SEPTEMBER 28, 1997 : (ALBRIGHT ANNOUNCES THAT US DIPLOMATS WOULD RETURN TO SUDAN) Sudan's April policy shift to make cooperation on terrorism issues unconditional sparked a heated debate at the State Department, where foreign-service officers believed the U.S. should take a new approach to Khartoum, and lobbied the incoming Secretary of State — still untainted by her politicized and yet-to-be-confirmed staff — to have a fresh look. On September 28, after four months of deliberate and exhaustive interagency reviews, Sec. Albright announced that up to eight U.S. diplomats would return to Sudan to pressure its Islamic government to stop harboring Arab terrorists, and furthermore, to gather intelligence on terrorist groups operating out of Sudan — including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. - "The Clinton Intel Record
Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
OCTOBER 1, 1997 : (ALBRIGHT'S DECISION TO SEND PERSONNEL TO SUDAN IS ABRUPTLY REVERSED) As the reengagement policy was taking shape, Rice, the incoming Assistant Secretary for East Africa, informally confronted the same foreign-service officers who had recommended returning diplomats to Sudan to Albright and vowed that the new policy directive would not stand. On October 1, State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin sheepishly announced an abrupt reversal of the September 28 Albright decision. - "The Clinton Intel Record : Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
OCTOBER 9, 1997 : (RICE IS CONFIRMED AS ASST SEC FOR E. AFRICA) Rice was confirmed by the Senate on October 9, 1997. To this day, neither Berger nor Albright nor Rice have explained to the American people why a deliberative decision of the U.S. government, made through interagency review, was overturned in such a cavalier fashion by a narrow clique of Clinton advisers when Sudan's April offer to cooperate on terrorism issues had been made unconditionally. - "The Clinton Intel Record
Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
SEPTEMBER 12, 1997 and DECEMBER 5, 1997 : (SUDANESE AMBASSADOR GOES AROUND THE USUAL CHANNELS & MEETS WITH FBI AGENT) On the very day Rice was delivering testimony for her Senate confirmation, Sudan's ambassador to the U.S., Mahdi Ibrahim, met with David Williams, special agent in charge of the FBI's Middle East and North Africa Department. Faced with the growing prospect that political reconciliation was impossible with forces at the National Security Council and State Department lined up adamantly against Sudan, Ibrahim decided to take matters directly to the intelligence community and discuss how the FBI could take advantage of Sudan's offer to cooperate independently of the administration. A second, and critically important, meeting took place on December 5. - "The Clinton Intel Record
Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
1998 : (TOM DASCHLE, DICK GEPHARDT) The two Democratic congressional leaders, Sen. Tom Daschle and Rep. Dick Gephardt, issued a joint statement hailing Clinton's "correct decision to undertake military action against Iraq at this time." Indeed, they added, "Any delay would have given Saddam Hussein time to recontitute his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction." - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002
1998 : (US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY BEGINS WARNINGS OF COVERT N KOREAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM) A U.S. official said the intelligence community has been saying since 1998 that the North Korean government continued its covert nuclear-weapons program, despite freezing work on the reactor facility at Yongbyon, which was making plutonium. - "U.S. saw North Korea's work to enrich fuel for nukes" by Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, October 18, 2002
1998 : (NORTH KOREA STEPS UP EFFORTS TO GET MONETARY CONCESSIONS : CLINTON ADMINISTRATION RACES TO APPEASE THEM) Not surprisingly, Pyongyang decided Clinton's promise to build Pyongyang two new (supposedly less weapon-friendly) nuclear reactors, provide it with huge amounts of fuel oil in the meantime, and normalize economic and political relations was a pretty good scam. In 1998, it tested missiles that could dump warheads on both Japan and the United States. As the North Koreans probably hoped, the Clinton team raced to figure out what more they could offer as tribute, if only North Korea would agree to stop its testing of these missiles. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/771974/posts
JANUARY 1988 : (UNSCOM TEAM FINDS IRAQI CHILDREN'S PRISON - ACCORDING TO LATER INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT RITTER) Q : "You've spoke about having seen the children's prisons in Iraq. Can you describe what you saw there? "
A: "The prison in question is at the General Security Services headquarters, which was inspected by my team in Jan. 1998. It appeared to be a prison for children — toddlers up to pre-adolescents — whose only crime was to be the offspring of those who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was a horrific scene. Actually I'm not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm waging peace."
JANUARY 2, 1998 : (IRAQ, ATTACK ON UNSCOM INSPECTORS) Rocket attack on the headquarters of the UNSCOM inspectors in Baghdad; it did not cause damage because the rocket did not explode. No 'group' claimed responsibility for the attacks. * The Iraqi regime condemns the attack saying it was the act of saboteurs hostile to Iraq. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JANUARY 13, 1998 : (IRAQ REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH UNSCOM) Iraq temporarily withdraws cooperation, claiming the inspection team had too many US and British inspectors. - "Key events in UN weapons inspections in Iraq," By AP September 17 2002
JANUARY 22, 1998 : (IRAQ REFUSES TO ALLOW UNSCOM INSPECTORS TO VISIT "PRESIDENTIAL SITES") Iraq refuses inspection of presidential sites. - "Key events in UN weapons inspections in Iraq," By AP September 17 2002
JANUARY 23, 1998 : (IRAQ : BUTLER) Richard Butler, UNSCOM chairman, addresses the UN security Council and presents a bleak report. Iraq will provide no new information on its weapons programme. UN discusses continuing crisis over Iraq - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JANUARY 28, 1998 : (CLINTON STATE OF THE UNION) President Clinton delivers his State of the Union address, and says the US is prepared to carry out a military attack against Iraq. Clinton address applauded - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
FEBRUARY 1998 : (LIBYA, KUSA, CLINTON ADMIN MEETING PLANNED) Still, the diplomatic dance between the U.S. and Libya has produced a stark change in Libya's previously sharp anti-American rhetoric. It began in secret more than two years before Sept. 11, in a series of meetings on the outskirts of London and in Geneva, Switzerland. Those meetings brought together senior officials of the Clinton administration, British officials and a top Libyan intelligence operative, Musa Kusa, according to U.S. officials. The idea to meet emerged in February 1998, when the U.S. was embroiled in one of its periodic crises with Iraq. British Prime Minister Tony Blair telephoned Clinton to discuss growing complaints by moderate Arab allies that the West was dealing unfairly with Arab states. Mr. Blair suggested it might be helpful to resolve the Libya issue in some way, a Clinton administration official recalls. The Saudi Arabian government, saying the U.S. needed to show it was prepared to believe a radical Arab state could mend its ways, made the same case privately. A Blair spokesman in London referred a request for comment to the British Embassy in Washington, where another press spokesman declined to comment on the phone call. President Clinton didn't move until after Col. Gadhafi agreed in April 1999 to hand over two Libyan suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing. The White House then sent Martin Indyk, the assistant secretary of state for the Middle East at the time, and Bruce Riedel, the top White House Middle East staffer, to meet with Mr. Kusa, who often handles delicate missions for Col. Gadhafi. Mr. Kusa has been associated for more than 20 years with Libyan intelligence, which has been connected to assassinations of Libyan dissidents abroad and the Pan Am bombing.
FEBRUARY 1998 : (TJ) "Newsline", a monthly of Pakistan, quoted workers of the TJ as saying that the TJ had many offices in the US, Russia, the Central Asian Republics, South Africa, Australia and France and that many members of the Chechen Cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, were workers of the TJ and participated in its proselytising activities. . One of them, merely identified as Khalil, said: " It is possible that France may become a Muslim state within my lifetime, due to the great momentum of Tablighi activity there. "
FEBRUARY 1998 : (BIN LADEN'S INTERNATIONAL FRONT & FATWA, AL-GAMA'AT AL-ISLAMIYYA, EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD, HARAKAT UL-ANSAR) Bin Laden announced the creation of an "international front” against the US. According to a document obtained by the PBS program "Frontline," bin Laden "regards an anti-American alliance with Iran and China as something to be considered.” Bin Laden announces the front as the "World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders." The Front included the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Harakat ul-Ansar (Johnnie Taliban's group), and two other groups. The Front declared its intention to attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the world. By at least February 1998, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad had effectively merged with al Qaeda and joined with al Qa'ida in targeting American civilians. Osama bin LAden issued and signed a 'fatwa' which included a decree to all Muslims:
"...the killing of Americans and their civilian and military allies is a religious duty for each and every Muslim to be carried out in whichever country they are until Al Aqsa mosque has been liberated from their grasp and until their armies have left Muslim lands."
In the same 'fatwa' he called on Muslim scholars and their leaders and their youths to :"...launch an attack on the American soldiers of Satan." and concluded:
"We- with god's help - call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill Americans and plunder their money whenever and wherever they find it. We also call on Muslims... to launch the raid on Satan's US troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them."
When asked in 1998 about obtaining chemical or nuclear weapons he said:
"acquiring such weapons for the defense of Muslims (was) a religious duty"
In an interview aired on Al Jazira (Doha, Qatar) television, he stated:
"Our enemy is every American male, whether he is directly fighting us or paying taxes."
FEBRUARY 1998 : (CLINTON ADMIN : LATE REPORT ON AVIATION SAFETY & SECURITY) 16 months after enacting the law HR 3539, the Clinton Transportation Department published a "Status Report" on Aviation Safety and Security. In it, the administration claimed the FAA was finally "preparing new rules to verify the backgrounds of airport employees and certify the people at our airport checkpoints." None in Congress or the press condemned the Clinton foot-dragging... employee backgrounds were never checked during the Clinton administration.
FEBRUARY 5, 1998 : (SUDAN TRIES AGAIN) On the basis of those two FBI meetings in Washington, Sudan's intelligence chief, al-Mahdi, made a final, almost desperate attempt to reach out to U.S. intelligence officials in order to turn over data on the people and evidence of their planning against U.S. targets in the region. He wrote officially to Williams "…with reference to your meeting with Ambassador Mahdi Ibrahim on Sept. 12 and Dec. 5 1997, I would like to express my sincere desire to start contacts and cooperation between our service and the FBI…" The letter was sent at the very moment that Iraq was reaching out to al Qaeda leaders resident in Khartoum. Did al-Mahdi know something serious was amiss in the radical Islamist community he was closely monitoring? Apparently so. He would later recount to Vanity Fair correspondent David Rose in a January 2002 expose that had the FBI come to Khartoum in February 1998 to analyze the data on terrorists Khartoum was actively monitoring, the U.S. embassy bombings would probably not have occurred. - "The Clinton Intel Record : Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
FEBRUARY 13, 1998 : () The US insists it will not walk away from stopping Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction, and Russian objections would not prevent use of force. Russia says diplomatic effort should not end before Kofi Annan visits Baghdad. Russia warns US against military action - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
FEBRUARY 14, 1998 : (UK, IRAQ) Robin Cook, then UK Foreign Secretary, first uses the phrase “doing nothing is not an option” with Iraq. This was to become UK government’s position until August 2002.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
FEBRUARY 19, 1998 : (IRAQ & AL QAEDA OPERATIVE PLAN FOR MEETING IN BAGHDAD) Iraqi intelligence plans the trip of a senior al Qaeda operative and trusted bin Laden aide to visit Baghdad. - "The Clinton Intel Record
Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
1998 early : (UN SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN BLUNDER WITH IRAQ) The US acquiesced in a disastrous diplomatic mission by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Baghdad to sign an agreement with Saddam to open disputed "presidential sites" to diplomats if not inspectors. By this time Iraq had a laundry list of places inspectors could not go. Iraq was backing out of even this flimsy agreement before the ink was dry. Washington said almost nothing. Nor did it put muscle behind the embattled chief inspector, Butler, as he was stiffed, insulted and humiliated by the Iraqis. - "Years have been lost, and it isn't all Saddam's fault - The undoing of arms inspections in Iraq," by Barbara Crossette, International Herald Tribune , October 1, 2002 In an effort to keep the operation afloat and avoid another war in Iraq, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan cut a deal with Baghdad in early 1998 restricting inspectors' access to eight so-called presidential sites encompassing a total of 12 square miles.The United States and the rest of the Security Council endorsed the plan but, within weeks, the inspectors said they were finding very little other than frustration. After months of cat-and-mouse games, Saddam sent the entire team packing in November 1998.
