U.S. Equipped Terror SponsorsPosted on 09/13/2001 2:01:33 PM PDT by Uncle Bill
U.S. Equipped Terror Sponsors
Clinton exported NSA-ducking phone, high-tech encryption devices to Syria
NOTE: Rove: Terrorists Tracked Bush's Whereabouts
WorldnetDaily
By Paul Sperry
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
September 12, 2001
WASHINGTON -- The dozen or so Islamic terrorists who pulled off the plot to strike at America's nerve centers in New York and Washington spent months, if not years, researching, planning and coordinating the surprise attacks, U.S. security officials say. And they did it completely in secret, using the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment, some secured by advanced encryption technology that most armies don't have.
Where did they get such state-of-the-art, military-related gear?
First, you have to appreciate the high degree of communications activity their mission required at each stage.
In researching their targets, the terrorists picked ones relatively easy to hit at high air speeds, yet ones that would produce big casualties and provide symbolic blows to American morale. They had to pick airports close by, with weak security. They had to find jets with enough heft and wingspan and fuel to cause major damage, yet not so large that they required extra crew.
The Boeing 757s and 767s they hijacked were big, but all had just two pilots and no flight engineers, making it easier for terrorists to take the cockpits. And the heisted jets were from the same family of aircraft, obviating additional cockpit training.
They also apparently studied passenger traffic patterns of airlines in order to pick flights with relatively few people aboard. All four flights had light passenger loads. The Boeing jets have roughly 160-seat capacities, yet American Flight 11 carried 81 passengers; American Flight 77, only 58; United Flight 175, 56; and United Flight 93, a skeletal 38.
Fewer passengers, fewer heroes to worry about.
More key, the terrorists needed to select transcontinental flights with big fuel loads to turn the planes into giant petro-bombs. All four flights were bound for California. They also had to know flight patterns, and how to blind air-traffic controllers to the hijackings by turning off the planes' transponders, which send such warning signals, among other aviation information.
In planning the attack, they had to fashion weapons that they could sneak past airport security. Transportation Department officials think that they may have hedged their bets and even planted security people on the inside at Logan and Dulles airports, so that guards would look the other way when they came through metal detectors at the terminals.
The kamikaze pilots also had to log many hours on computer flight simulators with high-level graphics capability, to practice hitting their targets at full throttle. A Continental Airlines captain, who's flown both 757s and 767s, told WorldNetDaily he thinks they may have even added the World Trade Center and Pentagon to the simulator's visual database.
"At the airspeed of those strikes, which hit their targets dead on, the hand-eye coordination demands would be too high for casual flying skill -- with, or without, an autopilot engaged," he said.
They had to practice, moreover, navigating the jets to abruptly change their course, by as much as 180 degrees in some cases, after take-off. Flying them at low altitudes was also something they had to work on.
Synchronized terrorists
Finally, in executing their murderous missions, the 12 or so terrorists had to coordinate their activities, flawlessly, within a roughly two-hour stretch. And, for the most part, they did. They all got to the airport on time, they all got through security, they all boarded their flights, they all hijacked their flights and, with the exception of one group, they all hit their targets.
Pulling off such a complex plot would have generated an inordinate volume of communications -- whether by radio, cell phone, land line, fax or modem -- among the terrorists, among their Middle-Eastern sponsors and among commercial contacts here and abroad.
But somehow eavesdroppers at the super-secret National Security Agency -- with their billion-dollar satellite "birds" and other surveillance technology -- were deaf, dumb and blind to the wicked plot.
"The real issue in this tragedy is how the hell were these people able to plan and coordinate such a strike over a period of months without the NSA intercepting their signals?" demanded Peter M. Leitner, a senior strategic trade adviser at the Defense Department.
Leitner, who reviews commercial license applications for exports of some of the most sophisticated military-related technology, thinks he knows the answer.
"The technology that would allow these terrorists to mask their communications was given away, hand over fist, by the Clinton administration," he said in an interview with WorldNetDaily.
Leitner says the previous administration rubber-stamped the shipment of top-end military-related telecommunications equipment to Syria, which is on the FBI's list of sensitive countries that pose a threat to U.S. security.
