Subject: 9-11: The Missing Link
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 17:04:58 -0400
From: Michel Chossudovsky
Was it an intelligence failure? to give red carpet treatment to the
"money man" behind the 9-11 terrorists, or was it simply
"routine"?
POLITICAL DECEPTION: THE MISSING LINK BEHIND 9-11
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Outlook, No. 2. Summer 2002 at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/orderformI2.html
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),
http://www.globalresearch.ca, 20 June 2002
The URL of this article is
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO206A.html
The foreknowledge issue is a Red Herring: "A Red Herring is a
fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert
attention from the original issue."
ON May 16th The New York Post dropped what appeared to be
a bombshell: "Bush Knew . . . " Hoping to score politically, the
Democrats jumped on the bandwagon, pressuring the White
House to come clean on two "top-secret documents" made
available to President Bush prior to September 11, concerning
"advance knowledge" of Al Qaeda attacks. Meanwhile, the U.S.
media had already coined a new set of buzzwords: "Yes, there
were warnings" and "clues" of possible terrorist attacks, but
"there was no way President Bush could have known" what was
going to happen. The Democrats agreed to "keep the cat inside
the bag" by saying: "Osama is at war with the U.S." and the FBI
and the CIA knew something was cooking but "failed to connect
the dots." In the words of House Minority Leader, Richard
Gephardt:
"This is not blame-placing. . . . We support the President on the
war against terrorism have and will. But we've got to do better
in preventing terrorist attacks." 1
The media's spotlight on 'foreknowledge' and so-called "FBI
lapses" served to distract public attention from the broader issue
of political deception. Not a word was mentioned concerning
the role of the CIA, which throughout the entire post-Cold War
era, has aided and abetted Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, as
part of its covert operations.
Of course they knew! The foreknowledge issue is a red herring.
The "Islamic Brigades" are a creation of the CIA. In standard
CIA jargon, Al Qaeda is categorized as an "intelligence asset".
Support to terrorist organizations is an integral part of U.S.
foreign policy. Al Qaeda continues to this date (2002) to
participate in CIA covert operations in different parts of the
World.2 These "CIA-Osama links" do not belong to a bygone
era, as suggested by the mainstream media.
The U.S. Congress has documented in detail, the links of Al
Qaeda to agencies of the U.S. government during the civil war
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo.3 More recently in
Macedonia, barely a few months before September 11, U.S.
military advisers were mingling with Mujahideen mercenaries
financed by Al Qaeda. Both groups were fighting under the
auspices of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), within the same
terrorist paramilitary formation.4
The CIA keeps track of its "intelligence assets". Amply
documented, Osama bin Laden's whereabouts were always
known.5 Al Qaeda is infiltrated by the CIA.6 In other words,
there were no "intelligence failures"! In the nature of a well-led
intelligence operation, the "intelligence asset" operates
(wittingly or unwittingly) with some degree of autonomy, in
relation to its U.S. government sponsors, but ultimately it acts
consistently, in the interests of Uncle Sam.
While individual FBI agents are often unaware of the CIA's role,
the relationship between the CIA and Al Qaeda is known at the
top levels of the FBI. Members of the Bush Administration and
the U.S. Congress are fully cognizant of these links.
The foreknowledge issue focussing on "FBI lapses" is an
obvious smokescreen. While the whistleblowers serve to
underscore the weaknesses of the FBI, the role of successive
U.S. administrations (since the presidency of Jimmy Carter) in
support of the "Islamic Militant Base", is simply not mentioned.
FEAR AND DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
The Bush Administration through the personal initiative of Vice
President Dick Cheney chose not only to foreclose the
possibility of a public inquiry, but also to trigger a fear and
disinformation campaign:
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S. are
almost a certainty. . . . It could happen tomorrow, it could
happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will keep
trying. And we have to be prepared." 7
What Cheney is really telling us is that our "intelligence asset",
which we created, is going to strike again. Now, if this "CIA
creature" was planning new terrorist attacks, you would expect
that the CIA would be first to know about it. In all likelihood, the
CIA also controls the so-called 'warnings' emanating from CIA
sources on "future terrorist attacks" on American soil.
