Gore wants investigation of Bush

WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Former Vice President Al Gore Thursday called for an independent congressional investigation into Bush administration claims of an Iraq-al-Qaida link, saying officials should testify under oath under threat of perjury.

Gore, speaking at the Georgetown University Law Center, claimed "President Bush is now intentionally misleading the American people by continuing to aggressively and brazenly assert a linkage between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein."

Gore said of the way the Bush administration has conducted the war on terrorism, "I think it is safe to say that our founders ... would feel that we are now facing a clear and present danger that has the potential to threaten the future of the American experiment."

The former vice president, who lost the 2000 election for president to Bush, said there is no credible evidence of a "collaborative relationship" between al-Qaida and Iraq. That supposed connection, he said, led to an attack on Iraq. As a result, said Gore, "We are left with an unprecedented, high-intensity conflict every single day between the ideological illusions upon which this administration's policies have been based and the reality of the world."

Bush, as recently as last week, said he claimed there is a link between the terrorist organization and Saddam Hussein "because there is link." Vice President Dick Cheney said this week there was overwhelming evidence of a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida.

Last week a report from the staff of the Sept. 11 Commission looking into possible intelligence failures prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which were carried out by al-Qaida, said the Iraq-al-Qaida link did not exist. Commission members tweaked that, however, limiting it to the planning for the Sept. 11 hijackings. The Bush administration agreed, saying that while Iraq and al-Qaida did have contacts, they did not work together on the Sept. 11 attacks.

Gore claimed the administration "deliberately ignored warnings before the (Iraq) war from international intelligence services, the CIA and their own Pentagon that the claim was false." He recalled the 2002 statement by Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the Council of Europe's terrorism expert, that "We have found no evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaida. If there were such links we would have found them. But we have found no serious connections whatsoever."

Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan when the Taliban leaders there refused to hand over al-Qaida leaders -- including Osama bin Laden, who had orchestrated attacks against U.S. interests during the Clinton administration before masterminding Sept. 11.

U.S.-led forces were able to unseat the Taliban and soon the Bush administration was looking at Iraq, a target administration critics allege had been the main end in the first place.

Gore said that switching to a war in Iraq allowed many Taliban and al-Qaida leaders to escape in Afghanistan. In fact, he alleged, their numbers have "grown considerably" due to a war that is perceived in the Muslim world as a "gross injustice."

"The way in which we have conducted that war," he said, "further fueled a sense of rage against the United States in those lands and, according to several studies, has stimulated a new wave of recruits for the terrorist group that attacked us and still wishes us harm."

Terry Holt, spokesman for the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign, issued a statement saying, "Al Gore lives in his own world and is engaged in simple political attacks on the president.

"The (Sept. 11 Commission) members themselves last week took great pains to point out that they were aware of connections between al-Qaida and various elements in Iraq."

John Lehman, one of the Republicans on the commission, in the wake of the report last week, offered evidence that a member of Saddam's Fedayeen had attended an al-Qaida meeting in Malaysia in January 2001.

Gore said that "within hours, the commission's files yielded definitive evidence that it was another man with a similar name."

The former vice president suggested a fate for Bush similar to one that his former boss -- President Bill Clinton -- went through in the appointment of a special prosecutor.

"Congressional oversight and special prosecution are words that should hang in the air," Gore said.

The claim that President George Bush was deceptive on the claim that Saddam Hussein was immanent to the possession of nuclear weapons does not speak to the full picture. Even if no evidence of heavy metal production were ever found, that does not mean that some country like North Korea would not for the right price sell the Iraqis a few nukes along with the means to deliver them. Saddam had already taken billions out of his country's wealth to build several palace complexes. This quest for power was unabated even when there was a trade embargo imposed on them. Do you think he would have hesitated at all to sink billions into the first available nuke on the market? If it meant more prestige for Saddam, that oil money would have gone for nukes. The charge that the Bush was willing to use guns for oil, but shows no concern that Saddam was willing to use oil for nukes shows a blindness that instantly disqualifies one from any argument concerning something as critically sensitive as the security of the United States.

