 |
"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to
determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question
is of little practical significance." |
'Fight Smart' Update - 22 July 2005
Don't
Take the Bait - Fight Smart
ANIMATED 911 SUMMARY - CLICK HERE
Who is the enemy?
'Smoking Gun'
9/11 Commission Report One Year On
Key Witnesses Blatantly 'Overlooked'
In Official Cover-Up Of 9/11 Money Trail
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/WAT911OmmissionReport.htm
John O'Neill, John Pistole, Robert Wright, Sibel
Edmonds,
Lt General Mahmoud Ahmed, Omar Sheikh, Daniel Pearl, Robert Baer
The Inner Secrets Of 9/11
Are Held By The FBI
|
"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to
determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question
is of little practical significance." |
9/11 And The London Bombings
'The Pakistan Connection'
"In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of
dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and
militant Islamic teachings..... The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and
featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the
Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced
books...."
From U.S., the ABC's of Jihad
Washington
Post, 23 March 2002
"The London bombings have thrown the
terror spotlight
back on Pakistan..... Thousands of [Afghan war jihadi] camps and hideouts were set up in Pakistan, sanctioned by
Islamist dictator Zia-ul Hag and backed by the US
Central Intelligence Agency and the military to
train Islamic warriors ...... a senior police official involved in the anti-terror
campaign told AFP... 'Still Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two places where Islamic militants can go
and get motivation and sometime training,' "
Terror spotlight on Pakistan
News24
(South Africa), 17 July 2005
"Between 20,000 to 30,000 Muslim
militants, [President Musharraf] said, flocked to Pakistan from all over the world during
the US-backed
war against the Soviets.... He said all their finances and logistics were routed through Pakistan."
Musharraf looks two ways in extremist fight
BBC Online, 21 July 2005
"We will be going much higher than
these... These men are the pawns. We want the ones who moved the pawns.'....."
Watergate's Deep Throat, Associate Director Of The
FBI, Mark Felt in 1972
'I'm The Guy They Call Deep Throat'
Vanity
Fair, July 2005
"Deep throat, the anonymous source who
leaked secrets about President Nixon’s Watergate cover-up to The Washington Post,
revealed himself yesterday [as Mark Felt former deputy
director of the FBI] after more than 30 years of
silence...Deep Throat advised Mr Woodward to 'follow
the money'."
At long last, Deep Throat steps out of the shadows
London
Times, 1 June 2005
"The identities of the four London
bombers are now known... According to Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist branch chief
Peter Clarke, all the exhaustive work to date is just the start of the long task of
identifying those responsible for sending the four to London. .... Following the money is now a priority and is the responsibility of the UK's National Terrorist Finance
Investigative Unit (NTFIU)... And elsewhere in law enforcement, it seems likely that the
National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), too, has thrown its staff into the hunt for
the funding
behind the bombers..."
The bombers' money trail
BBC Online, 18 July 2005
British Pakistani Omar Sheikh Is The Key To The 9/11 Money Trail And The FBI Knows It
But The 9/11 Commission Deliberately Covered This Up"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance."
THE 9/11COMMISSION REPORT, JULY 2004 (p.172)
So, Who Is Omar Sheikh?
The 9/11 Money Man Whose Outlawed Terror Group Is Also Reported To Be Linked To The 7/7 London Bombers
"Whether the bombers [in London on 7
July 2005] were British Muslims who had hidden their identity so well that they were
unknown to the intelligence services, or a more seasoned group based on the Continent,
they constitute the thinking and practice of a new al-Qaeda that has developed since
September 11, 2001.... The old al-Qaeda's hero is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who planned the
September 11 attacks, recruited the personnel and arranged the logistics while travelling
around the world with false passports, in multiple disguises and womanising in bars. He
was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 while trying to rebuild
the organisation from its by then scattered members. The
new al-Qaeda's hero is Ahmed
Omar Sheikh, a British Muslim educated at the London
School of Economics who is facing a death sentence in a Karachi jail for murdering the
American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002."
New terror groups pay homage to bin Laden but work alone
Daily
Telegraph, 11 July 2005
"It appears that there is a connection between British and Pakistani Islamic militants. The kidnapper of the American reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi,
Omar Saeed Sheikh, is a British Muslim of Pakistani origin, and there are reports that Sheikh has been questioned about the London bombs.""Police are now trying to discover
exactly where the three [July 2005 London bomber] men went and who they met in Karachi.
One crucial part of the inquiry will be to find out if any of them met al-Qaeda militants
linked to US journalist Daniel Pearl's killer Ahmed Omar
Sheikh. The British Muslim, who studied at the
London School of Economics, became an al-Qaeda hero for slaying Pearl in Karachi in 2002.
He is now facing a death sentence."
TWO SUICIDE BOMBERS.... ON THEIR WAY TO TERROR SCHOOL
Mirror,
19 July 2005
"Reports from Pakistan indicate that Omar continues to
be active from jail, reportedly keeping in touch with
friends and followers in the UK. Statements purported to have been issued
by him from jail calling on the Muslims of the world to retaliate against the US for
desecration of the Holy Koran are disseminated every Friday in many Pakistani mosques
controlled by jihadi organizations."
How London brought terror on itself
Asia Times, 16 July 2005
"British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, convicted
for the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, has admitted to
having met Bin Laden twice in Afghanistan, but says he is more committed to the one-eyed
Taliban spiritual supremo, Mulla Omar, whom he considers 'the overall leader of all
mujahideen. ' In his first-ever interview given from Adiala jail, which was perforce
conducted surreptitiously, with the questionaire being smuggled in and out, Omar said he
admires the 'grief' Bin Laden maintains in his heart for the 'plight of Muslims
world-wide' and the sacrifices he has made, but said he doesn't necessarily agree entirely
with the methods he has chosen to achieve his ends.... In the accompanying interview with
Newsline, Omar admits to 'involvement' in the kidnapping of foreigners in India in 1994
for which he served time in that country, and the abduction of Wall Street Journal
South-Asia bureau chief, Daniel Pearl, but adds that he 'didn't [physically] take part in
the actual events.' This claim ties in with new evidence unearthed by the authorities in
which it was revealed that while Omar was part of the conspiracy to kidnap Pearl - which
included luring the reporter to the site of the abduction by e-mail, he was not physically
present either at the time of the kidnapping, or his murder. Police insiders disclose that
local authorities have arrested almost 90 per cent of the militants who took part in the
abduction and slaying of Pearl, but since the former have already made a case against
Shaikh Omar and four others who are charged along with him, and the new evidence, if pursued, would mean a retrial and the
possible opening up of a Pandora's box, none of the
men - not even those who have confessed to
involvement in the crime - have been charged to date....
Police sources disclosed that senior government officials are petrified if the militants
are charged they might reveal information demonstrating how the case against Shaikh Omar,
whom Islamabad identified as the ringleader of Pearl's killers, was substantially
spurious, since Sheikh's testimony, in which he denied direct involvement in the Pearl
case has now been corroborated by the independent accounts of several of the men in
custody.... Omar is presently detained in an isolation ward in Hyderabad Jail, where jail
officials maintain he is being guarded round-the-clock."