CAREFULLY PLANNED INTELLIGENCE OPERATION
The 9-11 terrorists did not act on their own volition. The suicide
hijackers were instruments in a carefully planned intelligence
operation. The evidence confirms that Al Qaeda is supported by
Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services Intelligence
(ISI). Amply documented, the ISI owes its existence to the CIA:
"With CIA backing and the funnelling of massive amounts of
U.S. military aid, the ISI developed [since the early 1980s] into a
parallel structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of
government....The ISI had a staff composed of military and
intelligence officers, bureaucrats, undercover agents and
informers estimated at 150,000."8
The ISI actively collaborates with the CIA. It continues to
perform the role of a `go-between' in numerous intelligence
operations on behalf of the CIA. The ISI directly supports and
finances a number of terrorist organizations, including Al
Qaeda.
THE MISSING LINK
The FBI confirmed in late September, in an interview with ABC
News (which went virtually unnoticed) that the 9-11 ring leader,
Mohammed Atta, had been financed from unnamed sources in
Pakistan:
"As to September 11th, federal authorities have told ABC News
they have now tracked more than $100,000 from banks in
Pakistan, to two banks in Florida, to accounts held by suspected
hijack ring leader, Mohammed Atta. As well . . . "Time
Magazine" is reporting that some of that money came in the
days just before the attack and can be traced directly to people
connected to Osama bin Laden. It's all part of what has been a
successful FBI effort so far to close in on the hijacker's high
commander, the money men, the planners and the
mastermind."9
The FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly
who was financing the terrorists. Less than two weeks later, the
findings of the FBI were confirmed by Agence France Presse
(AFP) and the Times of India, quoting an official Indian
intelligence report (which had been dispatched to Washington).
According to these two reports, the money used to finance the
9-11 attacks had allegedly been "wired to WTC hijacker
Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, by Ahmad Umar Sheikh, at the
instance of [ISI Chief] General Mahmoud [Ahmad]." 10
According to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source):
"The evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider
range and depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue
general to some misplaced act of terrorism." 11
PAKISTAN'S CHIEF SPY VISITS WASHINGTON
Now, it just so happens that General Mahmoud Ahmad, the
alleged "money man" behind 9-11, was in the U.S. when the
attacks occurred. He arrived on the 4th of September, one week
before 9-11, on what was described as a routine visit of
consultations with his U.S. counterparts. According to Pakistani
journalist, Amir Mateen (in a prophetic article published on the
September 10):
"ISI Chief Lt-Gen. Mahmoud's week-long presence 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. But the most important meeting was with Marc
Grossman, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
One can safely guess that the discussions must have centred
around Afghanistan . . . and Osama bin Laden. 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." 12
Nawaz Sharif was overthrown by General Pervez Musharaf.
General Mahmoud Ahmad, who became the head of the ISI,
played a key role in the military coup.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S PRESS CONFERENCE
In the course of Condoleezza Rice's May 16 press conference
(which took place barely a few hours after the publication of the
"Bush Knew" headlines in The New York Post), an accredited
Indian journalist asked a question on the role of General
Mahmoud Ahmad:
Q: Dr. Rice?
Ms RICE: Yes?
Q: Are you aware of the reports at the time that the ISI chief was
in Washington on September 11th, and on September 10th
$100,000 was wired from Pakistan to these groups here in this
area? And why was he here? Was he meeting with you or
anybody in the Administration?
