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Amnesia - New York Times 1998: Bin Laden and Iraq Made a Deal; 2004: No Al Qaeda Iraq Connection
New York Times | November 5, 1998 | BENJAMIN WEISE

Posted on 06/18/2004 9:32:25 AM PDT by tallhappy

Yesterday the NY Slimes blared the headline: Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie.

Yet in 1998 the New York Slimes was reporting a different finding. The Clinton administration had just indcted bin laden and as part of the inditment's background had referenced bin Laden and al Qaeda's relationship and agreement to work together on weapon's development. The indictment was from the Clinton Justice department, under Janet Reno's authority and also State Department officials took part in the news conference announcing the indictment.

Here is the Slimes article, Novemeber 8. 1998.


The New York Times

November 5, 1998, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 1093 words

HEADLINE: SAUDI IS INDICTED IN BOMB ATTACKS ON U.S. EMBASSIES

BYLINE: By BENJAMIN WEISER

BODY: A Federal grand jury in Manhattan returned a 238-count indictment yesterday charging the Saudi exile Osama bin Laden in the bombings of two United States Embassies in Africa in August and with conspiring to commit other acts of terrorism against Americans abroad.

Government officials immediately announced that they were offering two rewards of $5 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mr. bin Laden and another man charged yesterday, Muhammad Atef, who was described as Mr. bin Laden's chief military commander.

Mr. bin Laden is believed to be living in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that rules that country.

Mr. Atef's whereabouts are unknown.

It is uncertain whether Mr. bin Laden will ever stand trial in the United States. But if he does, prosecutors said, he could face life in prison or the death penalty if he is convicted. Prosecutors also unsealed an earlier indictment, issued in June, that included similar but less detailed charges against Mr. bin Laden.

That indictment was returned before the embassy bombings and resulted from a two-year grand jury investigation of his activities in Somalia and Saudi Arabia, as well as reports that he had connections to a circle of Islamic militants in Brooklyn.

The new indictment, which supersedes the June action, accuses Mr. bin Laden of leading a vast terrorist conspiracy from 1989 to the present, in which he is said to have been working in concert with governments, including those of Sudan, Iraq and Iran, and terrorist groups to build weapons and attack American military installations. Excerpts, page A8.

But the indictment gives few details of Mr. bin Laden's alleged involvement in the embassy attacks. The indictment does not, for example, specify whether prosecutors have evidence that Mr. bin Laden gave direct orders to those who carried out the attacks.

Nothing in the document indicates why the original indictment was kept secret for months. But the secret charges were returned about the time that American officials were plotting a possible military attack into Afghanistan to arrest Mr. bin Laden.

Mary Jo White, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, said, "It's very common to have sealed indictments when you're trying to apprehend those who are indicted."

Both indictments offer new information about Mr. bin Laden's operations, including one deal he is said to have struck with Iraq to cooperate in the development of weapons in return for Mr. bin Laden's agreeing not to work against that country.

No details were given about whether the alleged deal with Iraq led to the development of actual weapons for Mr. bin Laden's group, which is called Al Qaeda.

The Government said yesterday that Mr. bin Laden's group had made use of private relief groups "as conduits for transmitting funds" for Al Qaeda.

The groups were not identified.

Prosecutors also said Mr. bin Laden's group had conducted internal investigations of its members and their associates, trying to detect who might be acting as informants, and had killed those who had been suspected of collaborating with enemies of the organization.

The Government indicated earlier that its knowledge of Mr. bin Laden's activities stemmed in part from the cooperation of one such informant, who it said yesterday had worked for Mr. bin Laden, transporting weapons to terrorists, helping to buy land for his training camps and assisting in running his finances.

The June indictment against Mr. bin Laden suggested that the Government had a considerable amount of knowledge of his dealings in the months before the attacks on the embassies, one in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

But the new charges are an indication of how quickly the Government has worked to solve the embassy attacks, which occurred just three months ago.

Ms. White said that Mr. bin Laden was charged with "plotting and carrying out the most heinous acts of international terrorism and murder."

Citing the more than 250 people killed in the embassy attacks and the more than 1,000 wounded, she added, "In a greater sense, all of the citizens of the world are also victims whenever and wherever the cruel and cowardly acts of international terrorism strike."

The investigation of Mr. bin Laden is continuing, said Ms. White and Lewis D. Schiliro, assistant director of the F.B.I. in New York, whose agents have fanned out around the world to investigate the embassy attacks.

"Our investigative strategy is clear," Mr. Schiliro said.

