages from the report of the Joint Congressional Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks. President Bush said then that publication of that section of the report would damage American intelligence operations, revealing “sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror.”
“There’s nothing in it about national security,” Walter Jones, a Republican congressman from North Carolina who has read the missing pages, contends. “It’s about the Bush Administration and its relationship with the Saudis.” Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, told me that the document is “stunning in its clarity,” and that it offers direct evidence of complicity on the part of certain Saudi individuals and entities in Al Qaeda’s attack on America. “Those twenty-eight pages tell a story that has been completely removed from the 9/11 Report,” Lynch maintains. Another congressman who has read the document said that the evidence of Saudi government support for the 9/11 hijacking is “very disturbing,” and that “the real question is whether it was sanctioned at the royal-family level or beneath that, and whether these leads were followed through.” Now, in a rare example of bipartisanship, Jones and Lynch have co-sponsored a resolution requesting that the Obama Administration declassify the pages.
The Saudis have also publicly demanded that the material be released. “Twenty-eight blanked-out pages are being used by some to malign our country and our people,” Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who was the Saudi Ambassador to the United States at the time of the 9/11 attacks, has declared. “Saudi Arabia has nothing to hide. We can deal with questions in public, but we cannot respond to blank pages.”
The effort to declassify the document comes at a time when a lawsuit, brought ten years ago on behalf of the victims of the attacks and their families, along with the insurers who paid out claims, is advancing through the American court system. The suit targets Saudi charities, banks, and individuals. In 2005, the government of Saudi Arabia was dismissed from the suit on the ground of sovereign immunity, but in July the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the Kingdom as a defendant. The plaintiffs believe that the withheld twenty-eight pages will support their allegation that the 9/11 hijackers received direct assistance from Saudi government officials in the United States. According to representatives of the families of 9/11 victims, President Obama has twice promised to release the material but so far has failed to do so. “The redaction of the twenty-eight pages has become a coverup by two Presidents, and coverup implies complicity,” Sharon Premoli, who is co-chair of 9/11 Families United for Justice Against Terrorism, said. “The families and survivors have the right to know the whole truth about the brutal murder of three thousand loved ones and the injuries of thousands more.”
Those advocating declassification present a powerful and oftentimes emotional argument, but others offer compelling reasons that the document should remain buried under the Capitol. Immediately after the Joint Congressional Inquiry finished its report, in late 2002, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States—better known as the 9/11 Commission—began its work, under the leadership of Thomas Kean, the former governor of New Jersey, and Lee Hamilton, a former congressman from Indiana. The questions raised by the twenty-eight pages were an important part of the commission’s agenda; indeed, its director, Philip Zelikow, hired staffers who had worked for the Joint Inquiry on that very section to follow up on the material. According to Zelikow, what they found does not substantiate the arguments made by the Joint Inquiry and by the 9/11 families in the lawsuit against the Saudis. He characterized the twenty-eight pages as “an agglomeration of preliminary, unvetted reports” concerning Saudi involvement. “They were wild accusations that needed to be checked out,” he said.
Zelikow and his staff were ultimately unable to prove any official Saudi complicity in the attacks. A former staff member of the 9/11 Commission who is intimately familiar with the material in the twenty-eight pages recommends against their declassification, warning that the release of inflammatory and speculative information could “ramp up passions” and damage U.S.-Saudi relations.
Stephen Lynch agrees that the twenty-eight pages were buried in order to preserve the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. “Part of the reason it was classified was the fact that it would create a visceral response,” he told me. “There would be a backlash.” But, thirteen years later, is that still a reason to keep the document a secret?

