In an interview with AlterNet regarding his new book, The Killing of Osama Bin Laden, Hersh states that the US ally government of Saudi Arabia helped the Pakistani government hide the terror group’s leader “because they didn’t want us interrogating” him.
“The Saudis bribed the Pakistanis not to tell us [that the Pakistani government had Bin Laden] because they didn’t want us interrogating Bin Laden (that’s my best guess), because he would’ve talked to us, probably. My guess is, we don’t know anything really about 9/11. We just don’t know. We don’t know what role was played by whom,” Hersh told AlterNet.
When asked whether he meant the Saudi government or private individuals, he asserted that it was the government.
“The money was from the government … what the Saudis were doing, so I’ve been told, by reasonable people (I haven’t written this) is that they were also passing along tankers of oil for the Pakistanis to resell. That’s really a lot of money,” he explained.
“I have been given numbers, but I haven’t done the work on it so I’m just relaying. I know it was certainly many—you know, we’re talking about four or five years—hundreds of millions [of dollars]. But I don’t have enough to tell you,” Hersh asserted.
A recent bill in Congress to release the classified 28 pages of the 9/11 commission’s report that details the Saudis’ role in the events has resulted in Riyadh’s threatening to sell billions in US assets if it goes through.
“No matter what happens in the coming weeks, months or years it’s apparent we may be getting closer to the truth about not just 9/11 but the Saudis global role in funding terrorist activities and a major shake up to the geopolitical stage may be on the horizon,” Jim Carey wrote of the interview for the Fifth Column.