The Mystery Thickens
Newsline (Pakistan),
April 2005
"..... it is precisely the same man used by [the head of Pakistani Intelligence Services] General Mahmoud to wire money to 911 hijacker
Mohammed Atta who has now been detained and tried for the murder of Pearl.....why is
Sheikh still not being charged for his alleged involvement in the 911 attacks now that he
is finally detained?.... In this respect the clamour from the Bush administration to
spare Sheikh's
life so that he can give evidence as to General Mahmoud's and his own involvement in the
transfer of 911 money to Mohammed Atta is deafening by virtue of its total absence... Sheikh is a British born and educated Pakistani. He is a British Citizen. But this has not
resulted in the British government securing an open trial for him.... The possibility that
Sheikh has been framed (certainly he is an ideal candidate given his previous involvement with
militant groups) in order to engineer his execution cannot be discounted.... "
What Did Britain Know About 911?
'Fight Smart', 28 Aug 2002
So Why Haven't The Pakistani, British And American Governments
Been Pursuing Omar Sheikh (Whose Group Is Now Suspected Of Links To The London Bombings)
For His Alleged Role In The Funding Of The 9/11 Attacks?"To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has received a response from the Pakistan Government for his request for information on the detention of Mr. Sheikh; and if it provides evidence of a link between Mr. Sheikh and the September 11 attacks."
Ministerial question asked through the House of Commons
by a British Member of Parliament
Published in Hansard, the official British parliamentary record, 16 Dec 2002"... As the legal process [in relation to Sheikh's alleged murder of Pearl] is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment on possible linkages to other terrorist crimes."
'Answer' to the above question provided by Foreign Office Minister for South Asia and the Far East
Published in Hansard, the official British parliamentary record, 16 Dec 2002Faking The 'War Against Terrorism'
The 911 Omar Sheikh Files - Click HereOmar Sheikh Media References - Click Here
Who Is Omar Sheikh? - Click Here
"There are
reports that US investigators have uncovered evidence of financial transfers linking Osama
Bin Laden to the 11 September attacks on America. According
to FBI sources, Mustafa Mohamed Ahmad, a
suspected Bin Laden financial operative, transferred money to Mohamed Atta, one of the
hijackers, in the days running up to the attacks... Mr Ahmad, also
known as [Omar] Sheikh Saeed, is one of 27 individuals or groups with a known link to Bin Laden who
have had their assets in America frozen."
Bin Laden's 'cash link' to hijackers
BBC Online, 1 October 2001
Wanted 'Dead Or Alive'
Evidence Omitted From The Official 9/11 Report
From Watergate To 9/11
The Truth Resides Within The Ranks Of The FBIIncluding 3 Hours Of Personal Testimony From Former FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds
Why Was None Of This Covered In The Official 9/11Report?The Omission Of Key Evidence Is The 'Smoking Gun' Clue Of The 9/11 Report
Below Are Some of The People Who Held Crucial Missing Elements
Of The 9/11Story But Whose Pivotal Knowledge Was Not Reported
By The Official 9/11Commission Even Though Known By Witnesses Within The FBIJohn O'Neill - FBI
(Dead)John Pistole - FBI
(Alive)Robert Wright - FBI
(Alive)Sibel Edmonds - FBI (Alive) Lt General Mahmoud - ISI
(Alive)Omar Sheikh - ISI
(Death Sentence)Daniel Pearl - WSJ
(Dead)Robert Baer - Ex CIA
(Alive)Click Here To Read Details Of Their Missing Evidence
"Director General of Pakistan's Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed has been replaced after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Umar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999. The FBI team, which had sought adequate inputs about various terrorists including Sheikh from the intelligence agencies, was working on the linkages between Sheikh and former ISI chief Gen Mahmud which are believed to have been substantiated, reports PTI website. Informed sources said there were enough indications with the US intelligence agencies that it was at Gen Mahmud's instruction that Sheikh had transferred 100,000 US dollars into the account of Mohammed Atta, one of the lead terrorists in strikes at the World Trade Centre on Sept 11, it adds."
Gen Mahmud's exit due to links with Umar Sheikh
Dawn (Pakistan), 9 October 2001How Did The 9/11 Commission Avoid
The Issue Of Disclosing Who Funded 9/11?
Simple - By Not Discussing It
"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance."
THE 9/11COMMISSION REPORT, JULY 2004 (p.172)Incredibly Analysis Of The Funding Of The 9/11 Plot Is Given Just Three Paragraphs (On p172)
Out Of A More Than 500 Page Report
Even Though The FBI Had Earlier Told A Senate Committee That It Had Traced The Origins Of The 9/11 Funding To Accounts In Pakistan"An FBI official has told a Senate hearing here that investigators had 'traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known Al Qaeda operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the US.' John S. Pistole, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter terrorism division, did not specify how those accounts in Pakistan were funded. He was testifying before the Senate Governmental Affairs committee on Thursday."
Pakistan linked to 9/11 funds
Daily Times (Pakistan), 2 August 2003"To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance."
THE 9/11COMMISSION REPORT, JULY 2004 (p.172)Why Is That?
"I think
there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not
just in financing -- although that was part of it -- by a sovereign foreign government and
that we have been derelict in our duty to track that down...It will become public at some
point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now. .... I do not believe we got the full cooperation that we needed. As an example, as of today there
are 13 requests
outstanding with the FBI alone for additional information which
would help us follow the trail -- including the trail of foreign government involvement. That agency and others have been reticent
to come forward."