FEBRUARY 20, 1998 : () Kofi Annan arrives in Baghdad, saying he has a "sacred duty" to try to defuse the crisis. In Jordan, a bystander is killed in clashes between police and a crowd of worshippers demonstrating in support of Iraq. Annan arrives on 'sacred' peace mission - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
FEB. 26, 1998 (CHANG MEETS WITH NSC'S RIEDEL ON IRAQ - SEE: MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang meets at Old Executive Offfice Building with Bruce Riedel, senior director of the National Security Council for Near East and South Asian Affairs, to discuss his proposal for a dialogue between the United States and Iraq.
FEBRUARY 26, 1998 : () American Republicans claim that President Clinton has handed Washington's policy on Iraq over to the United Nations. US:Can Clinton sell Iraqi deal? - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
MARCH 1998 : (IRAQ & AL QAEDA OPERATIVE MEET, SET STAGE FOR IRTRAQI DIPLOMAT HIJAZI TO TRAVEL TO AFGHANISTAN) The al Qaeda operative visits Baghdad for two weeks. The visit sets the stage for Farouk Hijazi to travel to bin Laden's Afghanistan hideouts in December 1998. - "The Clinton Intel Record
Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
MARCH 1998 : (BRAZIL REFUSES TO EXTRADITE GERMAN SCIENTIST KARL-HEINZ SCHAAB FOR SALES TO IRAQ) Brazil's Federal Supreme Court turned down an extradition request for Schaab, saying he was charged with a politically motivated crime, which meant that under Brazilian law, could not be extradited. Schaab had been sought by German authorities since 1990 on charges of selling German uranium enrichment technology to Iraq before the Gulf War.- - "Brazil uranium sales to Iraq stir debate ," by Carmen Gentile, United Press International 9/25/02
MARCH 2, 1998 : (UNSC BLOWS SMOKE) UN Security Council seeks to bolster compromise by passing a unanimous resolution (1154) saying that Iraq’s failure to comply with UN sanctions will have the “most severe consequences”- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
MARCH 2, 1998 : (UN PASSES RESOLUTION 1154) The UN passed Resolution 1154, demanding Iraq compliance and warning that failure to comply would result in the "severest consequences for Iraq." - United Nations, Security Council Resolution 1154 on the Situation Between Iraq and Kuwait, March 2, 1998.
May I direct your attention to Operation Desert Fox, the poorly named military campaign begun under President Clinton in December of 1998, against Iraq? What did President Clinton use to justify that fruitless engagement? Resolution 1154, of course. At that time, there was no hue and cry from Democrats in Congress. They supported President Clinton throughout his ineffectual three days of bombing. The general sentiment was not doubt and hesitation, but action and righteousness. - "President Bush's Authorization to Use Force Against Iraq," http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/redirect?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.american-partisan.com%2Fcols%2F2002%2Frazzano%2Fqtr4%2F1009.htm | October 9, 2002 | LPR from "Precedent? I’ll Give You A Precedent," by Linda A. Prussen-Razzano, Dallas Bureau Chief , The American Partisan, October 9, 2002
APRIL 1998 : (IRAN AGREES TO RELEASE PRISONERS FROM IRAN IRAQ WAR) Iran agrees to the release of 5,584 Iraqi POW's in April 1998, and news organizations reported intermittent meetings throughout the remainder of the year between Iranian and Iraqi government officials toward reaching a final agreement on the remaining POW's held by each side.The Iranian government pledged to settle the remaining POW issues with Iraq in 1999. And joint Iran-Iraq search operations were initiated to identify remains of those missing in action.
APRIL 17, 1998 : (IRAQ INSPECTIONS STYMIED) UN inspectors say they have made no progress in verifying whether Iraq has destroyed its weapons of mass destruction. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
APRIL 18, 1998 : (IRAQ YAWNS) The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf describes UN inspectors report as "baseless and boring" and calls for a time limit to be set on inspections. Iraq calls for time limit- TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 1998 : (AL QAEDA'S ABU-ISLAM & QASSIM MEET WITH QUSAY HUSSEIN IN IRAQ; ALSO IRAQI AGENTS MET WITH AL QAEDA IN AFGHANISTAN) Between April 25 and May 1, 1998, two of bin Laden’s senior military commanders, Muhammad Abu-Islam and Abdullah Qassim, visited Baghdad for discussions with Saddam Hussein’s son -- Qusay Hussein -- the “czar” of Iraqi intelligence. Qusay Hussein’s participation in those meetings highlights the importance of the talks in both symbolic and practical terms. Upon information and belief, as a direct result of these meetings, Iraq again made commitments to provide training, intelligence, clandestine Saudi border crossings, financial support and weapons and explosives to al Qaeda. Iraqi intelligence officials met with bin Laden in Afghanistan several more times. A second group of bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia were then trained by Iraqi intelligence in Iraq to smuggle weapons and explosives into Saudi Arabia and other countries, which they later accomplished in an effort to carry out future terrorist acts of violence. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
APRIL 28, 1998 : (UN RENEWS EMBARGO ON IRAQ) UN decides that it is too early to lift sanctions against Iraq, renewing the embargo for another six months. But the US acknowledges progress in the access to presidential and sensitive sites. Iraq sanctions stay - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
1998 summer : (IRAQ TRAINS AL QAEDA PERSONNEL) After the meetings in Iraq with Qusay Hussein, Saddam hussein's son, Iraqi intelligence officials met with bin Laden in Afghanistan several more times. A second group of bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia were then trained by Iraqi intelligence in Iraq to smuggle weapons and explosives into Saudi Arabia and other countries, which they later accomplished in an effort to carry out future terrorist acts of violence.A third group of bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives received a month of sophisticated guerrilla operations training from Iraqi intelligence officials later in the Summer of 1998. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
1998 summer : (UNSCOM, IRAQ) Effective inspections were essentially over, and the talents of a first-rate team of international arms experts put on hold. - "Years have been lost, and it isn't all Saddam's fault - The undoing of arms inspections in Iraq," by Barbara Crossette, International Herald Tribune , October 1, 2002
MAY 1998 : (IRAQ OBTAINS KIDNEY MACHINES TO GET PRECISION SWITCHES) Iraq ordered six “lithotripter” machines, saying they would be used to treat kidney stones. Each machine contains a high-precision electronic switch which triggers atomic bombs. It ordered six extra switches.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
MAY 1998 : (SAMI AL ARIAN CASE : WISE, HAMDI DELIVERS SATELLITE PHONE TO BIN LADEN) Tarik Hamdi, a WISE board member, "personally delivered a satellite telephone and battery pack" to bin Laden in May 1998, Emerson reports. WISE, a non-profit organization supposedly dedicated to scholarly pursuits, had a formal affiliation with the University of South Florida. - "FOURTH ESTATE COVERS FOR FIFTH COLUMN" by Reed Ervine, AIM.org,
MAY 1998 : (IRAQ, CYNTHIA MCKINNEY, KHALED ELGINDY, AAI, IRAQ TRIP) Khaled Elgindy joins a delegation of Arab-American activists on a humanitarian mission to Iraq and to observe the effects of sanctions first hand. Khaled previously served as Press Secretary to Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who at the time became the first member of Congress to oppose military action against Iraq and has since called for the lifting of sanctions against the Iraqi people. Khaled Elgindy is in 2002, the National Coordinator for Political Action at the Arab American Institute in Washington, DC. Khaled represents AAI on a number of national coalitions, including the National Iraq Network, and is responsible for mobilizing Arab-American action on various legislative issues.e has a master's degree from Georgetown University's school of foreign service and a bachelor's degree in Poli-Sci from Indiana U. May be relative of Amr I. ``Tony'' Elgindy, arrested on charges related to stock dealing around 9/11/2002
MAY 1998 : (AFGHANISTAN, BIN LADEN THREAT) Bin Laden stated at a press conference in Afghanistan that we would see the results of his threats "in a few weeks." (Forewarning of the US embassy attacks in Africa in August?) 1998 : (COLUMBIA, AL-GAMAL AL-ISLAMIYA, FARC, LUXOR, EGYPTIAN TERRORIST) An Egyptian terrorist belonging to al-Gamal al-Islamiya entered Colombia illegally in 1998 to hold talks with FARC and was arrested and turned over to U.S. authorities. — He was wanted in connection with the 1997 massacre of 80 Western tourists near Cairo.
MAY 1, 1998 : (IRAQ THREATENS "GRAVE CONSEQUENCES" IF SANCTIONS ARE NOT LIFTED) In an open letter to the Security Council, Iraq warns of grave consequences if UN sanctions against it are not lifted. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998 (Forewarning of the US embassy attacks in Africa in August?)
MAY 20, 1998 : (IRAQ: WEAPONS INSPECTORS CONTINUE) Weapons inspectors resume their search for Iraqi chemical warheads. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
MAY 26, 1998 : (WEAPONS INSPECTORS STILL HAVE WOK TO DO< US ANNOUNCES IT IS GOING TO REDUCE ITS MILITARY FORCES IN THE GULF) Richard Butler says he intends to draw up a list of outstanding issues that must be addressed by Baghdad to see sanctions lifted by October. On the same day the US announces it is to cut its forces in the Gulf. Official sets out sanctions 'road map' US cuts Gulf forces- TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JUNE 1998 : (CHINA,US, TAIWAN ISSUE - THREE NOS) Bill Clinton statedthe 'Three Nos' in Shanghai in June 1998 (no support for Taiwan independence, no support for "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" and no support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations where statehood is required).
JUNE 1998 : (AAADC, AAI, KHALED ELGINDY, CONYERS) The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sponsors a congressional briefing to publicize the letter. Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit spoke at the briefing and described the deplorable health conditions he found during his recent visit to Iraq. In July, the Arab American Institute (AAI) sponsored a similar congressional briefing, at which Khaled Elgindy of the AAI showed slides of his visit to Iraq and Carl LeVan of Representative Conyers’ office described the letter in detail and urged the staff members in attendance to encourage their congressmen to sign on. LeVan said that the letter will probably not be sent until October, so as to get as many signatures as possible. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/695883/posts?page=70
JUNE 1998 : (CLINTON, SUDANESE OFFER TO ALLOW US TO LOOK FOR TERRORISM) FBI declines Sudanese offer to allow US officials to have free reign to look for terrorism activities in Sudan.
JUNE 9, 1998 (CHANG & YU : SEE DNC FUNDRAISING, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang and Audrey Yu attend state dinner for President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea.
JUNE 11, 1998 : (UN INSPECTORS ENTER TALKS OVER LIFTING SANCTIONS) After presenting proposed disarmament measures to the Security Council, UN weapons inspectors arrive in Baghdad for talks aimed at ending international sanctions. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JUNE 15, 1998 : (UN, IRAQ) The UN and Iraq strike a two-month deal which would verify disarmament and pave the way towards the lifting of sanctions. UN secures disarmament deal Iraq welcomes UN deal - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JUNE 19, 1998 : (UN SECURITY COUNCIL) The Security Council approves a resolution allowing Iraq to spend $300m on importing spare parts to improve its oil facilities. UN approves Iraqi oil spend Iraq warms to oil offer - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JUNE 22, 1998 : (NORTH KOREA COMMANDOES CAUGHT BY SOUTH KOREA) Nine North Korean commandos found dead aboard a mini-sub caught in fishing nets, off Sokcho on the east coat of South Korea. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
JUNE 24, 1998 : (IRAQ : VX NERVE GAS HAD BEEN FOUND IN IRAQI MISSILE FRAGMENTS) Richard Butler confirms reports that traces of the nerve gas VX has been found in Iraqi missile fragments. Iraq had always insisted it had not weaponised VX. UN confirms nerve gas reports Iraq rejects nerve gas claims - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998 (* My note : If these were missile fragments, how did the missile get fragmented? Were these deliberately destroyed in the arms inspection process or had they been destroyed earlier in tests?)
JUNE 24, 1998 : (FBI AGENT WILLIAMS REPLIES TO SUDANESE) Theoretically, the February Sudanese offer to the FBI should have been evaluated on merits that did not take the Clinton administration's political viewpoint on Sudan into consideration, particularly since it differed from President Bashir's April offer at a political level, in that it was made at an intelligence-to-intelligence level. After all, the U.S. executive branch is not supposed to interfere with the FBI's job. Or so we thought. On June 24, Williams finally replied to al-Mahdi "… I am not currently in a position to accept your kind invitation. I am hopeful that future circumstances might allow me to visit with you…."
Future circumstances was code, as I found out later from career officials at State involved in the discussions at the time, for a point at which the politicizing that had come to characterize Clinton administration terrorism policies would end.
Blockages created by State's East Africa department under Rice, and by Berger at the National Security Council, remained as both vehemently argued against allowing FBI delegations to visit Khartoum under any circumstances.
