AntiWar.com reports: “Trump Meets With Syria’s Al-Qaeda Leader-Turned President, Praises His ‘Strong Past.’”
CHARLES GLASS, [email protected], @charlesmglass
Glass is a noted journalist who has covered the Mideast for decades. His latest book is the just-released Syria: Civil War to Holy War? He recently wrote the piece “Syria’s New Rulers Get a Makeover” for The Nation, see IPA news release.
KRISTEN BREITWEISER, [email protected]
Breitweiser is a 9/11 widow and activist. Working with a group of other 9/11 widows known as the “Jersey Girls,” she was able to pressure the U.S. government to conduct a formal investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
Today, she told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “I’m tired of hearing the same recycled talking points about ‘being outraged’ and needing to ‘hold the Saudis accountable’ for 9/11 — as if their complicity is the entire story. It’s not.
“For nearly 24 years, while the families of the murdered have been forced to beg for truth and justice, countless military contractors, lobbyists, and war profiteers have gotten rich off our grief.
“Similar to every President before him — President Trump — who many families still hope will finally stand up to the intel agencies that failed to prevent 9/11 and who may or may not have asked the Saudis to follow the hijackers months before 9/11 — toured the Gulf, signed $600 billion in arms deals with the Saudis, is pushing for a $400 million plane from the Qataris, and shook hands with a leader who once empowered or emerged from the same forces that gave rise to Al Qaeda. (Not forgetting here, of course, that the CIA were the original creators of al Qaeda back in the 80’s.)
“Administration after administration has refused to confront the full truth of who enabled and benefited from the mass murder of 3,000 people in New York. Why the contempt for justice? Because truth, transparency, and justice for the widows and children left behind were never on the agenda.
“Nearly a quarter century later, it’s time to stop using 9/11 as a blank check for reckless foreign policy. How many more wars will be waged, how many drone strikes launched, human rights violated, and pallets of cash shipped — all in our names — while justice for the 9/11 families remains out of reach?
“Governments got their invasions.
“Military contractors got their billions.
“Senators got their deep-pocketed contributions.
“Intelligence officials got their promotions — and impunity.
“So I ask again: Where is our justice, Mr. President?”