Senator Bob
Graham, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee On Intelligence
Improving Intelligence
PBS
Online, 11 Dec 2002
" Over three years ago, more than four
months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had been providing the bureau with information since 1990, provided
two FBI agents
and a translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by
Osama Bin Laden. This asset/informant was previously a high-level intelligence officer in
Iran in charge of intelligence from Afghanistan. Through his contacts in Afghanistan he
received information that: 1) Osama Bin Laden was planning a major terrorist attack in the United
States targeting 4-5 major cities, 2) the attack was going to involve airplanes, 3) some of the individuals in charge of carrying out this attack were
already in place in the United States, 4) the attack was going to be carried out soon, in a few months. The agents
who received this information reported it to their superior, Special Agent in Charge of
Counterterrorism, Thomas Frields, at the FBI Washington Field Office, by filing '302' forms, and the translator
translated and documented this information. No action was taken by the Special Agent in
Charge, and after 9/11 the agents and the translators were told to 'keep quiet' regarding
this issue. The translator who was present during the session with the FBI informant, Mr. Behrooz Sarshar, reported this incident to Director Mueller in writing, and later to the Department of Justice Inspector General....After almost
three years since September 11, many officials still refuse to admit to having specific
information regarding the terrorists' plans to attack the United States..... Why did your
report choose to exclude the information regarding the Iranian asset and Behrooz Sarshar
from its timeline of missed opportunities?... To this
date the public has not been told of intentional blocking of intelligence..... If Counterintelligence receives information that contains money
laundering, illegal arms sale, and illegal drug activities, directly linked to terrorist
activities; and if that information involves certain
nations, certain semi-legit organizations, and ties to certain lucrative or political relations in this country, then, that information is not shared with Counterterrorism, regardless
of the possible severe consequences. In certain cases, frustrated FBI agents cited 'direct pressure by the State Department,' and in other cases 'sensitive
diplomatic relations' is cited......After almost
three years the American people still do not know that thousands of lives can be
jeopardized under the unspoken policy of 'protecting
certain foreign business relations.' The victims
family members still do not realize that information and answers they have sought
relentlessly for over two years has been blocked due to the unspoken decisions made and
disguised under 'safeguarding certain diplomatic
relations.' .....Despite your full awareness and understanding of certain criminal conduct that
connects to certain terrorist related activities, committed
by certain U.S. officials and high-level government employees, you have not proposed criminal investigations into this conduct,
although under the laws of this country you are required to do so..... As you are fully
aware, these issues and incidents were found
confirmed by a Senior Republican Senator, Charles Grassley, and a Senior Democrat Senator,
Patrick Leahy. As you know, according to officials
with direct knowledge of the Department of Justice Inspector General's report on my
allegations, 'none of my allegations were disproved.' As you are fully aware, even FBI officials 'confirmed all
my allegations and denied none' during their unclassified meetings with the Senate
Judiciary staff over two years ago. However, neither your commission's hearings, nor your
commission's five hundred sixty seven-page report, nor your recommendations include these
serious issues....."
Open Letter To Thomas
Kean - Chairman Of The 9/11 Commission
From Former FBI Translator And Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds
Asia Times, 5
August 2004
"While the [911] commission documents
the high-level ties that al-Qaida had with Pakistan's government agencies, it has failed to confirm or refute persistent,
credible reports connecting key Pakistan government officials to the 9/11 attacks.... While 9/11 commission
co-chairman Thomas Kean considers the panel's report definitive, it has a glaring hole with the money trail.
The panel says the attacks cost somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 to execute. Where
did the money come from? Despite reports of ISI links, the report says al-Qaida had many
sources of funding, but the commission could not find out where the 9/11 funds originated.
On Oct. 9, 2001, the Pakistani daily Dawn reported the ISI director-general, Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed, was
fired after FBI
investigators established a link between him and a $100,000 wire transfer to 9/11 lead
hijacker Mohammed Atta in the summer of 2000. This report was also carried by the Wall
Street Journal. Paul Sperry, Washington bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.com, wrote in his
Jan. 30, 2002, column that Dennis Lormel, who until the end of 2003 led the FBI's terrorist finance
investigations, confirmed this transaction.... On May 15, 2003, a group of 9/11 victims'
relatives met with the commission co-chairman Thomas Kean and other senior staff and
submitted a list of questions, which included a mention of Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed. A June
17, 2004, the New York Times reported that Lorie Van Auken, whose husband died in the
World Trade Center, was 'irate' that the June 16 commission narrative of the 9/11 attacks
did not even mention the allegation about Ahmed's role in the $100,000 transfer to
Mohammed Atta. Clearly, the ISI link is no mere conspiracy theory."
Outside View: 9/11 report sidesteps Pakistan
United Press
International, 26 July 2004
"Pakistan on Friday denied a report claiming that its intelligence officers knew in
advance of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The report by Arnaud de Borchgrave, a journalist
awarded by the Zia regime for his reporting on the Afghan war, also claimed that Al Qaeda
chief Osama bin Laden was treated at a military hospital in Peshawar.... Mr de
Borchgrave....claimed that on the eve of the publication of its report, the 9/11 commission received a document from Pakistan showing that
Pakistani intelligence officers knew in advance of the attacks....
The document, according to the report, claimed that Pakistani intelligence had been actively facilitating the relocation of Al Qaeda
from Afghanistan to Pakistan and
that some serving and retired intelligence officers were still helping the network. Such
officers, the report said, had provided money and directions to militant groups, specially
the Arab hijackers of 9/11 from Al Qaeda. The document, apparently, failed to impress the authors of the commission's report....."
'Pakistan had no hint of 9/11 attacks'
Dawn (Pakistan),
24 July 2004
"Business as usual. That's the message
of today's 9-11 Commission report. No one is held accountable for anything....Writing today in The Guardian (U.K.), Michael
Meacher, a member of the British Parliament and former environment minister, pointed out that
Omar Sheikh, who's about to hang for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter
Daniel Pearl, wired $100,000 before the 9-11 attacks to lead hijacker Mohammed
Atta—on the orders of General Mahmoud Ahmed, then head of the ISI. And it turns out,
Meacher writes, that General Ahmed was in D.C. on September 11, 2001: He had just had a series of meetings 'in the White House, the
Pentagon, the National Security Council, and with George Tenet . . . and Marc
Grossman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs. When Ahmed was exposed by The
Wall Street Journal as having sent the money to the hijackers, he was forced to
'retire' by President Pervez Musharraf. Why hasn't the U.S. demanded that he be questioned
and tried in court?' Then Meacher zooms in on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a bin Laden
lieutenant often identified in reports as 'KSM.' He was arrested in Pakistan in March
2003. A congressional report has identified him as having been 'active in recruiting
people to travel outside Afghanistan, including to the U.S., on behalf of bin Laden.'
Meacher wryly notes that, although the CIA and FBI were both aware of that, 'neither
agency apparently recognized the significance of a bin Laden lieutenant sending terrorists
to the U.S. and asking them to establish contacts with colleagues already there.' And he
points out that The New York Times has already written that 'American officials
said that KSM, once Al Qaeda's top operational commander, personally executed Daniel Pearl
. . . but he was unlikely to be accused of the crime in an American criminal court because
of the risk of divulging classified information.' Meacher adds, 'Indeed, he may never be
brought to trial.' Bottom line: Some events preceding 9-11 implicate too many people high
up in both the Clinton and Bush administrations for either Kerry or Bush to raise the
issue in an election campaign."
Reading Between the Lines
Village Voice, 22 July
2004
“The Daniel Pearl case [in Pakistan] is where [the terror] nexus is fully exposed”
Anonymous Senior Police Official, Pakistan
Deadly terror alliance returns to haunt govt
Agence France Presse, 1 June 2005Wall St Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl
A Man Willing To Go Where The 911 Commission Wouldn't
And Whose Story It Swept Under The CarpetPearl photographed (above) by his captors
holding a copy of Pakistan's English language Dawn newspaper.
Pearl was on the trail of alleged 9/11 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan in early 2002 when he was abducted and killed. Pearl is not mentioned at all in the 9/11 Commission's report.
