Posted on 09/20/2001 1:39:16 AM PDT by VaBthang4
Israels military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the worlds foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden.
The two men have not been seen for some time. Mughniyeh is probably the worlds most wanted outlaw. Unconfirmed reports in Beirut say he has undergone plastic surgery and is unrecognisable. Zawahiri is thought to be based in Egypt. He could be Bin Ladens chief representative outside Afghanistan.
The Iraqis, who for several years paid smaller groups to do their dirty work, were quick to discover the advantages of Al-Qaeda. The Israeli sources claim that for the past two years Iraqi intelligence officers were shuttling between Baghdad and Afghanistan, meeting with Ayman Al Zawahiri. According to the sources, one of the Iraqi intelligence officers, Salah Suleiman, was captured last October by the Pakistanis near the border with Afghanistan. The Iraqis are also reported to have established strong ties with Imad Mughniyeh.
"Weve only got scraps of information, not the full picture," admits one intelligence source, "but it was good enough for us to send a warning six weeks ago to our allies that an unprecedented massive terror attack was expected. One of our indications suggested that Imad Mughniyeh met with some of his dormant agents on secret trips to Germany. We believe that the operational brains behind the New-York attack were Mughniyeh and Zawahiri, who were probably financed and got some logistical support from the Iraqi Intelligence Service (SSO)."
Mughniyeh was the only one believed to have tried it before. On April 12th 1997, he was reported to be only two hours away from achieving the highest goal of any terrorist organisation (until last week): blowing up an Israeli El-Al airliner above Tel Aviv. A man carrying a forged British passport with the name Andrew Jonathan Neumann was in a Jerusalem hotel preparing a bomb he was supposed to take on board an El-Al flight leaving Israel, when it accidentally went off. Andrew Jonathan Neumann was very badly injured but strong enough to reveal later to the Israelis that he was not British but Lebanese, and that his operation was supposed to be a special "gift" to Israel from Imad Mughniyeh.
A psychopath
"Bin Laden is a schoolboy in comparison with Mughniyeh," says an Israeli who knows Mughniyeh . "The guy is a genius, someone who refined the art of terrorism to its utmost level. We studied him and reached the conclusion that he is a clinical psychopath motivated by uncontrollable psychological reasons, which we have given up trying to understand. The killing of his two brothers by the Americans only inflamed his strong motivation."
Experts on Iraq and Saddam Hussein also believe that Iraq was the state behind the two terror masterminds. "In recent months, there was a change, and Iraq decided to get into the terror business. On July 7th, they tried for the first time to send a suicide bomber, trained in Baghdad, to blow up Tel Aviv airport (Foreign Report No. 2651)."
Our sources believe that it will be very difficult to get to the bottom of this unprecedented terror operation. However, they believe the chief of the Iraqi SSO is Qusai Hussein, the dictators son, and his organisation is the most likely to have been involved.
Mughniyeh, 48, is a "sick man", says an intelligence officer who was in charge of his file. He is considered by Western intelligence agencies as the most dangerous active terrorist today. He is wanted by several governments and the Americans have put a $2m reward on his head.
It was the assassination of one man in March 1984 that is said to have made Mughniyeh the CIAs most wanted terrorist. Mughniyeh allegedly kidnapped the head of the CIA station in Beirut, William Buckley. The kidnapping triggered what later became known as Irangate, when the Americans tried to exchange Buckley (and others) with arms for Iran. However, the attempt ended in a fiasco. By one unconfirmed account, Mughniyeh tortured and killed Buckley with his own hands.
A year later, in a combined CIA/Mossad operation, a powerful car bomb went off at the entrance to the house of Hizbullahs spiritual leader, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah. Seventy-five people were killed. One of them was his brother. Hunted by the CIA and the Mossad, Mughniyeh hid in Iran.
In February 1992, Israeli helicopter gunships attacked the convoy of the then head of Hizbullah, Sheikh Abas Musawi, in South Lebanon. Musawi, his wife and children were killed and the revenge attack followed a month later. According to press reports, Mughniyeh was called back into action and, in a well-planned and devastating attack, his people blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina. The building was demolished and 92 were killed. Only last year, after a long investigation, did Argentina issue a warrant for Mughniyehs arrest.
The reprisal for the attack in Argentina came in December 1994, when a car bomb went off in a southern Shiite suburb of Beirut. Four people were killed. One of them was called Mughniyeh, but to the deep disappointment of those Israelis who planted the bomb it was the wrong one. Mughniyehs life was saved, but his other brother Fuad was killed. Mughniyeh waited for his opportunity for revenge.
