Executive Intelligence Review

May 9, 2016 (EIRNS)--Rep. Brad Sherman, a senior ranking Democrat from California, gave a hard-hitting interview to {The Hill} newspaper, published today, May 9. Sherman accuses the Obama administration of using the FBI to try to ``strong-arm'' former US Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) by detaining and interrogating him and his daughter, Gwen Graham -- a member of Congress -- and delivering the message to stop trying to declassify the documents, says {HIll} reporter Molly K. Hooper, in a video that has Sherman speaking live in the interview.

In the video, Sherman says the FBI ``took a former senator, a former governor, grabbed him in an airport, hustled him into a room with armed force to try to intimidate him into taking different positions on issues of public policy and important national policy, and the fact that he wasn't intimidated because he was calm doesn't show that they weren't trying to intimidate him.'' http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/279214-dem-fbi-strong-armed-former-senator-on-9-11-pages

Sherman also says that he didn't know about this until Rep. Gwen Graham talked to him about it on the House floor. On May 3, Sherman issued a press release demanding that the 28 pages be released. Reporter Hooper also says that legislation [JASTA] in Congress would remove the Saudi's sovereign immunity.

{The Hill} story is just the latest in strong pressure for Obama to release the 28 pages. The Washington journal, {National Interest}, carried a long article on May 6 by Daniel R. DePetris, called ``28 Pages: What's Taking So Long?'' He concludes:

``Needless to say, its time to speed the process up. Release the pages. Saudi Arabia doesn't object. Members of the 9/11 Commission and the Joint Congressional Inquiry want the material in the public domain. The American people deserve to read it themselves. And more importantly, the families of those who died on 9/11 should be afforded the right to scrutinize all the reports even remotely connected to that horrible day. It is not enough for the U.S. Government to provide them with reassurances that there is nothing new to see.''

[http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/the-28-pages-whats-taking-so-long-16095]

An earlier article from April 28 by DePetris is called, ``Obama Is Siding with Saudi Arabia Over 9/11 Victims.''

In addition, WND.com (WorldNet Daily) comes somewhat late to the party with a new petition to Congress (launched on April 14, 2016) to pass a resolution to release the 28 pages. It has only 176 signers, whereas other petitions have tens of thousands of people demanding to release the information.

Demands for Release of the 28 Pages Escalate; Pressure Mounts to Pass Justice Against State Terrorism Act

May 6, 2016 (EIRNS)-Major media press coverage and broad discussion of evidence pointing to Saudi responsibility for 9/11, have escalated pressure for the release of the "28 Pages" of the Joint Inquiry of Congress, and for passage of the Justice against State Terrorism Act (JASTA) bill, which allows families of victims of terrorism to sue those responsible. A press breakout occurred May 5-6:

*On May 5, PBS Newshour featured a report by PBS's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Warner and Hari Sreenivasan, in which Warner said that White House and the Saudis were "apoplectic" about both the 28 pages and JASTA pressure launched launched by CBS's "60 Minutes" Show April 10. PBS's Warner also reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had released his hold on the Justice Against State Terrorism Act (JASTA), although Graham's office would not confirm that today.

*An article by J. Michael Springmann, titled "28 Pages Later..." in Op-Ed News May 5, co-authored with Barabara Honegger pointed to to former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel's release of the top-secret "Pentagon Papers" as a model for overcoming the secrecy classification. They write, "BUT there really is better way, and one that Congress has used before..." and describe Sen. Mike Gravel's reading of the top secret Pentagon Papers in a Senate hearing, and insertion of 4,000+ pages into Senate Proceedings. Since the "28 pages" are locked in a guarded room, they propose that Senators and Representatives read the pages "and then openly recite from memory and discuss their contents and meaning on the floor of either House," in a colloquy. They report that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Gravel 9-0 in Gravel v. United States 408 US 606 (1972), and report that Sen. Gravel personally met with U.S. Representatives and Senators on taking this approach to the 28 pages. Springmann is a State Department diplomat formerly posted to Saudi Arabia, Germany, and India.

News 10, owned by Media General in Washington D.C., published a lengthy article today by Chance Seales, titled, "Sept. 11 Classified Docs, Saudi Lawsuits Loom Large in Washington, D.C."

*Rep. Brad Sherman's (D-Calif.) office issued a press release announcing his call for the release of the 28 pages on May 3.

*The Baltimore Sun published a letter by LaRouche PAC Leader Jerry Belsky, entitled "Saudi Arabia was the Villain behind 9/11."

Russian Orchestra Concert at the Ancient Amphitheater in Palmyra-Powerful Sign of Hope for the Future

May 5, 2016 (EIRNS)-Today in the ancient amphitheater in the historic Syrian city of Palmya, the Russian Mariinsky Theater Orchestra gave a beautiful concert, titled, "With a Prayer for Palmyra-Music Revives the Ancient Walls," whose impact is already uplifting millions internationally. The event was dedicated to the memory of those who have lost their lives to the terrorists.

In particular, to the memory of Dr. Khaled al-Assad (1934-2015), the Syrian archaeologist, who was custodian of the Palmyra antiquities for 40 years, and was publicly beheaded last August by IS, after refusing to give them access to still more statues to destroy; and to the memory of the young Russian special forces officer, Aleksandr Prokhorenko, killed in mid-March, after calling in Russian airstrikes on his own position, when he was surrounded by IS during the battle for Plamyra. He has been posthumously named a Hero of Russia, and his body was returned home today.

The orchestra's conductor Valery Gergiev led the program, with principal players Pavel Milyukov, violin, and Sergei Roldugin, 'cello, the latter the artistic director of St. Petersburg's House of Music. Also in the official Russian delegation was the Director of St. Petersburg's Hermitage museum, Mikhail Piotrovsky. Representatives from China, Zimbabwe, and Serbia attended.

The Classical program featured Johann Sebastian Bach's Chaconne, the First Symphony by Sergei Prokofiev, and by modern Russian composer, Rodion Shchedrin (widower of the famed Russian ballerina Maya Plisetkaya), an excerpt from his opera, "Not Love Alone." When Gergiev introduced the pieces in the program, he pointed out that Prokofiev wrote his symphony "in homage to the great masters of the past--Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, "whose work expresses "optimism and hope."

At the opening of the event, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave greetings live by video from Sochi. He spoke out against terrorism, and expressed appreciation for the concert, which he called a "sign of gratitude, remembrance and hope." He said, "I see this as remembrance for all victims of terror no matter the place and time of crimes against humanity, and, of course, of hope not just for the revival of Palmyra as a cultural asset of the whole of humanity, but for modern civilization, from this horrible fate of international terrorism."

Putin thanked the musicians and support participants. "Today's action involved major inconvenience and dangers for everyone, being in a country at war close to where hostilities are still ongoing. That has demanded great strength and personal courage from you all. Thank you very much." Gregiev is a close associate of Putin, and 'cellist Roldugin, a good friend.

Conductor Gergiev spoke before the music-in Russian and English. He said, "We protest against barbarians who destroyed wonderful monuments of world culture. We protest against the execution of people here on this great stage," referring to the public mass killings by the Islamic State last November in the amphitheater. Gregiev is Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic, as well as conducting the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.

The audience filled the amphitheater. Along with local Syrians, and military personnel from both Syria and Russia, dignitaries included Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who has led the commitment to rescue and restore Palmyra antiquities. He was moved to tears by the event.

Thanks to superb amplification and recording, the concert itself, and also views of the striking setting of the Palmyra ruins, are now available widely internationally, after the live broadcast. In Russia, the event is the lead news of the day, and the video is fast reaching the world over.

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