Progressive Commentary Hour - 07.18.17

The Saudi and Gulf states’ connection with Islamic terrorism, US-Saudi relations and 911

Michael Springman is an attorney, author, political commentator and a former diplomat with the State Department.  He served in the diplomatic service in Germany and India and was the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during the Reagan and Bush administrations.  Michael was eventually fired from the department for issuing warnings about visas being awarded without proper review and vetting to persons who eventually were trained by the CIA as recruits of Osama bin Laden.  He is the author of a 2015 book focusing on his own story of whistleblowing at the State Department – “Visas for Al-Qaeda: CIA Handouts that Rocked the World”,  which looks at America’s destabilization of the Balkans, South Asia and North Africa. And his most  recent book “Goodbye Europe. Hello Chaos” investigates the flood of immigrants and refugees swarming Europe.  His website is MichaelSpringmann.com.

Lorie Van Auken lost her husband Kenneth on September 11, 2001 when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  At that time, Ken and Lorie had two children, Sarah and Matthew, then aged 12 and 14 respectively.  Lorie is one of the “Jersey Girls” – a group of New Jersey widows that fought the Bush Cheney administration for a commission investigation into events on 911.  She was a member of the Family Steering Committee for the 911 Commission, and struggled for justice for those murdered on 911 by getting the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act or JASTA passed through Congress, which removes sovereign immunity from any nation directly involved in terrorism, including 911.

Les Jamieson has been researching the alternative scenarios behind 911 since November 2001 and has been publicly active in the 911 Truth efforts to bring attention to the discrepancies in the official 911 commission report since 2004.  He attended two of the Commission hearings, and five of the NIST investigations into the causes for the buildings’ collapse.  Les was a pivotal in generating grassroots support for the release of the secret 28 pages from the Congressional Joint Inquiry on 911 and the passage of the JASTA Act, and has chaired panels on the 28 pages at 911 symposiums.