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed six weeks later. Cruise-missile attacks against Sudan and Afghanistan, based on faulty and inaccurate intelligence, followed and ignited the fires burning inside radical Islam's criminal core. As we now know, planning for the September 11 attacks on America began soon thereafter. - "The Clinton Intel Record Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
JUNE 30, 1998 : (IRAQ) An American fighter plane opens fire on an Iraqi missile site. The US Defence Department says the action was taken after four British Tornado military jets were illuminated by Iraqi radar. US plane targets Iraqi missile site Iraq condemns 'US aggression'- TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
JULY 1998 : (RUMSFELD CONGRESSIONAL PANEL REPORT ISSUED : WARNS OF NORTH KOREAN MISSILE DEVELOPMENT) The Congressional panel headed by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, however, appeared more candid. The panel's report issued in July 1998 states: "The commission judges that the No Dong was operationally deployed long before the US government recognized that fact. There is ample evidence that North Korea has created a sizable missile production infrastructure, and therefore it is highly likely that considerable numbers of No Dongs have been produced." Because of the Intelligence Community's failure to assess both the scope and pace of the No Dong development, the Rumsfeld commission warned that "the United States may have very little warning prior to deployment of the Taepo Dong 2"--the missile that can target the United States. - Air Force Magazine 1/2000 Bill Gertz
JULY 12, 1998 : (N. KOREAN FROGMAN FOUND DEAD) One North Korean frogman found dead on a beach at Donghae on South Korea's east coast. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
JULY 14, 1998 (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang attends White House movie nightwith President Clinton.
JULY 1998 mid : (AL ZAWAHIRI MEETS WITH IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT RAMADAN IN IRAQ) Despite philosophical and religious differences with Saddam Hussein, bin Laden continually sought to strengthen and reinforce the support he and al Qaeda received from Iraq. In mid-July 1998, bin Laden sent Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian co-founder of al-Qaeda, to Iraq to meet with senior Iraqi officials, including Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan. Upon information and belief, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss and plan a joint strategy for a terrorist campaign against the United States. During the July 1998 visit Zawahiri toured an Iraqi military base and nuclear and chemical weapons facility near al-Fallujah in Iraq and upon information and belief, observed training by Iraqi intelligence officials of al Qaeda operatives at the al-Nasiriyah military and chemical weapons facility in Iraq. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
JULY 1998 : (TANZANIA, AL-QEADA, US EMBASSY BOMB PLOT, GHAILANI, SWEDAN) A Nissan Atlas truck was purchased in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by al-Qaida operatives Ahmed Khfaklan Ghailani and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan.
JULY 30, 1998 : (IRAQ THREATENS ACTION UNLESS UN EMBARGO LIFTED) Iraq warns that it will take unspecified action unless the UN embargo is lifted. A statement issued after a meeting of Iraqi leaders said the visit by Richard Butler the following week would be crucial. - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998 (*My note : this was right after al Qaeda's al Zawahiri met with Iraqi VP and before the US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya in early August.)
SUMMER 1998 (FUTURE DNC HEAD MCAULIFFE SIGNS CONTRACT TO WORK FOR CHANG) Terry McAuliffe, President Clinton's friend and chief fund-raiser, signs a one-year contract to work for Mr. Chang as a consultant.
AUGUST 1998 : (RITTER) August 1998, he said his departure should serve as a "wake-up call" about the United Nation's abandonment of the goal of eliminating Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. In a blistering letter to UNSCOM chief Richard Butler, Mr. Ritter sharply criticized the Clinton administration and the U.N. Security Council for not being vigorous enough about insisting that Iraqi mass-destruction weapons be destroyed. He also accused U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of serving as a "sounding board" for Iraqi complaints aimed at impeding UNSCOM's work. -"The Bizarre Odyssey of Scott Ritter," editorial, The Washington Times, September 18, 2002
AUGUST 1998 (early) : (AL-QAEDA, KENYA EMBASSY PLOT): operatives of al-Qaida gathered in #43 New Runda Estates, Nairobi to execute the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
AUGUST 4, 1998 : (UNSCOM INSPECTOR BUTLER LEAVES IRAQ) Richard Butler leaves Baghdad after talks collapse on proposals designed to ensure Iraq is fulfilling its committments to destroy weapons of mass destruction. Tariq Aziz said it was pointless becoming involved in an unending process to prove what the Iraqis had already shown. Iraq arms talks collapse - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
AUGUST 5, 1998 ...on : (UNSCOM, IRAQ BALKS) Iraq has refused since August 5 to work with the UN Special Commission (Unscom) set up to ensure that it dismantles any weapons of mass destruction in its possession. Baghdad has demanded that the UN body be re-structured, its alleged US influence reduced, and its headquarters moved from New York to Europe. - "Ritter: Baghdad 'possesses three nuclear bombs,'" by Christopher Walker, Times of London, 9/10/98
AUGUST 5, 1998 : (IRAQ BARS UNSCOM INSPECTIONS OF NEW FACILITIES) Iraq says it will no longer allow UNSCOM to inspect new facilities- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
AUGUST 6, 1998 : (JANET RENO, CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS CITATION) The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee voted to cite Attorney General Janet Reno for contempt of Congress for her refusal to turn over reports recommending that she seek an independent counsel to investigate campaign fund-raising.
AUGUST 7, 1998 : (KENYA, US EMBASSY BOMBING, ASSAM, AL'OWALI) Assam, a Saudi national and al-Qaida operative, drove the Toyota truck (with a large bomb in back) to the US embassy in Nairobi. Also in the truck was Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al 'Owali, another Saudi who by his own confession was an al-Qaida operative, who from about 1996 had been trained in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in explosives, hijacking, kidknapping, assasination and intelligence techniques. With Usama bin Laden's express permission, he fought alongside the Taleban in Afghanistan. He had met Usama bin Laden personally in 1996 and asked for another 'mission.' Usama sent him to East Africa after extensive specialized training at camps in Afghanistan. As the truck approached the US embassy, Al 'Owali got out and threw a stun grenade at a security guard. Assam drove the truck up to the rear of the embassy, got out, and then detonated the bomb, which demolished a multi-storey secretarial college and severely damaged the US embassy and the Cooperative Bank building. The bomb killed 213 people and injured 4500. Assam was killed in the explosion. Al 'Owali expected the mission to end in his death. He had been willing to die for al-Qaida, but at the last minute he ran away from the bomb truck and survived He had no money, passport or plan to escape after the mission because he had expected to die. Another person arrested in connection with the Nairobi bombing was Mohammed Sadeek Odeh. He admitted to his involvement. He identified the principal participants in the bombing. He named three other persons, all of whom were Al-Qaida or Egyptian Islamic Jihad members.
AUGUST 7, 1998 : (TANZANIA. US EMBASSY BOMBING ) In Dar es Salaam (Tanzania?) at about the same time as the bombing at the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, operatives of al-Qaida detonated a bomb at the US embassy, killing 11 people. The al-Qaida operatives involved included Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil and Khaflan Khamis Mohamed. The bomb was carried in a Nissan Atlas truck, which Ahmed Khfaklan Ghailani and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, two al-Qaida operatives, had purchased in July 1998 in Dar es Salaam. Khaflan Khamis Mohamed was arrested for the bombing. He admitted membership in al-Qaida and implicated other members of al-Qaida in the bombing.
AUGUST 7 & 8, 1998 : (AL QAEDA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY) Two other members of al-Qaida disseminated claims of responsibility for the two bombings by sending faxes to media organizations in Paris, Doha in Qatar, and Dubai in the UAE. The faxed claims of responsibility were traced to a phone number which had been in contact with bin Laden's cell phone. The claims disseminated to the press were clearly written by someone familiar with the conspiracy. They stated that the bombings were carried out by two Saudis in Kenya, and one Egyptian in Dar es Salaam. they were probably sent before the bombings had even taken place. They referred to two Saudis dying in the Nairobi attack, when in fact, because of Al 'Owali fleeing at the last minute, only one Saudi died.
AUGUST 1998 : (AFGHANISTAN, CLINTON, TALIBAN) The Clinton administration did not begin seriously pressing the Taliban for bin Laden's expulsion until the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured 4,600. The bombings were "a seminal moment," changing Washington's view of the Taliban, an administration official said. The attacks convinced U.S. policymakers that Omar was no longer simply interested in conquering Afghanistan, but that his protection was allowing bin Laden, a longtime friend, to engage in terrorist ventures abroad. U.S. officials launched a two-pronged policy to pressure the Taliban into handing over bin Laden. On the one hand, the US used the UN and the threat of sanctions. On the other, it began a hard-nosed dialogue. (* My note : Oh really! That'll do the trick...?)
AUGUST 9, 1998 : (CLINTON, SUDAN OFFERS TO EXTRADITE EMBASSY BOMBING SUSPECTS) (two days after the Tanzanian and Kenyan embassy bombings), Sudanese authorities detained two bin Laden operatives thought to be complicit in the attacks. FBI Director Louis Freeh wanted them extradited. Maddy Albright nixed the deal. )
AUGUST 12, 1998 : (CLINTON, SUDAN STRIKE PLANS) The "small group" met with President Clinton in the Oval Office. Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave him a list of targets in Sudan. The best one, all agreed, was Al Shifa. The president approved an attack on the plant two days later. (* My note : two days? Did he have to go arrange rocks on a beach somewhere first?)
AUGUST 14, 1998 : (US SENATE DECLARES IRAQ IS IN BREACH) US Senate passes a motion declaring Iraq to be in “material breach” of its obligations.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
AUGUST 14, 1998 : (CLINTON, SUDAN STRIKE PLANS) Clinton approves plans to hit Sudanese pharmaceutical plant
AUGUST 20, 1998 : (AFGHANISTAN, US RETALIATION FOR EMBASSY BOMBINGS "OPERATION INFINITE REACH," SUDAN PHARMACEUTICAL STRIKE) 13 days after the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, U.S. bombarded several locations in Khost, Afghanistan, and one location in Sudan, with Tomahawk missiles. The attacks were announced on the same day by President Clinton during televised press briefing. (* My note : This is rare- usually presidents wait a day or two to make such announcements)
But a month after the attack, those same officials concede they had no evidence directly linking bin Laden to the factory at the time the president ordered the strike. Nor are they certain whether their soil sample proves that Empta, the suspected precursor chemical for VX, was made at Al Shifa or was just stored or shipped through there. Intelligence officials said they had found financial transactions between bin Laden and Sudan's government-run Military Industrial Corp., which they say was the organization overseeing chemical weapons development. Even though the intelligence officials did not know who owned the plant at the time of the attack, they now say its nominal owner, Salih Idris, is a front man for bin Laden. But his lawyer says Idris, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's largest bank, has never met bin Laden. The C.I.A. has been told that Osman Sulayman, the general manager of the plant, was deported from Saudi Arabia around 1995 for his suspected ties to bin Laden. Another senior official said: "Al Shifa was to one degree or another involved in chemical weapons production. I can't tell you whether the VX precursor was produced or stored there. But the plant is tied to Sudan's military-industrial complex, which is tied to bin Laden."
AUGUST 25, 1998 : (ISLAMIC BOMBING OF PLANET HOLLYWOOD IN SOUTH AFRICA ) Three people killed and 25 injured in bomb attack on Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa. Muslims Against Global Oppression claims responsibility.
