The widely accepted narrative is that 19 militants associated with al Qaeda terrorist group orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on 11th of September 2001. While the tragic event shocked the world, debates still persist whether Saudi Arabia had a hand in financing and supporting the 9/11 attacks. A considerable amount of circumstantial evidence and narrative analysis depicts that Saudi Arabia might have played a crucial role in the terror attack but there has been no concrete proof yet.
The accusations that Saudi Arabia funded the 9/11 terror attack started when some members of Al Qaeda were revealed to be of Saudi nationality. An extensive investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation showed that 15 out of the 19 hijackers had close ties to Saudi Arabia. Some of the hijackers had direct links to people within the Saudi Arabian government and the most curious point in the matter is that some of the hijackers left the country prior to the attack with 15 of them receiving direct help from members of Saudi society.
The initial allegations remarking Saudis were tied to 9/11 were strengthened when the Congressional report stated that it found ‘incontrovertible evidence’ that Saudi government funded extremist madrassas in Pakistan and Siria which provided some of the biggest recruitment grounds for al Qaeda terrorist organisation. Reports also suggested the charity organisations of Saudi government funded these madrassas to the tune of billions of dollars.
The questions took a different turn in 2017 when US President Donald Trump declassified the 28-page document which showed that Saudi Arabian government had ties with the terrorist attacks and in 2018 US Senate finally decided to pass the bill that allowed families of 9/11 victims to sue and seek legal action against Saudi government for aiding and abetting the terror attack.
Analysis of 9/11 official reports and other records indicate that members of Saudi government had indeed provided fundings to the attackers even though it has not been determined who exactly was responsible for bankrolling the operation. Intelligence analysts have warned that terrorists’ sources of fundings are not limited to Saudi Arabian government and their financiers originate from several other countries. Furthermore, several experts also believe that scrutinizing the Saudi Arabian government will only offer a part of the whole story as the facts that emerged during the investigation did not provide enough evidence to accuse Saudi government into the litigation of 9/11.
The US government, however, still directs attention towards several charity groups and organisations associated with Saudi government which were reported to be engaged in ransom money, weapons deal, and terror funding activities to further their ulterior motives. Since the 9/11 incident, US government had imposed several sanctions on such organizations. It is believed that intelligence agencies have identified some of the financiers but to maintain the diplomatic relations, US had refrained from divulging them. Consequently, this has solicited suspicion that Saudi government might be indirectly involved in terror financing.
Do Riyadh have evidence to prove innocence?
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always denied any involvement and links with the 9/11 attacks. Riyadh has also invited US intelligence agencies to investigate if there was any involvement of the government officials, or state entities, but till now no concrete evidence has been found that proved the active participation of Saudi Arabia. The former US envoy to Riyadh, Robert Jordan argued that Saudi royal family have shielded some organizations and individuals that have connections with’ terrorists even though this was not an official policy. The ambiguities in US-Saudi relations have raised several questions about the capabilities of US intelligence agencies and what purpose did Saudi Arabia had to play in terror financing.
The charges of 9/11 financing against the Saudi Arabia are politically driven and some analysts have argued that it overlooks the fact that individuals as well as several private entities from several other countries have also been reported to funnel money into Saudi Arabia just like other nations across Middle East. Thus there has not been enough evidence which could be used against Saudi government and that is the reason the lawsuit against the Riyadh was dismissed by a U.S court in 2005.
The US, however, found it difficult to accept the dismissal of the lawsuit and requested the Saudi government to provide evidence of their innocence in the tragic incident of 9/11. The then US President Barack Obama urged Riyadh to cooperate in order to resolve the diplomatic tensions between the two nations. However, Riyadh has denied all allegations against them and maintain that it stands for world peace and not atrocities like 9/11.
Does the US have sufficient proof to pressurise Riyadh?
Ubiquitous investigator reports, analysis and intelligence reports provide a lot of circumstantial evidence and indicates that some elements of Saudi Arabia were involved in terror funding and financing though hard evidence linking Saudi government has not been produced yet. The US Senate could use this circumstantial evidence to pressurise the Saudi government by threatening to invoke the sanctions against the Riyadh government if they don’t cooperate in the investigations. This would be necessary to repair the faltering relationship between the two nations and maintain the balance of power in the Middle East.
