Posted on 08/29/2005 5:43:39 AM PDT by conservativecorner
Perhaps Senator Fritz Hollings cannot claim to have first connected Iraq to 9/11, but he did point out for the record an odd literary coincidence in a speech on the Senate floor on September 12, 2002, the day after the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Hollings entered an editorial into the Congressional record from the Iraqi newspaper Al-Nasiriyah, which he noted appears curious for its eerily prescient language:
America says, admitting just like a bird in the midst of a tornado, that Bin Ladin is behind the bombing of its destroyer in Aden. The fearful series of events continues for America and the terror within America gets to the point that the Governor of Texas increases the amount of the award, just as the stubbornness of the other man and his challenge increases. This challenge makes it such that one of his grandchildren comes from Jeddah traveling on the official Saudi Arabia airlines and celebrates with him the marriage of one of the daughters of his companions. Bin Ladin has become a puzzle and a proof also, of the inability of the American federalism and the C.I.A. to uncover the man and uncover his nest. The most advanced organizations of the world cannot find the man and continues to go in cycles in illusion and presuppositions. They still hope that he could come out from his nest one day, they hope that he would come out from his hiding hole and one day they will point at him their missiles and he will join Guevara, Hassan Abu Salama, Kamal Nasser, Kanafani and others. The man responds with a thin smile and replies to the correspondent from Al Jazeera that he will continue to be the obsession and worry of America and the Jews, and that even that night he will practice and work on an exercise called ``How Do You Bomb the White House.'' And because they know that he can get there, they have started to go through their nightmares on their beds and the leaders have had to wear their bulletproof vests. Meanwhile America has started to pressure the Taliban movement so that it would hand them Bin Ladin, while he continues to smile and still thinks seriously, with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House .....
The phenomenon of Bin Ladin is a healthy phenomenon in the Arab spirit. It is a decision and a determination that the stolen Arab self has come to realize after it got bored with promises of its rulers: After it disgusted itself from their abomination and their corruption, the man had to carry the book of God and the Kalashnikov and write on some off white paper ``If you are unable to drive off the Marines from the Kaaba, I will do so.'' It seems that they will be going away because the revolutionary Bin Ladin is insisting very convincingly that he will strike America on the arm that is already hurting. That the man will not be swayed by the plant leaves of Whitman nor by the ``Adventures of Indiana Jones'' and will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra every time he hears his songs.
In one editorial, two months before the attack, al-Nasiriyah -- a state-run newspaper for the Saddam regime -- managed to name all three attack targets for 9/11. They said that bin Laden had spent his time trying to work out how to bomb the White House, which would happen shortly before destroying the Pentagon. Then, in typically flowery Arabic fashion, the author claims that Americans will "curse the memory of Frank Sinatra", an odd reference -- unless one remembers that "New York, New York" remains Sinatra's signature song. In the event, the attack followed precisely this plan, except in reverse order: the World Trade Center went first, then the Pentagon, and the White House would likely have followed if the heroes of Flight 93 had not caused the terrorists to down the plane in Pennsylvania.
Even beyond that, the fawning tone and obvious support for Osama bin Laden in one of Saddam's newspapers belies any suggestion that the two could not find common ground for operations against their common enemy. Saddam wanted Iraqis to stand behind Osama and al-Qaeda and cheer on their attacks on the US. The author states: "This new awareness of the image that Bin Ladin has become gives shape to the resting areas and stops for every Arab revolutionary. It is the subject of our admiration here in Iraq because it shares with us in a unified manner our resisting stand, and just as he fixes his gaze on the Al Aqsa we greet him."
Let's take another look at the timeline to see where July 21, 2001 fits into it. At that point, Mohammed Atta has just met with Ramzi Binalshibh in Madrid, discussing the need to set a date for the attacks. Binalshibh claims that Atta did not do so at that meeting, but Binalshibh provides the only evidence of Atta's demurral. Five days later, Hamid Zakeri would walk into an American embassy and tell the CIA that Osama bin Laden would launch a massive attack the US on September 11, and that the attack would involve six pilots -- an attack about which he learned through his Iranian contacts.
It certainly seems that Binalshibh has created quite a disinformation campaign, and that American officials appeared determined to swallow it. In case you wondered, the 9/11 Commission makes no mention of the Iraqi predictions in its final report, to no one's great surprise.
UPDATE: The Hollings link came from a Thomas search, which apparently didn't deliver a permanent URL. I didn't notice it at the time. It han also be found here. I'll try to find a permanent Thomas URL.
UPDATE II: The relevant pages of the Congressional Record can be found in these two PDF files.
