The Spanish Connection

WSJ / OpinionJournal ^ | February 22, 2007 | Edward Jay Epstein

[CutePuppy]

The Spanish Connection

What the 9/11 Commission didn't consider.

The 9/11 Commission relied on information derived from two captured al Qaeda perpetrators for much of its picture of the conspiracy leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The interrogations of these men--Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or "KSM," who masterminded the plot and got Osama bin Laden to finance it, and Ramzi Binalshibh, who acted as KSM's liaison with lead suicide terrorist Mohamed Atta--were performed by the CIA at secret locations.

KSM claimed that he left almost all the tactical details to Atta, and therefore could not say where Atta went, or whom he visited, in the final months of the plot. Binalshibh claimed he was Atta's only contact with al Qaeda during this period and that, other than himself, Atta never met with anyone on his trips abroad in 2001.

If these accounts are true, it follows that the conspiracy was a contained one, and the 9/11 Commission could preclude outside collaborators, including the participation of foreign countries. Thus, although the CIA was unable to trace the origin of the money supplied to Atta, the commission deemed this gap "of little practical significance" since the CIA's prisoners established that no one else was involved in the plot. Thus, too, when the CIA found that Iran had "apparently facilitated" the travel of eight of the 9/11 muscle hijackers in flights to and from Afghanistan (by not putting the required stamps on their passports, and by having a top Hezbollah official accompany their flights in and out of Iran), the commission could nevertheless rule out the possibility Iran or Hezbollah were "aware of the planning." The basis for this conclusion was the information provided by KSM and Binalshibh.

But what if these CIA prisoners ... were lying?

[CutePuppy]

911 Commission is looking worse and worse as time goes by...

Gorelick, Clarke, Berger, Able Danger, Hamilton and Keane feeble defense of commission actions... and the beat goes on...

[David Isaac]

Ping, to read later.

[livius]

Judge Garzon is definitely a showboater and goes off the rails from time to time (he was the one who launched the Pinochet "prosecution"), but he's certainly right on this one. The 9/11 Commission was a total joke. That said, however, I don't see how they benefit by covering up the connections and ignoring the obvious. And we the citizens certainly don't benefit from it.

[gotribe]

I'll buy that book.

[Eagles6]

save

[SkyPilot]

Noooooooooooooooooooooobody Expects the Spanish Connection!

[docbnj]

The 9/11 Commission was a joke, and anyone might have guessed that it would be, given that it was header by Kean ("Governor Wimp") and Lee Hamilton, not to mention a collection of Demonrat loonies "for balance."

The article indicates also the very poor thinking of the "professionals" at the CIA. It looks to me as if they are very full of themselves, with a prideful self-confidence which is very dangerous in their line of work. They are much too quick to throw away leads, and to jump to hasty conclusions. They would rather see no connection than pursue leads.

One almost expects the CIA to conclude that 9/11 was to work of an isolated, disturbed perpetrator.

[Leisler]

I love the idea that Binalshibh goes to Madrid, doesn't know anybody, disappears off all hotel registers( he must of slept in the streets) and he gets a false, but workable, passport.

Sure, everyone goes to a city they've never been to before, and get a false passport in their hands in four day.

This is what the CIA and the Commission accepted.

Move along folks nothing to see.

If so why?

My only notion is that the CIA wants to wrap this up and bury it. Mostly because they had a lot more information, knew a lot more, and screwed up a lot more. If found out, the agency bureaucrats might be, oh my god, fired. Think along the lines of the Catholic Church behavior with decades of sodomizing priests calling the shots.( Although, I think that every major city is the US could be nuked by Canadians and no one in the Agency or any place else would ever be fired.)

The Commissions motivation is that they are the smartest guys in the room and therefor couldn't be snookered. Stupidity is the oil of the engine of government.

[aculeus]

bttt

[happygrl]

In an interview, Mr. Garzon explained to me through an interpreter that the support of the Spanish cell began in the early days of the plot and continued up until the attack. He described evidence that ranged from video tapes that Spanish police had confiscated from the home of one of the Spanish conspirators, which methodically surveyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center from five different angles in the late 1990s, to a phone call intercepted by Spanish intelligence in August 2001 (at a time when the hijackers were buying tickets on the planes they planned to commandeer), in which an operative in London informed Yarkas that associates in "classes" had now "entered the aviation field," and were beheading "the bird." After drawing a diagram for me on a blackboard of how the Spanish cell connected to Atta's and Binalshibh's recruiters in Germany, he said it was "supporting the operation at every level."

And, accoding to latest reports, Al Qada, safely ensconced in Pakistan, is rebuilding its organization, this time with Westerners, who will be easier to insert.

One of these times, a dirty bomb originating from North Korea, Iran, or some former Soviet Republic will be transported into this country.

[ScaniaBoy]

PING!!!!!!!!

A MUST MUST MUST READ ARTICLE.

(Enchante, Peach - I'm forgetting who used to be on the "conspiracy" threads. Please ping those I've missed.)

[Peach]

So when Judge Garzon comes up with evidence that runs counter to detainees' claims, cracks begin to emerge in the entire picture.

I read about this judge shortly after 9/11. He called someone in the administration (Ashcroft?) on 9/12 and offered his services and as soon as the planes were flying, he came here.

He opened his front door one day and there was a bomb; I don't remember how it was he escaped injury. He has serious protection from the jihadists. He's a rock solid individual from what I've read about him and if he's cracking this stuff open, you can take it to the bank.

[ScaniaBoy]

....and it is difficult for the leftists to disparage him since he was their hero when he tried to indict Pinochet!

[ScaniaBoy]

PING!

[CutePuppy]

... a phone call intercepted by Spanish intelligence in August 2001 (at a time when the hijackers were buying tickets on the planes they planned to commandeer), ...

I remember seeing this in "Path to 9/11" (2006, TV) last year and being surprised that I didn't know about it, and that nobody seemed to bring attention to it afterwords. I knew well about Hamburg, Germany connection ("The Hamburg Cell", 2004, TV), but not the Spanish Connection.

[CutePuppy]

My only notion is that the CIA wants to wrap this up and bury it. Mostly because they had a lot more information, knew a lot more, and screwed up a lot more.

Well, no agency or bureaucracy likes their incompetence or impotence to be on display. Given the chance to divert attention or place the blame on some other agency or bureaucracy, they will.

That's one of the reasons for creating Plamegate - what better way to divert attention and at the same time to get even with the political "enemies" by elements of that bureaucracy?

[CutePuppy]

There is a judge in France that is similar to Garzon with regards to 9/11 and jihadists - Jean-Louis Bruguière, who was tracking terrorist organizations for over 20 years, and shared information with US counterparts.

[Peach]

I know it and I get those two judges mixed up. Now I'm wondering which one had the bomb at his house...

[Fedora]

Thanks for the ping! Epstein is always an interesting read.