Full report on the attacks of Sept. 11 should be aired

President Bush is not doing himself, his administration or the nation any favors by steadfastly refusing to release 28 pages of a report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.
The pages in question are almost certainly embarrassing to Saudi Arabia and its leaders, although even the Saudi government is on record as favoring release of the pages because a nation cannot defend itself against a shadow of an accusation.
The Saudis have a point. In the absence of full disclosure, reports are being published based on descriptions of the passage provided to reporters.
Here's part of one that appeared in the Los Angeles Times:
"One U.S. official who has read the classified section said it describes 'direct involvement of senior (Saudi) government officials in a coordinated and methodical way directly to the hijackers,' as well as 'very direct, very specific links that cannot be passed off as rogue, isolated or coincidental.'
"Said another official: 'It's really damning. What it says is that not only Saudi entities or nationals are implicated in 9/11, but the (Saudi) government' as well."
Challenge to Saudis
If that is what it says, then it would appear that Saudi officials are going to have a difficult time explaining it away, and perhaps their call for disclosure is a ruse. Perhaps they had been assured by the administration that the pages are not going to be released, no matter what.
And it is that kind of speculation that is damaging to the Bush administration and to American politics.
The president's stated rationale for keeping the report under wraps is that it could compromise the nation's information gathering methods or the continuing investigation into 9/11. But that rings hollow.
Even Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a strong supporter of the Bush administration in most matters, said he reread the section in light of the president's claim, and in his considered judgment release of 90 to 95 percent of the censored pages would not compromise any aspect of national security.
The American people already know that 15 of the 19 hijackers who rammed planes into the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field were Saudi Arabian.
They known that Osama bin Laden is a Saudi and that while he was officially exiled from his native land, he continued to receive financial support from some influential Saudi Arabians.
But they don't know what the congressional report specifically says about the level of Saudi Arabian support for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Penchant for secrecy
The Bush administration has shown an unfortunate penchant for secrecy, even predating Sept. 11, 2001, and even involving the papers of past presidential administration that Congress had ordered unsealed.
At a time such as this, the administration may believe that it needs to maintain its historically strong relationship with Saudi Arabia and its royal leaders. But the administration needs more the faith and trust of its own people, and that comes only when Americans are confident that government is functioning in as open an atmosphere as is possible.
President Bush should stop standing in the way of the release of the full Sept. 11 report. It may damage the way Americans see Saudi Arabia, it may complicate relations between the two nations, it may cause domestic political problems for the Saudi ruling class.
It may do all those things and more. But most important, it will give Americans, especially the friends and families of more than 3,000 people who were killed Sept. 11, 2001, information they need to better understand what happened on that day nearly two years ago.