More than 25 years later, there are still glaring questions surrounding 9/11 that Americans deserve fully answered.
Before 9/11, U.S. intelligence tracked Osama bin Laden near a hunting camp in Afghanistan being used by visitors from the UAE. An official UAE aircraft was observed there. The U.S. considered striking bin Laden but did not. After Richard Clarke contacted the UAE about possible connections between Emirati officials and bin Laden, the camp was hurriedly dismantled less than a week later.
Then there’s the money.
The 9/11 Commission’s own terrorist-financing investigation said the vast majority of the money used to fund the attacks flowed through the UAE — while also acknowledging that investigators never established the ultimate origin of the money.
And some underlying 9/11 records, interviews and investigative material have remained classified, withdrawn or redacted.
None of this automatically proves that another government knew 9/11 was coming.
But that isn’t the point.
The question is: Why, after all this time, are Americans still not allowed to see the entire record?
Maybe the remaining documents reveal something extraordinary.
Maybe they reveal bureaucratic failures, embarrassing relationships, diplomatic compromises or intelligence mistakes.
Maybe they reveal almost nothing beyond what we already know.
We are still owed the answer.
Twenty-five years later, protecting the full truth about the murder of nearly 3,000 Americans should matter more than protecting governments, agencies, reputations or old diplomatic relationships.
Release the records.
Let the evidence tell the story.