The US also had to realize that since 9/11, several terror groups have been formed that were funded by organizations and individuals from different countries and thus implicating a single nation as a root cause is unwise and risky. Moreover, evidence has been produced that implicates individuals from 14 different countries into different aspects of the terror financing that is linked to the 9/11 attack.
Imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia for financing the 9/11 attacks, or indicting Riyadh officials, would not only affect the diplomatic ties between the two nations but would also have catastrophic effect on the entire Middle East region. That is why it is highly unlikely that US will pressurise Riyadh to disclose the information unless sufficient evidence of Saudi government involvement is found.
Conclusions
The 9/11 horrific attack provided a unique opportunity for both US and Saudi Arabia to re-evaluate their relationship and to end their patron-protégé arrangement. US government’s decision to declassify the 28-page report strengthens the notion that it is willing to take action against Riyadh if sufficient evidence is found. But while some of the evidence and analysis points to the involvement of Saudi Arabi, it is important to remember that many other nations also have a hand in the terrorism funding, thus the whole matter should not be pinned on Saudi Arabia alone.
Participation of Other Countries
Since the investigations of the 9/11 attacks have been unable to determine which nation was responsible for it, intelligence analysts allege that there is no single party involved in the incident. Reports suggest that financial and political support from several countries has enabled terror activities in the past which hints the possibility that terror funding was done by multiple organized entities from different countries.
The testimony of Lawrence Wright in front of the US senate, and his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and Road to 9/11, which was based on his investigation, not only showed the participation of Saudi Arabia in the incident but also mentions the much-unleashed story of terror onslaught in other countries of the region. In spite of this evidence, US government has chosen to keep the diplomatic relations intact with Saudi Arabia. People have started to ponder whether US has something to hide because of its close ties with Saudi Arabia and if that could be the reason why notion of terror financing done by other nations has been suppressed.
In the aftermath of the attack, Al Qaeda leadership had scattered with the disappearance of Usama Bin Laden and some of them had shifted to other countries like the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Siria, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, and Iran. The US-led coalition forces started their attacks in Afghanistan in order to take out the militants and stopped the conversion of Al Qaeda into a full-fledged terrorist group. US and allied forces had failed to annihilate Al Qaeda even though they were able to arrest several of its leading figures. Financial channels and terror cells in different countries increased in order to gain support to Al Qaeda so that it could continue to expand its terror activities.
Did Other Countries Benefit from 9/11?
The connections between Saudi Arabia and 9/11 incident allow other countries to escape from scrutiny and accountability. The countries in Middle East, which have revolutionary history, have provided refuge and safe heavens for terrorists and extremists. Reports state that regimes in some of these countries have their own interpretations of Islam and use these interpretations as a base to take control over particular geographical regions.
US government and NATO forces had been able to take fort of Afghanistan back but could not capture or attack the other countries which were providing safe havens for terrorists. The US government’s decision to avoid finding out the source of fundings in other countries amplified the suspicion that the US wanted to use 9/11 incident to invade Middle East for its own interests and pursue few of its internal foreign policy objectives.
Information became readily available after the attack of 9/11 that showed the involvement of many other countries in terror activities and providing fundings to al Qaeda. The reports of National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon US concluded that on going conflicts between different nations of the region had enabled al Qaeda to recruit individuals from different countries as well as to raise capital to finance its terror operations.
What Does the Future Hold for 9/11 Investigation?
It is still difficult to ascertain that some other countries had financed 9/11 attacks or not because US government had kept them out of the investigations. Countries like Iran, Iraq, and Syria should also be investigated and a possible link between them and 9/11 needs to be examined so that justice is served. In addition to this, US government should use the leverage of its diplomatic ties with the countries to investigate the traces of terror fundings.
The biggest question remains that if terrorists who had done 9/11 are not alive how will the justice be served. That is the primary reason why US government should deploy its intelligence agencies to find proof against those countries that were sources of terror fundings. The involvement of countries like Iran and Iraq will bring more transparency in the investigation and it will allow the 9/11 victims and their families get the justice that they deserved.
US government should use the geopolitical structure and technology to determine the source of fundings and further revise the laws to punish those countries who provided refuge, weapons, and resources to commit the terror attack. Efforts should be made to prevent the financing of terrorist activities in the future irrespective of any political or religious ties they have.
