Public Comment

Mr. President, as you know Afghanistan has been devastated by a 5.8 earthquake. This has intensified the suffering of the people. I am appalled that you made the decision to divert $3.5B of Afghan money to the families of the 9/11 victims. Many of the families denounced your decision as an effort to divert attention away from the chief 9/11 instigator, -Saudi Arabia. Let me respectfully remind you that fifteen of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia including the ringleader, Osama bin Laden who subsequently became a fugitive in Afghanistan. As you may be aware, the former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld rejected the Taliban’s offer of unconditional surrender, (in November 2001) including handing over bin Laden r to US forces, arrogantly reporting “we don’t negotiate with terrorists”. What chutzpah!

As you may also be aware, the final 9/11 report continues to be hidden from the American people. Why? Is it an effort to deflect blame from the Saudis? Do we relish their oil more than we value justice? This is unconscionable. It is also unconscionable that we have abandoned thousands of innocent Afghans, victims of from the ill-advised invasion of their country. Many risked their lives supporting US forces. Finally, we seem to have an inexhaustible supply of funds to support white Ukrainians but ignore the plight of brown Afghans who remain twisting in the wind, long forgotten and abandoned. This is an appalling racist policy. Mr. President, your Catholic faith demands you cancel your planned trip to Riyadh and, immediately release desperately needed funds to Afghanistan including the $3.5B stolen from their account.