Ms RICE: I have not seen that report, and he was certainly not
meeting with me.13
Although there is no official confirmation that General Mahmoud
Ahmad met Dr. Rice, she must have been fully aware of the
$100,000 transfer to Mohammed Atta, which had been
confirmed by the FBI. Lost in the barrage of media reports on
`foreknowledge', this crucial piece of information, on the ISI's
role in 9-11, implicates key members of the Bush Administration
including: CIA Director George Tenet, Deputy Secretary of
State, Richard Armitage, Under-Secretary, Marc Grossman, as
well as Senator Sam Biden, Chairman of the powerful Senate
Foreign Relations Committee (who met General Ahmad on the
13th of September).14
The Bush Administration had not only provided red carpet
treatment to the alleged "money man" behind the 9-11 attacks, it
also had sought his `cooperation' in the "war on terrorism". The
precise terms of this `cooperation' were agreed upon between
General Mahmoud Ahmad, representing the Pakistani
government and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in
meetings at the State Department on September 12 and 13. In
other words, the Administration decided in the immediate wake
of 9-11, to seek the `cooperation' of Pakistan's ISI in "going after
Osama", despite the fact (documented by the FBI) that the ISI
was financing and abetting the 9-11 terrorists. Contradictory?
One might say that it's like "asking the Devil to go after Dracula."
CIA OVERSHADOWS THE PRESIDENCY
Dr. Rice's statement regarding the ISI chief at her May 16 press
conference, is an obvious cover-up. While General Ahmad was
talking to U.S. officials at the CIA and the Pentagon, he had
allegedly also been in contact (through a third party) with the
September 11 terrorists. What this suggests is that key
individuals within the U.S. military-intelligence establishment
knew about these ISI contacts with the September 11 terrorist
`ring leader', Mohammed Atta, and failed to act. But this
conclusion is, in fact, an understatement. Everything indicates
that CIA Director George Tenet and ISI Chief General
Mahmoud Ahmad, had established a close working
relationship. General Mahmoud had arrived a week prior to
September 11 for consultations with George Tenet. Bear in
mind that the CIA's George Tenet, also has a close personal
relationship with President Bush. Prior to September 11, Tenet
would meet the President nearly every morning at 8:00 a.m.
sharp, for about half an hour. 15 A document, known as the
President's Daily Briefing, or PDB, "is prepared at Langley by
the CIA's analytical directorate, and a draft goes home with
Tenet each night. Tenet edits it personally and delivers it orally
during his early morning meeting with Bush." 16 This practice of
"oral intelligence briefings" is unprecedented. Bush's
predecessors at the White House, received a written briefing:
"With Bush, who liked oral briefings and the CIA director in
attendance, a strong relationship had developed. Tenet could
be direct, even irreverent and earthy."17
THE DECISION TO GO TO WAR
Was it an `intelligence failure' to give red carpet treatment to
the `money man' behind the 9-11 terrorists, or was it simply
`routine'? At meetings of the National Security Council and in
the so-called "War Cabinet", on September 11, 12 and 13, CIA
Director George Tenet played a central role in gaining the
Commander-in-Chief's approval to the launching of the "war on
terrorism."
George W. Bush's Timeline September 11 (from 9.45am in the
wake of the WTC-Pentagon Attacks to midnight)
Circa 9:45 a.m.: Bush's motorcade leaves the Booker
Elementary School, Sarasota, Florida.
9:55 a.m: President Bush boards "Air Force One" bound for
Washington.18 Following what was as a "false report" that Air
Force One would be attacked, Vice-President Dick Cheney had
urged Bush (10:32 a.m.) by telephone not to land in
Washington. Following this conversation, the plane was
diverted (10:41 a.m.) (on orders emanating from Washington) to
Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. A couple of hours later
(1:30 p.m.), after a brief TV appearance, the President was
transported to Offut Air Force base in Nebraska at U.S. Strategic
Command Headquarters.
