Posted on 09/30/2001 3:50:21 AM PDT by Aerial
Security chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic repeatedly turned down the chance to acquire a vast intelligence database on Osama bin Laden and more than 200 leading members of his al-Qaeda terrorist network in the years leading up to the 11 September attacks, an Observer investigation has revealed.
They were offered thick files, with photographs and detailed biographies of many of his principal cadres, and vital information about al-Qaeda's financial interests in many parts of the globe.
On two separate occasions, they were given an opportunity to extradite or interview key bin Laden operatives who had been arrested in Africa because they appeared to be planning terrorist atrocities.
None of the offers, made regularly from the start of 1995, was taken up. One senior CIA source admitted last night: 'This represents the worst single intelligence failure in this whole terrible business. It is the key to the whole thing right now. It is reasonable to say that had we had this data we may have had a better chance of preventing the attacks.'
He said the blame for the failure lay in the 'irrational hatred' the Clinton administration felt for the source of the proffered intelligence - Sudan, where bin Laden and his leading followers were based from 1992-96. He added that after a slow thaw in relations which began last year, it was only now that the Sudanese information was being properly examined for the first time.
Last weekend, a key meeting took place in London between Walter Kansteiner, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, FBI and CIA representatives, and Yahia Hussien Baviker, the Sudanese intelligence deputy chief. However, although the intelligence channel between Sudan and the United States is now open, and the last UN sanctions against the African state have been removed, The Observer has evidence that a separate offer made by Sudanese agents in Britain to share intelligence with MI6 has been rejected. This follows four years of similar rebuffs.
'If someone from MI6 comes to us and declares himself, the next day he can be in Khartoum,' said a Sudanese government source. 'We have been saying this for years.'
Bin Laden and his cadres came to Sudan in 1992 because at that time it was one of the few Islamic countries where they did not need visas. He used his time there to build a lucrative web of legitimate businesses, and to seed a far-flung financial network - much of which was monitored by the Sudanese.
They also kept his followers under close surveillance. One US source who has seen the files on bin Laden's men in Khartoum said some were 'an inch and a half thick'.
They included photographs, and information on their families, backgrounds and contacts. Most were 'Afghan Arabs', Saudis, Yemenis and Egyptians who had fought with bin Laden against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
'We know them in detail,' said one Sudanese source. 'We know their leaders, how they implement their policies, how they plan for the future. We have tried to feed this information to American and British intelligence so they can learn how this thing can be tackled.'
In 1996, following intense pressure from Saudi Arabia and the US, Sudan agreed to expel bin Laden and up to 300 of his associates. Sudanese intelligence believed this to be a great mistake.
'There we could keep track of him, read his mail,' the source went on. 'Once we kicked him out and he went to ground in Afghanistan, he couldn't be tracked anywhere.'
The Observer has obtained a copy of a personal memo sent from Sudan to Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI, after the murderous 1998 attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It announces the arrest of two named bin Laden operatives held the day after the bombings after they crossed the Sudanese border from Kenya. They had cited the manager of a Khartoum leather factory owned by bin Laden as a reference for their visas, and were held after they tried to rent a flat overlooking in the US embassy in Khartoum, where they were thought to be planning an attack.
US sources have confirmed that the FBI wished to arrange their immediate extradition. However, Clinton's Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, forbade it. She had classed Sudan as a 'terrorist state,' and three days later US missiles blasted the al-Shifa medicine factory in Khartoum.
The US wrongly claimed it was owned by bin Laden and making chemical weapons. In fact, it supplied 60 per cent of Sudan's medicines, and had contracts to make vaccines with the UN.
Even then, Sudan held the suspects for a further three weeks, hoping the US would both perform their extradition and take up the offer to examine their bin Laden database. Finally, the two men were deported to Pakistan. Their present whereabouts are unknown.
Last year the CIA and FBI, following four years of Sudanese entreaties, sent a joint investigative team to establish whether Sudan was in fact a sponsor of terrorism. Last May, it gave Sudan a clean bill of health. However, even then, it made no effort to examine the voluminous files on bin Laden.
Well..I have entertained the thought.
These and more are still 100% verifiable and *real* questions and concerns. The names are there, the political parties names are there. Bush won, it's his and his party's job to do the business of government, and frankly, they are looking more and more like the same old coverups of malfeasance, and instituting the same old goose stepping policies. This is to be IGNORED?
Not to me it's not, I refuse to be a blinders-on sieg heiler to any political party or personality cult, Bush and the GOP included. I am a patriot to our country, I am not a loyal follower of any single political party and their temporary personality cult figures. I offer praise when it's deserved, condemnation when it's deserved, simple as that. Consistency. Clinton was the worst president we ever had following FDR as far as I am concerned. there ya go, condemnation of the democrats and clinton. But so far, shrub has been a big fat YAWNER. Every chance he's gotten to actually shrink the size of big government he has missed. Every chance to go back to the constitution has been missed. Not only missed, but now he wants to finalise this new secret police agency, completely above and beyond the constitution. Before 9-11, it was all fast tracking the millions of illegals here into "officially approved guest worker" status-the stealth full amnesty word twisted version- despite the fact we ALREADY had what was supposed to be a one time general amnesty, something that was PROMISED to us by THE REPUBLICANS, remember? It was promised as a ONE TIME, NO MORE, NEVER AGAIN deal. Well? Looks like they LIED about that one, didn't they? The dems lied, and the repubs lied about it, business as usual in foggy bottom. Business as usual with red china, a nation that has threatened us with ICBM nuclear missile strikes. I can see the traitorus clinton and his lackeys doing this, any reason why this policy hasn't changed yet under REPUBLICAN GEORGE BUSH? Why is this exactly? Why? He was governor of texas, last I knew right on the border with mexico, surely he's marginally aware of the mass invasion of illegals going on, so, is there any reason why on day two or three of his being president he couldn't have just picked up a phone and ordered the laws on the books enforced? I mean, just as president order the law enforced?
