Declassifying more intelligence information, [Democrat Bob] Graham wrote ... "will permit the Saudi government to deal with any questions which may be raised in the currently censored pages, and allow the American people to make their own judgment about who are our true friends and allies in the war on terrorism," wrote Graham, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The censored passages deal with information that suggest "specific sources of foreign support for some of the Sept. 11 hijackers while they were in the United States," according to a summary in the congressional report. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.
Of course, the real question is what the White House knew and when they knew it, also censored from the 9/11 report, but it's good that Graham is dealing with getting the 28 pages uncensored. It takes a village to stomp a weasel...
The Florida Democrat has been among Bush's harshest critics of late. Over the weekend, Graham repeated his criticism that Bush "knowingly" misled the American people about the reasons for going to war in Iraq and said that was an impeachable offense.
"Clearly, if the standard is now what the House of Representatives did in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the actions of this president [are] much more serious in terms of dereliction of duty," the Florida Democrat said on Fox News Sunday.
Duh!
UPDATE From alert reader johnx: Graham was on Bill Maher's show, used the term "Osama Bin Forgotten." Hey, who says Graham is dull? Not me!
UPDATE Careful orchestration?
Tabassum Zakaria of Reuters here:
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister will meet President Bush on Tuesday and was likely to ask that portions of a Sept. 11 report related to Saudi Arabia be declassified, U.S. officials and diplomatic sources said.
Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal requested a meeting with Bush and it was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Yep... The 28 pages could just be a news-cycle-sucking diversion (back). When will Graham call for all the White House material to be released?