3:30 p.m.: A key meeting of the National Security Council (NSC)
was convened, with members of the NSC communicating with
the President from Washington by secure video.19 In the
course of this NSC video-conference, CIA Director George
Tenet fed unconfirmed information to the President. Tenet
stated that "he was virtually certain that bin Laden and his
network were behind the attacks. ?"20
The President responded to these statements, quite
spontaneously, off the cuff, with little or no discussion and with
an apparent misunderstanding of their implications. In the
course of this video-conference (which lasted for less than an
hour), the NSC was given the mandate by the
Commander-in-Chief to prepare for the "war on terrorism". Very
much on the spur of the moment, the "green light" was given by
video conference from Nebraska. In the words of President
Bush: "We will find these people. They will pay. And I don't want
you to have any doubt about it." 21
4:36 p.m.: (One hour and six minutes later . . .) Air Force One
departed for Washington. Back in the White House, that same
evening (9:00 p.m.) a second meeting of the full NSC took
place, together with Secretary of State Colin Powell who had
returned to Washington from Peru. The NSC meeting (which
lasted for half an hour) was followed by the first meeting of the
so-called "war cabinet". The latter was made up of a smaller
group of top officials and key advisers.
9:30 p.m.: At the war cabinet: "Discussion turned around
whether bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban were one and
the same thing. Tenet said they were." 22 By the end of that
historic meeting of the war cabinet (11:00 p.m.), the Bush
Administration had decided to embark upon a military
adventure which now threatens the collective future of
humanity. our civilization.
DID BUSH KNOW?
Did Bush, with his minimal understanding of foreign policy
issues, know all the details regarding General Mahmoud and
the "ISI connection"? Did Tenet and Cheney distort the facts, so
as to get the Commander-in-Chief's "thumbs up" for a military
operation which was already in the pipeline? In a bitter irony, a
meeting between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
and General Mahmoud, the 9-11 "money man", was scheduled
at the State Department for the morning after September 11 to
discuss their strategy.
NOTES
1. Quoted in AFP, 18 May 2002.
2. There are numerous documents, which prove beyond doubt
the links between Al Qaeda and successive U.S.
administrations. See Centre for Research on Globalisation,
Foreknowledge of 9-11: Compilation of key articles and
documents, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html
May 2002, section 3.
3. U.S. Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers
Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, Republican Party
Committee, Congressional Press Release, Congress, 16
January 1997, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html
See also Michel Chossudovsky, ?Osamagate', Centre for
Research on Globalisation,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html , 9
October 2001.
4. See Centre for Research on Globalisation, Foreknowledge of
9-11: Compilation of key articles and documents, op. cit. section
3. See articles by Isabel Vincent, George Szamuely, Scott
Taylor, Marina Domazetovska, Michel Chossudovsky, Umberto
Pascali, Lara Marlowe and Macedonian dailies.
5. See Bin Laden Whereabouts Before 9-11, CBS Evening
News with Dan Rather; CBS, 28 January 2002, Centre for
Research on Globalisation (CRG)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CBS203A.html Alexandra
Richard, The CIA met bin Laden while undergoing treatment at
an American Hospital last July in Dubai, Le Figaro.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RIC111B.html
6. The Boston Globe, 5 June 2002.
7. Fox News, 18 May 2002.
8. Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign
Affairs, November-December 1999. See also Michel
Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, Global Outlook, No.
1, 2002.
9. Statement of Brian Ross reporting on information conveyed to
him by the FBI, ABC News, This Week, September 30, 2001.
10. The Times of India, Delhi, 9 October 2001. 11. AFP, 10
October 2001.
12. Amir Mateen, ISI Chief's Parleys continue in Washington,
News Pakistan, 10 September 2001.
13. Federal News Service, 16 May 2002. Note that in the White
House and CNN transcripts of Dr. Rice's press conference, the
words "ISI chief" were transcribed respectively by a blank "--"
and "(inaudible)" . Federal News Service Inc. which is
transcription Service of official documents provided a correct
transcription, with a minor error in punctua6tion, which we
corrected. The White House transcript is at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020516-13.html
All three transcripts were verified by the author and are
available on Nexus. Federal News Service documents are also
available for a fee at http://www.fnsg.com/
14. New York Times, 14 September 2002,"According to Biden,
[Ahmad] pledged Pakistan's cooperation".
15. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, 17 May 2002.
16. Washington Post, 17 May 2002.
17. Washington Post 29 January 2002.
18. Washington Post, 27 January 2002.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
Copyright © Michel Chossudovsky and Global Outlook 2002.
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Global Outlook , at editor@...
