What Motivated the 9/11 Hijackers? See Testimony Most Didn't

What motivated the 9/11 hijackers to attack the US? It is not because they "hate our freedoms." It is because of the United States foreign policy bias for Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. government support for other oppressive regimes in the Middle East.

The 9-11 Commission held its twelfth and final public hearing June 16-17, 2004, in Washington, DC. On June 16 the Commission heard from several of the federal government's top law enforcement and intelligence experts on al Qaeda and the 9-11 plot. It was at this hearing that the question "What motivated them to do it?" was finally asked. Lee Hamilton, vice chair of the 9/11 Commission said, "I'm interested in the question of motivation of these hijackers, and my question is really directed to the agents. ... what have you found out about why these men did what they did? What motivated them to do it?" The agents looked at each other, apparently not eager to be the one to have to say it. FBI Special Agent Fitzgerald stepped up to the plate and laid out the facts, "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." But 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.

After the report was issued, the ten commissioners formed the "9-11 Public Discourse Project." At the August 2, 2005 session on foreign policy, Lee Hamilton quickly tries to silence someone who asks why US support for Israel isn't being addressed. The questioner started to ask, "Mr. Hamilton? I had a quick question for you sir. I had spoken with you on C-SPAN about a month ago ..." Immediately Hamilton interrupts him, "I think we'd uh ..." The questioner persisted, "why aren't we addressing the gorilla in the room? The gorilla in the room is US support for Israel." He corrects Hamilton's claim that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute wasn't addressed in the 9/11 Commission Report by referring to page 147 of the report which says, "By his own account, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel."

The questioner keeps getting interrupted by Hamilton as he pleads, "Why aren't we addressing that sir?" Hamilton didn't answer and dismisses the questioner, "Alright sir. Alright, this is a conversation you and I ought to have. Let's not take up the time of our resource people. May we go to the next question please?"

"This was sensitive ground," Hamilton and Kean say in their new book, "Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission," and some commissioners worried "listed U.S. support of Israel as a root cause of al Qaeda's opposition to the United States indicated that the United States should reassess that policy." There is a reason politicians don't want US support of Israel listed as a root cause of al Qaeda's terrorism. There is a reason politicians don't want the American people to "reassess that policy." If the public were to take a good look at the facts, if they researched what the policies actually do to people in the Middle East, they would be horrified. Politicians lie to us about "hatred of our freedoms" because they care more about serving special interests than about keeping us safe.The Commissioners were more interested in playing politics than in fulfilling the 9/11 Commission's mandate to "to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks." These politicians betrayed the American people. Dishonesty about the 9/11 motives robs us of the freedom to decide for ourselves if we want to put our lives at risk over specific foreign policies.