AUGUST 26, 1998 : (UNSCOM INSPECTOR RITTER RESIGNS) According to Mr Schiff's report on the claims by Mr Ritter, the longest-serving American weapons inspector, Unscom knows where the three nearly complete nuclear bombs are hidden. The UN team is also said by Mr Ritter to have information on the method used to conceal the bombs, the units and officers responsible for guarding them, and the types of vehicle employed to transport them in the game of cat and mouse between Saddam and the UN experts. Mr Ritter claimed that, despite the information available, no order was given to the team to conduct a surprise inspection of the site. He claimed that the Security Council and the Clinton Administration had blocked the work of the inspectors just as they were "on the doorstep" of uncovering Iraq's hidden non-conventional weapons of mass destruction. His revelation about the existence of the three bombs has again heightened tensions in the Middle East and raised the stakes in any new confrontation between Iraq and the West. Israel has long believed that it would be the first target of any Iraqi nuclear strike. - "Ritter: Baghdad 'possesses three nuclear bombs,'" by Christopher Walker, Times of London, 9/10/98
AUGUST 1998 : (TALIBAN MASSACRES THOUSANDS) The Taliban government of Afghanistan had massacred thousands of people near Mazar-i-Sharif
1998 : (CHINA, OSAMA BIN LADEN, US CRUISE MISSILES) Chinese nationals visited Osama bin Laden terrorist camps in Afghanistan after a U.S. cruise missile attack there in 1998 and paid for the right to study and remove unexploded missiles, according to a conversation between two alleged veterans of the camps that was secretly taped by Italian police....(Washington Post, 20 Oct 01) http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A23933-2001Oct19¬Found=true
SEPTEMBER 1998 - FEBRUARY 2001 : (NEC CASE : IRAQ OBTAINS WMD MATERIALS FROM INDIAN COMPANY) An engineering company that has exported chemical engineering and oil drilling equipment since 1984 to Persian Gulf countries has provided the first clear evidence that Iraq obtained materials over the last four years to produce or deliver weapons of mass destruction. NEC Engineering Private Ltd. used phoney customs declarations and other false documents, as well as front companies in three countries, to export 10 consignments of raw materials and equipment that Saddam Hussein’s regime could use to produce chemical weapons and propellants for long-range missiles, according to court records. The shipments, valued at nearly $800,000, took place between September 1998 and February 2001. The exports—specialised supplies such as atomised aluminum powder and titanium centrifugal pumps—ostensibly went to Jordan and Dubai. But they subsequently were traced to Iraq’s Fallujah II chlorine plant and a rocket fuel production facility at Al Mamoun, according to US and British intelligence reports. . - Saddam’s first smoking gun traced to India (Also discussed on FOXNEWS Special Report) , by Bob Drogan, the Indian Express, Jan 19, 2003
SEPTEMBER 10, 1998 : (UN ENVOY SHAH RETURNS TO IRAQ AFTER INFORMING THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL OF HIS FAILURE TO GET IRAQI COOPERATION) Prakash Shah, the UN special envoy to Iraq, returns there today (9/10/98) after telling the Security Council of his failure to persuade President Saddam Hussein to resume co-operation with arms inspectors.- "Ritter: Baghdad 'possesses three nuclear bombs' ," by Christopher Walker, Times of London, 9/10/98
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998 : (AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN, MASSACRES) The UN announces that it has confirmed an accusation by Amnesty International that the Taliban government of Afghanistan had massacred thousands of people near Mazar-i-Sharif in 8/98. The killings were committed because the victims were of the Hazara ethnic group and of the Shiite denomination of Islam. The UN determined that the number of victims, between 4,000 and 6,000 people, was about three times more than AI had alleged.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1998 : (CUBAN SPY RING IN FLORIDA) Ten people allegedly operating as a Cuban spy ring "have been arrested and accused of collecting information on U.S. military installations and anti-Castro groups in Florida, federal officials announced today. The arrests, carried out Saturday [12 Sep. 1998], ended the most extensive espionage effort involving Cuban agents ever uncovered here, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Scott said."
SEPT. 18, 1998 (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang gives $50,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
SEPT. 20, 1998 (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang meets in New York with Col. Jack Pritchard, a National Security Council senior ofcial for Asian affairs, to discuss policy ideas related to North Korea.
OCTOBER 1998 : (KABUL, AFGHANISTAN COMPUTER, ATEF, VIDEO DEAL) Shortly after U.S. cruise missiles slammed into an al-Qaida training camp in retaliation for the Africa embassy bombings, the Kabul computer later recovered in 2001 after the WTC and Pentagon attacks of 9/11/01, was used to create letterhead for a fictional company, Challenge for Media Services, and to draft letters to ABC, CNN and CBS. Each was signed Dr. Mohammed Atef and offered a business deal: cash for film of bin Laden and his bomb-destroyed training camp at Khost in eastern Afghanistan.The letters promised the networks footage in which bin Laden “openly threatened U.S. and Israeli troops” and urged the networks to send representatives to Kabul or Jalalabad, to ensure “priority in getting the material and easiness in negotiation.” But the letters don’t appear to have been sent. They were left in a folder marked “not sent” on the computer’s hard drive. ABC, CBS and CNN say they never received any letters nor bought any videos from Atef.
OCTOBER 1998 : (COLUMBIA, VENEZUELA, FARC, TERROR INTERNATIONAL, EGYPTIAN TERRORIST, AAL) Interpol arrested Egyptian extremist Mohamed Enid Abdel Aal, in Bogota, Colombia. Abdel Aal, a leader of one of the most dangerous of the Islamist terrorist organizations, told authorities under questioning that "he planned to stay in Colombia for a few days and then head to Venezuela over land.” (El Nuevo Herald, Sept. 16, 2001)
There is additional information that indicates that the Colombian territory under FARC control has become a haven for Terror International. Argentine journalist Julio Cirino, an expert on international terrorism, has written about the existence of a logistical support base "in a small city near the Colombian border with Venezuela,” where "Middle Eastern types” receive fake Colombian passports and move on to other unspecified destinations.
OCTOBER 1998 : (IRAQ FORCES UNSCOM OUT) But, when it comes to Iraqi disarmament, by far the most critical event of the past four years occurred in October 1998, when Saddam effectively forced UNSCOM out. Instead of taking military action to make Saddam back down, the Clinton administration effectively acquiesced to pressure applied on his behalf from Russia, France and China to put UNSCOM out of business and install a much weaker disarmament apparatus in its place. But the Iraqis have refused to permit the new inspection teams to enter the country. -"The Bizarre Odyssey of Scott Ritter," editorial, The Washington Times, September 18, 2002
OCTOBER 27, 1998 : (IRAQ HAD FILLED WARHEADS WITH VX BEFORE GULF WAR) Richard Butler, says tests carried out by international scientists confirm that Iraq filled missile warheads with the deadly nerve agent VX before the 1991 Gulf War. UN says Iraq made deadly weapons - TIMELINE OF THE IRAQI CRISIS 1997-1998
OCTOBER 31, 1998: (IRAQ ENDS ALL COOPERATION, GIVES IN ONLY AFTER US & UK THREAT OF FORCE IS USED) Saddam ends all cooperation with UNSCOM. However, he allows their return a month later after the U.S. and U.K. warn that without cooperation they will strike without warning.- "Iraq Timeline," campaign for UN reform, http://www.cunr.org/priorities/Iraq_timeline.html
NOVEMBER 1998 : (AFRICA EMBASSY BOMBING INDICTMENTS, BIN LADEN) US Justice Dept indicted Osama bin Laden for the 8/7/98 bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
NOVEMBER 1998 : (GERMANY, ATTA'S HAMBURG CELL) After Ramzi Binalshibh drops out of preparatory German classes for a college degree, he moves into an apartment with Mohamed Atta and Said Bahaji. Mohammed Haydar Zammar becomes a frequent visitor to their apartment on Marien Street near the university where Atta studied, neighbors said. "What they did was say, 'We want to be fighters for Allah,' " said a Western intelligence official. "And then Zammar said, 'If you want to do that, here's where you need to go, and here's who you need to see.' " - info from "Yemeni Fugitive Was Critical To Unfolding of Sept. 11 Plot," By Peter Finn, Sunday, July 14, 2002, page A01, Washington Post
NOVEMBER 1998 : (GERMANY, ATTA'S HAMBURG CELL, ZAMMAR) The process of radicalization under the influence of Mohammed Haydar Zammar continued in a Hamburg apartment that Atta and two fugitives, Ramzi Binalshibh and Said Bahaji, rented in November 1998 and which they called the “House of Followers.” Binalshibh, who failed four times to get a U.S. visa, played a major logistical role in the Sept. 11 plot, officials said. A Saudi analyst said the Saudis have confirmed a family tie between Binalshibh and one of the key hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar, who was on the airliner that crashed into the Pentagon The Saudi analyst said Binalshibh, a Yemeni, is a cousin of Almihdhar’s wife. Almihdhar, though a Saudi citizen, came from a prominent Yemeni family. The tie may explain how the German-based group led by Atta was able to coalesce with a larger group of Saudis who became hijackers. German authorities have issued international arrest warrants for Binalshibh, Bahaji, a German citizen whose father is Moroccan, and Zakariya Essabar, a Moroccan, all of whom fled Germany shortly before Sept. 11. The U.S. counterterrorism official said the three are either dead or “in the wind,” possibly hiding in Pakistan.
NOV. 1998 (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang has pizza with President Clinton at Hyatt hotel in Seoul, South Korea.
NOVEMBER 14, 1998 : (IRAQ SAYS IT WILL ALLOW INSPECTIONS TO RESUME) Iraq allows inspections to resume. - "Key events in UN weapons inspections in Iraq," By AP September 17 2002
NOVEMBER 14, 1998 : (CLINTON DELAYS STRIKES) Clinton delays his planned strikes on Iraq by 24 hours, in hope of lastminute deal.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
NOVEMBER 20, 1998 : (NORTH KOREAN VESSEL ENTERS SOUTH KOREAN WATERS) The South Korean navy fires warning shots before chasing a North Korean spy vessel back across the maritime border near Kanghwa-do, northwest of the capital Seoul. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
DECEMBER 1998 : (IRAQI HIJAZI TRAVELS TO AFGHANISTAN) Iraqi Farouk Hijazi to travel to bin Laden's Afghanistan hideouts in December 1998. - "The Clinton Intel Record Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
DECEMBER 1998 : (IRAQ, UNSCOM DISMANTLES GERMAN CENTRIFUGE INSTALLATION) The Times of London interview with Hamza notes another possible clue tog the nature of Brazil-Iraq relations in the early 1980s. Before leaving Iraq in 1998 -- just days before U.S.-led air strikes -- U.N. weapons inspectors had dismantled an illegally imported German centrifuge installation that had been used to refine progressively natural or low-enriched uranium until it became suitable for weapons, the Times reported. - "Brazil uranium sales to Iraq stir debate ," by Carmen Gentile, United Press International 9/25/02
DECEMBER 1998 : (BILL CLINTON ON IRAQ) Bill Clinton was firm, resolute and uncompromising in explaining to the nation why military action against Saddam Hussein had proved necessary: "This situation presents a clear and present danger to the stability of the Persian Gulf and the safety of people everywhere," he said. "This is a question of action. Iraq has abused its final chance." Indeed, he warned, "Overwhelming force remains an option." Delaying such action "for even a matter of days would [give] Saddam more time to disperse his forces and protect his weapons." Even with nations such as Russia, China and France disagreeing with the use of armed force, he said, "we remain ready to act." Bill Clinton issued those threats and later acted on them (albeit briefly and tentatively). - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002
DECEMBER 1998 : (KERRY ON IRAQ) "Saddam Hussein's objective is to maintain a program of weapons of mass destruction," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) back then. (December 1998) "It is important to hold him accountable by force. No one will question that it is Mr. Hussein who has precipitated this confrontation and no one else." In 1998, Kerry insisted "I would go beyond mere containment." But in 2002, when George W. Bush became commander-in-chief, Kerry (who'd dearly love to move into the White House himself) wants to know why America isn't pursuing a policy of containment. - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002 - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002.
1998 : (US : HOUSE RESOLUTION ENDORSING REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ APPROVED) Were Republicans opposing the Democratic president in 1998? No: A House resolution supporting the attack and endorsing regime change in Iraq passed by 417-5. There was some GOP skepticism - but only over the air strikes' politically suspicious timing: Clinton launched the attack one day before the vote on his impeachment. And he had, until then, consistently backed down when faced with the need for military force against Saddam. Indeed, the White House flip-flopped on its Iraq policy from Day One of Clinton's administration. Clinton repeatedly threatened to go to war over weapons inspections. Later, he secretly undermined those same inspectors' ability to do their job . - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002
1998 : (USA : NY SENATOR LEVINE URGES CLINTON TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST IRAQ) Democratic Senator Carl Levine initiated a letter signed by 26 colleagues urging Clinton "to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction." - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002
DECEMBER 1998 : (UNSCOM) Then, after a brief return to Baghdad, the inspectors reported Iraqi noncompliance and left the country in December 1998 ahead of punishing U.S. and British airstrikes. Since then, many former inspectors have maintained that the only way to disarm Iraq would be to reinstate some of the inspectors' earlier freedoms.
DECEMBER 16, 1998 : (OPERATION DESERT FOX BEGINS) Operation Desert Fox begins. US and UK launch 415 cruise missiles and 200 bombs at 50 Iraqi locations. It was, however, a flop (The Center for Strategic and International Studies has described Desert Fox as “a near total failure.” Its full report is entitled “If We Fight Iraq,” revised 28 June 2002). Only ten targets were destroyed and 18 severely damaged. US says it killed 1,400 Iraqi troops. Baghdad says 62.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
DECEMBER 18, 1998 : (SOUTH KOREA SINKS NORTH KOREAN SPY SUB) The South Korean navy sinks submersible North Korean spy vessel, with one frogman found dead in the Sea of Japan east of the Korean peninsula. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
DECEMBER 19, 1998 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang attends holiday dinner at the White House with 465 other guests.
