No Saudi link to 9/11

CIA finally declassifies report on Saudi links to 9/11

Manama

Ten years after the CIA's Office of the Inspector General completed its investigation into intelligence failures prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a series of four coordinated attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States, the agency on has declassified its report late on Friday.

The very final section of the OIG report, titled "Issues related to Saudi Arabia," is entirely redacted, save for three brief paragraphs. They say the investigation found no evidence that the Saudi government had supported or played any role in the attacks. However, it says, some members of the CIA's Near East and Counterterrorism divisions speculated that rogue Saudi officials may have aided al-Qaeda's actions.

The report claims no conclusive answer, but states it found no evidence that "the Saudi government knowingly and willingly supported the al-Qaeda terrorists." However, its sources speculated that rogue Saudi officials may have been involved — a long-running suspicion.

The report had no dramatic new revelations, but it does offer additional analysis on the same problems that were identified in other government investigations.

"Concerning certain issues, the team concluded that the CIA and its officers did not discharge their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner," the report states.

The inspector general's investigation followed a joint congressional inquiry that concluded that the U.S. intelligence community did not have a comprehensive strategy for combating al Qaeda.

The report found that no CIA employee violated laws and that the errors in intelligence gathering were not the product of misconduct.

The problem, the report states, is that agents did not perform their jobs satisfactorily.