The National Geographic special that aired last week suggested that a captured al qaeda opperative (KSM, if memory serves) said that flight 93 was targeting the U. S. Capital Building. Not that it really matters.
Not trying to defend RepMNT here, s/he is probably a troll worthy of zotting, but the Bush Administration unfortunately does seem more than content on letting the lies regarding Saddam's connection to 9-11 go unchallenged.
I agree they could/should do more about getting the message out.
Will check that later...could use a good laugh. Leaving shortly.
I have a few more minutes to answer more completely now.
The article in the July 2001 Iraqi newspaper indicates that America will be hurting on the arm that was hurting. IMO, that means New York and is a reference to the first WTC bombing in '93.
Also, for me anyway, when I think of Frank Sinatra, the only song that comes to mind is New York, New York. If, as an American, that is the song that comes to mind for me, I can well imagine that for foreigners, who would know even less about Sinatra, that is their allusion also.
Great. When and where? Where do I find an article on this?
Great work digging up al those links.
Do you know where Zarqawis' organization, which is an Al Qaeda affiliate, was founded? Do you know where its headquarters was before the war?
Answer to both: Baghdad.
Thank you for all the good work you've done in collecting these links.
The last couple of days, I have been pondering the theory that Iraq tried to enlist the Al Qaeda "planes" group for an attack on the RFE/Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague. The Iraqi government could have had contact with the planes group through Ahmed Shakir, who apparently attended the group meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2000. We know that Mohammed Atta made two trips to Prague in late May - early June 2000. The first was an apparently pointless plane trip - he had no visa to enter the Czech Republic - and Atta could have been scouting out the possibility of using a plane to attack the RFE headquarters.
We also know that Ramzi Binalshibh, the prospective hijacker who couldn't obtain a visa for the U.S., was in Yemen in September - October 2000, and is suspected of having been a participant in the attack against the U.S.S. Cole. Binalshibh, being unable to participate in the U.S. plot, may have been tasked with attacking RFE, either with a plane or a truck bomb. The alleged Atta/Al-Ani meeting occurred on April 9, 2001. Al-Ani, the Iraqi operative in Prague, was thrown out by the Czech government on April 22, 2001. Binalshibh made his last unsuccessful attempt to obtain an entry visa to the U.S. in May, 2001.
RepMNT - lemme guess, the MN stands for MINNESOTA!
Party line in Minnesota (read Ninnie-apolis) - there was no connection between AQ and Iraq. First commandment in Ninnie-apolis - Thou shalt not deviate from the talking points of DU, MoveOn.org, the DNC, etc.
The United States also began broadcasting anti-Hussein messages into Iraq via Radio Free Iraq. The broadcasts were housed in the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague. The first broadcast went out on October 30, 1998. The Iraqis were furious and threatened retaliation. On November 8, 1998, a commentator on Iraqi state television insisted the broadcasts would do nothing to affect the "jihad spirit" of the Iraqis. A statement three days later from Saddam's Baath party called on Muslims to be steadfast in the ongoing Mother of All Battles and to undertake "unprecedented heroisms" to fight the Zionists and Crusaders. And then, a call for attacks:
All living capabilities of the Arab nation should be toward the unity of the pan-Arab [world] and toward escalating the struggle to the highest levels of jihad. . . . The escalation of the confrontation and the disclosure of its dimensions and the aggressive intentions now require an organized, planned, influential and conclusive enthusiasm against U.S. interests.
This was not, apparently, just bluster. The Iraqi regime wired $150,000 to an account in Prague, according to Jabir Salim, the man on the receiving end. Salim was the Iraqi station chief in the Czech Republic and with the money he received an order: Recruit a young Islamic radical to blow up the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Salim had difficulty finding someone to commit the martyrdom operation, he told British Intelligence after defecting to the West when the U.S. launched Operation Desert Fox--a series of cruise missile attacks on Iraqi targets--on December 16, 1998. Salim also told interrogators that the Iraq-al Qaeda relationship had intensified after the August 1998 embassy bombings and that the Iraqi Intelligence station in Pakistan served as the hub of Iraq-al Qaeda activity.
The Mother of All Connections - Page 2
In November, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman added another element to the story. He said that when Czech intelligence determined Atta had contacted Al-Ani, it raised the “hypothesis” that the purpose of the meeting might be to discuss an attack on the Prague the headquarters for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This hypothesis was based on information provided by Jabir Salim in December 1998. Salim, like Al-Ani, had been the Iraq Consul in Prague, and had defected. When debriefed by western intelligence services, he revealed that Iraq had been planning a car bombing of Radio Free Europe. So when al-Ani took Salim’s place at the Iraq Embassy, Czech intelligence assumed that he might be continuing that mission, which accounted for the surveillance on al-Ani.