In July 2004 Dawn's web site reproduced an article from the UK's Guardian newspaper on the 9/11 Pearl episode cover-up under the title '9/11's Pakistan connection'. The article by former Blair Minister Michael Meacher was published by both newspaper organisations on the same day as the release of the official 9/11 Commission report in the US. The Meacher article was also covered elsewhere in the Asian Press, but completely ignored by the western mainstream media despite its explosive content. The BBC reported on the article, but only through its Turkish language news service."Every reporter has got to start somewhere. And the place Danny Pearl began, shortly after 9/11, was with a phone call to a number in Manhattan [to Ijaz Mansoor].... Danny called on a tip from Indian intelligence, which said Ijaz was wired with leading jihadis. ... Ijaz made introductions to three sources: Shaheen Sehbai, editor of The News, Pakistan's largest English-language daily; a jihadi activist he declines to name; and--most fatefully-- Khalid Khawaja, a Muslim militant and a onetime agent with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) who counts among his very best friends Osama bin Laden. .... Musharraf himself said [the reason Pearl was killed] was because Danny was 'overly inquisitive.' And more than a few knowledgeable Pakistanis think the ISI was involved. When asked by Vanity Fair whether it shares that view, The Wall Street Journal issued a two-word written answer: 'No comment.'"
The Journalist and the Terrorist
Vanity Fair, August 2002
"In
London's prestigious The Guardian (July 22, 2004),
Michael Meacher, a Labor MP writing a piece on 'The Pakistan Connection' has made [the] sensational disclosure
that a British Pakistani Islamist Omar
Saeed Sheikh, waiting to be hanged in Pakistan for the alleged murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002
[is] held by both the US government and Pearl's wife not responsible for the
murder while Islamabad refuses to try other suspects newly implicated in Pearl's
kidnap and murder for fear the evidence they produce in court might acquit Sheikh. Sheikh
is the man who knows too much and Pakistani
authorities fear that if he gets out of their hands, he might spill their secret beans
since he had been involved in their key operations. According to Meacher Sheikh had been
the conduit for transferring US$100,000 by Gen Mahmud Ahmed, the then head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to
Mohammed Atta, the [9/11] lead hijacker'. Meacher wants General Mahmud to be questioned and put on
trial.... For years the CIA
used the ISI as a conduit to pump billions of dollars into militant Islamist groups in
Afghanistan, both before and after the Soviet invasion of 1979.... The case of Ahmed
confirms that parts of the ISI directly supported and financed Al-Qaeda, and it has long
been established that the ISI has acted as go-between in intelligence operations on behalf
of the CIA."
Wajid Shamsul
Hasan, Former Pakistan High Commissioner to UK
Is Aziz the
Continuity Factor For Washington After Musharraf
South Asia Tribune, 29
July 2004
"After the 9/11 attacks, when American
forces began capturing Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, [FBI Director] Mueller made a key
decision: He refused to allow his agents to be present at any of the interrogations by the
CIA and
military personnel at secret locations around the world and at the U.S. Naval Base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The decision angered FBI agents who had worked on previous terrorism investigations involving some
of these same shady characters--including Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of
the 9/11 attacks...."
Dodging a peck of trouble
US News, 28
March 2005
"A former Pakistani diplomat has told
the BBC that the US was planning military action against Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban
even before last week's attacks. Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action
against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October. Mr Naik said US officials told him of the plan at a UN-sponsored
international contact group on Afghanistan which took place in Berlin.... Mr Naik was told
that Washington would launch its operation from bases in Tajikistan, where American
advisers were already in place. .... He said that he was in no doubt that after the World
Trade Center bombings this pre-existing US plan had been built upon and would be
implemented within two or three weeks."
US 'planned attack on Taleban'
BBC Online, 18 September
2001
"The United States needs bases in
Central Asia to ensure security and stability in the region, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff General Richard Myers has said. Commenting on the demand by Russia and China that
the US leave the bases now that the Afghan war is over, Myers said 'Central Asia is
important to the United States for lots of reasons, not just for operations in Afghanistan.'"
US needs bases in Central Asia: General Myers
Press Trust of
India, 15 July 2005
"....for
the foreseeable future oil will remain an essential commodity. Greater attention must
therefore be given to increasing supplies of oil in ways that diversify supplies from
areas other than the Persian Gulf. The most promising new source of world supplies is the Caspian region, which appears to
contain the largest petroleum reserves discovered since the North Sea. This geopolitical
crossroad, which includes Iran, Russia, and a number of newly-independent states [i.e. the
'stans'] struggling with post-Soviet modernization and dangers of Islamic extremism,
demands more attention by American policymakers."
AMERICA’S NATIONAL INTERESTS
A Report from The Commission on America’s National Interests, July 2000
Co-authored by Richard Armitage et al [pdf]
(Richard
Armitage, a supporter of the PNAC agenda, became deputy
Secretary of State with specific responsibility for Pakistan and other Asian states in
2001)
"Henry Kissinger, former US secretary
of state, on Wednesday warned that the global battle for control of energy resources could
become the modern equivalent of the 19th century 'great game' the conflict between the UK
and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in central Asia. 'The great game is developing again,' he told a meeting of the US-India
Business Council. 'The amount of energy is finite, up to now in relation to demand, and
competition for access to energy can become the life and death for many societies. It
would be ironic if the direction of pipelines and locations become the modern equivalent
of the colonial disputes of the 19th century.' "
Kissinger warns of energy conflict
Financial
Times, 1 June 2005
War And Oil - Global Energy Crisis Looming - Click Here
"A free press is one where it's OK to state the conclusion you're led to by the evidence."
Bill Moyers
The Battle for PBS
In These Times, 31 May 2005
"It has now
been reported by a respected Lahore-based Pakistani journalist, Amir Mir, continues Parthasarathi, that during his interrogation
by US and Pakistani investigators, Sheikh revealed that he had been on the payroll of
the Pakistani ISI and that the terrorist attacks on the Kashmir State Assembly building in
October 2001 and the Indian parliament in December 2001 had the backing of the ISI. Amir
Mir has also confirmed that Sheikh transferred a sum of $100,000 that had been provided to
him by then ISI chief General Mahmood Ahmed to Mohammad Atta - the leader of the hijackers
involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks. He also alleges that the United States' Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) believes that Omar met Atta during one of his visits to Kandahar and
knew of his plans for the September 11 terrorist strikes. On October 9, 2001, the Pakistani daily Dawn
reported that the ISI director general, Lieutenant-General Mahmoud Ahmed, was fired after
FBI investigators established a link between him and a $100,000 wire transfer to Atta in
the summer of 2000. This report was also carried by the Wall Street Journal.
