Posted on 05/23/2002 5:49:51 PM PDT by Brian Mosely
May 23 — A paid FBI informant told ABCNEWS that three years before Sept. 11, he began providing the FBI with information about a young Saudi who later flew a hijacked passenger plane into the Pentagon.
Aukai Collins, the informant, said he worked for the FBI for four years in Phoenix, monitoring the Arab and Islamic communities there. Hani Hanjour was the hijacker Collins claimed to have told the FBI about while Hanjour was in flight training in Phoenix.
Twenty hours after ABCNEWS first requested a response, the FBI issued an "emphatic denial" that Collins had told the agency anything about Hanjour, though FBI sources acknowledged that Collins had worked for them.
FBI Special Agent Ken Williams wrote a memo last July 10, urging FBI headquarters to investigate Arab students in flight schools nationwide — and helped set off the furor over whether the attacks could have been prevented.
If Collins' claims are true, he would be another source who had advised the FBI to take a closer look at Phoenix, and maybe the first to identify a potential terrorist who later turned out to be one of the Sept. 11 hijackers
Collins said the FBI knew Hanjour lived in Phoenix, knew his exact address, his phone number and even what car he drove. "They knew everything about the guy," said Collins.
The FBI emphatically denies that Collins provided any information about Hanjour, but officials acknowledge they paid Collins for four years to monitor the Islamic and Arab communities of Phoenix because of his unusual background.
A self-styled Islamic holy warrior, Collins was born in the United States. After getting into trouble with police as a teenager, he says he found religion — Islam — and eventually went overseas to fight. In Chechnya, he lost his leg to a land mine.
Informant Says He Provided Basic Facts
Once in Phoenix, in 1996, the FBI asked Collins to focus on a group of young Arab men, many of whom were taking flying lessons, including Hanjour, Collins said.
"They drank alcohol, messed around with girls and stuff like that," Collins told ABCNEWS. "They all lived in an apartment together, Hani and the others."
Collins said he provided the FBI with basic facts and let the FBI take it from there.
"When I said there's this short, skinny Arab guy who's part of this crowd, drives such-and-such a car, I assumed that they would then, you know, start tracing him and see who his contacts were," he said.
FBI Never Saw Hijacker as Threat
The FBI in Phoenix either failed to monitor Hanjour's communications or Hanjour himself practiced extraordinary skill in hiding his intentions — because the FBI never regarded him as a threat.
Much to the dismay of the FBI, Collins has written a book about his exploits. Soon to be published, it is titled My Jihad.
The FBI was not alone in failing to predict Hanjour and his group were dangerous.
"I can't figure it out either," said Collins, "how they went from their back yard to flying airplanes into buildings."
Congress cannot figure it out either, as it continues to demand answers from the FBI.
Like many people connected to the FBI their "paid informants" are not trustworthy. If you can't believe an FBI agent why should you believe a paid informant?
You watch GW go up higher in the polls. We have got to fight back though. The Pubbies have got to stand firm with their President and their base (read....US FOLKS). They need to buy testical transplants, spine implants, reach down and get a fighting spirit and go to war, afterall, we're at WAR! It's long past time to start fighting back. Talk about a loyal base, we stand here year after year and watch them get the living sh!t beat out of them, and then run to the voting booth every November to vote for them again. If they don't pick up the saber on this one, and I think there may just be another political party spring up, very soon. There's your warning Pubbies, do with that as you will.
Who was the head of the FBI then? Answer: Louis Freeh. How much of his time was spent on counter-terrorism vs. investigations of Bill Clinton and Al Gore on behalf of Republicans? What good came out of that? How much of his time was spent trashing Janet Reno? What Republican supported counter-terrorism efforts prior to 9/11?
You are saying that "you can't believe FBI agents and the people connected to the FBI"? If so, I disagree with that.
"If they don't pick up the saber on this one, and I think there may just be another political party spring up, very soon."And exactly WHY would that be such a bad thing?
I was utterly shocked that Rather would question the story.
Former Intelligence Operative Says Author of Phoenix Memo Endangered His Life
It's really sad that political hacks didn't take this seriously. One of the big problems with the intelligence community is that they became convinced that politically conservative activist types were the biggest threat to the country. They were so busy watching people at gunshows and putting WWII gun collectors under surveillance that they lost sight of who the enemy really is.
Hanjour, according to all available sources, was not a jihadist in his Phoenix period (1997 through June 1999). Apparently he was legitimately interested in becoming a pilot in Saudi Arabia (which prior to 9/11 required all pilots to be certified in the USA by the FAA). Hanjour returned to Saudi with his license in 1999 but was unable to get a job there and--being the weak-willed person he apparently was--fell into jihadism as a refuge from his personal failures. By the time of his return to the USA in December 2000, Hanjour was full-fledged Al-Qaeda. He was there to kill.
But no one who knew this guy in the Phoenix period would have ever gotten any clues to 9/11 from him. No way.
The FBI has a lot to answer for. But this business is not part of it. This is pure hype.
Louis Freeh wasn't spending his time trashing Janet Reno, he was busy covering up and defending his agency against an angry public that was demanding explanations for crazy debacles (like Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the OKC bombing) that his people were involved in. Much like Bill Klinton, he was too involved in his extracurricular activities to do his job properly.
Remember, Janet "The Torch" Reno was the one who STOPPED a lot of investigations and refused to hire independent counsels to look into a lot of the shenanigans going on.
I don't know about you, but BJs have never distracted me from doing my day job.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.