I admire America’s tolerance of a fifth column in its midst. How come this mosque wasn’t knocked down and its leaders deported in the aftermath of 9\/11? Because of the Constitution. Three cheers for tolerance! In a normal country, these mosques would be destroyed. <\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)<\/a> \u2014 Lawmakers are calling on the White House to declassify more than two dozen pages in the 9\/11 Commission report that they say outlines evidence for possible support from the Saudi government for two hijackers who settled in Southern California.<\/p>\n A CBS News \u201c60 Minutes\u201d report quoted officials familiar with the 2003 report as saying 28 pages of redacted information raises questions over whether Saudi officials were involved in assisting Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar upon their arrival in Los Angeles in Jan. 2000.<\/p>\n Former Democratic congressman and U.S. ambassador to India Tim Roemer told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d the two Saudi nationals found a way to gain access to housing and flight lessons upon their arrival despite \u201cextremely limited language skills and no experience with Western culture.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cL.A., San Diego, that\u2019s really you know, the hornet\u2019s nest,\u201d said Roemer. \u201cThat\u2019s really the one that I continue to think about almost on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the report, witnesses say both al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar met at the King Fahad mosque in Culver City with Fahad al-Thumairy, \u201ca diplomat at the Saudi consulate known to hold extremist views.\u201d He was denied reentry to the U.S. in 2003 for suspected terrorist ties.<\/p>\n Thumairy was a \u201ca ghost employee with a no-show job at a Saudi aviation contractor outside Los Angeles while drawing a paycheck from the Saudi government\u201d, according to the report.<\/p>\n \u201c60 Minutes\u201d also cited phone records that lawmakers say may link Thumairy to Omar al-Bayoumi, a mysterious Saudi who became the hijackers\u2019 biggest benefactor.<\/p>\n Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham said he believes Bayoumi was a Saudi agent, telling CBS News\u2019 Steve Kroft that Bayoumi had \u201cbeen listed even before 9\/11 in FBI files as being a Saudi agent.\u201d<\/p>\n According to \u201c60 Minutes\u201d, Bayoumi visited Thumairy at a Saudi consulate office where he worked on the morning of Feb. 1, 2000. The two then had lunch \u201cat a Middle Eastern restaurant on Venice Boulevard\u201d, a meeting which Bayoumi later claimed was a \u201ccoincidence\u201d, Roemer said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I admire America’s tolerance of a fifth column in its midst. How come this mosque wasn’t knocked down and its leaders deported in the aftermath of 9\/11? Because of the Constitution. Three cheers for tolerance! In a normal country, these … Continue reading