Parthasarathi's comment: 'There does appear to be a conspiracy of silence on this score,
because Syed Omar Sheikh is evidently a man who knows too much and can embarrass both the
Musharraf dispensation and the
Bush administration.' Meanwhile, Indian suspicions at these
intriguing developments between Pakistan and the US are continuing to deepen. What exactly
is Washington's game in South Asia?... India has been agonizing over the real
nature of US-Pakistan relations for years. After September 11, New Delhi expected
Washington to come down hard on Pakistan, known to be a hub of Islamic extremism and
terrorism in the region. Instead, the US came to the rescue of what was then a clearly
failing state under a blatant military dictatorship. Even after facts of Pakistani
intelligence's involvement in September 11 came to light, the US has been not only
forgiving but supportive to an extraordinary degree. As
a result, Indian strategists are now finding it difficult to counter conspiracy theorists
who continue to claim that the 'war on terrorism' is mere shadow-boxing and that September
11 had been organized by Islamabad with the help of al-Qaeda at US behest after the
neo-conservatives ruling the US needed a pretext for
fulfilling their imperialist agenda. There used
to be few takers for such wild imaginings in India; but apparently things are changing.
There are too many discrepancies and inconsistencies in official US claims that even the
most incredible conspiratorial claims are beginning to gain credence."
India's US-Pakistan suspicions deepen
Asia Times, 27 January
2005
"[Pakistan's] ISI Chief Lt-Gen. [Ahmed] Mahmoud's week-long presence [i.e.
immediately before and during 9/11] in Washington has triggered speculation about the
agenda of his mysterious meetings at the Pentagon and National Security Council.
Officially, he is on a routine visit in return to CIA Director George Tenet's earlier
visit to Islamabad. Official sources confirm that he met Tenet this week. He also held
long parleys with unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon....... What
added interest to his visit is the history of such visits. Last time Ziauddin Butt,
Mahmoud's predecessor, was here, during Nawaz Sharif's government, the domestic politics
turned topsy-turvy within days."
ISI chief's parleys continue in US
The
News (Pakistan), 10 September 2001
"An FBI official has told a Senate
hearing here that investigators had 'traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to
financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known Al Qaeda operatives
played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the
hijackers located in the US.' John S. Pistole, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter terrorism division, did not specify how those accounts in
Pakistan were funded. He was testifying
before the Senate Governmental Affairs committee on Thursday."
Pakistan linked to 9/11 funds
Daily Times (Pakistan), 2 August 2003
"Bob Baer, a former
case officer in the [CIA's] Directorate of Operations, said he provided [subsequently
murdered Wall St Journal reporter Daniel] Pearl with unpublished information about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who
has since been accused by American officials of being one of the masterminds of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks and a top aide to Osama bin Laden. .... According to Baer, he was
first informed of Mohammed's role as a key aide to terrorist mastermind bin Laden as early
as December 1997
when he met a former police chief from Doha, Qatar, at a dinner in Damascus. In 1997, Baer had left the agency to become a
consultant in Beirut. Terrorism was Baer's field and Baer began to meet the ex-Doha police
chief from time to time. The ex-Doha police chief, who Baer declined to identify by name,
told Baer that during the course of his work he found that there was a bin Laden cell in Qatar, being sheltered by
the Qatari government.
The two main members of the cell were Khalid Shaikh
Mohammed and Shawqui Islambuli.....what worried the
former police chief was the fact that Mohammed and Islambuli were experts in hijacking
commercial planes. The ex-police chief told Baer that Mohammed 'is going to hijack some planes.'.The ex-police chief said his basis for this was evidence developed by
police and Qatari intelligence.... Baer sent this
information to a friend in the CIA Counter-terrorist Center who forwarded the information
to his superiors. Baer heard nothing. 'There was no interest,' he said.... After Pearl's murder
[for which Omar Sheikh has been unfairly tried and convicted],
Baer said, he took his information about Mohammed to the Justice Department, but again, as with the agency, he never received a call nor did the department express any
interest."
UPI Exclusive: Pearl tracked al Qaida
United
Press International, 30 September 2002
" Over three years ago, more than four
months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had been providing the bureau with information since 1990, provided
two FBI agents
and a translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by
Osama Bin Laden. This asset/informant was previously a high-level intelligence officer in
Iran in charge of intelligence from Afghanistan. Through his contacts in Afghanistan he
received information that: 1) Osama Bin Laden was planning a major terrorist attack in the United
States targeting 4-5 major cities, 2) the attack was going to involve airplanes, 3) some of the individuals in charge of carrying out this attack were
already in place in the United States, 4) the attack was going to be carried out soon, in a few months. The agents
who received this information reported it to their superior, Special Agent in Charge of
Counterterrorism, Thomas Frields, at the FBI Washington Field Office, by filing '302' forms, and the translator
translated and documented this information. No action was taken by the Special Agent in
Charge, and after 9/11 the agents and the translators were told to 'keep quiet' regarding
this issue. The translator who was present during the session with the FBI informant, Mr. Behrooz Sarshar, reported this incident to Director Mueller in writing, and later to the Department of Justice Inspector General....After almost
three years since September 11, many officials still refuse to admit to having specific
information regarding the terrorists' plans to attack the United States..... Why did your
report choose to exclude the information regarding the Iranian asset and Behrooz Sarshar
from its timeline of missed opportunities?... To this
date the public has not been told of intentional blocking of intelligence..... If Counterintelligence receives information that contains money
laundering, illegal arms sale, and illegal drug activities, directly linked to terrorist
activities; and if that information involves certain
nations, certain semi-legit organizations, and ties to certain lucrative or political relations in this country, then, that information is not shared with Counterterrorism, regardless
of the possible severe consequences. In certain cases, frustrated FBI agents cited 'direct pressure by the State Department,' and in other cases 'sensitive
diplomatic relations' is cited......After almost
three years the American people still do not know that thousands of lives can be
jeopardized under the unspoken policy of 'protecting
certain foreign business relations.' The victims
family members still do not realize that information and answers they have sought
relentlessly for over two years has been blocked due to the unspoken decisions made and
disguised under 'safeguarding certain diplomatic
relations.' .....Despite your full awareness and understanding of certain criminal conduct that
connects to certain terrorist related activities, committed
by certain U.S. officials and high-level government employees, you have not proposed criminal investigations into this conduct,
although under the laws of this country you are required to do so..... As you are fully
aware, these issues and incidents were found
confirmed by a Senior Republican Senator, Charles Grassley, and a Senior Democrat Senator,
Patrick Leahy. As you know, according to officials
with direct knowledge of the Department of Justice Inspector General's report on my
allegations, 'none of my allegations were disproved.' As you are fully aware, even FBI officials 'confirmed all
my allegations and denied none' during their unclassified meetings with the Senate
Judiciary staff over two years ago. However, neither your commission's hearings, nor your
commission's five hundred sixty seven-page report, nor your recommendations include these
serious issues....."
