KSFO's Sussman offers to bet that “Obama believes [9-11] was an inside job,” but Obama has said it was Al Qaeda

San Francisco radio host Brian Sussman suggested that "[Sen. Barack] Obama believes" the September 11 attacks were “an inside job.” In fact, Obama has repeatedly noted that Osama bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda were responsible for the September 11 attacks and are still at large.

On the September 11 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, guest host Brian Sussman suggested that Sen. Barack Obama believes the September 11 attacks were “an inside job.” Sussman quoted from Obama's statement on the seventh anniversary of the 9-11 attacks -- in which Obama said: “Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice” -- and later stated: “I bet you a buck, man to man, that Obama believes this was an inside job.” Sussman later added: “Yeah, we haven't gotten [Osama] bin Laden yet, to our knowledge, but you know what I wonder if what he's saying right here: 'Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are still at large.' I just told you: Some of them are dead, some of them are behind bars, et cetera. I'm wondering if he's saying the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are Bush and Cheney.” In fact, Obama has repeatedly noted that bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda were responsible for the September 11 attacks and are still at large, a fact Sussman did not mention.

For instance, in his August 28 acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Obama said: “I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9-11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.” Additionally, in a September 9 speech in Ohio, Obama said: "[T]he central front in the war on terror is not in Iraq, and it never was -- the central front is in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the terrorists who hit us on 9/11 are still plotting attacks seven years later."

From the September 11 broadcast of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show:

SUSSMAN: Barack Obama has come out with a statement. He said: “On 9-11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose.” And then he said: “Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice.”

This is a guy whose pastor said, “Americans' chickens are coming home to roost.” His pastor believed this was an inside job. I bet you a buck, man to man, that Obama believes this was an inside job. And when he makes this ridiculous statement -- “Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are still at large” -- what is he really saying there? I've got news for you. The terrorists that were in the planes are dead. There are actually people who are behind bars that were associated with this plot, and a lot of them have been killed in Iraq and elsewhere. Yeah, we haven't gotten [Osama] bin Laden yet, to our knowledge, but you know what I wonder if what he's saying right here: “Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are still at large.” I just told you: Some of them are dead, some of them are behind bars, et cetera. I'm wondering if he's saying the terrorists responsible for 9-11 are Bush and Cheney, because --

OFFICER VIC (co-host Tom Benner): Oh, interesting point.

SUSSMAN: -- a lot of the people who are supporting this guy are the types who are saying: “The blood is on their hands; 9-11's an inside job. It's them.”

Nathan Tabak is an intern at Media Matters for America.