This article was published in Global Outlook , Issue No 2
9-11: Foreknowledge or Deception? Stop the Nuclear Threat.
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Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 17:04:58 -0400
From: Michel Chossudovsky
Was it an intelligence failure? to give red carpet treatment to the
"money man" behind the 9-11 terrorists, or was it simply
"routine"?
POLITICAL DECEPTION: THE MISSING LINK BEHIND 9-11
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Outlook, No. 2. Summer 2002 at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/orderformI2.html
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),
http://www.globalresearch.ca, 20 June 2002
The URL of this article is
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO206A.html
The foreknowledge issue is a Red Herring: "A Red Herring is a
fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert
attention from the original issue."
ON May 16th The New York Post dropped what appeared to be
a bombshell: "Bush Knew . . . " Hoping to score politically, the
Democrats jumped on the bandwagon, pressuring the White
House to come clean on two "top-secret documents" made
available to President Bush prior to September 11, concerning
"advance knowledge" of Al Qaeda attacks. Meanwhile, the U.S.
media had already coined a new set of buzzwords: "Yes, there
were warnings" and "clues" of possible terrorist attacks, but
"there was no way President Bush could have known" what was
going to happen. The Democrats agreed to "keep the cat inside
the bag" by saying: "Osama is at war with the U.S." and the FBI
and the CIA knew something was cooking but "failed to connect
the dots." In the words of House Minority Leader, Richard
Gephardt:
"This is not blame-placing. . . . We support the President on the
war against terrorism have and will. But we've got to do better
in preventing terrorist attacks." 1
The media's spotlight on 'foreknowledge' and so-called "FBI
lapses" served to distract public attention from the broader issue
of political deception. Not a word was mentioned concerning
the role of the CIA, which throughout the entire post-Cold War
era, has aided and abetted Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, as
part of its covert operations.
Of course they knew! The foreknowledge issue is a red herring.
The "Islamic Brigades" are a creation of the CIA. In standard
CIA jargon, Al Qaeda is categorized as an "intelligence asset".
Support to terrorist organizations is an integral part of U.S.
foreign policy. Al Qaeda continues to this date (2002) to
participate in CIA covert operations in different parts of the
World.2 These "CIA-Osama links" do not belong to a bygone
era, as suggested by the mainstream media.
The U.S. Congress has documented in detail, the links of Al
Qaeda to agencies of the U.S. government during the civil war
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo.3 More recently in
Macedonia, barely a few months before September 11, U.S.
military advisers were mingling with Mujahideen mercenaries
financed by Al Qaeda. Both groups were fighting under the
auspices of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), within the same
terrorist paramilitary formation.4
The CIA keeps track of its "intelligence assets". Amply
documented, Osama bin Laden's whereabouts were always
known.5 Al Qaeda is infiltrated by the CIA.6 In other words,
there were no "intelligence failures"! In the nature of a well-led
intelligence operation, the "intelligence asset" operates
(wittingly or unwittingly) with some degree of autonomy, in
relation to its U.S. government sponsors, but ultimately it acts
consistently, in the interests of Uncle Sam.
While individual FBI agents are often unaware of the CIA's role,
the relationship between the CIA and Al Qaeda is known at the
top levels of the FBI. Members of the Bush Administration and
the U.S. Congress are fully cognizant of these links.
The foreknowledge issue focussing on "FBI lapses" is an
obvious smokescreen. While the whistleblowers serve to
underscore the weaknesses of the FBI, the role of successive
U.S. administrations (since the presidency of Jimmy Carter) in
support of the "Islamic Militant Base", is simply not mentioned.
FEAR AND DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
The Bush Administration through the personal initiative of Vice
President Dick Cheney chose not only to foreclose the
possibility of a public inquiry, but also to trigger a fear and
disinformation campaign:
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S. are
almost a certainty. . . . It could happen tomorrow, it could
happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will keep
trying. And we have to be prepared." 7
What Cheney is really telling us is that our "intelligence asset",
which we created, is going to strike again. Now, if this "CIA
creature" was planning new terrorist attacks, you would expect
that the CIA would be first to know about it. In all likelihood, the
CIA also controls the so-called 'warnings' emanating from CIA
sources on "future terrorist attacks" on American soil.
