9/11 Commissioners intentionally downplayed and obscured the motives for the attacks.

9/11 Commissioners intentionally downplayed and obscured the motives for the attacks. So much so that Seth can read an excerpt from the report quoted in this post: "Why Do They Hate Us?" by Jonathan Schwarz on his blog A Tiny Revolution and be able to downplay the Israel motive. The fact is that part of the 9/11 report is close to Zelikow's testimony to the commission but omits a key sentence which Zelikow said in his testimony about bin Laden which makes a clear point: "The al-Qeada leader wanted to punish the United States for supporting Israel."

What a devious game the authors of the 9/11 Commission Report played, it is beyond the pale for them to obscure the main motive. In addition to omitting that key sentence, the 9/11 Report omitted key testimony from FBI Special Agent James Fitzgerald in response to Lee Hamilton's question, "what motivated them to do it?" Fitzgerald answered, "I believe they feel a sense of outrage against the United States. They identify with the Palestinian problem, they identify with people who oppose repressive regimes and I believe they tend to focus their anger on the United States." This testimony was kept out of the 9/11 Commission Report and no recommendation was given to address the main motive for the 9/11 attacks. When they did make mention of what they tried so hard to downplay, the authors had the audacity to use these weasel words, "American policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and American actions in Iraq are dominant staples of popular commentary." See video

UPDATE: I got this unpleasant response from Seth:

"Tom: Yeah, I'm part of the chain of "deviousness." Me, Ariel Sharon and Tom Friedman and the rest of the Zionist conspiracy.

Let's run away because some Saudi maniac hates us!

Personally I am a non-interventionist and believe that the US should restrict its involvement to its proper borders: the Western Hemisphere.

If we were to draw down our commitments elsewhere and concentrate on what we have going on over here (Canada, Brazil) we would ensure our people's wealth and prosperity for at least the next century. Let China and Russia fight over the Afghan wasteland and the diminishing Saudi oil reserves. We're set over here. It's bound to happen in the next thirty years anyway...better sooner than later, right?"

Seth, I never said you conspired with anyone else and I didn't even call your specific actions devious. I said you can talk inaccurately about bin Laden's motives even after reading an excerpt from the 9/11 Report because THAT report was deviously put together in order to downplay and obscure the main motive. I don't know what is motivating you but your reply to me doesn't indicate that you are upset that you were innocently mislead by the 9/11 Commission Report , Thomas Friedman and others. Why aren't you directing your anger at those who mislead you?

Friedman lies about bin Laden's motives. Friedman claims, "the fact is that bin Laden never focused on this issue. He only started talking about "Palestine" after September 11, when he sensed that he might be losing the support of the Arab street. " (p311 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) and " Osama bin Laden never mentioned the Palestinian cause as motivating his actions until he felt he was losing support in the Arab world. " (p361-362 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) What Friedman has written is a flat out lie. To give just one example which disproves Friedman's canard: "Your position against Muslims in Palestine is despicable and disgraceful. America has no shame. " - Osama bin Laden May 1998 Also see: bin Laden has been angry about US support of Israel for years.

Thomas Friedman has been LYING about the motives of terrorists for years. Friedman claimed they "have no specific ideological program or demands. Rather, they are driven by a generalized hatred of the U.S., Israel and other supposed enemies of Islam." He is a liar, it is not "generalized hatred," it is specific things! It is beyond the pale to feed the public lies about life and death issues. Friedman wrote that in 1998, after years of crystal clear messages, for example the 1993 letter to the NYT. Terrorists stated specific motives in a letter sent to the New York Times after the 1993 bombing attack of the WTC, "We declare our responsibility for the explosion on the mentioned building. This action was done in response for the American political, economical, and military support to Israel the state of terrorism and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region."

And most media elites follow Friedman's canard about bin Laden and Palestine. What is wrong with elites like Anderson Cooper with their extreme pro-Israel bias? Anderson Cooper continued to push Friedman's canard even after reading (or claiming to read) a book that specifically exposed the canard. Cooper was actually interviewing Peter Bergen and says to him: "It -- it's interesting, also, to hear them reference Palestinians. As -- as I read in your book, "The Osama Bin Laden I Know: The Oral History of Osama bin Laden," I mean, bin Laden wasn't talking about Palestinians from the get-go." Bergen looked uncomfortable in having to explain to Cooper, "Well, he -- he has always been interested in the Palestinian issue." See link: Osama bin Laden Has Been Angry About U.S. Support of Israel for Decades