The Kingdom and the Towers

„For 10 years now, a major question about 9/11 has remained unresolved. It was, as 9/11-commission chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton recalled, »Had the hijackers received any support from foreign governments?« There was information that pointed to the answer, but the commissioners apparently deemed it too disquieting to share in full with the public. The idea that al-Qaeda had not acted alone was there from the start. The terrorists do not function in a vacuum, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters the week after 9/11. »I know a lot, and what I have said, as clearly as I know how, is that states are supporting these people.« Pressed to elaborate, Rumsfeld was silent for a long moment. Then, saying it was a sensitive matter, he changed the subject.

Three years later, the commission would consider whether any of three foreign countries in particular might have had a role in the attacks. Two were avowed foes of the United States: Iraq and Iran. The third had long been billed as a close friend: Saudi Arabia. In its report, the commission stated that it had seen no »evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al-Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States«.

Iran, the commission found, had long had contacts with al-Qaeda and had allowed its operatives—including a number of the future hijackers—to travel freely through its airports. Though there was no evidence that Iran »was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack«, the commissioners called on the government to investigate further.”