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/
JULY 23, 1998 : (IRAN TEST FIRES N KOREAN MISSILE) The Islamic Nation of Iran test fired a medium range missile purchased from North Korea on July 23, 1998 - "A Short History of World War IIIA Lesson of the Future.," by Sal Rosken, The Partial Observer , 2 March 2003
JUNE 24, 1988 : (SPAIN : HIJACKING) Spanish Boeing 727 airliner hijacked on internal flight, with 130 people onboard. All eventually freed unharmed after the single hijacker gave himself up.
JUNE 24, 1998 : (IRAQ CAUGHT IN A LIE : 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
JUNE 24, 1998 : (SUDAN & CLINTON ADMINISTRATION) 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 25, 1998 : (FATHER BENJAMIN'S DOCUMENTARY "IRAQ SOLIDARITY ACTION" WILL BE SCREENED TOMORROW; IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN AL ZAHAWIE WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING) VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- A new 20-minute documentary film, produced in Iraq by Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, describes the damages brought upon that country's people by the 7-year-old embargo. The film will be screened for the press in Rome tomorrow. Father Benjamin and his film crew traveled extensively across Iraq-- visiting Mosul, Basra, Samra, Baghdad, and Babylon-- to gather footage for their documentary, which is entitled "Iraq solidarity action."
The film denounces the "atrocity of these inhuman sanctions which, each month, cause the death of more than 6,000 children," according to a press release from the producers. Father Benjamin, a French-born priest now serving in the Rome diocese, has previously overseen the production of films on Padre Pio and St. Francis of Assisi. He also accompanied the late Cardinal Agostino Casaroli on many of his diplomatic missions Send reply to: ADC Iraq Task Force adc-itf@leb.net - "DOCUMENTARY FILM RIPS EMBARGO ON IRAQ," 25 June 1998, http://www.iacenter.org/film625.htm
JUNE 26, 1998 : (IRAQI ENVOY TO THE HOLY SEE, AL ZAHAWIE, ATTENDS SCREENING OF LEFTWING PRIEST BENJAMIN'S DOCUMENTARY; MEANWHILE, THE VATICAN'S ENVOY IN BAGHDAD, ARCHBISHOP LAZZAROTTO, ISSUES A STATEMENT TO BE PLAYED AT THE SCREENING CONDEMNING THE EMBARGO ON IRAQ; THE ARCHBISHOP ENCOURAGES CHRISTIANS TO BREAK THE INTERNATIONAL EMBARGO) VATICAN (CWNews.com - Catholic World News) -- The Vatican's envoy in Baghdad has once again lashed out against the international embargo on Iraq. In a video message, played at the screening of a new documentary on the effects of that embargo, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto called upon Christian to show their solidarity with the people of Iraq. The documentary film, "Iraq Solidarity Action," was produced by Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, a French-born priest serving the diocese of Rome. It was screened today in the presence of the Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Wissam Chawket al-Zahawie.
In his video message to the film audience, Archbishop Lazzarotto urged all Christians to "multiple their gestures of solidarity," in order to break through "the isolation created by the embargo." Those who travel to Iraq, he said, would find their a rich culture which deserves understanding and preservation.
The practical effects of the embargo, the papal nuncio continued, have not been changes in government policy, but rather the death of the society's most vulnerable people. As a result, he reported, people are losing their confidence in the future. The best hope for the Iraqi people, he said, would lie in a return to the normal life they enjoyed before the Persian Gulf War. - "Vatican envoy in Iraq denounces embargo again,"
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 : (IN EGYPT, N KOREAN DIPLOMATS CAUGHT SMUGGLING RHYPNOL) Two North Korean diplomats passing through Egypt were discovered carrying 506,000 tablets of Rhypnol - a sedative used as a "date rape drug." This has been the largest seizure of Rhypnol so far.- " North Korea: A Continuing Threat," Testimony before The House Committee on International Relations " by James R. Lilley, Resident Fellow, the American Enterprise Institute, Wednesday, March 24, 1999 see : http://www.aei.org/ct/ctlilley2.htm. Click here for an index of Testimony.
JULY 1998 : (AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN, AL-QEADA DISPUTE) report stored in the Kabul computer later recovered by a Wall Street Journal reporter in 2001 details what seems to have been a near rupture in relations between Afghanistan’s then leaders and bin Laden’s network. Addressed to Ayman — apparently Zawahri — the report describes an angry meeting between the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and “Abu Abdullah.” This could be a reference to bin Laden, since that was one of his aliases. The report blames the quarrel on a “bankrupt failure to achieve any real external victory.” It warns that Arabs operating in Afghanistan risk losing access to their training camps, just as they were earlier expelled from Sudan, bin Laden’s main base until 1996. There was also a note on the computer that Islamic militants in Egypt, meanwhile, were grilled over their 1998 decision to declare a truce with the government in Cairo and give up violence. Several files on the computer focus on this quarrel over strategy. “Noble brother, I hesitated in writing this letter when it was announced that you had called for a stop to all military operations,” reads a letter from Zawahri to a leader of Egypt’s Islamic Group. “Does that position apply to inciting people to perform jihad against Americans? And does it apply to Israel as well?”