There is a huge concern on my part that Saddam Hussein did have all kinds of weapons of mass destruction. However, during the time that our President was patiently waiting for Saddam Hussein to abide by the United Nations Resolutions on WMDs, everything was taken out of Iraq and into such countries as Syria. Do you know what that means? WMDs are involved in a big shell game being played by our enemies who will without warning place one of those shells in one of our major cities and be able to hide their identity as being the source. They could sneak WMDs in every major city, set them off, and no one could prove what country was the source. I am worried because I live near Seattle. My world may suddenly reach sun-surface temperatures because the likes of people like Al Gore who, because of their political obsessions refuse to see the big picture. Their quest for power is just as dangerous as Saddam's. This thirst for power has given the Al Gores and specifically, the Democratic Party a bad case of myopia--a blind eye to the real threats to our security on this planet. With such an impairment, they are just as reckless and have total disregard for the lives of millions of innocent people as some mad terrorist slipping in a suitcase nuke into the Port of Seattle. Proof of their total disregard for innocent human life can be seen in the case of the half a million bodies uncovered in Iraq out of mass graves. Have you heard one breath from the Democratic Party given to show one ounce of concern for those poor babies who were bulldozed after being shoved on top of their dead mothers? Their behavior after the revelations of the killing fields in Cambodia has been repeated. They have no concern about that matter and have no concern about the dangers I will show later in my article. They have an election to win. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! They have no interest in the truth because of their want for power that the socialistic Democrat political system brings for the masses who see the Democrats as their ticket to the nation’s treasury. What an outrageous manipulation of people for the purpose of power! They are willing to compromise this nation's security for a hope that rivals the Kool Aid drinkers at the Jim Jones Compound. Lots of innocent people will die because of their willingness to misrepresent the truth. When are they going to come to terms with the truth? When will they come to their senses in time to realize that we have a war to win? If we are to survive, as Ronald Reagan said long ago, "as that last great hope for mankind," we need to be all on the same page.

Senior investigators and analysts in the U.S. government have concluded that Iraq acted as a state sponsor of terrorism against Americans and logistically supported the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States – confirming news reports that have emerged only in bits and pieces--such a sad statement for our dismal press that cannot pull itself together enough to champion anything as noble as freedom and the truth.

A senior government official responsible for investigating terrorism revealed, that while Saddam Hussein may not have had details of the Sept. 11 attacks in advance, he "gave assistance for whatever al-Qaida came up with." That assistance, confirmed independently, came in a variety of ways, including financial support spun out through a complex web of financial institutions in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and elsewhere. Long suspected of having terrorist ties to al-Qaida, they now have been linked to Iraq as well.

The U.S. intelligence has uncovered the key "money-laundering operation" in the months following Sept. 11, 2001, when authorities raided the homes and offices of two Arab bankers, Youssef M. Nada and Ali Himat, principals at Nada Management (formerly al-Taqwa Management). Himat, Nada and the names of both companies are all listed on the U.S. Treasury Department's roll of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists."

The lawyer for the two Arab financiers, Pier Felice Barchi, was confirmed by the Swiss press that his clients have been questioned, and, added that they "have nothing to fear and nothing to hide," although he confirms that authorities seized thousands of pages of documents. Those who have seen these documents, confirm that they detail financial relationships between al-Taqwa and Iraq. These documents show clearly that al-Taqwa was formed by Nada, Himat, Ahmed Huber, and Mohamed Mansour.

These documents also reveal that al-Taqwa was created in the late 1980s by trusted members of a secretive Islamic extremist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, which is "dedicated to the overthrow of Western nations and the creation of a worldwide Islamic government." The Simon Wiesenthal Center reports that Huber is a 74-year-old neo-Nazi who converted to Islam in the 1960s. The Chronicle of Foreign Service, published in Bern, Switzerland, says Huber has praised Adolf Hitler and the Ayatollah Khomeini and has been quoted as saying: "We will bring down the Israel lobby and change foreign policy. We'll do it in America. When it happens you'll understand." Huber also has been quoted as saying, "Muslims and Nazis were involved in the same fight."

According to the senior government official, Nada Management is part of the al-Taqwa group. In November 2001, President George W. Bush officially cited al-Taqwa as part of al-Qaida's money-laundering activities. The citation included the following: "Al-Taqwa is an association of offshore banks and financial-management firms that have helped al-Qaida shift money around the world." It is in al-Taqwa and Nada Management that the government investigator says he found the links to Saddam and Iraq. "Al-Taqwa was the recipient of illicit funds from Iraq's 'Oil for Food' program," the official revealed, and from there the financial resources went "through al-Taqwa to al-Qaida." But in the Chronicle story Huber is quoted as denying that Nada Management (al-Taqwa) underwrites al-Qaida.

Records show that Youssef M. Nada is, with Huber, a board member of Nada Management. An Egyptian expatriate, Nada is said by the government investigator to be central to the Iraq/al-Qaida connection and "a known associate of Saddam Hussein and Ayman al-Zawahiri," al-Qaida's second in command.