CAREFULLY PLANNED INTELLIGENCE OPERATION
The 9-11 terrorists did not act on their own volition. The suicide
hijackers were instruments in a carefully planned intelligence
operation. The evidence confirms that Al Qaeda is supported by
Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services Intelligence
(ISI). Amply documented, the ISI owes its existence to the CIA:
"With CIA backing and the funnelling of massive amounts of
U.S. military aid, the ISI developed [since the early 1980s] into a
parallel structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of
government....The ISI had a staff composed of military and
intelligence officers, bureaucrats, undercover agents and
informers estimated at 150,000."8
The ISI actively collaborates with the CIA. It continues to
perform the role of a `go-between' in numerous intelligence
operations on behalf of the CIA. The ISI directly supports and
finances a number of terrorist organizations, including Al
Qaeda.
THE MISSING LINK
The FBI confirmed in late September, in an interview with ABC
News (which went virtually unnoticed) that the 9-11 ring leader,
Mohammed Atta, had been financed from unnamed sources in
Pakistan:
"As to September 11th, federal authorities have told ABC News
they have now tracked more than $100,000 from banks in
Pakistan, to two banks in Florida, to accounts held by suspected
hijack ring leader, Mohammed Atta. As well . . . "Time
Magazine" is reporting that some of that money came in the
days just before the attack and can be traced directly to people
connected to Osama bin Laden. It's all part of what has been a
successful FBI effort so far to close in on the hijacker's high
commander, the money men, the planners and the
mastermind."9
The FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly
who was financing the terrorists. Less than two weeks later, the
findings of the FBI were confirmed by Agence France Presse
(AFP) and the Times of India, quoting an official Indian
intelligence report (which had been dispatched to Washington).
According to these two reports, the money used to finance the
9-11 attacks had allegedly been "wired to WTC hijacker
Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, by Ahmad Umar Sheikh, at the
instance of [ISI Chief] General Mahmoud [Ahmad]." 10
According to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source):
"The evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider
range and depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue
general to some misplaced act of terrorism." 11
PAKISTAN'S CHIEF SPY VISITS WASHINGTON
Now, it just so happens that General Mahmoud Ahmad, the
alleged "money man" behind 9-11, was in the U.S. when the
attacks occurred. He arrived on the 4th of September, one week
before 9-11, on what was described as a routine visit of
consultations with his U.S. counterparts. According to Pakistani
journalist, Amir Mateen (in a prophetic article published on the
September 10):
"ISI Chief Lt-Gen. Mahmoud's week-long presence 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. But the most important meeting was with Marc
Grossman, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
One can safely guess that the discussions must have centred
around Afghanistan . . . and Osama bin Laden. 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." 12
Nawaz Sharif was overthrown by General Pervez Musharaf.
General Mahmoud Ahmad, who became the head of the ISI,
played a key role in the military coup.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S PRESS CONFERENCE
In the course of Condoleezza Rice's May 16 press conference
(which took place barely a few hours after the publication of the
"Bush Knew" headlines in The New York Post), an accredited
Indian journalist asked a question on the role of General
Mahmoud Ahmad:
Q: Dr. Rice?
Ms RICE: Yes?
Q: Are you aware of the reports at the time that the ISI chief was
in Washington on September 11th, and on September 10th
$100,000 was wired from Pakistan to these groups here in this
area? And why was he here? Was he meeting with you or
anybody in the Administration?