DECEMBER 20, 1998 : (OPERATION DESERT FOX ENDS) End of Desert Fox, a 72-hour operation. Clinton says more may follow.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor (*My note: It was during Desert Fox, when a corner of a building's roof was blown off, that the CIA discovered Iraq had fitted aircraft with crop-dusting equipment.)
DECEMBER 21, 1998 : (HIJAZI & BIN LADEN TARGET LIST MADE) "Terrorist cells belonging to the network organized by Osama bin Laden...are ready go into action in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Europe...The list of targets is ready. It was agreed in Kandahar 21 December by Osama himself and Farouk Hijazi... The new recruits, together with the veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Bosnia, form the secret army that is expected to use its weapons against all those who oppose the rais of Baghdad. In order to make them even more dangerous, traditional training has been supplemented with training in the use of chemical weapons, toxins and viruses." [Corriere della Sera, February 1, 1999 (Italia)] see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/743697/posts?page=51#51
DECEMBER 1998 : (IRAQI OFFICIAL AL-HIJAZI MEETS WITH BIN LADEN IN AFGHANISTAN) Following the December 1998 air strikes on Iraq, Saddam Hussein dispatched Faruq al-Hijazi to Kandahar, Afghanistan in order to meet with bin Laden and plot their revenge. To demonstrate Iraq’s commitment to bin Laden and al Qaeda, Hijazi presented bin Laden with a pack of blank, official Yemeni passports, supplied to Iraqi Intelligence from their Yemeni contacts. Hijazi’s visit to Kandahar was followed by a contingent of Iraqi intelligence officials who provided additional training and instruction to bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. These Iraqi officials included members of “Unit 999,” a group of elite Iraqi intelligence officials who provided advanced sabotage and infiltration training and instruction to al Qaeda operatives. At that meeting, upon information and belief, bin Laden, al Qaeda and Iraq agreed to join efforts in a detailed, coordinated plan for a protracted terrorist war against the United States. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
DECEMBER 23, 1998 : (CUBAN SPIES AT UN SHOWN THE DOOR) Three Cuban diplomats at the UN were ordered to leave the US. "The three men were linked to espionage after an investigation by the FBI that led to the arrest and indictment of 10 suspected Cuban agents in Miami (the WASP network) three months ago. The three men in NY have diplomatic passports, which give them immunity from prosecution as spies."
DECEMBER 23?, 1998 : (BIN LADEN TIME INTERVIEW, FATWA, SOMALIA) Usama Bin Laden was asked by Time magazine whether he was responsible fo rthe August 1998 attacks. He replied:
"The International Islamic Jihad Front for the Jihad against the US and Israel has, by the grace of God, issued a crystal clear fatwah calling on the Islamic nation to carry on Jihad aimed at liberating the holy sites. the nation of Mohammed has responded to this appeal. If intigation for jihad against the Jews and the Americans... is considered to be a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal. Our job is to instigate and, by the grace of God, we did that, and certain people responded tot his instigation."He was asked if he knew the attackers:
"...those who risked their lives to earn the pleasure of God are real men. They managed to rid the Islamic nation of disgrace. We hold them in the highest esteem. "
And what the US could expect of him:
"...any thief or criminal who enters another country to steal should expect to be exposed to murder at any time... The US knows that I have attacked it, by the grace of God, for more than ten years now... God knows that we have been pleased by the killing of American soldiers (in Somalia in 1993.) This was achieved by the grace of God and the efforts of the mujahadeen... Hostility towards America is a religious duty and we hope to be rewarded for it by God. I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America. "
DECEMBER 1998 : (COLUMBIAN DRUG SEIZURE LINKED TO CUBA , LATER, CLINTON WOULD REMOVE CUBA FROM LIST OF DRUG PEDDLING COUNTRIES) In December 1998 Colombian police seized 7.2 metric tons of cocaine valued a $US1.5 billion and which was being shipped to Havana, Cuba, from where it would eventually end up in the US. 11 months later US President Clinton ordered that Cuba be removed from the list of major drug peddling countries.
What really makes the situation so dreadful is that Rangel and other Congressmen were told of Castro’s drug running. Rangel’s response was to blame it on the CIA, even though in 1993 a federal court in Miami indicted Raul Castro, Fidel’s Castro’s brother, for drug trafficking. - "The Democrats’ drug running links," by Gerard Jackson , The New Australian News with Commentary, Friday 1 June 2001
1998 : (BIN LADEN INTERVIEW, ABC) Reporter John Miller of ABC News interviewed bin Laden, who said, in part, "Our battle against the Americans is far greater than our battle was against the Russians. We anticipate a black future for America. Instead of remaining United States, it shall end up separated states and shall have to carry the bodies of its sons back to America."
1999 : (LIBYAN EXPULSION OF ABU NIDAL) According to the State Dept's annual Terrorism Report, Libya expelled the Abu Nidal organization, a deadly Mideast terrorist group of an earlier era, and endorsed efforts by Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to negotiate peace with Israel.
1999 : (IRAQ : ABU NIDAL BACK IN BAGHDAD AFTER BEING BASED IN SUDAN) It was reported that Abu Nidal went to Iraq for cancer treatment (which speaks volumes about his predicament since, to put it delicately, Iraq ain't Switzerland). Apparently it was thought that, for all the work he had done for the regime in the past, the Iraqis "owed" him. And so he set up an office with a guard and an apartment- "An "Apparent" Suicide : Terrorist Abu Nidal dies in Iraq after he shoots himself in the head. Four times." by Victorino Matus , The Weekly Standard, 09/10/2002 12:00:00 AM
1999 : (US DEPT OF ENERGY REVEALS THAT N KOREA HAS SHIFTED TO FOCUS ON ENRICHED URANIUM FROM PLUTONIUM; N KOREA TRIES TO PURCHASE FREQUENCY CONVERTERS FROM JAPANESE COMPANY; N KOREA MAY HAVE PAKISTANI HELP) Then in 1999, the Department of Energy, which monitors foreign nuclear programs, exposed a major new development: North Korea had shifted its focus from plutonium-based weapons to those fueled by enriched uranium. A classified Energy Department intelligence report, obtained by The Washington Times, stated that a North Korean company tried to circumvent Japanese export controls by purchasing "frequency converters" from a Japanese company. The sale was blocked by the Japanese government, but North Korea is believed to have obtained similar equipment from another supplier, U.S. officials said. "Specification of these converters indicates they are dual-use items almost certainly for use in a gas centrifuge cascade to enrich uranium," the 1999 report said. "The two frequency converters being sought by [North Korea] are not sufficient by themselves to do a significant amount of uranium enrichment," it stated. The report said the two converters, which are electrical components of centrifuges, were to be used by the North Koreans for "a single machine or a test cascade," a series of centrifuges linked together. The report said the purchases showed that North Korea was "in the early stages of a uranium-enrichment capability." The report also said that because North Korea and Pakistan had close relations on missile development, "Pakistan may well have lent some level of assistance on uranium enrichment" to the North Koreans. "On the basis of Pakistan's progress with a similar technology, we estimate that [North Korea] is at least six years from the production of highly-enriched uranium, even if it has a viable centrifuge design," the report said. "On the other hand, with significant technical support from other countries such as Pakistan, the time frame could be decreased by several years. "What assistance Pakistan has provided thus far, or promised for the future is an open question," the report said. "Likewise, [North Korea´s] frequent interactions with elements of the Pakistan missile-development community may have yielded insights on the design of a uranium-based nuclear weapon." - "U.S. saw North Korea's work to enrich fuel for nukes" by Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, October 18, 2002
1999 : (IRAQ, HOLBROOKE) When Richard Holbrooke arrived at the UN in 1999, he said he was too busy getting a deal to reduce American dues to focus on Iraq. Later Holbrooke would acknowledge that U.S. policy had reached a dead end. - "Years have been lost, and it isn't all Saddam's fault - The undoing of arms inspections in Iraq," by Barbara Crossette, International Herald Tribune , October 1, 2002
1999 : (GERMANY, SCIENTIST KARL-HEINZ SCHAAB CONVICTED OF TREASON FOR SALES TO IRAQ) Schaab had spent time in Rio de Janeiro while eluding German authorities. He was captured returning to Germany and convicted of treason in 1999. He had been sought by German authorities since 1990 on charges of selling German uranium enrichment technology to Iraq before the Gulf War.- "Brazil uranium sales to Iraq stir debate ," by Carmen Gentile, United Press International 9/25/02
1999 to 2002? : (NO MONITORING OF TRADE ACROSS INTERNATIONAL LAND BORDERS WITH IRAQ) After 1999 there has been no monitoring of trade across the international land borders with Iraq. "King Abdallah [of Jordan] threw Lloyds of London out of the port of Aqaba, where they were supposed to monitor Iraqi imports," the former Iraqi intelligence officer says. "There are regular convoys of trucks to Baghdad from Jordan, and now a direct rail link from Syria carrying military spare parts and production gear, including equipment needed in Iraq's nuclear- weapons plants." - "How Saddam Got Weapons of Mass Destruction" By Kenneth R. Timmerman, Insight Magazine via WorldNetDaily.com , Tuesday, October 1, 2002
JANUARY 1999 : (IRAQ TRAINS MORE AL QAEDA OPERATIVES AT ADDITIONAL CAMPS AROUND BAGHDAD) In addition to the al-Nasiriyah and Salman Pak training camps, by January 1999, bin Laden and al Qaeda operatives were being trained by Iraqi intelligence and military officers at other training camps on the outskirts of Baghdad. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
JANUARY 1999 : (IRAQI AGENT ISMAIL BECOMES LIASON BETWEEN AL QAEDA, TALIBAN & IRAQ) In January 1999, Iraq began reorganizing and mobilizing Iraqi intelligence front operations throughout Europe in support of bin Laden and al Qaeda. Haqi Ismail, believed to be a member of the Iraq's Mukhabarat Secret Service, left Iraq to train in an Afghanistan al Qaeda camp. Ismail was believed to be a liason between Iraq, the Taliban and al Qaeda and was rewarded with a position in the Taliban Foreign Ministry. - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
JANUARY 1999 : (COX REPORT RELEASED) The Hazel O'Leary "willing to share" national security policy ended in January 1999, with the release of the Cox Report, asserting: "The PRC thefts from our National Laboratories began at least as early as the late 1970s. Significant secrets are known to have been stolen, from the laboratories or elsewhere, as recently as the mid-1990s. Such thefts almost certainly continue to the present."
JANUARY 3, 1999 : (SADDAM OFFERS BOUNTY FOR DOWNING AN ALLIED JET) Saddam declares no-fly zones as “illegal” and says his people will resist them with “bravery and courage”. Offers $15,000 bounty to any unit that succeeds in downing an Allied jet.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
JANUARY 12, 1999 : (PAKISTAN, ABDUL HAQ) In Peshawar, Pakistan, intruders entered the house of Afghan political moderate Abdul Haq, who was not at home, and killed his wife and 11-year-old son
JANUARY 16, 1999 : (US, BIN LADEN INDICTMENT) US DOJ indicted bin Laden and 11 other members of al Qaeda for killing and conspiring to kill US citizens internatiionally. FBI placed bin Laden in its Most Wanted list, with a reward of $5 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
JANUARY 20, 1999 : (CLINTON QUOTE ON TAXPAYER'S MONEY "SURPLUS") "..we could give it all back to you, and hope you spend it right.." -Clinton on the surplus, 1-20-99
JANUARY-JUNE 1999 : (CHANG DONATION TO CLINTON DEFENSE FUND) Mr. Chang makes a $10,000 donation to President Clinton's defense fund.
FEBRUARY 3, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN, US, BIN LADEN) U.S. Asst Sec of State Karl E. Inderfurth, the Clinton administration's point man for talks with the Taliban, and Michael Sheehan, State Dept counterterrorism chief, went to Islamabad to deliver a stern message to the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, Abdul Jalil: The US henceforth would hold the Taliban responsible for any terrorist act by bin Laden, by then already indicted for his alleged role in the embassy bombings. The officials reviewed the indictment in detail with the Taliban and offered to provide more evidence if the Taliban sent a delegation to NY, but theTaliban did not do so. Immediately after the U.S. warning, Taliban security forces took bin Laden from his Kandahar compound and spirited him away to a remote site, according to media reports at the time. They also seized his satellite communications and barred him from contact with the media. Publicly, the Taliban said they no longer knew where he was. Inderfurth now says the US interpreted such statements "as an effort to evade their responsibility to turn him over." Others, however, say the cryptic statements should have been interpreted differently. Bearden, for example, believes the Taliban more than once set up bin Laden for capture by the US and communicated its intent by saying he was lost. "Every time the Afghans said, 'He's lost again,' they are saying something. They are saying, 'He's no longer under our protection,' " Bearden said. "They thought they were signaling us subtly, and we don't do signals."