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 1998 : (RUMSFELD CONGRESSIONAL PANEL REPORT CONCERNING NORTH KOREA IS ISSUED) 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 11, 1998 : (NORTH KOREA RANT AGAINST THE USA) "North Korea yesterday blasted the United States for saying its troops should remain in South Korea and demanded the immediate withdrawal of its forces. .." - Hong Kong Standard 7/11/98
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 month) : (BIN LADEN SENDS AL-ZAWAHIRI TO MEET WITH IRAQI VP & OTHER OFFICIALS) 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, to discuss and plan a joint strategy for an anti-US jihad. Baghdad pledged their full support and cooperation, on the condition that bin-Laden not incite the Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood against Saddam Hussein’s reign. Zawahiri was taken to tour a potential site for bin-Laden’s new headquarters near al-Fallujah, and to observe training at terrorist camps run by Iraqi intelligence, to include the training conducted at al-Nasiriyah to bin-Laden’s Saudi operatives. Zawahiri assumed responsibility for the al-Nasiriyah training camp in the name of Osama bin-Laden, as part of Iraq’s recognition of bin-Laden as the “local authority” in the jihad against the United States.- Youssef Bodansky, “Bin Laden; The Man Who Declared War on America,” Prima Publishing, Roseville, CA, 2001, page 324-325.
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 : (AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN, AL-QEADA DISPUTE) report stored in the Kabul computer later recovered by a Wall Street Journal reporter in 2001 details what seems to have been a near rupture in relations between Afghanistan’s then leaders and bin Laden’s network. Addressed to Ayman — apparently Zawahri — the report describes an angry meeting between the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and “Abu Abdullah.” This could be a reference to bin Laden, since that was one of his aliases. The report blames the quarrel on a “bankrupt failure to achieve any real external victory.” It warns that Arabs operating in Afghanistan risk losing access to their training camps, just as they were earlier expelled from Sudan, bin Laden’s main base until 1996. There was also a note on the computer that Islamic militants in Egypt, meanwhile, were grilled over their 1998 decision to declare a truce with the government in Cairo and give up violence. Several files on the computer focus on this quarrel over strategy. “Noble brother, I hesitated in writing this letter when it was announced that you had called for a stop to all military operations,” reads a letter from Zawahri to a leader of Egypt’s Islamic Group. “Does that position apply to inciting people to perform jihad against Americans? And does it apply to Israel as well?”
JULY 25, 1998 Saturday : (REPORTS OF DISCOVERY OF NORTH KOREAN TUNNELS) "South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday, July 25, that the South Korean military is currently attempting to uncover at least two of seven identified North Korean infiltration tunnels. The agency cited military investigators as saying that North Korea was digging 21 tunnels along the Military Demarcation Line, and that the army has roughly located seven tunnels with the assistance of a defected North Korean soldier, aerial reconnaissance photographs, and examination of explosions recorded along the border. The more than two-meter wide tunnels can reportedly handle the passage of 15,000 soldiers per hour. Yonhap reported that South Korean forces are drilling test holes in the areas of the seven suspected tunnels, and military authorities allegedly expect to confirm two of the tunnels by the end of the year." - StratFor Intelligence Briefing 7/28/98
JULY 30, 1998 : (IRAQ THREATENS ACTION UNLESS UN EMBARGO LIFTED : AL QAEDA?) 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.)
JULY 31, 1998 : (RUMSFELD, NORTH KOREA) The Washington Times Ralph Hallow "The Rumsfeld Commission report found that North Korea, Iran and other countries are hiding their ballistic missile development programs from U.S. satellites. It said these countries are using huge underground laboratories and factories to make and test missiles. Mr. Nicholson, who has been touting a missile shield on radio and in signed opinion columns in newspapers, said Democrats are filibustering a bill that would begin development of such a shield. - by Ralph Hallow, Washington Times
* "U.S. Intelligence agencies have detected a huge secret underground complex in North Korea that they believe is the centerpiece of an effort to revive the country's frozen nuclear weapons program, according to officials who have been briefed on the intelligence information. The finding has alarmed officials at the White House and the Pentagon, who fear that the complex may represent an effort to break out of a 4-year-old agreement in which North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for billions of dollars in Western aid. The finding also follows a string of provocations by the North, including missile sales to Pakistan and the incursion of a small North Korean submarine carrying nine commandos off the South Korean coast this year.." -NY Times David Sanger 8/17/98
* ".Intelligence reports focusing on a huge nuclear site about 25 miles northeast of Yongbyon find that most of the activity is taking place underground-and that more than 15,000 North Koreans have been deployed to keep carving out the ground so prying, spying silicon eyes can't see it from above. "You can't miss the deployment aspect of this," a North Korean defector confided to us. "(North Korean President) Kim Jong ll knows it's a good way to keep his military busy-construction. His father once told him that the real reason for the pyramids in Egypt was so the Pharoahs had something for idle, restless slave hands to do, other than revolt."."Extensive construction of huge underground aircraft support facilities as well as hardened hangarettes and revetments has taken place," says one Defense Intelligence Agency estimate, classified "Secret."
It adds: "Virtually all major air bases have hardened or underground facilities, or both. The North Korean navy is equally well protected. At most of its "principal naval installations, according to another classified DIA report, the North Koreans have "constructed underground naval facilities," including "underground (or sheltered) berthing" for the country's fleet.."- Marshfield Mail 10/7/98 Jack Anderson and Jan Moller