Open Letter To Thomas
Kean - Chairman Of The 9/11 Commission
From Former FBI Translator And Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds
Asia Times, 5
August 2004
"....[there] was an
article in the August 6 Presidential Daily Brief titled 'Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in
US.' It was the 36th PDB item briefed so far that year that related to Bin Ladin or al
Qaeda, and the first devoted to
the possibility of an attack in the United States....[When interviewed by the Commission the President] did not
recall discussing the August 6 report with the Attorney General or whether Rice had done
so...... No CSG [Counterterrorism Security Group] or other NSC [National Security Council]
meeting was held to discuss the possible threat of a strike in the United States as a
result of this report. We have found no indication of any further discussion before
September 11 among the President and his top advisers of the possibility of a threat of an
al Qaeda attack in the United States. DCI Tenet visited President Bush in Crawford,Texas,
on August 17 and participated in PDB briefings of the President between August 31 (after
the President had returned to Washington) and September 10. But Tenet does not recall any
discussions with the President of the domestic threat during this period. Most of the
intelligence community recognized in the summer of 2001 that the number and severity of
threat reports were unprecedented. Many officials told us that they knew something terrible was planned...."
THE 9/11COMMISSION REPORT (p.260 - 261)
"Two veteran FBI investigators
say they were ordered to stop investigations into a suspected
terror cell linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and the Sept. 11 attacks.... even
after the [1998 African embassy] bombings, Wright said FBI headquarters wanted no arrests."
Called Off the Trail?
ABCNews 19 Dec 2002
"FBI and military intelligence officials in Washington say they were prevented
for political reasons from carrying out full investigations into members of the Bin Laden
family in the US before the terrorist attacks of September 11.... the
restrictions became worse after the Bush
administration took over this year".
FBI claims Bin Laden inquiry was frustrated
Guardian, 7
November 2001
"Under the influence of U.S. oil
companies, the government of George W. Bush initially
blocked U.S. secret service investigations on terrorism .... In the book 'Bin Laden, la verite interdite ('Bin
Laden, the forbidden truth), that appeared in Paris on Wednesday, the authors,
Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in
July [2001] in protest over the obstruction....
The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in
Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the
oil and gas reserves in Central Asia. They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban
regime 'as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia', from the rich
oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan,
to the Indian Ocean. Until now, says the book, 'the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been
controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that'. But, confronted with
Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, 'this rationale of energy security changed
into a military one', the authors claim. 'At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S.
representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we
bury you under a carpet of bombs',' Brisard said in an interview in Paris."
U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil - Say Authors
Inter Press Service, 15
November 2001
"....for
the foreseeable future oil will remain an essential commodity. Greater attention must
therefore be given to increasing supplies of oil in ways that diversify supplies from
areas other than the Persian Gulf. The most promising new source of world supplies is the Caspian region, which appears to
contain the largest petroleum reserves discovered since the North Sea. This geopolitical
crossroad, which includes Iran, Russia, and a number of newly-independent states [i.e. the
'stans'] struggling with post-Soviet modernization and dangers of Islamic extremism,
demands more attention by American policymakers."
AMERICA’S NATIONAL INTERESTS
A Report from The Commission on America’s National Interests, July 2000
Co-authored by Richard Armitage et al [pdf]
(Richard
Armitage, a supporter of the PNAC agenda, became deputy
Secretary of State with specific responsibility for Pakistan and other Asian states in
2001)
"Armitage,
who had spent some years of his career in the CIA/DIA and holds the highest Pakistani
civil decoration that could be awarded to a foreigner for his role during the Afghan war
of the 1980s, has a large circle of friends in the Pakistani military & the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate."
Musharraf: From CIA With Love?
SAPRA News Agency, 27
May 2001
"Henry Kissinger, former US secretary
of state, on Wednesday warned that the global battle for control of energy resources could
become the modern equivalent of the 19th century 'great game' the conflict between the UK
and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in central Asia. 'The great game is developing again,' he told a meeting of the US-India
Business Council. 'The amount of energy is finite, up to now in relation to demand, and
competition for access to energy can become the life and death for many societies. It
would be ironic if the direction of pipelines and locations become the modern equivalent
of the colonial disputes of the 19th century.' "
Kissinger warns of energy conflict
Financial
Times, 1 June 2005
Robert Wright
The FBI Man The 9/11 Commission Avoided Like The Plague
"NewsMax.com has learned that active FBI Special Agent Robert Wright Jr. is about to blow the
whistle on his superiors for hindering investigations that might have prevented the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm, scheduled,
then postponed, a press conference for Wednesday where Wright, cloaked in anonymity until
now, was going to tell the entire story. The shocking details should be out in a few days.
Wright complains that when he tried to continue and pursue
certain terrorist investigations, he met with retaliation from his bosses and from the
Justice Department, which made it clear that it wanted the probes to go no further. Prior to putting off the news conference, Judicial Watch said that 'based
on the evidence, the FBI special agent believes that if certain investigations had been
allowed to run their course, Osama bin Laden’s network might have been prevented from
committing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly
3,000 innocents.' Insiders believe that after this full story
breaks, Wright’s career will be toast. Only public
outrage can save him. Meanwhile, Judicial Watch, which is representing Wright, is
requesting a full independent investigation. Assisting the law firm in this case is none
other than David Schippers – the same Schippers whose quiet, methodical and damning
leadership in the Clinton investigation led to the then-president’s
impeachment."
Scandal Inside the FBI: Did G-Men Miss the Boat on 9-11?
NewsMax, 14 March
2002
"A veteran FBI agent Thursday charged
that corruption inside the bureau derailed investigations that could have averted the
terrorist attacks on America on Sept. 11. His lawyers said
the FBI had evidence that the World Trade Center was a possible terrorist target. In a memo written 91 days before Sept. 11, Special Agent Robert G. Wright
Jr. warned that Americans would die as a result of the FBI's failure to investigate
terrorists living in this country. Wright went public at a press conference even though
FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered him to stay in Chicago and threatened him with
criminal prosecution if he spoke publicly about the agency's
wrongdoing.... The Judicial Watch counsel said the FBI did have intelligence about terrorist activity planned against the
World Trade Center and 'other monuments.'"
Agent: FBI Could Have Prevented 9-11
NewsMax, 31 May
2002
"We are writing to inquire and express
concern about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) continued targeting of Special
Agent Robert Wright, a situation
we had hoped and believed had been resolved after we raised the issue last year... Recent
internal documents of the FBI provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee escalate our
concerns about retaliation against Agent Wright. According to the documents, after Agent Wright completed his June 2, 2003 press conference, the top two FBI OPR
officials at the time discussed their plan to 'take him out,' for his public appearance and comments on a network television news
program."
Letter to Director of FBI and the Attorney General, from Senator Chuck Grassley and
Senator Patrick Leahy
14
July 2004
"In a dramatic interview with ABCNEWS,
FBI special agents and partners Robert Wright and John Vincent say they were called off criminal investigations of
suspected terrorists tied to the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. U.S. officials say al Qaeda was responsible for the embassy attacks and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in
the United States.... The suspected terrorist cell in Chicago was the basis of the
investigation, yet Wright, who remains with the FBI, says he soon discovered that all the FBI
intelligence division wanted him to do was to follow suspected terrorists and file reports
— but make no arrests.... 'The supervisor who was there from headquarters was right
straight across from me and started yelling at me: 'You
will not open criminal investigations. I forbid any of you. You will not open criminal
investigations against any of these intelligence subjects,' Wright said. Even though they were on a terrorism task force and said they had
proof of criminal activity, Wright said he was told not to pursue the matter.... Yet, even after the
bombings, Wright
said FBI headquarters wanted no arrests. 'Two months after the
embassies are hit in Africa, they wanted to shut down the criminal investigation,'
said Wright.
