Massachusetts congressmen’s 9/11 pleas go unanswered by President Obama

For years, U.S. Representative Stephen Lynch, a South Boston Democrat, has fought for the release of 28 secret pages published in a governmental report that may show that a foreign government helped fund the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As the Boston Globe reported, the pages were withheld by President George W. Bush. And they have remained out of public view during the presidency of Barack Obama, despite promises to the victims’ families that he would release them.

This is a matter of grave local concern given that the two planes that destroyed the World Trade Center took off from Boston’s Logan Airport. And Lynch, joined by his fellow Massachusetts congressman Michael Capuano, a Democrat from Somerville, are right to be pushing for full disclosure.

No doubt Obama is dealing with some dicey geopolitical realities. Earlier this year a New York Times article revealed that convicted Al Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui claims to have been in touch with top officials of the government of our dubious ally Saudi Arabia prior to 9/11. Moussaoui may not be anyone’s idea of a reliable source, but Senator Bob Graham, D-Florida, who was among the 9/11 investigators, has said the secret 28 pages pertain to Saudi funding of the attacks.

In an op-ed commentary for the Globe, Lynch quoted Thomas Jefferson in arguing for the release of the 28 pages: “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a Republic [and] self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight.”

“In other words,” as Lynch himself added, “there can be no accountability without transparency.”