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Comment by resters | Hacker News Reader

The only possible explanation is that Barr is trying to hide wrongdoing or negligence on the part of the US government.

Any information relevant to national security (such as names, etc.) could easily be redacted.

The other possible explanation is that it implicates high-ranking Saudi officials, which would make it politically problematic to maintain the existing diplomatic and security relationship. For example, while under seal it can't be used to civilly sue those officials, and it permits the DoJ to avoid prosecutions it might be politically forced to pursue. Such civil and criminal suits would disrupt the existing state of affairs. By keeping the secrets you keep closed the pandora's box of political pain, even though anyone who cares already knows what's in the box.

People outside the government have read the files. As the article says, lawyers for plaintiffs in the ongoing civil suit saga have seen them, as presumably would the judge. If the documents detailed criminal activity on the part of the U.S. government we'd have heard something about it by now.

I'll be run out of town on a rail for this due to the Alex Jones association but what about the dancing Israelis? The limited amount of government documents released do genuinely seem to point to Israeli Mossad having some fore-knowledge of the attack.

Yes, they were tailing the Saudis through the US. That was reported by Salon, within days after the attacks. But maybe they were helping the NSA and FBI. And perhaps someone made the call that it wasn't important enough to risk blowing some other operation.

Over a 100+ Israel's were deported after 9/11, including the dancing Israelis. This news report, that came out shortly after 9/11, covered it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnWSNI7rKf0 Haven't seen any reporting on it since.

The other other possible explanation is that it would expose US intelligence-gathering methods and capabilities. US governments have been really sensitive about such things. It's not just one administration, either. Going clear back to World War II, they prosecuted a reporter for exposing that the US had broken Japanese codes. (I think in connection with Midway, maybe?) Fortunately, the Japanese didn't wake up from the exposure.

Yes over Midway. No they did not prosecute anyone over the codes. The attorney general wished to prosecute the publisher, Robert McCormick, but the Pentagon made it clear that this would confirm to the Japanese that the US did have the codes: letting it ride mean that the Japanese might take the story for idle brag.

"But the administration insisted in court filings that even its justification for that secrecy needed to remain secret. Four statements to the court by FBI and Justice Department officials were filed under seal so they could not be seen by the public. An additional five, including one from the CIA, were shared only with the judge and cannot be read even by the plaintiffs’ lawyers."

A popular theory is that it exposes 'allies' of the US as complicit. Which allies those are depends on whose theory you subscribe to.

If we assume that Al-Qaeda was behind the attack, it's hard to imagine how high-ranking Saudis weren't involved. Given what we know about Saudi funding of Al-Qaeda.

Also, given what we know about CIA funding of Al-Qaeda, it's not a huge stretch to suspect US involvement. Or at least, a bungled entrapment or outright rogue operation.

It's hard to guess what US allies might be involved. Israel is a popular guess. Especially given its oddly close relationship with the Saudis, and its entanglement with US intelligence agencies. And then there's the fact that Mossad agents were trailing the Saudi terrorists for some time before the attacks.

But then, it could literally be anyone. And the Israelis and Saudis might have been framed.

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