'They wanted to kill it.' ... The move outraged Chicago federal prosecutor Mark Flessner,
who was assigned to the case despite efforts Wright and Vincent say were made by superiors to block the probe....'There were
powers bigger than I was in the Justice Department and within the FBI that simply were not
going to let it [the building of a criminal case] happen. And it didn't happen,' Flessner
said. He said he still couldn't figure out why Washington stopped the case... On Sept. 11,
2001, the two agents watched the terror attacks in horror, worried that men they could
have stopped years earlier may have been involved.'"
Called Off the Trail?
ABCNews, 19 Dec 2002
"There's so much more. God, there's so
much more. A lot more."
FBI agent, Robert Wright, who is being officially prevented from telling the public about how his
efforts to investigate al-Qaeda pre-911 were blocked by his supervisors
'Called off the trail?' - ABC News, 19 Dec 2002
Sibel Edmonds
The FBI Woman The 9/11 Commission Avoided Like The Plague
"A former
translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the
panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa'ida's
plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened. She said the
claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such
information was 'an outrageous lie'. Sibel Edmonds said she spent more than three hours in
a closed session with the commission's investigators
providing information that was circulating within the FBI in the spring and summer of 2001
suggesting that an attack using aircraft was just months away and the terrorists were in
place. The Bush administration, meanwhile, has sought to silence her and has obtained a
gagging order from a court by citing the rarely used 'state secrets privilege'. She told
The Independent yesterday: 'I gave [the commission] details of specific investigation
files, the specific dates, specific target information, specific managers in charge of the
investigation. I gave them everything so that they could go back and follow up. This is
not hearsay. These are things that are documented. These things can be established very
easily.'".
'I Saw Papers That Show US Knew
al-Qa'ida Would Attack Cities With Airplanes'
Independent, 2 April 2004
"This puzzles me, knowing the detailed
information, I, myself, provided to the commission
during a three and a half hour tape-recorded briefing;
yet, finding only one footnote (footnote 25) briefly stating insufficient translation
capability within the Bureau. It is highly curious that the report mentions nothing
regarding the 'intentionally blocked translations by certain Middle Eastern Translators,
who also breached FBI security, as confirmed by the Senate Judiciary'; nothing regarding
'adamant resistance to investigations of certain terrorist and criminal activities;
refusing to transfer them to Counterterrorism from existing counterintelligence
investigations, solely based on the vague notion of protecting certain foreign relations';
nothing regarding 'continued efforts to cover up certain highly specific information
received prior to September 11, even now, years after 9/11,'; or nothing regarding
'knowingly allowing certain individuals, directly or indirectly related to terrorist
activities, to leave the United States months after 9/11, without any interrogation, and
per the State Department's request.' I am highly puzzled and curious. This puzzles
me, having first hand knowledge of on going
intelligence received and processed by the FBI since 1997, which contained specific
information implicating certain high level government and elected officials in criminal
activities directly and indirectly related to terrorist money laundering, narcotics, and
illegal arms sales. It is highly curious that the report omitted all this information, knowing that others in the Congress
have been briefed on these issues, having been given the names of targets involved,
Special Agents, translators, field offices, and files."
'Puzzled & Curious' By Sibel
Edmonds
BreakForNews.com, 23 July 2004
Sibel Edmonds Web Site - Click Here
Who is Sibel Edmonds, and what is
her case about? - Media Reports, Click Here
"... more than four months prior to
the September 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had
been providing the bureau with information since 1990, provided two FBI agents and a
translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by Osama
Bin Laden. This asset/informant was previously a high- level intelligence officer in Iran
in charge of intelligence from Afghanistan. Through his contacts in Afghanistan he
received information that: 1) Osama Bin Laden was planning a major terrorist attack in the United
States targeting 4-5 major cities, 2) the attack was going to involve airplanes, 3) some of the individuals in charge of carrying out this attack were
already in place in the United States, 4) the attack was going to be carried out soon, in a few months. The agents
who received this information reported it to their superior, Special Agent in Charge of
Counterterrorism, Thomas Frields, at the FBI Washington Field Office, by filing '302'
forms, and the translator, Mr. Behrooz Sarshar, translated and documented this
information. No action was taken by the Special Agent in Charge, Thomas Frields, and after
9/11 the agents and the translators were told to ‘keep quiet’ regarding this
issue. The translator who was present during the session with the FBI informant, Mr.
Behrooz Sarshar, reported this incident to Director Mueller in writing, and later to the
Department of Justice Inspector General. The press reported this incident, and in fact the
report in the Chicago Tribune on July 21, 2004 stated that FBI officials had confirmed
that this information was received in April 2001, and further, the Chicago Tribune quoted
an aide to Director Mueller that he (Mueller) was surprised that the Commission never
raised this particular issue with him during the hearing (Please refer to Chicago Tribune
article, dated July 21, 2004). Mr. Sarshar reported
this issue to the 9/11 Commission on February 12, 2004, and provided them with specific dates, location, witness names, and the
contact information for that particular Iranian asset and the two special agents who
received the information. I provided the 9/11
Commission with a detailed and specific account of this issue, the names of other
witnesses, and documents I had seen. Mr. Sarshar
also provided the Department of Justice Inspector General with specific information
regarding this case.... The new [post 9/11] translation [of the pre 9/11
document] revealed certain information regarding blueprints, pictures, and building
material for skyscrapers being sent overseas (country name omitted). It
also revealed certain illegal activities in obtaining visas from certain embassies in the
Middle East, through network contacts and bribery.... I
provided this information to the 9/11 Commission on February 12, 2004, and to the Department of Justice Inspector General in May 2002... To this
date the public has not been told of intentional
blocking of intelligence... If Counterintelligence
receives information that contains money laundering, illegal arms sale, and illegal drug
activities, directly linked to terrorist activities; and if that information involves
certain nations, certain semi- legit organizations, and ties
to certain lucrative or political relations in this country, then, that information is not shared with Counterterrorism, regardless
of the possible severe consequences. In certain cases, frustrated FBI agents cited
‘direct pressure by the State Department,’ and in other cases ‘sensitive
diplomatic relations’ is cited. I provided the
Department of Justice Inspector General and the 9/11 Commission with detailed and specific
information and evidence regarding this issue, and the names of other witnesses willing to
corroborate this, and the names of certain U.S. officials involved in these transactions
and activities.... Why
has the 9/11 Commission intentionally omitted this info; although they’ve had it all along?"