* * *

The theory behind the lawsuit against the Saudis goes back to the 1991 Gulf War. The presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia was a shattering event in the country’s history, calling into question the ancient bargain between the royal family and the Wahhabi clerics, whose blessing allows the Saud family to rule. In 1992, a group of the country’s most prominent religious leaders issued the Memorandum of Advice, which implicitly threatened a clerical coup. The royal family, shaken by the threat to its rule, accommodated most of the clerics’ demands, giving them more control over Saudi society. One of their directives called for the creation of a Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which would be given offices in Saudi embassies and consulates. As the journalist Philip Shenon writes, citing John Lehman, the former Secretary of the Navy and a 9/11 commissioner, “it was well-known in intelligence circles that the Islamic affairs office functioned as the Saudis’ ‘fifth column’ in support of Muslim extremists.”
The story told in those twenty-eight pages picks up with the arrival of two young Saudis, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, in Los Angeles in January, 2000. They were the first wave of the 9/11 hijackers. Neither spoke English well, so their mission—to learn how to pilot a Boeing jetliner—seemed crazily improbable, especially if they had no assistance.
Two weeks after Hazmi and Mihdhar got to L.A., a benefactor suddenly appeared. Omar al-Bayoumi, a forty-two-year-old Saudi national, was an employee of the Saudi aviation-services company Dallah Avco. Although he drew a salary, he apparently never did any actual work for the company during the seven years he spent in America. Bayoumi was in frequent contact with the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., and with the consulate in Los Angeles; he was widely considered in the Arab expat community to be a Saudi spy, though the Saudi government has denied that he was.
Bayoumi and a friend drove from San Diego, where they lived, to L.A. Bayoumi then went to the Saudi consulate, where he spent about an hour meeting with an official in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs named Fahad al-Thumairy, whom he considered to be his spiritual adviser. (In 2002, Thumairy was stripped of his diplomatic visa and deported, because of suspected ties to terrorists.) Afterward, Bayoumi and his friend drove to a halal restaurant in Culver City. Bayoumi later told investigators that, while eating there, he happened to overhear two men—Hazmi and Mihdhar—speaking Arabic with Gulf accents. He struck up a conversation with them and soon invited them to move to San Diego. He set them up in the same apartment complex where he lived. Because the hijackers-in-training did not have a checking account, Bayoumi paid their security deposit and first month’s rent (for which they immediately reimbursed him). He also introduced them to members of the Arab community, possibly including the imam of a local mosque, Anwar al-Awlaki—later to become the most prominent spokesperson for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Another Saudi who was in San Diego at the time, Osama Basnan, also befriended Hazmi and Mihdhar. As it happened, Basnan’s wife was receiving charitable gifts from Prince Bandar’s wife, Princess Haifa. The payments—as much as seventy-three thousand dollars over a period of three years—were supposed to fund the treatment of a medical condition that Basnan’s wife suffered from. According to pleadings in the lawsuit against the Saudis, some of that money went to support the hijackers in San Diego. The F.B.I. has not found any evidence that the money got into the hands of the hijackers, however, and the 9/11 Commission found no links to the royal family.
“We assert that purported ‘charities,’ established by the government of the Kingdom to propagate radical Wahhabi ideology throughout the world, served as the primary sources of funding and logistical support for Al Qaeda for more than a decade leading up to the 9/11 attacks,” Sean Carter, one of the lead attorneys in the lawsuit, told me. “Not coincidentally, these so-called charities were themselves regulated by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which from its formation, in 1993, assumed primary responsibility for the Kingdom’s efforts to spread Wahhabi Islam.”
Thomas Kean remembers finally having the opportunity to read those twenty-eight pages after he became chairman of the 9/11 Commission—“so secret that I had to get all of my security clearances and go into the bowels of Congress with someone looking over my shoulder.” He also remembers thinking at the time that most of what he was reading should never have been kept secret. But the focus on the twenty-eight pages obscures the fact that many important documents are still classified—“a ton of stuff,” Kean told me, including, for instance, the 9/11 Commission’s interviews with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Bill Clinton. “I don’t know of a single thing in our report that should not be public after ten years,” Kean said.
September 11th may be a part of history now, but some of the events that led to that horrible day remain veiled by the political considerations of the present. The intelligence community doesn’t want to light up its failures once again, and no doubt the Obama Administration doesn’t want to introduce additional strains on its relationship with the Saudis. In the meantime, the forces that led to catastrophe before are gathering strength once again. Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky and a sponsor of the House resolution to declassify the material, told me that the experience of reading those twenty-eight pages caused him to rethink how to handle the rise of ISIS. It has made him much more cautious about a military response. “We have to be careful, when we run the calculations of action, what the repercussions will be,” he said.
“In some ways, it’s more dangerous today,” Timothy Roemer, who was a member of both the Joint Inquiry and the 9/11 Commission, observed. “A more complex series of threats are coming together than even before 9/11, involving ISIS, Al Qaeda, and cyber-terrorist capabilities. The more the American people know about what happened thirteen years ago, the more we can have a credible, open debate” about our security needs. Releasing the twenty-eight pages, he said, might be a step forward. “Hopefully, after some initial shock and awe, it would make our process work better. Our government has an obligation to do this.”