The German authorities have established that Atta telephoned and met bin Laden associates living or passing through Germany. The nature of the German evidence for this is still unclear. Atta was a careful user of the telephone, walking to call centres and public booths rather than using his own phone. The CIA says, however, that it tracked him [Atta]on a buying spree in Frankfurt between January and May 2000 as he purchased chemicals essential to making bombs.
Atta and another hijacker, Mawan al-Shehhi, had contacts with Mamoun Darkazanli, a Syrian businessman, who has had his financial assets frozen by the Bush Administration. Mr Darkazanli, an exporter based in Hamburg, had power of attorney over the German account of Mamduhu Mahmud Salim, who the United States believes is the European financial chief of the bin Laden group.
Mr Salim was arrested in Munich in 1998 on a US warrant and extradited to America, where he is awaiting trial on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation as well as the attempted murder of a prison guard.
Mr Darkazanli was not answering his telephone yesterday and his small office was closed. He has, however, denied terrorist involvement and the German authorities have not issued an arrest warrant. Mr Darkazanli has admitted knowing Atta and since the businessman's name is on Mr Salim's bank documents, police believe they have made at least a tentative connection.
Thanks, I'm familiar with this. RFE moved to Prague in 1998. The Iraqis evidently weren't too smart in hiding their intentions. I'm hoping more evidence will come out.
Mamoun Darkazanli was an Al Qaeda financier also linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. US intel has foolishly regarded Muslim Brotherhood as somehow less radical and has not pursued them with vigor. Both Mohammed Atta and his scumbag father are said to go way back with Muslim Brotherhood, which like Al Qaeda dreams of a world-wide 'Caliphate' of Islamo-fascist rule.
http://www.madcowprod.com/11052004issue.html
http://www.madcowprod.com/Darkaz.htm
“Darkazanli, 44… is identified by intelligence officials in Hamburg as a longtime member of the Syrian wing of the ultra-radical Muslim Brotherhood…”
“Darkazanli nevertheless has a history of associations with high-level Al Qaeda figures going back at least to 1993, the year he told police he first met Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, described by U.S. prosecutors as a "founding member" of Al Qaeda who once tried to acquire nuclear weapons for Osama bin Laden. In 1995, police files show, Darkazanli opened a joint bank account in Hamburg with Salim, who allegedly specialized in setting up bin Laden-owned companies in Sudan… At the time of his arrest Salim had Darkazanli's number programmed into his cell phone.”
Darkazanli is linked to not only Atta's cell but to Mamdouh Mahmud Salim and Wadi el-Hage, two TOP Al Qaeda dudes. Salim is the low-life who stabbed a prison guard in the eye with a sharpened comb in NYC..... none of these people should still be breathing good air.
http://www.madcowprod.com/Darkaz.htm
Darkazanli nevertheless has a history of associations with high-level Al Qaeda figures going back at least to 1993, the year he told police he first met Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, described by U.S. prosecutors as a "founding member" of Al Qaeda who once tried to acquire nuclear weapons for Osama bin Laden.
In 1995, police files show, Darkazanli opened a joint bank account in Hamburg with Salim, who allegedly specialized in setting up bin Laden-owned companies in Sudan. Darkazanli told the police the account had been created for the purchase of a radio transmitter to be shipped to Sudan, where bin Laden then had his headquarters.
Cell phone link to bin Laden
Bin Laden was expelled by the Sudanese and fled to Afghanistan before the deal could be completed. Salim was arrested in Munich in 1998 at the request of the U.S., which had charged him with conspiring "to kill Americans worldwide." At the time of his arrest Salim had Darkazanli's number programmed into his cell phone.
Salim is awaiting trial in New York on charges of attempted murder, stemming from an attack on a prison guard with a sharpened comb.
"I only had business relations with those people," Darkazanli told the police, referring to Salim and another former top bin Laden associate, Wadi el-Hage, serving a life sentence in the U.S. for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
Got to keep two different Salim names separate (but are they related to each other??): there is Jabir Salim who worked for IRAQ and there is Mamdouh Mahmud Salim who is unquestionably AL QAEDA.... both are linked to Mamoun Darkazanli!! But are they also linked to each other??
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim was born in..... IRAQ!!
http://profilesinterror.mindswap.org/;http://counterterror.mindswap.org/2005/terrorists.owl/Mamdouh_Mahmud_Salim
How recently did he live in Iraq, and what are his possible ties to Saddam's intel agencies, etc.?? He is a MAJOR Al Qaeda figure....
BTTT
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