The government investigator tells Insight that Nada met with Saddam and had a "business" relationship with the former Iraqi dictator. Nada's relationship with al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, is reportedly through the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization founded by al-Zawahiri, according to the government investigator.

The senior government official tells Insight that Mohammed Atta, long thought by U.S. authorities to have been the ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackings, had frequent meetings with members of the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization to which the senior official says "Saddam provided assistance for years back, and right up until the end of his regime." "All al-Qaida members active in Germany and Spain are members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood," says the official, and therefore sponsored by Saddam.

Critics of the Bush administration have raised questions about the president's case for the war in Iraq, citing concern about an alleged lack of evidence linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks and other terrorism. Indeed, for reasons of its own, the administration appears to have avoided making its case that way, though it has acknowledged a great deal piecemeal. This includes the capture of a training base for foreign nationals at Salmon Pak, near Baghdad, that included the fuselage of a jumbo jet believed by investigators to be part of training for hijackers.

"There are many things we know about the history of Saddam Hussein's regime and his ties to terrorism, including al-Qaida, and we have outlined all that previously," an irritated White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in response to provocative questions from a reporter.

Bush appears to have left the issue open to interpretation by saying that Iraq has links to al-Qaida but has stopped short of connecting Baghdad to the Sept. 11 attacks. Typically, without hammering home the point with details, he again said in his Sept. 23 address at the United Nations, "The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction." Insiders say the failure to assign responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other nation-state is intentional. "The administration does not want the victims of Sept. 11 interfering with its foreign policy," says Peter M. Leitner, director of the Washington Center for Peace and Justice, or WCPJ. The WCPJ is coordinating a lawsuit on behalf of the family of John Patrick O'Neill Sr., a former top FBI counterterrorism official who had become director of security for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shortly before Sept. 11, 2001. O'Neill was killed in the World Trade Center as a result of the attacks.

Leitner has revealed, "This administration has been absolutely heroic in the war on terror and has done more than any other administration to fight terrorism, but they have been deliberately ambiguous" about Iraq's involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. "The civil suits are a way of transferring power to the American people, to seek justice and to fight terrorism by depriving them of financial resources," Leitner says.

The O'Neill lawsuit seeks more than $1 billion in damages from the Republic of Iraq and a host of other defendants ranging from the known members of al-Qaida to those the lawsuit names as coconspirators in money laundering and as providers of support for terrorist operations, including the shadowy al-Taqwa group and Nada Management.

Leitner says the Bush administration may be concerned that if other victims of the Sept. 11 attacks also filed lawsuits and won civil-damage awards it would reduce Iraqi resources that the administration wants to use to rebuild the country. Leitner and others say this explains Bush's reticence at this time to report the convincing evidence linking Saddam and al-Qaida that has been collected by U.S. investigators and private organizations seeking damages. "The [Bush] administration is intentionally changing the topic," claims Leitner, and sidestepping the issue that "Iraq has been in a proxy war against the U.S. for years and has used al-Qaida in that war against the United States."

The lawsuit against Iraq points to numerous organizations and financial institutions the plaintiffs say were "fronts" for Islamic terrorism activities and claims financial linkages to Iraq, Iraqi intelligence and Saddam. The lawsuit, which was filed in August, states: "Following its defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's approach to dealing with the United States was to resort to terrorism. To achieve its goals, Iraq associated with various terrorist groups."

Also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit is the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera. "Defendant Mohammed Jaseem al-Ali and two other employees of Al-Jazeera are identified in documents captured in the April 2003 U.S. military action in Iraq as having received substantial funding from the Iraqi regime in exchange for acting as liaisons between Iraq and al-Qaida. One document reveals that Al-Jazeera passed letters from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein," the complaint alleges.

According to the Barcelona-based La Vanaguardia, the FBI is holding Tayssir Alouni, an Al-Jazeera reporter suspected of being an al-Qaida operative. The reports say he has been jailed in Spain based on the belief of the FBI and Spanish police that he was "in charge of al-Qaida propaganda for Europe and the United States." A spokesman for Al-Jazeera, Jihad Ballout, tells Insight he cannot comment because it is part of an ongoing legal matter.

Leitner says he sees the actions he is bringing in the civil courts as weapons with which to fight terrorism and "to pursue the terrorists as vigorously as John O'Neill pursued them when he was alive."

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.