"Syria is a terrorist-supporting nation," he said. "They provide infrastructure to bastards like [Osama] bin Laden. They provide backup and support and communications abilities to these terrorist cells."
So what kind of gear has Syria -- and likely bin Laden, by way of Syria -- gotten from America?
Spread-spectrum radios
"We're giving them spread-spectrum radios, which are almost impossible to break into. We're giving them fiber optics. We're giving them a high level of encryption. We're giving them computer networks that can't be tapped," Leitner said.
Spread-spectrum radios, originally designed for military use only, change their frequency constantly.
"Bin Laden's cells aren't having any trouble communicating anymore," Leitner said.
Bin Laden, the world's No. 1 terrorist and the Pentagon's chief suspect in Tuesday's attacks, is known to use portable satellite telephones, advanced encryption cell phones and other encrypted telephony equipment, as well as secure computer networks -- all compliments of U.S. technology, Leitner says.
"If people are worried about how these people were able to coordinate and communicate something like this -- which had to be pretty extensively coordinated -- without it being intercepted, it's because of the crap we've been selling these people," he said.
"How can you penetrate their networks when you can't even eavesdrop on their conversations?" he said.
"You can't stop them when they're coming right at your building," he said. "But, damn it, you should be able to stop them months in advance by breaking up their networks."
Leitner posits that the NSA wasn't able to detect the Islamic terrorists' plot because of the "high quality of the communications gear that they've been acquiring over the last couple of years, thanks to the Clinton administration's decontrols on advanced telecommunications equipment."
Terrorists' secured telecom gear "makes it infinitely more difficult to get even early warning signs" about their activities, he said.
Tuesday's attacks took the entire U.S. government, including the intelligence community, by surprise.
"We had no specific warning of the U.S. attacks," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., ranking minority member of the Intelligence Committee.
Complete surprise
The Pentagon issued an alert of "Threat Con Alpha" the day before the attack, which meant that no threats were on the horizon. The same alert was issued the morning of the attack.
"We got no word of anything," Leitner said.
"We weren't warned of anything," another Pentagon official told WorldNetDaily.
Asked Tuesday if he had any inkling of the plot, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dodged the question: "We don't discuss intelligence matters."
Three weeks ago, some overseas papers quoted bin Laden saying that a major strike against the U.S. was coming soon. But there were no specifics. And bin Laden reportedly sent an e-mail to unknown government sources three days ago warning holy hell would break out. But again, he didn't say how, when or where.
Still, it's baffling that the U.S. intelligence community didn't pick up, early on, any specifics of the complex and long-planned plot through electronic intercepts and signals intelligence.
But it's actually not that baffling, Leitner asserts, against the backdrop of loose government controls on dual-use telecom exports.
"I've testified to Congress that it will take serious numbers of body bags before we wake up to the need to tighten dual-use export controls," he said. "Unfortunately, we've got them now."
"This is so tragic and yet so preventable," he said. "Now we're going to have to knock out their [terrorist] camps, just like we had to bomb the Iraqi's several times now to try to take out the fiber-optics network that the Chinese are installing in Iraq's air-defense systems."
"Yet, it was the Clinton administration that gave the Chinese the technology to give to Iraq," he noted.
The Bush administration apparently hasn't woken up, either.
Wake-up call
In June, Leitner was asked by the Commerce Department to OK a new round of exports of dual-use telecom equipment to Syria. He denied the request, and was asked to reconsider. He denied it again, arguing in a letter to Karen Vogel, the Commerce export licensing officer who requested the approval, that:
"Doing so vastly upgrades the C3 and C41 systems of the Syrian military and Intelligence Services. My concerns are also obviously compounded by the fact that Syria is one of the foremost state sponsors of terrorism."
Leitner continued: "Since an 'upgraded telecom infrastructure' will also greatly facilitate Syrian planning, coordination, secrecy and execution of terrorist acts, as well as direct military communications, I see absolutely no basis for any position other than a denial."
Vogel argued in an earlier letter that her request came on the heels of eight previous approvals of licenses for similar exports to Syria.
"There's still a lot of things inside the government involving national security that have just got to be changed," Leitner said.
Another senior Pentagon official who specializes in counterterrorism says his own faith in the U.S. intelligence community has been shattered.