"We will identify, locate and prosecute all those responsible, right up the line, from those who constructed and delivered the bombs to those who paid for them and ordered it done."

In charging Mr. Atef, the Government reported new details about what it called his role as Mr. bin Laden's military commander, referring to his "principal responsibility for the training of Al Qaeda members."

Mr. Atef was a member of a committee under Mr. bin Laden that approved all terrorist actions by Al Qaeda, the indictment said, and he also played a major role in coordinating attacks on United States and United Nations troops in Somalia in October 1993.

In those attacks, 18 American soldiers and hundreds of Somalis were killed. Americans were shocked by the images of the body of one of the Americans being dragged through the streets, and the violence provoked a furor over the United States role in Somalia as part of the United Nations effort to pacify the country and supply food and medicine to the Somalis.

At the time, the battle was seen as one with Somali warlords. But yesterday's charges made clear that the Government now contends that Mr. bin Laden had a critical role in instigating the fighting.

In late 1992 and 1993, when Mr. bin Laden's group was based in Sudan, Mr. Atef went to Somalia to determine "how best to cause violence to the United States and United Nations military forces stationed there," and reported back to Mr. bin Laden at his headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, the indictment said.

Prosecutors said that in the spring of 1993, Mr. Atef and other members of Al Qaeda, including Haroun Fazil and Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, both of whom have been charged in the embassy attacks, traveled to Somalia and trained Somalis opposed to the United Nation's intervention. On Oct. 3 and 4, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, Somali soldiers trained by Al Qaeda took part in the attacks on the soldiers, according to the June 10 indictment that was unsealed yesterday.

GRAPHIC: Photos: Mary Jo White, a United States Attorney, at a news conference yesterday with a portrait of Osama bin Laden, a Saudi exile indicted on charges of conspiracy in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times); Prosecutors say this photo shows Osama bin Laden, left, and Muhammad Atef, who were indicted yesterday on terrorism charges. (United States Attorney's Office)(pg. A8)


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 1998; alqaeda; alqaedaandiraq; amnesia; binladen; binladeniraq; ignorantmedia; incompetence; iraq; mediabias; medialies; newyorktimes; nyt
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To: Mo1

Yup!

From a Freeper's outstanding research to millions of ears.


41 posted on 06/18/2004 10:13:41 AM PDT by torchthemummy (Florida 2000: There Would Have Been No 5-4 Without A 7-2)
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To: tallhappy

Rush is just started talking about this--- he's been lurking again.


42 posted on 06/18/2004 10:14:38 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: expat_panama

Rush is doing this beautifully!

Bush even is on fire, reading the 1940's article from the NY Times that Rush mentioned yesterday.


43 posted on 06/18/2004 10:18:17 AM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" -- Abraham Lincoln)
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To: jackbill
Liberals simply can't grasp the problem Lexis-Nexis poses to their incessant lying.

LOL ... all they need is google ..

I found LOADS of articles from 1998 mentioning the connection

Like this one .. Gosh I love research *L*

Saddam link to Bin Laden Terror chief 'offered asylum' in Iraq? US says dealings step up danger of chemical weapons attacks

(SNIP)

Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden, bringing closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, according to US intelligence sources and Iraqi opposition officials.

The key meeting took place in the Afghan mountains near Kandahar in late December. The Iraqi delegation was led by Farouk Hijazi, Baghdad's ambassador in Turkey and one of Saddam's most powerful secret policemen, who is thought to have offered Bin Laden asylum in Iraq

44 posted on 06/18/2004 10:19:15 AM PDT by Mo1 (That's right Old Media .... PRESIDENT BUSH IS A LEADER!)
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To: Mo1

Pakistan helped Osama, Iraq didn't: 9/11 panel



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/742828.cms


45 posted on 06/18/2004 10:24:03 AM PDT by take
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To: tallhappy

Of course they have amnesia, it doesn't fit into their agenda. The truth according to liberals is whatever is more politically expedient at the time, and many times it is quite marxist.


46 posted on 06/18/2004 10:24:44 AM PDT by vpintheak (Our Liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain!)
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To: tallhappy

You don't get it. We apoligized for our mistaken, biased coverage in the run-up to the war in Iraq because it fits our agenda to defeat Mr. Bush at all costs. This includes any statement made by anyone claiming Mr. Hussein was a bad man or acted in concert with bad men, like Osama Bin Laden. It's not like we're going to tell you that there's a tape graphically depicting prison torture directed Mr. Hussein. Only American troops can systematically torture Iraqi prisoners. Remember Abu Ghraib?

