Posted on 07/17/2004 6:42:27 PM PDT by faludeh_shirazi
Iran Accused of Complicity in World Trade Center Attack!
Iran gave free passage to up to 10 of the September 11 hijackers just months before the 2001 attacks and offered to co-operate with al-Qa'eda against the US, an American report will say this week.
The all-party report by the 9/11 Commission, set up by Congress in 2002, will state that Iran, not Iraq, fostered relations with the al-Qa'eda network in the years leading up to the world's most devastating terrorist attack.
The bipartisan commission has established that between eight and 10 of the September 11 hijackers, who had been based in Afghanistan, travelled through Iran between October 2000 and February 2001. The terrorists in question are believed to have been the "muscle" - hired to storm the aircraft cockpits and overpower crew and passengers.
Iranian officials were instructed not to harrass al-Qa'eda personnel as they crossed the border and, in some cases, not to stamp their passports.
According to testimony received by the commission - based on information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and about 100 electronic intercepts by the National Security Agency - an alliance of convenience was established between the Shia Muslim Iranian leadership and the Sunni terrorist organisation, well before September 11, 2001.
The report is expected to confirm the claim by Thomas Kean, its chairman, last month that "there were a lot more active [al-Qa'eda] contacts, frankly, with Iran and Pakistan, than there were with Iraq".
It will further inflame tensions between Washington and Teheran, where hardliners are threatening to restart its uranium enrichment programme, a key step towards building nuclear weapons.
A commission official, quoted in the latest edition of Time magazine, alleges that Iranian officials approached Osama bin Laden after the bombing of the USS Cole in 1999, proposing a joint strategy of attacks on US interests.
A preliminary report from commission staff, released last month, stated: "Bin Laden's representatives and Iranian officials discussed putting aside Shia-Sunni divisions to co-operate against the common enemy."
The offer is said to have been turned down by bin Laden, who was reluctant to alienate Sunni supporters in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, in the wake of September 11, Iran sheltered al-Qaeda militants fleeing Afghanistan.
The full report by the commission is also expected to endorse initial conclusions that al-Qa'eda may have been involved in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia, when 19 American servicemen were killed. The attack has long been blamed solely on Hizbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group backed by Iran.
Iran was declared part of an "axis of evil", along with Iraq and North Korea, by President George W. Bush in 2002. The report will add to pressure for Iran's theocratic rulers to be the first target of a re-elected Bush administration. Hawks within the administration want a concerted effort to overturn the regime by peaceful means.
Some Bush officials are privately contemplating a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities before Russian fuel rods are delivered next year.
Teheran said yesterday that it had arrested an unspecified number of Iranian al-Qa'eda supporters.
I suppose that it's intended as a Middle Eastern version of "Radio Marti" or the "Voice of America."
Hopefully, it'll be more effective than those two services have been of late.
2. CIA director warns of something big coming.
3.Iranian agents have been captured in Iraq.
The US has been saying some negative things about the Iranian government lately and there have been articles suggesting Bush will 'focus' on Iran in a second term. I don't think it will involve large ground forces, I think it will involve supporting the dissidents inside Iraq, possibly a few airstrikes.
Could all of this be a coincidence with the report about to come out??
Yup, about time we assigned blame to Iran.
About time, and overdue! Let' roll!
Whatever they do please let's not dick around with the UN for months giving them the opportunity to sanitize thier nuclear operations.For some reason I was under the impression that Bush would wait till after the election to confront Iran.But maybe if he thinks he's going to lose he might just pull the trigger early.Talk about your October suprise.
The people of Iran are ready to dismantle the instruments of state persecution and torture, all that they need is the moral-and perhaps, logistical-support of the United States government.
Who else is brave and determined enough to stand up for freedom?
let me think
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
no, don't tell me, don't tell me
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nobody??
Oh, stop being a tease. Please just tell me so I won't have to look it up. It's late here. :-)
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Has anyone seen Ferris Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Louis+Freeh%22+retirement&btnG=Google+Search
In fact, I believe that there is even a woman who has a link to a site that commemorates the lost lives in the marine barracks bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Your best bet would to be to contact some people on the Middle Eastern/Terrorism-related threads and ask them for so more information on this topic.
There's also a website that chronicles the work of some of the victim's families, who've filed a class action (suit) against the House of Saud.
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin
Thank you.
If anyone comes along who knows how Louis Freeh has been spending his retirement, please ping me back to the thread. Thanks.
Before you saddle up pardner, you better start that draft machine up.
Whaddaya know...
Bush is right, again.
The liberals are wrong, again.
What else is new?
I never said they chose a dictatorship. My point was that they chose ISLAM. And I believe 90% of the people at this *conservative* website would agree that if democracy was handed to them, they would NOT give up Islam. It is akin to someone wanting to be free of AIDS, but still practices homosexuality. As long as Iranians embrace Islam, they will reap what they sow. If the Mullahs go, then Islam has to go. End of story.
They were muslim before Khomeini took over.
The big difference was that the Shah ran the country, not the mullahs.
So islam isn't the problem......it's Khomeinism.
Free Iran bump.
There are 8-10 million American Muslims in the US and growing, you either should get your over radical hatred, or educate yourself.
Good day.
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