"This full-court press by terrorists blows the hell out of the line that we've been hearing for years from the intelligence community that if they try anything big, we'll know about it and warn you. Anything bigger than a couple of people, don't worry, we'll know about it," he said. "Well, I guess they didn't."
[End of Transcript]
Is Pentagon muzzling its export watchdogs?
Why the Pentagon was so vulnerable
Big Brother Al
"In 1992, AT&T had developed secure telephones that the U.S. government could not tap. In response, AT&T was secretly paid by the Clinton administration to keep the secure phones out of the American market. According to Colgate's memo, the secure phones were simply too dangerous for American citizens."
Ok for Osama bin Laden to have though.
Secret memo on Loral deal - Traitor Loral Chairman Bernard Schwartz "Li Ka-Shing has been described by intelligence sources as a "Howard Hughes" for the Chinese Military Intelligence Department, or MID. U.S. Army Southern Command documents on the Panama transfer noted that Li Ka-Shing was an "indirect" threat to the United States.
Loral Globalstar satellite cellular phones use a unique communications technology originally built for the U.S. military called Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The July 1996 waiver signed by Clinton allowed Loral to export Globalstar CDMA technology to China."
Motorola, Clinton and the Red Gestapo
"In November 1994, Motorola employee and former Clinton White House National Security Council member Richard Barth began his successful effort to sell encrypted (secure) radios and cellular phones to the Chinese People's Armed Police.
..."Dear Ron," wrote Tooker to Brown. "I am writing to thank you and some key members of the Commerce Department for your assistance in obtaining the presidential waiver for encryption export sales to China."
Clinton's crypto technology leaks
"One 1995 document obtained from the Commerce Department on the GLX license shows that even they found "potential missile technology end-use" in a Chinese GLX export and "the high dollar volume approved items are primarily encrypted cellular telephones and radios."
The secrets of the Clipper chip
Administration's plan to bug America
Hubbell the key to corruption
"According to the NSA, FBI and the National Security Council, the Hubbell files are so sensitive that to release them today could result in charges of treason and the death penalty. The newly released Hubbell files are so secret that even the code word classification level was blacked out for "national security" reasons."
China, phone taps, dirty money, Clinton
VINCE FOSTER AND THE NSA--Spy Agency Hiding Evidence?
Hillary Clinton and Web Hubbell represented Systematics during the BCCI takeover of First American
Hillary Clinton, Lafarge, and Kennametal - Hillary helps Jackson Stephens arm Iraq
BCCI, money laundering, and the nuclear weapons programs of Pakistan and Israel
"Don't be afraid to see what you see."
Ronald Reagan
You would think that this would be a rather easy thing to check out instead of simply speculating.
This guy does not know what he is talking about. All the newest jets, including the 747-400 and the 777, have just a two person crew in the cockpit.
I'd like to add, if we can survive that long.
Osama, yours are on the way. Webster Hubbell says "click me."
NSA Threatens To "OUT" Republicans Over Hubbell Investigation
Bosnia is terrorist safe haven, says presidency chairman
"The Bosnian magazine Dani said in September that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi billionaire wanted by the United States for masterminding the 1998 twin bombings of US embassies in AFrica, was granted a Bosnian passport in 1993 by the country's embassy in Vienna.
The Bosnian government earlier confirmed that in 1997 it had granted citizenship and a passport to Mahrez Amduni, a Tunisian-born senior aide of bin-Laden.
Jelavic also warned that a number of Islamic fighters were present in Bosnia and said Alija Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of the presidency, had been videotaped inspecting the ranks of a group of mujahedeen."
A VISA FOR CASTRO'S TERRORISM CHIEF IN WASHINGTON
"As President Clinton granted clemency to the Puerto Rican terrorists, the White House was pushing to allow Fidel's terrorism coordinator to set up shop in Washington.
Mysterious White House push to allow one of Fidel Castro's top covert operatives to set up shop in Washington adds a twist to the deepening controversy about President Clinton's August decision to free members of two Cuban-backed Puerto Rican terrorist groups.