Lawrence Wright has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992.

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• All work

GOP Rep. Walter Jones r NC Appears on White Nationalist Radio Show 10SEP12

THIS guy is sick, twisted, and a disgrace to the US House and his N Carolina district. If he is reelected it will be because he is representing the "values" of his electorate and that is something we should all be ashamed of. 

—By Tim Murphy

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) Rep. Walter Jones/Flickr

A North Carolina Republican congressman appeared on a notorious white nationalist radio program on Saturday to talk up legislation he coauthored accusing President Barack Obama of committing impeachable offenses. Rep. Walter Jones, a fiercely anti-war congressman who often breaks with his party on key votes, appeared on the Political Cesspool, a Memphis-based program hosted by ardent white nationalists James Edwards and Eddie Miller. The show has been condemned by groups like the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center for promoting racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic beliefs. Jones is the first member of Congress to appear on the program.
An avowed white nationalist who says David Duke is "above reproach," Edwards has referred to African Americans as "heathen savages" and "subhuman" and suggested that slavery was "the greatest thing that ever happened" to blacks. The show's mission statement is blunt: "We represent a philosophy that is pro-White and are against political centralization," it declares. It then outlines a series of issues the show exists to promote. "We wish to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races," reads one plank. Another bullet point endorses the Confederacy: "Secession is a right of all people and individuals. It was successful in 1776 and this show honors those who tried to make it successful in 1865."
Edwards' rhetoric has caught the attention of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which argues that he has "probably done more than any of his contemporaries on the American radical right to publicly promote neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, raging anti-Semites and other extremists." As the SPLC notes:

"The Political Cesspool" in the past two years has become the primary radio nexus of hate in America. Its sponsors include the CCC and the Institute for Historical Review, a leading Holocaust denial organization. Its guest roster for 2007 reads like a "Who's Who" of the radical racist right. CCC leader Gordon Lee Baum, Holocaust denier Mark Weber, Canadian white supremacist Paul Fromm, American Renaissance editor Jared Taylor, neo-Nazi activist April Gaede, anti-Semitic professor Kevin MacDonald, Stormfront webmaster Jamie Kelso and League of the South president Michael Hill have all been favorably interviewed on the "Political Cesspool" this year, along with former Klan leader and neo-Nazi David Duke, the show's most frequent celebrity racist guest, who has logged three appearances.

Edwards' bigotry runs the spectrum. As Media Matters has documented, Edwards has alleged that Jews "run Washington, Wall Street, and the news and entertainment media" and that they're "using pornography as a subversive tool against" Christians. He defended Mississippi voters who say that interracial marriage should be illegal. (He's called interracial sex "white genocide.") Jones is hardly the first prominent conservative to call into the Cesspool. Paul Babeu, a prominent anti-immigrant sheriff who was forced to step down as Mitt Romney's Arizona co-chair after a gay sex scandal, praised the host in a 2010 appearance on the show. Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan has also appeared on the show; Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) had been booked to appear on Edwards' show but canceled at the last minute, citing a scheduling conflict.
Jones, a shoo-in to win a 10th term in November, is an arch-conservative with an independent streak. An early supporter of the Iraq war—he even went so far as to rename French fries in the House cafeteria "freedom fries"—he had a change of heart (as we explained in a 2006 profile), in large part due to the burden shouldered by families in his eastern North Carolina district, which includes Camp Lejeune. (He supported Paul during the GOP presidential primaries.) Edwards, like Jones, is an avowed proponent of "noninterventionism" who, on his website, calls on the federal government to "stop interfering politically, militarily, and socially outside of the borders of the United States of America." On the Cesspool, Jones briefly discussed his bill, HR 107, which states that President Obama's handling of the military intervention in Libya is an impeachable offense.
Jones made a positive impression with his hosts, whom he engaged in friendly banter over the merits of musician Frankie Valli and the musical Jersey Boys. "This is your debut appearance and hopefully the first of many to come," Edwards said.
Multiple calls and emails to Jones' office on Monday were not returned.
Update, 9/11/12, 10:20 a.m.: Erik Anderson, Jones' Democratic challenger, told Mother Jones the congressman needs to clear the air about what happened. "It's unbelievable that a sitting congressman would think that's appropriate," said Anderson, a Marine Corps veteran. "I really would like to hear his reasoning for why he went on there. You just don't go on a radio show like that and not know who you're talking to. I've been on conservative radio shows, but never a white supremacist one." But he has one theory: "I've said [the impeachment resolution] was racially motivated and that's absolutely what it was for because why else would he go on that show if it wasn't?"