I dunno, I had great, great hopes for him when he made it in. Like everyone I was sweating out that weird squeaker of an election, hoping against hope it wouldn't lead to outright civil war or something. Sigh of relief when things apparently settled down and we stayed mostly civil about things in this country. So, when does the actual work start? 3/4ths of an entire year into this administration now, zero prosecutions of any of the past traitorus activites, the worst terrorist strike in our nations history, fast tracking china into full access even more than they had before into our country, ignoring the borders until 9-11, and still not enforcing the laws on illegals being here, or prosecuting those who hire them to work-laws ON THE BOOKS- and the continuuing exploitation and rural cleansing of not only the klamath farmers, but people all over in "flyover" country who in large part got him elected-not the urban elite, rural people, as evidenced by the famous election map. Bailout for the airlines, while thousands of people completely bankrupted into oblivion by the so-called endangered species act. Ranchers on the border demonized and threatened with prosecution for trying to protect the US from outright invasion, threatened with prosecution, but welfare for the invaders.
Phooie, too many things to list now. Cuss all you want, it's still real. A lot more people will be cussing when a year or two from now they realise that we have just undergone a serious military coup in this nation, with almost irreversible consequences. That little factoid is going to be lost in the outpouring of "nuke the ay-rabs" going on. Yep, those islamic terrorists are going to be a big problem, and need to be dealt with, but throwing the freedom and constitutional baby out with the terrorist bathwater is NOT a wise move.
Learn from history, or keep repeating it, one or the other. Reichstagg, part deux.
September 11 was the day of the terrorist attacks. Does anyone know whether the evidence was turned over to Justice, or what happened on this issue?
Come on over, help if you can.
Thanks. < /interruption >
I am in absolute and total agreement with this. And all the rest of post #63.
When I get agreement on my posted opinions of Clinton's treason that's fine. It's nice to know that a few people have a clue. For those who think I'm just Clinton bashing...all I can say is you're mistaken. I hammer that point because until it becomes widely recognized just how evil and despicable the wonderful Clinton administration was too few will accept and believe the all too true condemnations zog has laid out in post #63.
Clinton obviously didn't commit his crimes and treasonous acts in a vacuum. He had lots of help. To give one example it was a Republican Congressional majority that voted for MFNS for the PRC. Other instances of Republican and bureaucratic complicity and enablement are mountainous. The reasons for consistently laying blame at Clinton's feet are twofold.
One, he is directly responsible for his actions as a President. The rule of law means something or it doesn't.
Two, Clinton was and is the public and legal umbrella that has sheltered the vast majority of actions that have sold out our Constitution and left us more vulnerable on several levels from citizen disarmament to hamstringing national security.
That it continues on in the current administration under the guise of 'moral leadership' is apparent to those who care to know the truth. Unfortunately the numbers of people who lack the courage to face it are staggering. Until Clinton is universally seen for what he is there is little chance that unveiling the rest of the truth will meet with significant acceptance.
For all my bitching about BOTH former President Bush's and Bob Dole's "sending a message" during impeachment that the "Mad Bomber of Sudan" should not be removed, I guess my all-time fav is Danforth's wiping Clinton and Reno's Waco weapons clean under cover of "election crisis" on November 8, 2001.
No, it was the Klintoon administration, foul, corrupt, disgusting and inept.
Based on what I recall of the incidents versus what is printed here, I believe the article.
Airline Safety ‘NetAre you pushing that pathetic little site over here too?- look to the TWA-800” and “Attack on America” links.
That site is pathetic ... looks to be written by high school dropouts!!
With enough terrorists acts big enough, we get to usher in the enhanced Nazism of the New World Order!Something I've been wanting to ask you conspiracy screwballs -If gov't complicity (our gov't, ala a michael rivero US gov't did it scenario) was a factor -
- why didn't these terrorists take advantage of the election delay we had back in December in an effort to get the NWO's prime boy (Clinton) held over for one more (or even PART OF ONE MORE) term - kinda like Rudy is doing in New York City?
Looks to me like these 'conspiracies' are nothing but smoke and VERY little mirror ...
No. It was the Clinton administration, from Reno to Freeh, to Richardson, to Halfbright, to Meissner (INS) to Rubin (don't freeze terriorist bank accounts), etc., etc., ad nauseum.
They could be feeding Bush misleading info.
Just like the Treasury and the ATF did in their reports to Congress in reference to WACO.
To set up this new Global World Order through the U.N.
He never does that does he? I guess he can't.
You've pegged him correctly.
More Clinton legacy.
It was stated that this was a huge failure of the CIA!
This was the statement shown on the CNN special!
But the Special with Aaron Brown was just excellent!
Would be worth it to watch the replay , I assume it will be shown later.
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