FEBRUARY 10, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN : TALIBAN FIGHT WITH BIN LADEN BODYGUARDS) In Afghanistan Taliban officials exchanged fire with bodyguards of bin Laden in Kandahar.
FEBRUARY 22, 1999 : (RATS, BONIOR, AL NAJJAR, PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD) Democratic House Whip Rep. David Bonior (D-MI) visited Mazen Al-Najjar in jail, Rep. Bonior is the first Congressman to visit Mazen. Rep. Bonior said he will ask Janet Reno to do away with the use of "Secret Evidence", he also promised to hand deliver a letter to President Clinton from Yara, Mazen Al-Najjar's ten year old daughter, calling for the release of her father.(This update from Mazen's Family & the AMC (American Muslim Council)
MARCH 4, 1999 : (RATS, BONIOR, AL-NAJJAR, PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD, 1996 ANTITERRORISM LAWS) Rep. Bonior met with President Clinton and not only brought up criticism of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Law, but also hand delivered the letter from Yara, daughter of Mazen al-Najjar. He also added he will work with others in Congress to introduce legislation to bar the use of "Secret Evidence." (This update from Mazen's Family & the AMC (American Muslim Council)
MARCH 9, 1999 : (WEN HO LEE FIRED) Exactly two months (after the release of the Cox report in January) , the Energy Department announced that it had fired Los Alamos computer scientist Wen Ho Lee. Quickly, Lee ended up carrying responsibility for the whole sieve of data leaking out of Los Alamos. With the issuance of the Cox Report, it was obvious that the administration faced a massive security embarrassment involving the very nation alleged to have funneled money into the President's re-election. And so to divert attention from a genuine fiasco, the Clinton brain trust found a scalp, a fall guy, in Wen Ho Lee. We may never know the truth about Lee's activities or guilt (of a piece with the Chinese contributions), but the notion, allowed to run for a year, that somehow this one man constituted the Los Alamos breakdown was preposterous; it was a diversion. Now the chase has ended in a predictable plea-bargain, and the "investigation" will soon disappear into the mists, carrying with it this presidency's responsibility for what happened at the Energy Department on its watch, as with so many other security lapses. - "The Wen Ho Lee Diversion," OpinionJournal - September 19, 2000
MARCH 19, 1999 : (CLINTON LIES ABOUT SECURITY BREACHES DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION; WHITE HOUSE AIDS OFFER CONFLICTING INFORMATION ABOUT CLINTON BRIEFINGS) On March 19, 10 days after the Wen Ho Lee firing and two months after the Cox Report, President Clinton was asked at a news conference whether any of these Los Alamos security breaches took place on his watch. The President replied: "To the best of my knowledge, no one has said anything to me about any espionage which occurred by the Chinese against the labs during my presidency." This is almost certainly a false statement. A New York Times story the next day notes "different accounts" of when Mr. Clinton was informed of China's espionage. A House committee was told Mr. Clinton was briefed in 1998. But in the weeks prior to the March 19 news conference, White House aides said National Security Adviser Sandy Berger had briefed the President in July 1997. According to the Times, NSC spokesman David Leavy "said that since the completion of [the Cox] report, Berger and other aides had refreshed their recollections. 'After the Cox committee process, we've remembered more,' Leavy said." Also at his March 19 news conference, Mr. Clinton hotly denied that his administration suppressed reports of Chinese spying to avoid association with reports of laundered Chinese contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. "That is not true," the President asserted. - "The Wen Ho Lee Diversion," OpinionJournal - September 19, 2000
MARCH 23, 1999 : (ABDUL HAQ, PAKISTAN) In Peshawar, Pakistan, Mohammed Jehanzeb, the secretary of anti-Taliban organizer Haji Qadir, the brother of Adbul Haq, was assassinated.
MARCH 29, 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang goes to White House to watch N.C.A.A. championship game with President Clinton.
APRIL 1999 : (NEC CASE : INDIAN COMPANY HELPS INSTALL EQUIPMENT IN IRAQI CHLORINE PLANT) The former head of NEC engineering Private Ltd, Hans Raj Shiv, who allegedly led a technical team to Fallujah II in April 1999 to help install equipment that can be used to produce chemical agents. - Saddam’s first smoking gun traced to India (Also discussed on FOXNEWS Special Report) , by Bob Drogan, the Indian Express, Jan 19, 2003
APRIL 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, CURDLED MILK PLOT) A memo was written on a computer in Kabul soon after the US embassy bombings in Africa indicated that al-Qaida was embarking on potentially its most deadly project: the “curdled milk” biological- and chemical-warfare program. A memo written in April 1999, apparently by Zawahri, notes that “the destructive power of these weapons is no less than that of nuclear weapons.” The memo laments al-Qaida’s sluggishness in realizing the menace of these weapons, noting that “despite their extreme danger, we only became aware of them when the enemy drew our attention to them by repeatedly expressing concern that they can be produced simply.” As a first step, the memo suggests, militants must brush up on their reading. The memo gives a detailed precise American history of chemical and germ warfare. It lists a catalog of exotic killers, from anthrax to Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
1999 summer : (IRAQ : US & KURDS) U.S. government refuses to give Kurdish leaders security guarantees that would enable them to hold a general meeting of the Iraqi opposition inside Kurdistan. Instead, the meeting is held in New York City in October, 1999. - "A Chronology of US-Kurdish History," PBS, of http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/kurds/cron.html.
MAY 13, 1999 : (CUBA, CHINA, INTERFERING WITH US AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL) An incident recorded by the Federal Communications Commission in which Cuban electronic-warfare specialists penetrated the NY air-traffic-control system by simulating U.S. AF flight codes. The signals, which seriously threatened to disrupt air traffic, were traced to a 1,500 kilowatt transmitter operating west of Havana. (The Chinese have also established for themselves a sophisticated network of electronic espionage in Cuba to be used against the U.S. The bases are operating under the cover of Radio China short wave transmissions to Latin America and the U.S. Their principal bases are at Bejucal and near Havana. They are capable of interfering with U.S. air traffic control, according to the FCC. On the 13th of May at 4:48 p.m., the Chinese sent a communication to the air traffic control in New York, falsely identifying themselves as OPEC21, a U.S. Military C130 plane. )
MAY 23, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, ZAWAHRI, KHABAB, CURDLED MILK PLOT) A letter dated May 23 and written under one of Zawahri’s aliases is written (on the computer in Kabul recovered by a Wall Street Journal reporter later in 2001) and the author reports discussing some “very useful ideas” during a visit to Abu Khabab, the alias of an elderly Egyptian scientist. “It just needs some experiments to develop its practical use.” This was in reference to the al-Qeada "curdled milk" biological- and chemical- warfare program. "Particularly encouraging, " the letter in the computer files said, was a home-brew nerve gas made from insecticides and a chemical additive that would help speed up penetration into the skin. The writer said Khabab had supplied a computer disk that gave details of “his product” in a WinZip file, and “my neighbor opened it by God’s will.” U.S. officials, citing satellite photos and intelligence gathered from local residents, say Abu Khabab experimented with nerve gas on dogs and rabbits at a camp near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The camp, one of several in the area hit by U.S. bombs after Sept. 11, was known as Abu Khabab in honor of the scientist.
MAY 26, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, ZABADI) In a letter stored in the Kabul computer later discovered in 2001, under the same alias as earlier correspondence, the author says he was “very enthusiastic” about the Zabadi project and was especially pleased with Abu Khabab’s “significant progress.”
JUNE 1999 : (CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ENERGY DEPT REINSTATES BADGES "AFTER HORSE HAS LEFT THE BARN") Now just a few weeks ago, in the wake of all these revelations (in the Cox Report), the Energy Department has reinstated the color-coded badges (in US weapons labs). But during the time that these thefts took place, they were not able to wear these badges. - "THE CLINTON NATIONAL SECURITY SCANDAL AND COVERUP," Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Senate, June 23, 1999
JUNE 15, 1999 : (N KOREAN VESSELS INVADE S. KOREAN WATERS) At least 17 and as many as 80 N. Korean sailors killed after naval firefight in which one of the North's vessels was sunk and others damaged. Clash followed nine consecutive days of North Korean incursions into South Korean waters. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
JULY 1999 : (NORTH KOREA SMUGGLES SPECIALTY STEEL TO EGYPT) North Korea sent specialty steel with missile applications through a Chinese company in Hong Kong to Egypt, which is secretly cooperating with Pyongyang in building Scud missiles. - The Washington Times 10/28/99 Bill Gertz
JULY 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang receives letters endorsing his bid for Korea Life Insurance Company from Senator Torricelli, (left), Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks and a New Jersey state finance official.
