Originally published at the NYTimes by Lorie Van Auken and Mindy Kleinberg on 2/17/15
To the Editor:
New Light Cast on Secret Pages in Sept. 11 Report” (front page, Feb. 5) reiterates Senator Bob Graham’s finding from the Congressional Joint Inquiry: that the Saudis were tied to the funding of the 9/11 attacks. Philip D. Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission, has tried to refute this.
Mr. Zelikow reportedly blocked two key staff members from reading the 28 classified pages. He even fired one of them, who tried to get access to the pages because she rightly felt that she couldn’t do her job without the information. This is hardly a recipe for forming convincing conclusions.
Bankrupting the terrorists would go a long way toward keeping all countries safe, yet the government is unwilling to expose the facts about the funding of Al Qaeda. Classification isn’t supposed to be used for keeping the secrets of a foreign government. With terrorism on the rise, wouldn’t it be appropriate for the American public finally to read those pages?
| LORIE VAN AUKEN | MINDY KLEINBERG |
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The writers lost their husbands on 9/11.