Why would the U.S. government place the privacy rights of
Osama bin Laden ahead of the public’s right to know?
Judicial Watch recently obtained a shocking, declassified “Secret” FBI report
regarding the flight of Saudi Nationals, including members of the bin Laden family, in the
hours and days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 - apparently with the permission and
assistance of the U.S. government.
The report, entitled: “Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article,” was
replete with redactions, which is not altogether unusual, especially for the
super-secretive Bush administration. But what is incredible about this report is the name
of one individual being protected by the FBI: Osama bin Laden!
The FBI chose to invoke Exemption 6 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law, which
permits the government to withhold all information about individuals in “personnel
and medical files and similar files” when the disclosure of such information “would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
The document cited publicly available news articles from sources such as The Washington
Post and Associated Press which provided Judicial Watch with the clues to “fill in
the blanks.” (Perhaps the FBI did not plan on any organization doing the legwork to
find out the truth behind the redactions, but JW lawyers got right to the task.) Are you
as dumbfounded as we are?
Why would the U.S. government place the privacy rights of Osama bin Laden ahead of the
public’s right to know what happened in the days after the worst terrorist attack in
U.S. history? Personally, we cannot imagine a greater insult to the American people,
especially those whose loved ones were murdered that day. Rest assured, Judicial Watch
will continue to investigate this matter thoroughly and get to the bottom of this
disturbing, and baffling, matter.