AUGUST 1999 : (USA : DAVILA ESPIONAGE CASE) Washington Army National Guard officer Rafael Davila and his ex-wife, a special education teacher by hte name of Deborah Davila-Cummings attempt to pass national security documents without authorization. This case involves the sale of `top secret' and `secret' documents involved with the defense of the United States. The Spokesman-Review would later report that Davila-Cummings is accused of attempting to pass the top-secret documents to attorney Kirk Lyons of Black Mountain, N.C. Lyons.- "FBI Arrests 2 People on Espionage Charges, " AP , February 5, 2003
SEPTEMBER 1999 : (LOCKHART) "…"On the basis of these discussions, it is our understanding that North Korea will continue to refrain from testing long-range missiles of any kind as both sides move toward more normal relations," explained White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. Normal relations? The very same day Lockhart issued this statement, here's what the official North Korean news agency had to say about warming relations with the U.S.: "... The most important aim sought by the U.S. in the establishment of the 'Theater Missile Defense' system (TMD) is to build up the sphere of its unchallenged domination over the Asia-Pacific region. ... It is working hard to militarily stifle the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) through the establishment of the 'TMD.' However, any ' missile defense' system of the United States will be of no use because of our strong striking power." - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_btl/19990924_xcbtl_clintons_s.shtml 9/24/99 Joseph Farah
SEPTEMBER 1999 : (OR, AL QAEDA CELLS : PORTLAND GROUP MEMBER FORD IS AN INTERN IN THE PORTLAND MAYOR'S OFFICE) Patrice Lumumba Ford is an intern in Mayor Vera Katz's office.- "Terror suspect worked at Mayor Katz's office," story.asp-ID=50869 katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=50869
SEPTEMBER 21, 1999 : (NORTH KOREA) In response to the action of the White House, KCNA issued this statement Sept. 21: "The United States should show good faith by lifting the remaining sanctions against the DPRK so as to make it a comprehensive and substantial measure. Furthermore, if the U.S. is truly willing to totally drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and improve relations with the DPRK, it should withdraw its forces from South Korea, sign a peace agreement with the DPRK and thus root out the military threat to the DPRK. The DPRK will reciprocate the U.S. practical action to from its hostile policy toward the DPRK and improve relations with it." Yeah, that's really how North Korean bureaucrats write. They added, for good measure, that the U.S. is pursuing missile defense in Asia "in a bid to realize its ambition for world domination." What does this mean? It means the North Koreans believe they have promised nothing for Clinton's agreement. They believe they convinced the U.S. to lift certain sanctions under a previous agreement reached with the Clinton administration in 1994. They do not believe they have made any additional commitments to forgo testing of long-range missiles. And, even if they did acknowledge such an agreement, it would be meaningless at best. So who's fooling whom? ….." - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_btl/19990924_xcbtl_clintons_s.shtml 9/24/99 Joseph Farah
SEPTEMBER 24, 1999 : (N KOREAN MORATORIUM ON MISSILE LAUNCHES) North Korea puts a moratorium on missile launches. China welcomed North Korea's September 24 moratorium on new missile launches not only because it greatly reduced tensions in the region, but also for its potential role in cooling enthusiasm for a US-Japan joint Theater Missile Defense, Jia Qineggo, a leading scholar at the School of International Studies in Beijing University, told AFP. ...." - AFP 10/5/99
OCTOBER 1999 : (REP. GILMAN'S FEARS WOULD COME TRUE) "....From remarks by Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.) at a House International Relations Committee hearing yesterday: Without question, North Korea constitutes one of our nation's greatest foreign policy challenges. The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea] is also the country most likely to involve the United States in a large-scale regional war over the near term. . . . The threat to U.S. interests continues and is now actually spreading into less conventional areas. The DPRK has deployed three new types of missiles since 1993, the newest capable of striking our nation. This presents a clear and present danger to our national security and allows North Korea to create a balance of terror in Northeast Asia. North Korea, arguably, is the largest proliferator of missiles and enabling technology in the world today. Its transfers to South Asia and to the Middle East are particularly distressing and potentially destabilizing. Despite the '94 agreed framework, North Korea may still be pursuing a nuclear program. The DPRK may be seeking a parallel program based on highly enriched uranium, which strongly suggests that North Korea never intended to curb its nuclear ambitions My greatest fear is that this unpredictable regime in Pyongyang will continue its covert nuclear weapons program with an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States and our current policy will have failed to prevent it....."- Wash Post - pageA24 10/143/99 Rep Benjamin Gilman * ".....The Chairman of the House International Relations committee at a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday said that "North Korea may still be pursuing a nuclear program and is arguably the largest proliferator of missiles and enabling technology in the world." Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) also called North Korea one of America's greatest foreign policy challenges because Gilman believes it "is also the country most likely to involve the United States in a large scale regional war over the near term." ..... Gilman went on to say the "Clinton Administration has conditioned North Korea to believe that brinkmanship brings benefits. I am concerned that our policies towards North Korea have failed and our aid is sustaining a brutal regime." Last August, House Speaker Dennis Hastert appointed Gilman to lead a study of North Korea's threat to the United States and its allies. The study is expected to be released later this month. ...." - Conservative News Service 10/14/99 Jim Burns
OCTOBER 1999 : (FORMER SEC DEF PERRY SUGGESTS COEXISTANCE) ".....Former Defense Secretary William Perry, in a long-awaited policy review, recommended Tuesday that the United States and its Asian allies try to coexist with the Marxist rulers in Pyongyang rather than undermine them or promote internal reform. The strategy is in sharp contrast with the way Washington handles what it calls rogue or pariah states - states such as Iraq, Libya and Cuba - and reflects the gravity of the military threat which North Korea could pose. Perry said the United States should instead gradually eliminate sanctions and reduce pressures North Korea sees as threatening, in exchange for assurances that North Korea does not have a nuclear weapons program and will not test, deploy, produce or export long-range missiles, the report said. The State Department released an unclassified version of the report Tuesday but the broad thrust of its contents has been common knowledge for months. The United States has already acted on Perry's recommendations. It eased economic sanctions in September after Pyongyang agreed to suspend its next long-range missile test. Perry, who spent 10 months reviewing North Korea policy at the request of President Clinton, concluded that an attempt to hasten the demise of the North Korean government would take too long and had no guarantee of success. Such a policy would raise the risk of a destructive war on the Korean peninsula and would give the secretive Stalinist state time to proceed with its weapons programs, he said. ....." - Reuters 10/12/99
OCTOBER 1999 late : (N KOREA DENOUNCES US DEFENSIVE SYSTEM) "....North Korea denounced the United States on Sunday for testing a defense missile system over the Pacific, and vowed to build up its own defense capabilities. ``This (the test) shows that the U.S. policy to stifle North Korea has not in the least changed,'' said a commentary in Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper for the ruling Workers' Party. ``We will build our defense capabilities with high vigilance against the perfidious acts of the U.S.,'' it said. The report was carried by the North's official foreign news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency. ...." - AP 10/24/99
OCTOBER 1999 : (INTELLIGENCE REPORTS INDICATE ADMINISTRATION POLICY IS FAILING) "….. The intelligence reports are unwelcome news for the Clinton administration, which eased economic sanctions against North Korea last month as part of a new conciliatory policy drawn up by former Defense Secretary William Perry. Mr. Perry, in a report, urged continued engagement with North Korea with the goal of normalizing relations. His report said the United States should eliminate sanctions against North Korea in exchange for assurances that North Korea will not make nuclear weapons and will not test, deploy, produce or export long-range missiles. The Perry policy-review team stated in its report that "the urgent focus of U.S. policy toward the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] must be to end its nuclear weapons and long-range missile-related activities." One official said the recent intelligence reports are a clear sign the new policy is not working. "So much for the Perry approach," the official said….." - The Washington Times 10/28/99 Bill Gertz
OCTOBER 1999 : (NORTH KOREA CONTINUES CONSTRUCTING MISSILE BASES & DEPLOYING MISSILE BATTERIES) "….Six new short-range missile bases are under construction in North Korea and four new medium-range missile batteries have been deployed, the South Korean news agency Yonhap said on Tuesday. Yonhap said the North Korean moves followed its landmark accord in September with the United States on suspending new long-range missile tests to secure a partial lifting of US sanctions. North Korea is building bases at six different places for Scud-C missiles with a range of 500-550 kilometers (313-344 miles), it said, quoting government sources….." - Agence France Presse 10/27/99
OCTOBER 1999 : (N KOREA PLANS TO EXPORT DAEPODONG -I MISSILES, OFFERS TO SELL SUDAN MISSILE FACTORY, SUPPLIED MISSILE-RELATED GOODS TO SYRIA, PAKISTAN, EGYPT, IRAN, LIBYA, & CONGO; N KOREA SAYS IT WILL STOP IF US PAYS ) "….North Korea plans to export its long-range Daepodong-I missile from next year, South Korean government officials said yesterday. The weapons would sell for US$6 million (HK$46 million) each, one official said. A report also said the communist country had demanded US$500 million in compensation from the United States to halt exports of ballistic weapons…… The news agency said that during bilateral talks in Berlin in September, North Korea demanded US$500 million from the US in return for stopping missile sales abroad. ……The Washington Times says that according to a Pentagon intelligence agency report earlier this month, North Korea offered to sell Sudan an entire factory for assembling Scud missiles and also supplied missile-related goods to such countries as Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Libya and Congo. ….. " - South China Morning Post 10/30/99
OCT.-NOV. 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang receives letters supporting his company's position on the repayment of debts owed by North Korea from several members of Congress.
NOVEMBER 1999 : (NORTH KOREA SOLD IRAN MISSILE ENGINES) North Korea recently sold Iran a dozen medium-range ballistic missile engines, indicating the Pyongyang government has not curbed its transfers of missile know-how and equipment. According to a Pentagon intelligence report, North Korea supplied the 12 engines to an Iranian government agency involved in missile production in November. - THE WASHINGTON TIMES 2/9/00 Bill Gertz
NOVEMBER 1999 : (CLINTON'S BROTHER INVITED TO N KOREA) "….North Korea has invited the brother of U.S. President Bill Clinton to perform at a pop concert in the communist country's capital, South Korea said Tuesday. Roger Clinton, an entertainer and bandleader, would join South Korean teen-age pop icons on stage in Pyongyang if the concert goes ahead as planned in early December. Clinton was invited by South Korean concert promoters and a semiofficial North Korean group, the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. There was no immediate word on whether Clinton would attend. The concert's sponsor is South Korea's independent SBS-TV, which is organizing the event to promote reconciliation between the rival Koreas. The two countries fought a war a half-century ago and tensions remain high….." - AP Worldstream 11/22/99
NOVEMBER 26, 1999 : (REPORTS THAT N KOREA ORDERED LARGE NUMBERS OF CHINESE WEAPONS 2 MONTHS AGO) "….North Korea continues to increase imports of Chinese weapons, as Pyongyang and Beijing reinforce ties to a level not seen in almost a decade, analysts said yesterday. Two months ago Pyongyang wrapped up a US$10.6 million (HK$82 million) purchase of TNT detonators, tank engines and open-air field blankets, a military order four times as large as last year's. The deal dismayed humanitarian groups that send millions of tonnes of food aid to the population, 25 per cent of which suffers from severe malnutrition. But political analysts and North Korea watchers say Pyongyang's investment lies chiefly not in the equipment, but in the diplomatic arena….." - South China Morning News 11/27/99 Roger Dean DuMars
DECEMBER 1999 : CLINTON'S BROTHER HOLDS TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA- ON THEIR INVITATION) "….The singer brother of US President Bill Clinton held talks with North Korean officials on the eve of his rare concert Sunday with pop singers from the two Koreas, Pyongyang's media said. The meeting between Roger Clinton and North Korean officials led by Kim Yong-Sun, chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, took place Saturday, according to North Korean state radio monitored in Seoul. Details of the talks were not given. The president's brother had been invited by the committee, one of North Korea's key international trade bodies……" - DRUDGE 12/5/99
DECEMBER 1999 : (NORTH KOREAN MISSILE EXPERTS ESCAPE NORTH KOREA, DEFECT, TELL OF EXECUTIONS) Scientist Lim Ki Sung, 59, flees North Korea in December along with his son Lim Hak-jin, 31, also a missile expert, and a nephew Kim Song-su, 32, who had been a North Korean Army officer. The three tell a bizarre story of having decided to flee after Mr. Lim's wife died and a number of their relatives were executed, according to the paper Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's largest newspaper…." - International Herald Tribune 2/19-20/00 Don Kirk
DECEMBER 1999 : (DEAL SIGNED WITH N KOREA TO BUILD TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS) "....A U.S.-led consortium signed a $4.6 billion deal Wednesday to build two nuclear reactors in North Korea, a reward for the communist nation's promise to freeze and eventually dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program. The contract was the final phase of preparations to build the U.S.-designed reactors in Kumho, a rural village in North Korea's northeast. "Today's event reflects the improving political climate surrounding the Korean Peninsula," said Desaix Anderson, the consortium's executive director, after signing the contract in Seoul with Choi Byung-soo, the president of the South's state utility company, Korea Electric Power Corp. ....." - Associated Press 12/15/99 Sang-Hun Choe
DECEMBER 14, 1999 : (MILLENIUM PLOT : RESSAM CAUGHT BY US CUSTOMS SERVICE) "Thanks to the quick response of US Customs Agents to behavior deemed suspicious at the Canadian border in Port Angeles on December 14, 1999, Ahmed Ressam was caught trying to smuggle RDX explosives. A wide-ranging investigation, unprecedented in its sweep and scope, succeeded in identifying and arresting other members of the hitherto unknown terrorist cell to which Ressam belonged. A plot to bomb and destroy targets in the United States, although still not publicly identified, had been narrowly averted." - PREPARED TESTIMONY OF STEVEN EMERSON, TERRORIST EXPERT AND INVESTIGATOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TERRORISM NEWSWIRE, INC. BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND CLAIMS SUBJECT - INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND IMMIGRATION POLICY, January 26, 2000
DECEMBER 17, 1999 : (UN SECURITY COUNCIL RELIEVES SANCTIONS ON IRAQ) The UN Security Council voted to relieve the sanctions on Iraq.