Tim Murphy

Reporter

Tim Murphy is a reporter at Mother Jones. Email him with tips and insights at tmurphy [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter

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The War Must Not Go On! from SOJO 23JUN11

AMEN!!!! A very well thought, well written commentary on the war in Afghanistan from Sojourners....
Last evening, President Obama made his long-awaited announcement on beginning withdrawal of the 103,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The president announced that 10,000 of these troops will be withdrawn by the end of this year, starting in July, and 23,000 more by the end of summer 2012. That will leave approximately 70,000 troops in Afghanistan, roughly double the number of troops (34,000) when he took office in 2008. The president said these remaining troops will be withdrawn “at a steady pace” going into 2014.

But that’s not good enough. President Obama had an opportunity to pivot his policy on the war in Afghanistan -- to focus on the still real threats of terrorism, rather than on failed wars of occupation with massive numbers of troops on the ground. Public opinion polls now consistently show that 50 to 60 percent of the American people want the troops to come home. Two-hundred-four members of the House, from both parties, voted in late May for the McGovern-Jones amendment -- which calls for an accelerated withdrawal and a responsible exit from Afghanistan. Two members of Congress, Jim McGovern and Walter Jones, one Democrat and one Republican, were the authors of that measure and have been the real leaders of political and moral conscience on this war. Twenty-eight bipartisan senators also called for an accelerated withdrawal in a recent letter to the president. A wide array of political leaders, from both parties -- including senators Carl Levin, Max Baucus, and Richard Lugar, and Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul -- are expressing reservations about the war strategy. Obama could have built on these changes in public opinion and announced a dramatic change in war policy for Afghanistan. But last night, he did not.

We constantly hear the message, “Support the troops.” It’s on bumper stickers, at ball games, and on banners in airports. As a Christian who opposed the two wars our troops have been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, I can say that I do support the troops. They are primarily young, from lower-income and working families, who in the current economy have few other options. The military promised them the opportunity for a job, training, and perhaps the chance go to college on their return. But that promise to young people with few other options came at a high price. So far, 1,552 Americans have died in the war in Afghanistan; 11,200 have been wounded. In one study of the 300,000 returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who sought help from Veterans Affairs health centers, nearly 37 percent of those treated for the first time were suffering from mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or alcohol problems. These problems too often result in suicide. During the first half of 2009, more American soldiers committed suicide than were killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. In June 2010, an average of one soldier a day committed suicide. Furthermore, 11 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed.

Of course, there are very few children of members of Congress, or of finance and business executives, in the military. Those who run the country are not sending their children to fight the wars they continue to prolong. Frankly, war is good business for those who run the military-industrial complex that former President Eisenhower warned us about. Generals always recommend more war because it’s their business. It gets them promotions and advances their careers. And they often distort the facts to stay in business -- claiming progress in order to justify continued war -- when there really is no significant progress at all. Meanwhile, more young people get killed or damaged for the rest of their lives, and the cost for so many innocents is even higher. That can simply no longer be justified in Afghanistan.

The president acknowledged and honored the sacrifice of the troops, and said we need to shift from nation-building in Afghanistan to nation-building at home. But the meager reduction of troops he announced last night simply doesn’t support either goal. I heard on Morning Joe this morning that John McCain has more staff on Capitol Hill than the CIA reports al Qaeda now has in Afghanistan. And the threat of Bin Laden was not ended by the war in Afghanistan, but by focused intelligence and counter-terrorism in Pakistan. Yet, after the president’s announcement last night, the United States will still have nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan for the rest of this year, and will spend more than $100 billion in the coming year. It seems the war in Afghanistan will go on and on and on.

To truly support the troops who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, we must commit our resources where they are most needed. We must make the courageous decision to end the war in Afghanistan much faster than the president called for last night. Incremental and gradual drawdowns of troops over many years is not the correct response to a failed war. We needed a pivot to a new policy last night -- but we didn’t get it.

The president’s decision to finish his first term with twice as many U.S. troops in Afghanistan as when he took office is a political and moral mistake. This week, nearly 40 religious leaders delivered a letter to the White House saying “we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the U.S. war in Afghanistan to an end.” We must now build on that to mobilize resistance to the war across the religious community. It’s time for the faith community to help lead the movement that will bring this unnecessary and unjust war to an end. The president’s message last night was “the war goes on.” Our message on Afghanistan must be: War No More.