Insight has learned that while the White House prepared to grant clemency to 16 imprisoned terrorists, it pressured the State Department to grant a visa to Fernando Garcia Bielsa, a high-ranking Cuban Communist Party official in charge of supporting the very terrorist groups to which the prisoners belonged. The visa would allow Garcia Bielsa to work under diplomatic cover at the Cuban Interests Section on 16th Street in Washington, just blocks from the White House."
U.S. immigration official - Cuban Spy
FBI urged CUBAN SPY suspect to cooperate
New York, Florida, New York, Florida, New York, Florida.....
This and more tells me that citizens of the United States of America has had war declared on them by their own government...alas their own PRESIDENT! The fact that Bush and the Justice Dept. were unwilling to turn over documents that would implicate Clinton and Company's crimes (don't forget selling secrets to China, etc.)....tells me that we are getting more of the same. The powerful protect the powerful and make the decisions that result in disaster to anyone other than themselves.
There has been ample proof that the US has armed these militant, terrorist countries to the eyeballs and for what? So that they can turn around and kill, maim and terrorize the citizens of the U.S.? Do most people ever stop to really THINK about this? You only have to be able to add two plus two to come up with four. Are we so brainwashed in this country that we cannot add two plus two anymore? How many of our politicians are standing up for what is right for its citizens and holding the corrupt responsible for their actions? While the rich and connected get pardons and the very president of the U.S. and his cohorts go free....having committed some of the most atrocious crimes against this country and its citizens....the same are locking some up its citizens for YEARS for growing a marijuana plant!
What possible reason could the U.S. have for arming terrorists nations that hate our guts and would like nothing more than to use the arms against US? And we are expecting our govenment to protect us? This does not compute by any stretch of the imagination.
Wake up...for God's sake. (rant over)
Yet tonight?
First thing I see this evening is none-other-than that SOB walking around in the ruins.
I will not waste the bandwave asking if he has no shame; because we knew years ago the answer & that'll never change.
But seriously: is this guy ever going to simply go away??!
That's all I'd really like to know.
Yes, moments after God hands him his eternity pass to Hell.
We’ve Hit the Targets’
"Could the bombers have been stopped? NEWSWEEK has learned that while U.S. intelligence received no specific warning, the state of alert had been high during the past two weeks, and a particularly urgent warning may have been received the night before the attacks, causing some top Pentagon brass to cancel a trip. Why that same information was not available to the 266 people who died aboard the four hijacked commercial aircraft may become a hot topic on the Hill. In testimony to the Intelligence Committee earlier this year, CIA Director George Tenet said bin Laden posed the most immediate terrorist threat to Americans around the world and was capable of “multiple attacks with little or no warning.” “There is a giant accountability issue starting today,” says former Afghanistan CIA station chief Milt Bearden, “and in the midst of legitimate accountability there will be a lot of scapegoating. They’re going to start looking for the modern-day equivalent of General Short and Admiral Kimmel [the armed-forces commanders at Pearl Harbor], and they’re going to find them.”
Make you feel warm and fuzzy? Probably would have been asking too much to let some other folks know. Can't you just wait until that mountain of integrity Gary Condit starts asking questions and turning over stones in pursuit of the truth. He'll be demanding answers.
Feb. 19, 1993 Letter To George Tenet on Clipper
The Fall of the Republic
From article:
"The Bush administration apparently hasn't woken up, either.
Wake-up call
In June, Leitner was asked by the Commerce Department to OK a new round of exports of dual-use telecom equipment to Syria. He denied the request, and was asked to reconsider. He denied it again, arguing in a letter to Karen Vogel, the Commerce export licensing officer who requested the approval, that:
"Doing so vastly upgrades the C3 and C41 systems of the Syrian military and Intelligence Services. My concerns are also obviously compounded by the fact that Syria is one of the foremost state sponsors of terrorism."
Leitner continued: "Since an 'upgraded telecom infrastructure' will also greatly facilitate Syrian planning, coordination, secrecy and execution of terrorist acts, as well as direct military communications, I see absolutely no basis for any position other than a denial."
Vogel argued in an earlier letter that her request came on the heels of eight previous approvals of licenses for similar exports to Syria.
"There's still a lot of things inside the government involving national security that have just got to be changed," Leitner said.
Another senior Pentagon official who specializes in counterterrorism says his own faith in the U.S. intelligence community has been shattered."
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.