Sunday Jan. 4, 2004; 11:43 p.m. EST
Clinton Administration Freed Bin Laden's Banker
A Saudi national known to investigators as Osama bin Laden's "banker" was apprehended inside the U.S. in 1994 - only to be set free by the Clinton administration in a decision that was considered a "massive loss" in the war on terrorism by U.S. intelligence officials.
Bin Laden brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal Khalifa was believed to be "the real money man" behind the scenes for the 9/11 mastermind, reports investigative journalist Peter Lance, in his comprehensive overview of the 9/11 attacks, "1,000 Years For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI."
The bin Laden relative was involved most intensively in bankrolling Ramzi Yousef, the operations chief for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, who conceived the plan later adopted by bin Laden to hijack airliners and fly them into the Twin Towers.
Convicted of murder in Jordan, Khalifa was picked up on a fraud rap by INS agents in San Francisco. Lance writes that at the time, Khalifa "was in the process of funding Yousef's Bojinka and Pope John Paul II assassination plots - even as Yousef was laying the groundwork for what became the 9/11 attacks."
Documents found on his person indicated that the bin Laden brother-in-law was a major cog in the global terror machine. Based on that evidence, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco pushed to have him held for questioning.
But the Clinton State Department had other ideas. Reports Lance:
"Secretary of State Warren Christopher wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno on Jan. 5, 1995, arguing that 'to permit Mr. Khalifa to remain at large inside the United States in light of his alleged activities and criminal conviction in Jordan . . . . would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.'"
"Of course," notes the author, "the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco wasn't asking for Khalifa to be released, merely held for questioning. Khalifa had traveled the world as Osama bin Laden's 'banker.' He was a potential intelligence gold mine."
Secretary Christopher, however, prevailed. Khalifa was deported to Jordan, where, at trial, the murder witness recanted. Bin Laden's banker was promptly set free.
U.S. counterterrorism officials were dumbfounded by the administration's decision to let Khalifa go. "Not even speaking in retrospect, but contemporaneous with what the intelligence community knew about bin Laden, Khalifa's deportation was unreal," CIA counterterrorism analyst Jacob L. Boesen told the author.
Concludes Lance: "In light of what we now know. . . Khalifa's release has to be considered one of the most grievous instances of negligence in the years leading up to 9/11."
Little more than a year after the Clinton administration let bin Laden's banker get away, President Clinton would personally turn down an offer for Osama bin Laden's arrest and extradition to the U.S. by Sudan
Is the U.S. Fingerprinting Foreign Air Travelers truly meaningful? when... The only exceptions will be visitors from 27 countries —
mostly European nations — whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Business as Usual...
DHS adopts biometrics for border control
Sounds catchy and promising right?
Gee, it can scan your eyeballs too, but how is it going to help fill gaps in the U.S. border security perimeter?
Note:At least it's a good stock tip
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Onto to MadCow:
Should call it ManCow, better yet midwife Cow!
Can someone do the math here?
We start out with one bad cow
USDA to Kill 450 Calves
Voluntary recall of beef bones from a batch of meat connected to the mad cow disease
My question is:
When will the possibility of bio terror be asked?
I mean come on...the cow initially was reported to come from Guatamala, a rebel country. Then it is from Canada. Then it fell 4 months short of the deadline of the feed which makes the cows mad, but we are safe?
Sounds like a Weird Al nursery rhyme!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My last poser:
We get two so-called reported Meteroites hitting and I lost track of the earthquakes, and we are suppose to be everything is just getting weird-
Because,that it's - because
Quote:
Spain's civil aviation authority ruled out the possibility of a plane crash. Jose Angel Docobo, director of the University of Santiago's observatory, said the phenomenon could have been caused by a rock orbiting the sun which had collided with the earth.
It's not a plane...but it could be a rock?!
This planet is getting more and more STUPID!
Leaving you with this important quote:
The silly people performance is like a ride through downtown. There are many unexpected turns, insults, and laughs, and if you pay attention, you see underwear eventually