+Click here for Sojourners’ FREE “War No More” bumper sticker as a gift for your involvement!

Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

Reps. McGovern & Jones: ‘The Anti-War Movement In Congress Is Going To Continue To Grow & Intensify’ 23JUN11

THE anti-war movement is growing, support is growing across the entire political spectrum. We are tired of the killing and maiming of our troops, we are tired of the cost of the war, we are tired of supporting a corrupt and undemocratic government in Kabul. This from ThinkProgress.....

By Ben Armbruster

Late last month, Congress nearly defeated an amendment sponsored by Reps.Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) that would have mandated an accelerated U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The measure failed 204-215, but the result is significant because it garnered 26 Republican votes.
At an event today sponsored by the Center for American Progress, McGovern and Jones said President Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan he announced last night does not go far enough. “We need to get all the troops out of Afghanistan sooner than 2014, because 2014 will become 2015 and so on, and it will be a neverending exit date,” Jones said.
In an interview with ThinkProgress after the event, both lawmakers stressed that they’re not giving up their efforts in Congress. “I think the anti-war movement in Congress is going to continue to grow and intensify,” McGovern said. Jones said he’s optimistic that he can peel away more Republicans to their side:

JONES: Republicans are beginning to understand that trying to police the world, you can’t pay for it. That’s what Republicans are beginning to understand. [...] What I’m trying to do on our side is to get more Republicans to join on the bill. Because that in itself sends a signal. But I believe, as Jim said, we’re not going away. [...]
TP: Are there a lot more Republicans talking to you privately?
JONES: Oh yeah.

Watch the interview clip:


Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), who is also part of a coalition of leaders in Congress pushing for an end to war in Afghanistan, has called on the president to reduce forces there to 20,000 by the end of 2012 and to around 10,000 by the end of 2013. “Anything short of that,” he said in a separate interview with ThinkProgress last week, “he’s [Obama] going to have a revolt in Congress. Congress has had it.”

END THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN NOW! from MOVEON.ORG 3JUN11

Enough is enough, we have lost to many, over 1500 so far, thousands have life altering injuries, and billions of dollars are being wasted in supporting a corrupt and unreliable government. It is time to bring our men and women home. Click the link to sign the petition that will be delivered to Pres Obama by Rep Chillie Pingree D ME next week, and share with family and friends and coworkers.

You, along with our friends and allies, have helped get us closer to bringing the war in Afghanistan to an end.

Just last week, the House voted on the McGovern-Jones Amendment, which called for an "accelerated transition" of our troops out of Afghanistan. This critical bellwether for where Congress stands on the war had thousands of you calling your representatives as it came to a vote.

While the Amendment was narrowly defeated (204 to 215), the votes it attracted, including those of 26 Republicans, exceeded everyone's expectations. It's hard to come so close to an unexpected victory, but the massive improvement (by 25%) over the 162 votes previously received for similar legislation was a victory in itself. It helped send a strong message.

Combined with petitions signed by over 250,000 people, President Obama is hearing that Americans, including many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, want this long war brought to an end. 

The President will get that message specifically from MoveOn members next week, when your petition is sent to him straight from Representative Chellie Pingree. Help get as many names on it as possible before then, by sharing it with people you know:

Click here to share the petitionto bring our troops home.

This is right when the President is deciding how many troops to bring home in July, to honor his 2009 commitment for an "accelerated transition". And we need to keep pushing back against voices in the Pentagon who want to keep us in Afghanistan without any foreseeable end.

Our friends at Credo Action, Win Without War, Brave New Foundation, USAction, Democracy for America, and Campaign for America's Future, among others, all contributed to getting over 250,000 Americans on petitions to bring our troops home. We'll continue to work with these allies on ways to bring our troops home faster, accelerate the end of the war, and put a stop to its unacceptable drain on our resources. 

AFGHANISTAN: NO MORE EXCUSES-END THIS WAR from Sojourners 11MAI11

I agree with this article from Sojourners and have signed on supporting the call to end the war in Afghanistan. Click the link to e mail your Representative and tell them to support and pass the H.R 1735, the "Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act". A vote is expected before Memorial Day.

