Victims of Sept. 11, who seek to hold funders of the 2001 terror attacks accountable in court, came to Manhattan federal court in Foley Square on Thursday with serious evidence that Saudi Arabia supported the al-Qaida bombers. U.S. District Judge George Daniels promised to decide within 90 days whether to put the kingdom on trial.
Saudi Arabia chided the 9/11 families that this hearing was “not a political seminar.” It was, however, a seminar on history and epistemology. After 12 years of halting progress against Saudi charities, the 9/11 plaintiffs have revived a powerful claim against the kingdom. But the quest for historical truth threatens to founder on the judge’s futile desire for direct knowledge of espionage.
