Report revealed al-Qaida plans in '98

A newly declassified U.S. intelligence report details the plans of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network to establish itself in Chechnya because the Russian enclave is "unreachable by strikes from the West."

The Defense Intelligence Agency Intelligence Information Report [pdf file] was obtained by the public interest group Judicial Watch Oct. 30 through a Freedom of Information Act request made nearly four years ago regarding the Clinton administration's decision in 1998 to bomb the al Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan and suspected al-Qaida terrorist training camps in the area of Khost, Afghanistan.

"This report provides a deeply disturbing 'snapshot' of what the U.S. intelligence community knew about the activities of bin Laden and his associates back in 1998," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"The global scope and rabid fanaticism of these Islamist terrorists is spelled out in no uncertain terms, including their intense interest in WMDs," Fitton said. "Documents such as these give the American people some idea of the terror threat facing the West."

The report is derived from handwritten documents obtained through a classified intelligence project nicknamed "Swift Knight."

It includes a description of how al-Qaida envisions achieving its goals through methods that include "ethnic cleansing" and "control over nuclear and biological weapons."

Also, mentioned is the tactic of "latent penetration," a reference to so-called "sleeper cells."

The report, with extensive information about al-Qaida's activities in Central Asia, confirms the existence of a secure, terrorist transport "route to Chechnya from Pakistan and Afghanistan through Turkey and Azerbaijan."

It also provides basic biographical information on bin Laden and his formation of al-Qaida.

According to the report, the documents were written during the first two weeks of October 1998.

The dual-site bombing operation by the U.S. that year, codenamed "Infinite Reach," reportedly was in retaliation for the Aug. 7, 1998, bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The spellings, references and phrases in the report are verbatim transcriptions from the original handwritten document, Judicial Watch said, rendering, for example, to the al-Qaida leader as "Usam ben Laden."

Destro (re: post #9 and #10),

You know very well (or at least you should know) why al-Qaida has managed to secure "terrorist transport route to Chechnya...via Azerbaijan." Azerbaijan's former president, Gaider Aliyev (former KGB general and former Soviet Premier under Andropov) was carrying out Russia's strategy to dupe nearby Muslim countries into establishing economic and political ties with the Muslim CIS (Read: Pro-Russian) states. Of course, Azerbaijan has a new president, so there is no longer anything to worry about, right? Wrong...the new president of Azerbaijan is none other than Gaider Aliyev's son, Ilham Aliev.

Here is what KGB defector Anatoly Golitsyn had to say on the Russian/Red Chinese strategy re: Azerbaijan and the new 'independent' Muslim states:

"Perstroika Deception", p. 149, 150

“A second upgraded strategy involves the use of the new ‘independent’ Muslim states in the CIS to establish and develop economic and political cooperation with the fundamentalists in Iran and elsewhere in the Muslim world.”

According to this assessment the much-advertised feud between the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis of Turkish descent in Nagorno-Karabakh may be a tactical ploy to involve Turkey, Iran and other Muslim countries in support of eventual alliance with Azerbaijan and other Central Asian Muslim states in the CIS. This strategy takes into account the growing power of the fundamentalists and the possibility of their gaining control over substantial oil reserves”

“A primary objective of the strategy here is to achieve a partnership with the fundamentalists in Iran and Algeria and to replace the present American-Oriented rulers of Saudi Arabia with fundamentalists. The opening in Saudi Arabia of a Russian Embassy and the probable opening of Embassies by Muslim states of the CIS (read: Russian puppet governments) should be seen, not only as an attempt to extract a few extra Saudi Billions, but as part of an offensive to bring about a political reorientation in that country.”

“Chinese Muslims (read: Communists) can also be expected to play an active role in promoting alliances with the fundamentalists. The supply of missiles to Iran by the Chinese should be looked at in the context of this strategy.”

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