DECEMBER 1999 : (MALAYSIA : AL QAEDA : AL MIDHAR) Malaysian police surveillance of Al Qaida in Malaysia in December 1999. Khalid al Midhar, one of the 19 suicidists was videotaped meeting with al Qaida supporters in Kuala Lumpur at a Islamic conference. This was 18 months prior to his joining the hijackers in the US. This road, if it was uninterrupted, leads to al Qaida http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/question_nato.htm
JANUARY 2000 : ( MALAYSIA TERROR SUMMIT MONITORED BY MALAYSIAN AGENTS AT US REQUEST INCLUDES MEMBERS OF AL QAEDA HAMBURG CELL & JAMAAH ISLAMIAH, AND AN IRAQI NAMED SHAKIR) A crucial planning meeting for Sept. 11 that was held in January 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. US intelligence officials learned of the meeting before it took place, and Malaysian security agents monitored it at their request. Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one of the suspected Hamburg plotters, had attended that meeting. Shibh's presence would connect the Hamburg group to two other hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi, who took part in the Kuala Lumpur meeting. Midhar and Alhazmi entered the US a few days after the Kuala Lumpur meeting through LA, unlike the members of the Hamburg group, who flew into East Coast cities. (ACCORDING TO LATER INTERVIEW OF GERMAN DIRECTOR KERSTEN OF THE BUNDESKRIMINALAMT IN 2002) - Extracted from "Germans Lay Out Early Qaeda Ties to 9/11 Hijackers, " by DOUGLAS FRANTZ and DESMOND BUTLER, New York Times, August 24, 2002 * * (MALAYSIA TERROR SUMMIT HOSTED BY JAMAAH ISLAMIAH'S SUFAAT & INCLUDES : 911 HIJACKERS AL-MIDHAR & ALHAZMI, IRAQI SHAKIR, SENIOR AL QAEDA OFFICIALS ) In January 2000, Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi, two hijackers aboard the jet that hit the Pentagon, met with other al-Qaeda members in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The operatives included a suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000. That attack killed 17 U.S. sailors. The meeting was hosted by Sufaat, a member of the militant Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah, which U.S. officials say is linked to Osama bin Laden. Soon after the meeting, Al-Midhar and Alhamzi entered the USA and enrolled at a flight school in San Diego.- "Malaysia site of Sept. 11 plotting, FBI report says." By Jack Kelley, USA TODYusat-malaysia.htm *
JANUARY 2000 : (NORTH KOREAN TAEPO DONG 2 MISSILE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES) "…. In fact, the US Intelligence Community has concluded that the development of the Taepo Dong 2 is continuing, despite the pledge by NKorea not to conduct a flight test. USAF's National Air Intelligence Center, the community's premier missile monitoring center, reported that Pyongyang is "continuing development of the Taepo Dong," said one official who has seen the report. "They are still improving the TD 2 and proceeding with development," said the official. "In fact, their level of confidence in the TD 2 may be high enough to have it available [for use] without any flight test." ….." - Air Force Magazine 1/2000 Bill Gertz
JANUARY 2000 : (IRAQ : ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON SADDAM HUSSEIN) - "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
JANUARY 2000 : (IRAQ : REPUBLICAN GUARD OFFICERS HASSAN, KAMAL AND NAIM ARRESTED FOR CONTACTING IRAQI OPPOSITION GROUP) 'Ali Hassan, 'Ali Kamal, Hamid Na'im, all officers in the Republican Guard and originally from southern Iraq, were arrested in Baghdad in January, reportedly on suspicion of contact with an Iraqi opposition group abroad. They were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in September.- "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
JANUARY 2000 : (AL-MIDHAR FLIES TO THE US A WEEK AFTER ATTENDING MALAYSIAN TERRORIST SUMMIT ) - "9/11 Bombshell: New Evidence Of Iraq-Al Qaeda Ties?," by David Martin, CBS News Oct. 1, 2002 David Martin
JANUARY 3, 2000: (YEMEN : USS THE SULLIVANS PLOT : AL-QEADA TRIES& FAILS TO BLOW UP A US DESTROYER WITH A SMALL BOAT FILLED WITH EXPLOSIVES)
JANUARY 2000 : (AFTER AL QAEDA'S PLOT AGAINST THE USS THE SULLIVANS FAILS, ADEL GETS HELP FROM HEZBOLLAH IN PLOT TO ATTACK THE USS COLE) Saif al Adel himself, the officials said, got help from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah after a suicide boat attack against the U.S. Navy destroyer The Sullivans went awry in Yemen in January 2000. Armed with new plastic explosives and a better bomb design, al-Qaida attacked the USS Cole in Yemen that October, killing 17 Americans. - "U.S. checking whether Saudi bombings were planned in Iran," By JOHN WALCOTT, Knight Ridder Newspapers via The Mercury News, Posted on Wed, May. 14, 2003, http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/5861884.htm
FEBRUARY 2000 : (IRAQ : REPUBLICAN GUARD OFFICERS, INCLUDING GENERAL AL-DULAIMI, ARE EXECUTED) 38 Republican Guard officers were executed. They were arrested in January, reportedly after a failed attempt to assassinate the President. Those executed included General 'Abd al-Karim Hussain al-Dulaimi, head of the Republican Guard's second brigade. - "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
FEBRUARY 2, 2000: (? or 2001?) (USA : CIA DIRECTOR TENET, FORESHADOWING, AL- QEADA ) Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA Director George Tenet said Usama Bin Laden "is still foremost" among terrorists planning attacks against the US and that more than half of 24 terrorists brought to justice since July 1998 "were associates" of Bin Laden's Al-Qa'ida organization. He said that despite some disruptions, U.S. intelligence officials believe Bin Laden could strike without warning, and that the terrorist -- along with others -- is "placing increased emphasis on developing surrogates to carry out attacks in an effort to avoid detection."
FEBRUARY 17, 2000 : (INS OFFICIAL SPY CASE, CUBAN SPY IN INS, FAGET, IS ARRESTED) Authorities arrested Mariano Faget, a former INS official a month before his scheduled retirement. - "Timeline: High-profile U.S. spy cases of the last two decades, " CNN, AUGUST 24, 2001-- U.S. Defense Security Services material was used in this report * INS official Mariano Faget, charged with using classified information for business purposes, a technical violation of the U.S. Espionage Act, and was subsequently sentenced to five years in jail. As of this time he was the highest ranking Cuban spy known to operate in the US.
MAY 2000 : (SCOTT RITTER MEETS IRAQI) In May 2000, appearing at a Congressional briefing, he said Saddam was incapable of ''world or regional domination'' and admitted that ''a lot of the blame for the perceptions'' to the contrary could ''be laid at my doorstep.'' That briefing proved significant, not for what Ritter said but for whom he met. Shakir al-Khafaji, a wealthy Iraqi-American businessman, was in the audience. The two men struck up a conversation. Within weeks, Ritter was telling al-Khafaji about a documentary he hoped to make, a film about Unscom that might find the audience that ''Endgame'' had missed. The two agreed to become partners in Ritter's production company, with al-Khafaji's real-estate development firm, the Falcon Management Group of Southfield, Mich., investing $400,000. While the businessman did not have any control over the editorial content, both men say, al-Khafaji would be supplying his connections as well as his money, easing Ritter's way back into Iraq. As a veteran intelligence officer, Ritter knew he ought to be wary of this deal. The F.B.I. probe had not resulted in any charges, but here he was, about to receive cash from a wealthy Iraqi with important friends in Baghdad. Ritter said he went to great lengths to check things out, though on this score he is less than convincing. Where did he get his information? ''I called a reporter who has sources in the C.I.A.'' Does he know where the $400,000 came from? ''They showed me the stocks and bonds that were being liquidated.'' Was al-Khafaji getting any quid pro quo from the Iraqi government? ''Shakir said he didn't,'' Ritter told me on one occasion. On another he said, ''That was always in the back of my mind, that the Iraqis have an interest in funding the movie.'' Before going to Baghdad, Ritter informed the F.B.I., he said. This candor was a supposed safety net. ''I raised our profile so high that the F.B.I.'s got us dead to rights. If he is getting a quid pro quo, you'd think the F.B.I. would know about it.''- "Scott Ritter's Iraq Complex: One man's continuing war with Saddam, Washington -- and himself ," by Barry Bearak, New York Times Magazine, November 24, 2002
2000 : (NORTH KOREA GETS MORE US AID THAN ANY OTHER E. ASIAN NATION AS CLINTON ADMINISTRATION APPEASES THEM) The Clinton administration was in full appeasement mode by this time, with North Korea receiving more U.S. aid than any other nation in East Asia, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a parody of Bob Hope's "Thanks for the Memories," ludicrously warbling at a regional summit: "Just had my first handshake, with Foreign Minister Paek. Used to think he was a rogue, but here at [the summit], he's so in vogue." Only the intervention of the 2000 elections prevented Clinton from going to North Korea to strike a new deal under which we would have been providing even more aid for the boon of a supposedly stopped missile program. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/771974/posts
MAY 2000 : (IAEA DISCOVERS IRAQI CENTRIFUGE) The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency, which also carried out inspections on Iraq until Dec 1998) discovered and destroyed an Iraqi nuclear centrifuge which had been stored in Jordan.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
MAY 2000: (AFGHANISTAN : PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MASSOUD) Kabul, Afghanistan: someone sat down at an IBM desktop here and typed out a polite letter to a bitter foe of al-Qaida, the anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud and then printed out a request for an interview with Massoud, to be conducted by “one of our best journalists, Mr. Karim Touzani.” (Northern Alliance leader Massoud would later be assasinated by killers posing as journalists on Sept 9, 2001, a few days before the WTC and Pentagon attacks in the US.
MAY 18, 2000: (ATTA OBTAINS US VISA, BERLIN) Mohammed Atta obtained a visa at the U.S. Consulate in Berlin on May 18, 2000, and came to Newark, N.J. on June 3, 2000. - attributed to LA TIMES, not original source, "Hijacker Shuttled in and out of U.S. on Visas issued by Consulates" By CRAIG PYES, PATRICK J. McDONNELL and WILLIAM C. REMPEL, Los AngelesTimes la-atta.html
MAY 25-26, 2000 : (AL-MARRI ENTERS US) The FBI also says it now knows how Ali Salem Kahlah Al-Marri came to the US and left in 2000. Lufthansa Airlines records show that an Ali S. Al-Marri traveled from Dahman, Saudi Arabia, to Frankfurt and on to O'Hare on May 25-26, 2000 - "Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
MAY 29, 2000 : (911 HIJACKER AL-SHEHHI ENTERS THE US) Shortly after meeting with Iraqi intelligence agents in Dubai, UAE, Marwan al-Shehhi enters the US - Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
JUNE 2000 : (IRAQ : JORDANIAN AL-DALLU EXECUTED FOR ESPIONAGE) A Jordanian national, Dawud Salman al-Dallu, was executed in Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad in June after being convicted of espionage. He had been detained since 1993. The date and details of his trial were not known. - "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
JULY 2000 : (IRAQ : GOVERNMENT CENTRAL COMPUTER DEPT EMPLOYEES EXECUTED) Seven employees at the government's Central Computer Department were executed in July on charges of treason. They reportedly imported a computer system that could be used to send data abroad. - "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
JULY 2000 : (SCOTT RITTER, IRAQ, AL KHAFAJI) Ritter was welcomed back to Baghdad in July 2000, with the blessing of Saddam Hussein. The reason for his trip? To produce a documentary film, "In Shifting Sands," that would chronicle the weapons-inspection process and, he says, "de-demonize" Iraq. The 90-minute film, which he says he is close to selling to a broadcast outlet, was produced with the approval of the Iraqi government and features interviews with numerous high-level Iraqi officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. U.S. intelligence officials and arms control advocates say Ritter has been played--perhaps unwittingly--by Saddam Hussein. "If you're Scott Ritter," says one arms expert, "the former 'cowboy' weapons inspector, kicked out by Saddam Hussein, you're not going to get back into Iraq unless Saddam Hussein invites you and wants you there." He acknowledges, as well, that the U.S. government doesn't like how the film was financed. Shakir al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American real estate developer living in Michigan, kicked in $400,000. By Ritter's own admission, al-Khafaji is "openly sympathetic with the regime in Baghdad." Al-Khafaji, who accompanied Ritter as he filmed the documentary and facilitated many of the meetings, travels to and from Iraq regularly in his capacity as chairman of "Iraqi expatriate conferences." Those conferences, held in Baghdad every two years, are sponsored and subsidized by Saddam Hussein. The conferences are little more than propaganda shows, designed to bash the United States and demonstrate to the world that Hussein has support even among Iraq's expatriate community. The official conference website posts several articles condemning U.S. "terrorism and genocide" against Iraq. Ritter says al-Khafaji had no editorial input on the film project but that without his help, the movie would not have been made. "I tried to get independent sources to fund the movie," he says. "People can talk about the funding all they want. If I'd been able to be bought--from '95 to '98 the CIA paid me. Did I do their bidding?" Ritter says the FBI investigated the relationship between him and al-Khafaji and found nothing. "They surrounded my house, they stopped me on the street," he says. "Nothing." - http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/000/524dplvk.asp
JUNE 2000 : (IRAQ : FORMER GENERAL & EXPAT AL-SALIHI SENT VIDEOTAPE OF A RELATIVE BEING RAPED) In June Najib al-Salihi, a former army general who fled Iraq in 1995 and joined the Iraqi opposition, was sent a videotape showing the rape of a female relative. Shortly afterwards he reportedly received a telephone call from the Iraqi intelligence service, asking him whether he had received the gift and informing him that his relative was in their custody.- "Amnesty International report on Iraq. Events from January - December 2000," Amnesty International, January - December 2000
1998 : (TOM DASCHLE, DICK GEPHARDT SUPPORT IMMEDIATE ACTION AGAINST IRAQ - BUT HAVE DUAL "SENIOR MOMENTS" LATER ON IN 2003 AND FORGET HWAT THEY ORIGINALLY SUPPORTED) The two Democratic congressional leaders, Sen. Tom Daschle and Rep. Dick Gephardt, issued a joint statement hailing Clinton's "correct decision to undertake military action against Iraq at this time." Indeed, they added, "Any delay would have given Saddam Hussein time to recontitute his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction." - "DEM DOUBLE-TAKE (or...Hypocrites On Parade), " by ERIC FETTMANN, New York Post October 10, 2002