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.

...kinda like a redundant sentence, known and understood...what would leaving that in have changed??...a sentence beginning with "I Think" is editorial anyhow.

How does one take sides, with one of two parties, in a millenia-long feud, and make both happy??? Palestine is but one, short spanse in the conflicts' big picture.

Occupation?-Yes
Unfair?-Yes

If you were a member of a race of folks, who emerged after genocide(s) nearly wiped them out, would you not be jealous of ground gained since that???

If oil reserves were not the prizes they are now, all this shit would be completely different, because $$$ would not be at stake for interested parties, to the degree it is now.
Russia, France, China, they all have a stake too, and are not as blamed as the US, but deserve just as much, they are just as guilty of wanting more, and what they have.
how bout, "Fuck France for selling raw materials to Iraq?"
How about, "For Shame Rusky, for aiding regimes to THEIR greed and gain. Shame on the other governments, for embracing a similar, unilateral agenda.
Shame on side-takers, and death to the fascilitators, whoever they are.....try a mirror.

The issue choggie is that the 9/11 report failed to address the motivation behind the actions of the hijackers - an issue that was covered by the 9/11 commission. The reason that 'motivation' was not covered in the report was that it was clear that the number one factor motivating the terrorists was America's unquestioning blind and one-sided support of Israeli government policy. 'Motivation' was left out of the report due to strong lobbying by AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee - the strongest foreign policy lobby group in the US) because it could have raised a debate in America over whether blindly supporting Israeli government policy - no matter how morally wrong it is - is really in America's best interest.

Whether you support Israeli government policy or strongly oppose it - the exclusion of 'motivation' from the 9/11 report meant that the American people were not given a true picture of why the 9/11 attacks happened. In effect, they were denied the opportunity to decide for themselves.

agreed.

meant to say before, downvote for cheesy, ominous-soundin' background muzak, can't stand that schtuff. In the same vein of reasoning as poited out above, ....Why is policy, with regard to "motivation", and the pressures placed upon induviduals who represent power, not clearly stated for all peoples affected, of every nation, for the sake of truth, clarity, morality, and, if it truly is peace we all want, that?

Fear.
Mortality.
Human Weakness, 101

The closing the books on USS Liberty was equally overt on what politicians are willing to overlook when it comes to sending billions annually to Israel. You would think it would at least be debateable.

Agreed - for more on this see:

http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/US_Aid_to_Israel.htm

My opinion is that no fact sheet from any site with "palestine" or "jfacts" or "israel" or "jewish" is the domain title can be viewed as unbiased, rational facts.

But, yes a little research will astound you how much money supports Israel and their nuclear arsenal.

have to agree with you on the cheesy music front choggie however it's a pretty strong video otherwise.

it's always scary when a commission decides not to talk about the things they're set up to investigate because they just don't like their findings....

More anti-Israel crap rhetoric from posters. Does it ever end?

Had a country claimed responsibility for 9/11, that country would now be a glass parking lot. The terrorist acts of 9/11 set back whatever cause the terrorists claimed to support, perhaps permanently.

Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East and an important US ally. There's no way in hell we would drop ties with Israel in the pallid hopes murderers wouldn't strike us again.

I'm not condoning the 9/11 attacks - they were horrific acts of terrorism - I'm simply saying that they are a direct result of America's chosen foreign policy, and the American people have a right to know that. If they choose to continue with that foreign policy then that is their choice - but they should be given the full facts. This does not mean they should stop supporting Israel - but like any good friend they should point out when their behaviour is wrong, and praise them when it is right. A true friend is supportive and critical. Supporting Palestine does not mean you stop supporting Israel.

Ok, I'm back from my mini vacation with my kids.

I have a few comments about this above video. The US has a very good reason for strong support of Israel. Its the only democratic country in the region, its a pluralistic society that welcomes all religions, it provides the US with a wealth of intelligience information more than anyone could possible imagine. And it provides tons of technologocal knowledge and data. The US invests tons of military reasearch in Israel.

"There is a reason politicians dont want US support for Israel listed as the root cause of al qaeda's terrorism"

The US is fully justified in supporting Israel and shouldnt have to re-asses their foreign policy because of extremists. I think people should be concerned about the psychlogical instability of radical muslims. This is the reason why 9/11 happened. Everytime they are offended or upset about something it seems they have to react violently. There's no excuse for killing thousands of innocents and trying to focus on what motivated them is just an attempt to place the blame somewhere else, in this case Israel. Thats why politicians dont want US support of Irael as the root cause for terrorism. Its irrelevant.

"But, yes a little research will astound you how much money supports Israel and their nuclear arsenal."

Yes, J.D., Israel does recieve a lot in foreign aid and so does Egypt. If you recall the ringleader and four other hijackers in the 9/11 atacks came from Egypt.

I mentioned above why Israel get so much. Its beccause they give so much to the US in return. Certainly a lot more than any other country receiving foreign aid.

Reln, it's too much a generalization to just say that everyone should agree with US military policy and just understand that this is the way the world works. When you are oppressed and attacked by Israel forces using US military technology who do you think they are going to blame exactly?

The reason that radical Islam has reached the point of active violent attack is becuase obviously no other form of dialogue seems to bring the US into the discussion of resolving the Palestine/Israel issue. Which needs to happen for this situation to resolve. Your kind of thinking would only clarify to most people that in reality is this a colonization and oppression of the arab people via Israel with Palestine and the US forces in Iraq. And make no mistake that there are many people willing to misguide their people into advocating violence.

It doesn't help at the same time when the US president so vividly uses hostile words towards the regime in Iran. But then again a perpetual war at the cost of an all volunteer army and declining morale, with the large $$$ to be made from military goverment contracts is just too much of lucrative business to disengage in. Surely we must find more reasons to implement the billion dollar military technologies the Pentagon, DOD and DARPA push at you.

Seriously you people seem to have no soul when it comes to what is actually going on in Israel when it comes to the issue of Palestine. Too brainwashed by the filtered coverage you receive via so called "FREE PRESS" administrated and analyzed by various Israel
interests.

People don't just reach the point of suicide bombings overnight. It shows that these people feel they have no other way out. But clearly that flies over you, clearly it's easier to label people psychologically deranged.

"Yes, J.D., Israel does recieve a lot in foreign aid and so does Egypt. If you recall the ringleader and four other hijackers in the 9/11 atacks came from Egypt."

Excuse me?

19 hijackers committed 9/11.
15 were from Saudi Arabia (KSA).
2 were from the U.A.E.
1 was Lebanese.
1 was from Egypt.

No body ever asks why the country from which most of the hijackers came from never gets questioned. Obviously because one doesn't fool around with the oil supply coming to the US from KSA. But either way one can't keep seeking scapegoats for what basically was and is a misguided foreign policy.