Our Israeli sources claim to see Mughniyehs signature on the wreckage in New York and Washington. How to counter this kind of terrorism? "To fight these bastards you dont need a military attack," said an experienced Israeli commando officer. "You only need to adopt Israels assassination policy."
William Cohen, the US Secretary of Defense, recently unleashed an unprecedented public blast at Israel for selling advanced military technology to China that could threaten American forces in the event of a clash with China over Taiwan.
Cohen demanded Israel cancel the US $1-2 billion sale of 3-5 AWACS airborne radar aircraft to China. Israel refused...
Former CIA Director James Woolsey testified Israel has covertly sold several billions of dollars worth of top-secret US technology to China since 1983. The Inspector General of the US State Department found, in a 1992 report, a systematic and growing pattern of Israel selling American military technology in direct violation of US law. That report concluded Israel was supplying arms based on restricted American technology to China, Chile, Ethiopia, and South Africa, all of whom then under US arms embargo. The Pentagon has claimed since the mid-1980s that Israel simply copies or reverse engineers secret US defense technology and then exports it even on occasion, it is whispered, to Russia. Until now, Israels influential friends on Capital Hill managed to downplay or cover up these serious charges. From article titled "Strange Bedfellows: China and Israel" by Eric S. Margolis
With friends like this, who needs enemies?
Do a search on any engine using the words:Israel Weapons Technology Transfer China! You'll be surprised by what you'll see!
On your comment about Isreal hiring suicide bombers, come on. You can be a little more creative than that, can't you?
Let me check my watch. Oh, yes, its almost mid-day, the time for the "Israel is afraid of the Arabs and need Uncle Sam to do the fighting for them" posts.
I'll be back in a few hours for the next shift of anti-Israel posters who will inform me that Israel is a powerful evil that scares all the Arabs to death.
Been watching your posts, you seem very level-headed, just thought by your moniker you were in the media business and curious about your take on Bush. Nice to see people who can who can see things from other's perspectives.
Anyone want to buy a slightly used Senator from New York?
The SCUDS posed no real military threat to Israel. Saddam shot a few in their direction during the Gulf War to try to get Israel involved and thereby break up the US-conservative Arab coalition. Israel didn't take the bait.
And, in any case, Israel could take out Iraq's SCUDS if they wanted to and if we gave them the green light. In fact, they would be happy to do it. The US has asked them not to do it so as not to inflame the masses in other Arab countries (although that argument seems a bit obsolete now IMO).
Iraq is the only formidable enemy in Isreals location (only with gas warfare)
Oh really? Saddam claims he has no poison gas. Are you saying he is a liar? And what does Iraq need with poison gas anyway? Please explain.
On your comment about Isreal hiring suicide bombers, come on. You can be a little more creative than that, can't you?
OK. Then explain how Mossad got these Arab terrorists to commit suicide. I would love to know.
Cohen demanded Israel cancel the US $1-2 billion sale of 3-5 AWACS airborne radar aircraft to China. Israel refused...
another outrage by the israelis!!
ain't they great 'allies'!!??
Israel cancelled the sale of the AWACS. You conveniently left out that little detail.
Yes, but....
The question is whether Israel is able to hit the right people (e.g., Arafat or his high-ups), and the answer is no -- the international fallout of killing them would be worse for Israel than the terrorism.
In the case of these probably small terrorist organizations, it's probably sufficient to get the brains and/or money men. Suicide bombers are easy to get. Planners are not.
Yes they are. They canceled the free enterprise deal and took a financial bath. The United States however continues to sell to China and may even share, with them, missile defense technology-much of which is being developed by the Arrow project in Israel. Go figure.
The U.S. also fears that Israel's close partnership and resulting knowledge of sophisticated military technology is propelling still-secret American weapons into the wrong hands. The U.S. Arms Export Control Act (AECA) specifically states that no country may sell U.S. "defense articles or service" to a third country (known as unauthorized retransfer) without U.S. approval. From 1975 to 1995, 17 reports went to Congress concerning so-called end-use violations, seven of which pertained to Israel. Yet the U.S. has continually backed down from taking action against Israel, primarily due to enormous pressure from Israel's well-organized congressional lobby. Also, according to Dov Zakheim, former deputy undersecretary of defense under Reagan, "They have never been caught red-handed. It is reasonably safe to say that Israel is not foolish enough to transfer stuff that can be found out."
Yes one sale may not have gone through, but pictures of the missiles on the Chinese plane that collided with our EP3 proved Israel did sell other items to China.
Half the family is in the group that controls the US and half the family in the group that sells the US to the Chinese. And how we fight over the white fish. It's not a pretty sight.
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