Sibel Edmonds
Her own
web site, 20 June 2005
"Sibel Edmonds
is a former FBI translator. She blew the whistle on the cover-up of intelligence that
names some of the culprits who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. These culprits are protected by the Justice Department, the State
Department, the FBI, the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee. They are foreign nationals and Americans. Ms. Edmonds is under two gag orders that
forbid her to testify in court or mention the names of the people or the countries
involved."
Sibel
Edmonds Interview
Baltimore
Chronicle, 7 May 2004
"...we fear that the
designation of information as classified in some cases [brought forth by Sibel Edmonds]
serves to protect the executive branch against embarrassing revelations and full
accountability... "
U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, 9 July 2004
"Former FBI
contract translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and her attorneys were ordered removed
from the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse [in Washington] so that a three-judge U.S.
Court of Appeals panel could discuss her case in private with Bush administration
lawyers.... Criminal evidence in Edmonds’ explosive case is apparently getting too
close to Washington officials, since the former contract linguist also told us she would
not deny that 'once this issue gets to be...investigated, you will be seeing certain
[American] people that we know from this country standing trial; and they will be
prosecuted criminally,' revealing the content of the FBI intercepts she heard indicates
that recognizable, very high-profile American citizens are linked to the 911 attacks. When
we asked how many Americans were named in the intercepts, Edmonds said 'There is direct
evidence involving no more than ten American names that I recognized,' further revealing
that 'some are heads
of government agencies or politicians--but I don’t want to go any further than that,'..... All three
judges who removed Edmonds and her attorneys are Republicans: Douglas Ginsburg and David
Sentelle, having been appointed by Ronald Reagan, and Karen LeCraft Henderson who was
tapped in 1990 by President George W. Bush’s father, former President George H. W.
Bush. 'Judge Ginsberg said ‘I am asking the plaintiff and her attorneys to stand
outside;’ then they had government officers standing at the door to prevent anyone
from listening. And after about 25 minutes, they came out and said ‘we have finished
questioning the government attorneys and we don’t need you anymore, so you are free
to leave,’ ' said the crestfallen former translator. 'I cannot be present at my own
hearing; and not a single paper was there Thursday to cover the story--even though all of
my allegations were supported by the FBI Inspector General’s report and my case
involves 911 and national security,' said Edmonds.... Edmonds told another paper 'I took
[the allegations] to higher levels all the way up to [assistant FBI director] Dale Watson
and Director [Robert] Mueller. And, again, I was asked not to take this any further and
just let it be. And if I didn’t do that they would retaliate against me,' according
to the Baltimore Sun.... When we pressed Edmonds as to whether she would deny that FBI
Assistant Director Dale Watson had prior knowledge of the 911 attacks, she quickly said,
'no comment,' carefully adhering to her judicial gag order--and not revealing all she
knows.... 'It’s so simple,' Edmonds told TomFlocco.com. 'Nobody is looking at the Department of Defense aspect of the whole 911 cover-up. The FBI is citing two reasons for my gag
order: to protect ‘sensitive’ diplomatic relations and to protect foreign U.S.
business relationships.'.. In attempting to let the American people how
close the 911 cover-up comes to home, Edmonds told us, 'I will say this: the FBI is
only a mouthpiece for the State Department. The State Department is the main reason for
the cover-up. It has to do with foreign business relationships and who they are...Pakistan, Turkey...espionage in the State
Department...preventing an investigation.'...."
Campaign coffers profit from 911, coke and courts
TomFlocco.com,
25 April 2005
| “The
Daniel Pearl case [in Pakistan]
is where [the terror] nexus is fully exposed” Anonymous Senior Police Official, Pakistan Deadly terror alliance returns to haunt govt Agence France Presse, 1 June 2005 |
Wall
St Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl |
 |
Pearl
photographed (above) by his captors "Every reporter has got to start
somewhere. And the place Danny Pearl began, shortly after 9/11, was with a phone call to a
number in Manhattan [to Ijaz Mansoor].... Danny
called on a tip from Indian intelligence, which said Ijaz was wired with leading jihadis.
... Ijaz made introductions to three sources: Shaheen
Sehbai, editor of The News, Pakistan's largest English-language daily; a jihadi activist
he declines to name; and--most fatefully-- Khalid Khawaja, a Muslim militant and a
onetime agent with Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) who counts among his very best friends Osama bin Laden. .... Musharraf
himself said [the reason Pearl was killed] was because Danny was 'overly inquisitive.' And
more than a few
knowledgeable Pakistanis think the ISI was involved. When asked by Vanity Fair whether it shares that
view, The Wall Street Journal issued a two-word written answer: 'No comment.'" |
"In London's
prestigious The Guardian (July 22, 2004), Michael Meacher, a Labor MP writing a piece on 'The Pakistan Connection' has made [the] sensational disclosure
that a British Pakistani Islamist Omar
Saeed Sheikh, waiting to be hanged in Pakistan for the alleged murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter
Daniel Pearl in 2002 [is] held by both the US government and Pearl's wife not responsible
for the murder while Islamabad refuses to try other suspects newly implicated in
Pearl's kidnap and murder for fear the evidence they produce in court might acquit Sheikh.
Sheikh is the man who knows too much and Pakistani authorities fear that if he gets out of their hands, he might
spill their secret beans since he had been involved in their key operations. According to
Meacher Sheikh had been the conduit for transferring US$100,000 by Gen Mahmud Ahmed, the
then head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to
Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker'. Meacher wants General Mahmud to be questioned and put on trial.... For years the CIA used the ISI as a
conduit to pump billions of dollars into militant Islamist groups in Afghanistan, both
before and after the Soviet invasion of 1979.... The case of Ahmed confirms that parts of
the ISI directly supported and financed Al-Qaeda, and it has long been established that
the ISI has acted as go-between in intelligence operations on behalf of the CIA."
Wajid Shamsul
Hasan, Former Pakistan High Commissioner to UK
Is Aziz the
Continuity Factor For Washington After Musharraf
South Asia Tribune, 29
July 2004
"Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, Director of
Pakistan's secret service, the ISI, is quite possibly the most taboo suspect of all 9/11
suspects. It was reported in early October 2001 that Mahmood ordered Saeed Sheikh to send
$100,000 to hijacker Mohamed Atta. Since then hardly a word has been said about this
stunning report, and in fact this once very powerful man appears to have completely
disappeared from view.... It is believed Mahmood has been living under virtual house
arrest in Pakistan ever since..... but no charges have been brought against him, and there is no evidence the US has asked to question him. [Asia Times,
1/5/02] He also has refused to speak to reporters since being fired [AP,
2/21/02]....."
ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed
Centre For
Cooperative Research
"Three months before the release of the 9/11 Commission report, commission chief of staff Phil Zelikow asked a prominent Pakistani whether he could 'fill in the gaps about what was happening behind the scenes in Pakistan in the period immediately preceding the terrorist attacks on New Yo