Ms RICE: I have not seen that report, and he was certainly not
meeting with me.13
Although there is no official confirmation that General Mahmoud
Ahmad met Dr. Rice, she must have been fully aware of the
$100,000 transfer to Mohammed Atta, which had been
confirmed by the FBI. Lost in the barrage of media reports on
`foreknowledge', this crucial piece of information, on the ISI's
role in 9-11, implicates key members of the Bush Administration
including: CIA Director George Tenet, Deputy Secretary of
State, Richard Armitage, Under-Secretary, Marc Grossman, as
well as Senator Sam Biden, Chairman of the powerful Senate
Foreign Relations Committee (who met General Ahmad on the
13th of September).14
The Bush Administration had not only provided red carpet
treatment to the alleged "money man" behind the 9-11 attacks, it
also had sought his `cooperation' in the "war on terrorism". The
precise terms of this `cooperation' were agreed upon between
General Mahmoud Ahmad, representing the Pakistani
government and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in
meetings at the State Department on September 12 and 13. In
other words, the Administration decided in the immediate wake
of 9-11, to seek the `cooperation' of Pakistan's ISI in "going after
Osama", despite the fact (documented by the FBI) that the ISI
was financing and abetting the 9-11 terrorists. Contradictory?
One might say that it's like "asking the Devil to go after Dracula."
CIA OVERSHADOWS THE PRESIDENCY
Dr. Rice's statement regarding the ISI chief at her May 16 press
conference, is an obvious cover-up. While General Ahmad was
talking to U.S. officials at the CIA and the Pentagon, he had
allegedly also been in contact (through a third party) with the
September 11 terrorists. What this suggests is that key
individuals within the U.S. military-intelligence establishment
knew about these ISI contacts with the September 11 terrorist
`ring leader', Mohammed Atta, and failed to act. But this
conclusion is, in fact, an understatement. Everything indicates
that CIA Director George Tenet and ISI Chief General
Mahmoud Ahmad, had established a close working
relationship. General Mahmoud had arrived a week prior to
September 11 for consultations with George Tenet. Bear in
mind that the CIA's George Tenet, also has a close personal
relationship with President Bush. Prior to September 11, Tenet
would meet the President nearly every morning at 8:00 a.m.
sharp, for about half an hour. 15 A document, known as the
President's Daily Briefing, or PDB, "is prepared at Langley by
the CIA's analytical directorate, and a draft goes home with
Tenet each night. Tenet edits it personally and delivers it orally
during his early morning meeting with Bush." 16 This practice of
"oral intelligence briefings" is unprecedented. Bush's
predecessors at the White House, received a written briefing:
"With Bush, who liked oral briefings and the CIA director in
attendance, a strong relationship had developed. Tenet could
be direct, even irreverent and earthy."17
THE DECISION TO GO TO WAR
Was it an `intelligence failure' to give red carpet treatment to
the `money man' behind the 9-11 terrorists, or was it simply
`routine'? At meetings of the National Security Council and in
the so-called "War Cabinet", on September 11, 12 and 13, CIA
Director George Tenet played a central role in gaining the
Commander-in-Chief's approval to the launching of the "war on
terrorism."
George W. Bush's Timeline September 11 (from 9.45am in the
wake of the WTC-Pentagon Attacks to midnight)
Circa 9:45 a.m.: Bush's motorcade leaves the Booker
Elementary School, Sarasota, Florida.
9:55 a.m: President Bush boards "Air Force One" bound for
Washington.18 Following what was as a "false report" that Air
Force One would be attacked, Vice-President Dick Cheney had
urged Bush (10:32 a.m.) by telephone not to land in
Washington. Following this conversation, the plane was
diverted (10:41 a.m.) (on orders emanating from Washington) to
Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. A couple of hours later
(1:30 p.m.), after a brief TV appearance, the President was
transported to Offut Air Force base in Nebraska at U.S. Strategic
Command Headquarters.