We apologized. Why hasn't Mr. Bush apologized? Mr. Bush should apologize to the American people for letting them think Mr. Hussein was an evil dictator. Things are not so black and white. Why hasn't Mr. Bush apologized? Mr. Bush is not nuanced and his world view is simplistic. Why hasn't Mr. Bush apologized? We apologized. Why hasn't Mr. Bush apologized?

Sincerely,

The New York Times

P.S. Why hasn't Mr. Bush apologized?

/sarcasm


47 posted on 06/18/2004 10:25:05 AM PDT by conservative in nyc
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To: tallhappy

Bump


48 posted on 06/18/2004 10:29:10 AM PDT by Inyokern
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To: feinswinesuksass
I heard a man being interviewed yesterday by Larry Elder who mentioned this same info about the Iraqi-Osama agreement.

From one El Dorado to another, his name is Stephen Hayes, his new book is called "Connection".

He also writes for the Weekly Standard.

49 posted on 06/18/2004 10:34:13 AM PDT by Mister Baredog ((Part of the Reagan legacy is to re-elect G.W. Bush))
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To: tallhappy
Nice job of skewering them on their own words.

I am certain they will maintain that "the truth changed", as "everyone knows" WJC's administration was riddled with lies....

50 posted on 06/18/2004 10:36:40 AM PDT by TeleStraightShooter (Kerry{D-Hanoi} will graff post-Vietnam policy on Iraq: Exit & let the Syrian Baathists take over)
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To: Made In The USA
Outstanding, will have to check out the indictment.

See post 30 for link.

51 posted on 06/18/2004 10:37:23 AM PDT by tallhappy (Juntos Podemos!)
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To: pgkdan; torchthemummy
Rush is reading this article now!

That's the sort of thing I was hoping for.

52 posted on 06/18/2004 10:38:26 AM PDT by tallhappy (Juntos Podemos!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Bump!


53 posted on 06/18/2004 10:58:47 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Grampa Dave

Dave, here's a link to Peach's outstanding list of connections:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/746457/posts?page=70#70


54 posted on 06/18/2004 11:04:25 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: Mister Baredog

Thanks, I could not remember his name.


55 posted on 06/18/2004 11:45:57 AM PDT by Feiny (I can resist anything but temptation.)
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To: tallhappy

Bump!


56 posted on 06/18/2004 12:22:24 PM PDT by Stultis
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To: Mister Baredog
Even THEY can't get totally away with this s**t anymore.

The UN and the liberals are desperate to get control of the Interenet because they rely on obfuscation and ignorance to control people.

57 posted on 06/18/2004 12:35:43 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: tallhappy

Was that indictment prior to Clinton refusing to take Bin Laden because we didnt have a legal basis for arresting him?


58 posted on 06/18/2004 12:58:56 PM PDT by treeclimber ("We will hunt the terrorists in every dark corner of the earth. We will be relentless." GWB)
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To: MEGoody
They aren't journalists, they are propagandists.

If you just examine the behavior of the progressive news outlets the past 3 to 4 years one has to wonder. The progressive networks tried to steal the election for Gore by announcing that the State of Florida went to Gore before the voting booths had even closed in the Florida panhandle. After the voting was finished Gore himself then was reluctant to acknowledge that he lost and the progressive news outlets eventually tried to then claim Bush used the Supreme Court to steal the Election. A few months later Al Queada under direction of Bin Laden unleashed a devastating attack on the US. Bush responds by Invading Afghanistan and then Iraq. There ends up being plenty of evidence that Iraq and Al Queada were working together against US interests. Some of this evidence even appeared years ago (before the progressive news outlets went into denial mode) in the progressive news outlets themselves. Now as the connections between Saddam and Al Queada, the connection between the Socialist Baath Party and Al Queada, is finally being fully documented and reported in conservative news outlets (the few that exist) the progressive news outlets proceed to out right lies that no connection existed. What are they afraid of ? What are they trying to cover up ?

The connection between the progressive socialists and Al Queada ? It was fairly obvious that leftists in Spain utilized the jihadists attacks on Spains mass transit system to win an election. Thats why Brokaw flat out lied yesterday. A connection between the Baathist Socialists and Al Queada illuminates the leftist/jihadists collusion.

59 posted on 06/18/2004 2:07:02 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: Recovering_Democrat; tallhappy

60 posted on 06/18/2004 2:11:33 PM PDT by The Raven (<<----Click Screen name to see why I vote the way I do.)
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