(The Center Square) - We say, “Never Forget,” but have many Americans forgotten?
Twenty-five years after the most horrific terrorist attack in American history, the five 9/11 suspects detained at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba still have not gone on trial.
Twenty-five years later, a lawsuit filed by families of the victims against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains stuck in the discovery phase.
Worst of all, no one seems to know this is happening. Have Americans forgotten? Have they moved on?
Other than a few advocates from the legal and investigative communities, 9/11 family members are left to fight for justice on their own.
“Most citizens in this country and the world aren’t even aware that this hasn’t been resolved,” said Gordie Felt, whose brother, Edward, died aboard United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. “It isn’t in the culture anymore. It’s historical to the general public and political to the politicians, and the family members are disregarded.”
There has been a quarter-century of bipartisan failure under four presidents of both parties – George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump (twice) and Joe Biden. The military judge at Guantanamo recently set June 5, 2028, as a trial date, but that is still two years away, and more legal delays are possible.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the professed mastermind of 9/11, has been in custody since 2003 and has been held at Guantanamo since 2006. The original plan was for KSM and four cohorts to be tried by a military commission at Guantanamo, but major complications – notably, defense arguing the torture they faced at CIA black sites – delayed court action for years. Obama tried to have them transferred to the U.S. in 2009 for trial in a New York City courtroom, but Congress and the public wanted no part of bringing 9/11 terrorists to U.S. soil. The case was returned to Guantanamo, where it has languished ever since.
The problem is the ever-present specter of torture. When special reports published by the U.S. Senate and International Red Cross included torture of the conspirators, defense attorneys argued this invalidated confessions made at CIA black sites between 2003-2006, throwing doubt on subsequent statements and weakening the possibility of death-penalty convictions. In response, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to allow three of the defendants, including KSM, to plead guilty in exchange for removing the death-penalty option in July 2024. Prosecutors wrote a letter to the families that it was “the best path to finality and justice in the case.”
Some family members accepted that decision; others erupted in anger. The national blowback, both public and political, was immense. Two days later, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said he knew nothing of the agreement in advance, invalidated the pleas and put the death penalty back on the table.
“What happened to the families was emotional whiplash,” said Elizabeth Miller, one of the many family members who supported the plea deals.
It is important to note that the “9/11 families” are not a monolithic group. There are tens of thousands of relatives of the 2,976 victims and almost as many different views on how the prosecution should be handled. Some want ultimate vengeance; some decry the death penalty on principle. “I never considered a plea deal a viable option, but there are others, even in my own family, that do,” Felt said. ”Even within the ‘families of the families’ there are differences of opinion.”
The plea deals were later re-approved by the courts, then rejected again, clearing the way to a trial. Unsurprisingly, the defendants may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A separate issue – even more under the radar – is the lawsuit filed by the families against Saudi Arabia in 2017. It seeks to hold the kingdom accountable for complicity in 9/11 through the actions of low-level assets who helped two of the hijackers during their time in California. The question is whether it was innocent assistance to fellow countrymen or something more nefarious.
The Saudi government has repeatedly denied involvement, often pointing to the 9/11 Commission Report, which found no connection when it was published in 2004. But family members consider that report old news.
The 9/11 Commission Report was rushed into print shortly before the presidential election of 2004. What no one knew at the time was that a small group of FBI agents would spend nine years between 2007 and 2016 on a secret investigation called “Operation Encore.” Working behind the scenes, they developed a mountain of circumstantial evidence that two Saudis living in California, Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy, assisted 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar in San Diego and Los Angeles (al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were on American Airlines Flight 77 that hit the Pentagon). The “Encore” results were classified until 2021, when pressure from the families convinced former President Joe Biden to release thousands of the documents.
The sheer volume of new information added heft to the lawsuit. The Saudis mounted a formidable defense, of course, and the case meandered through several stages before U.S. District Judge George Daniels ruled in July 2025 that there was enough evidence to move to the discovery phase.
The kingdom responded by filing another appeal, with oral arguments now scheduled for next month in October, after the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Media coverage has been minimal, and few outside the families are paying attention.
“Never Forget” will be a catchphrase once again this week, but the reality it seems that many have forgotten something important after all these years – the fight for justice.
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