In discussing the as yet to be released and highly controversial “28 pages” of the official 9/11 report with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said: “If indeed the Saudi government participated in the terrorist acts of 9-11, then the response to that government is not a lawsuit … because what they did was an act of war. And just as the Bush administration overthrew the Taliban al-Qaeda regime in Afghanistan because of that attack, a comparable response would be warranted against the Saudis, or anybody else who did that to us.”
Bolton later said that while he hasn’t seen the material, “there’s no question that the twenty-eight pages should be released,” also adding that he “flat-out” doesn’t believe the Bush administration would have covered up a Saudi attack on the United States. Said Bolton, “I don’t know what they contain. I haven’t read them. There are those who say that it will demonstrate involvement by the Saudi government in the 9-11 attacks and I think that’s obviously a pretty critical piece of information. Release the pages, assuming there’s not information that compromises our intelligence sources and methods and let the people decide.”
On the notions of lawsuits and the concept of sovereign immunity, said Bolton:
Only in America’s over-lawyered society can people think that the answer, if there was Saudi involvement, is to sue them. I think that’s why we need to look at the ramifications of this kind of law elsewhere in the world. Sovereign immunity is a difficult doctrine to understand. It seems to protect wrongdoing. It actually is more of a shield for the United States. Can you imagine in the conspiracy-minded societies in different regions of the world, or the anti-American feeling let’s say in some quarters in europe, that if their governments removed sovereign immunity for the United States the kind of lawsuits that would be brought about us.
Bolton argued for transparency but also seemed to call for caution against a rush to judgment, saying:
It’s important to get the 28 pages released and if they turn out to be as devastating as people say, then let’s take a look at what needs to be done. On the other hand, if it turns out it’s a lot of hype and speculation and rumor and innuendo and so on, then let’s think back to the Bush administration, which heard all these allegations, read the 28 pages and concluded that the Saudi government was not involved in 9-11. Now, this is the George W. Bush that his opponents are attacking for invading this country, invading that country, why would he cover up for Saudi Arabia? I understand what people think of Obama, they think he’s capable of anything. Do you really think George W. Bush covered up a Saudi attack on the United States? I don’t believe it. I’ll just say it flat-out. I don’t believe that’s what the administration did.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern. The full interview is available below:
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.