3:30 p.m.: A key meeting of the National Security Council (NSC)
was convened, with members of the NSC communicating with
the President from Washington by secure video.19 In the
course of this NSC video-conference, CIA Director George
Tenet fed unconfirmed information to the President. Tenet
stated that "he was virtually certain that bin Laden and his
network were behind the attacks. ?"20
The President responded to these statements, quite
spontaneously, off the cuff, with little or no discussion and with
an apparent misunderstanding of their implications. In the
course of this video-conference (which lasted for less than an
hour), the NSC was given the mandate by the
Commander-in-Chief to prepare for the "war on terrorism". Very
much on the spur of the moment, the "green light" was given by
video conference from Nebraska. In the words of President
Bush: "We will find these people. They will pay. And I don't want
you to have any doubt about it." 21
4:36 p.m.: (One hour and six minutes later . . .) Air Force One
departed for Washington. Back in the White House, that same
evening (9:00 p.m.) a second meeting of the full NSC took
place, together with Secretary of State Colin Powell who had
returned to Washington from Peru. The NSC meeting (which
lasted for half an hour) was followed by the first meeting of the
so-called "war cabinet". The latter was made up of a smaller
group of top officials and key advisers.
9:30 p.m.: At the war cabinet: "Discussion turned around
whether bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban were one and
the same thing. Tenet said they were." 22 By the end of that
historic meeting of the war cabinet (11:00 p.m.), the Bush
Administration had decided to embark upon a military
adventure which now threatens the collective future of
humanity. our civilization.
DID BUSH KNOW?
Did Bush, with his minimal understanding of foreign policy
issues, know all the details regarding General Mahmoud and
the "ISI connection"? Did Tenet and Cheney distort the facts, so
as to get the Commander-in-Chief's "thumbs up" for a military
operation which was already in the pipeline? In a bitter irony, a
meeting between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
and General Mahmoud, the 9-11 "money man", was scheduled
at the State Department for the morning after September 11 to
discuss their strategy.
NOTES
1. Quoted in AFP, 18 May 2002.
2. There are numerous documents, which prove beyond doubt
the links between Al Qaeda and successive U.S.
administrations. See Centre for Research on Globalisation,
Foreknowledge of 9-11: Compilation of key articles and
documents, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html
May 2002, section 3.
3. U.S. Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers
Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, Republican Party
Committee, Congressional Press Release, Congress, 16
January 1997, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html
See also Michel Chossudovsky, ?Osamagate', Centre for
Research on Globalisation,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html , 9
October 2001.
4. See Centre for Research on Globalisation, Foreknowledge of
9-11: Compilation of key articles and documents, op. cit. section
3. See articles by Isabel Vincent, George Szamuely, Scott
Taylor, Marina Domazetovska, Michel Chossudovsky, Umberto
Pascali, Lara Marlowe and Macedonian dailies.
5. See Bin Laden Whereabouts Before 9-11, CBS Evening
News with Dan Rather; CBS, 28 January 2002, Centre for
Research on Globalisation (CRG)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CBS203A.html Alexandra
Richard, The CIA met bin Laden while undergoing treatment at
an American Hospital last July in Dubai, Le Figaro.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RIC111B.html
6. The Boston Globe, 5 June 2002.
7. Fox News, 18 May 2002.
8. Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign
Affairs, November-December 1999. See also Michel
Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, Global Outlook, No.
1, 2002.
9. Statement of Brian Ross reporting on information conveyed to
him by the FBI, ABC News, This Week, September 30, 2001.
10. The Times of India, Delhi, 9 October 2001. 11. AFP, 10
October 2001.
12. Amir Mateen, ISI Chief's Parleys continue in Washington,
News Pakistan, 10 September 2001.
13. Federal News Service, 16 May 2002. Note that in the White
House and CNN transcripts of Dr. Rice's press conference, the
words "ISI chief" were transcribed respectively by a blank "--"
and "(inaudible)" . Federal News Service Inc. which is
transcription Service of official documents provided a correct
transcription, with a minor error in punctua6tion, which we
corrected. The White House transcript is at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020516-13.html
All three transcripts were verified by the author and are
available on Nexus. Federal News Service documents are also
available for a fee at http://www.fnsg.com/
14. New York Times, 14 September 2002,"According to Biden,
[Ahmad] pledged Pakistan's cooperation".
15. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, 17 May 2002.
16. Washington Post, 17 May 2002.
17. Washington Post 29 January 2002.
18. Washington Post, 27 January 2002.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
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