There is no more room or time for excuses. The war in Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history, needs to end. On moral, financial, and strategic grounds, the continuing of the war in Afghanistan cannot be justified.

President Obama has promised to start troop withdrawal in July, but he’s being pressured to reduce the effort to a “symbolic withdrawal” and to continue on a path to many more years of war.We cannot wait any longer to end this war; its costs aresimply too great. 

• Financial: The U.S. is spending more than $100 billion per year in Afghanistan
• Human: 1,570 Americans killed, more than 10,000 wounded  
• More than 10,000 civilian Afghan deaths, 3,000 in 2010 alone 

Congress has a big role to play in what happens next. Representatives Jim McGovern and Walter Jones have introduced important legislation that, if passed, would require the Obama administration to present an exit strategy for U.S. forces from Afghanistan(1).

This bill will show President Obama how much support he has in the Congress for a real withdrawal plan beginning this summer -- but only if it has robust support by legislators. We can help build support for this bill by asking our senators and representatives to sign on. Email your members of Congress and tell them to support the“Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act.”

Thank you for your partnership. We know that our scriptures and history teach us that war is not the way to achieve the peace and security we are striving to build in this world. Sometimes things seem bleak -- but together, as part of a community seeking a new future, we can make a difference.

Blessings,

Elizabeth, Duane, Tim, and the team

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Footnotes:
HR 1735, the Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act:
Specifically, the bill (The “Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act”) would:

1. Require the president to transmit to Congress a plan with timeframe and completion date for the transition of U.S. military and security operations in Afghanistan to the government of Afghanistan;
2. Require the president to report quarterly (i.e., every 90 days) on the status of that transition, and the human and financial costs of remaining in Afghanistan, including increased deficit and public debt; and
3. Require that in those quarterly reports the president disclose to Congress the savings in five-year, 10-year, and 20-year time periods were the U.S. to accelerate redeployment and conclude the transition of all U.S. military and security operations to Afghanistan within 180 days (i.e., six months).

Afghanistan: No More Excuses
After 10 long years, the national conversation on the war in Afghanistan has changed significantly. And now, the hunt for Osama bin Laden, used for years to justify the war, is over. The official reasons for continuing the war are disappearing each day. The threat of al Qaeda in Afghanistan has significantly weakened. Many people are shocked when they learn that there are only 100 al Qaeda operatives left in Afghanistan, but more than 100,000 American troops remain. As the debate on the deficit heats up, we need to say again and again that the more than $100 billion a year that is spent on the war is no longer sustainable. Every American should know these numbers: 100 terrorists; 100,000 troops; $100 billion -- it just isn't adding up anymore. There are no more excuses for delaying a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released this week shows that 59 percent of Americans agree that the "United States has accomplished its mission in Afghanistan and should bring its troops home." Congressional pressure is also growing. News reports indicate that those who favor "a swift reduction of U.S. forces" have been gaining momentum.
A significant part of this pressure to end the war is the introduction of the "Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act" by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC). H.R. 1735 was submitted with 14 additional sponsors, eight Democrats, and six Republicans. Ending the war is now a bipartisan effort. The legislation would require the president to submit a plan with a timeline and completion date for the transition of military operations to the Afghan government, and require quarterly progress reports along with projections of how much would be saved if the transition were completed in six months.
In his statement, Rep. McGovern said: "We're told that we can't afford vital domestic funding, but we should continue to borrow billions and billions of dollars for nation-building in Afghanistan. That's nuts. … On Monday [May 2], the Pentagon reported that 1,550 American troops have died in Afghanistan. Last week, another one of my constituents was killed. Tens of thousands more have been wounded. … Enough is enough."
Rep. Walter Jones' opposition to this war has made him a modern profile of courage. He turned against the war after visiting constituents who lost their children, fathers, and mothers, as well as soldiers in the hospital whose lives have been forever shattered. He doesn't think this war is worth their sacrifice. He is right.
Although the president has committed to begin withdrawing troops in July, the military is working behind the scenes to make this withdrawal as small as possible. In their initial proposal, the military floated a news story suggesting a withdrawal of only 5,000 troops. This is not acceptable anymore, and we must insist on a clear, quick, and responsible exit -- not one slowly drawn out over years. Too much money has been spent, and too many lives have been lost. It's time for the war to end. So I am calling on you, our most committed constituents, to contact your members of Congress and urge them to co-sponsor this legislation. With our voices, we can make a difference, and we must. The time has come to end this war.