Posted on 03/15/2002 1:12:33 AM PST by JohnHuang2
A class-action lawsuit was filed in district court in Washington, D.C., today alleging that Iraq, "in whole or in part," planned and financed the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City nearly seven years ago.
"Plaintiffs assert that the entire plot was, in whole or in part, orchestrated, assisted technically and/or financially, and directly aided by agents of the Republic of Iraq," said the suit, filed by public interest law firm Judicial Watch.
Federal officials have said the April 19, 1995, attack on the Murrah Building was committed by former Army vet Timothy McVeigh – who was executed June 11, 2001 – and accomplice Terry Nichols, now serving a life sentence for his role in the bombing.
The FBI has said the explosion, which destroyed nearly one-third of the building and killed 168 people, was the result of a huge ammonium nitrate-laden truck bomb parked in front of the building.
But according to the suit, plaintiffs say the OKC bombing "was an illegal continuation of the Persian Gulf War," and that they and their loved ones "are … civilian casualties of [the] Gulf War. …"
"Plaintiffs further assert that the involvement and complicity of Iraq can be proven by both direct and circumstantial evidence," the suit alleges.
Charles Key, former member of the Oklahoma legislature and a primary member of the Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee, said the suit had been in a "holding pattern" for some time. He said his committee was also involved in the suit.
"We knew as early as 1995 that Iraq was likely involved in the bombing," Key told WorldNetDaily, based on "work done by Brad Edwards and Jayna Davis at the NBC affiliate in OKC."
Also, Key said, attorney Stephen Jones "pursued a lot of this himself." And, "as some of the points in our complaint show, there is a wealth of information that says Iraq was planning terrorist acts in our country for a long time."
Larry Klayman, chairman and lead counsel of Judicial Watch, said the evidence against Iraq is strong.
"It's time that someone took action against Iraq. Talk is cheap," Klayman said, adding that Judicial Watch would be "developing more evidence" against Baghdad later.
The legal group says the suit was filed under terms enumerated in the Antiterrorism and Death Penalty Act of 1996, which addresses state-sponsored terrorism and has a specific provision for retroactive application.
"Judicial Watch and its clients contend that other individuals, in addition to Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, were involved in the preparation for and execution of the attack on the Murrah Building," said a statement issued by the group. "These individuals were operating as agents of the Republic of Iraq. …"
Klayman's organization said reports from Philippine intelligence and law enforcement sources form the basis for much of the information contained in the lawsuit. Specifically, the suit details meetings between Nichols and Ramzi Youssef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, during Nichols' travel to the Philippines between 1990 and 1994.
Additional evidence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveals Interpol's efforts to apprehend two additional Oklahoma City bombing suspects and information in the agency's files associating Youssef with the attack, Judicial Watch said.
"It's time the whole story about the Oklahoma City bombing is revealed and that justice is done for the Iraqis' state sponsorship of that brutal attack on American citizens," Klayman said.
Local OKC attorney Mike Johnston is also acting as counsel in the suit, as is Jay Adkisson of Irvine, Calif.
"The survivors of the Murrah Building bombing and the people of Oklahoma City have waited a long time for the whole, unvarnished truth to come out concerning this horrific plot, and they won't rest until that's accomplished," Johnston said in a statement released today.
In a separate interview, Johnston told WorldNetDaily he hoped the suit would bring "peace of mind" to the plaintiffs and the nation.
"We think there's evidence out that that would be not only relavent to the lawsuit but have definite historical value, not only for public consumption but also for the peace of mind for the survivors," he said.
Johnston added that he hadn't heard from the Justice Department or the FBI regarding the suit. "This is a civil matter, and I think they'll be reluctant to get involved – at least on any official basis," he said.
The Justice Department did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The suit says that prior to the Gulf War, "Iraq had developed a covert network in the United States to acquire materials for weapons of mass destruction." After the war, the suit alleges, "Iraq converted that network into organized terrorist cells," some of which "were directly involved in" the OKC bombing.
The suit also alleges that Youssef set up a terrorist "base of operations" in the Philippines in 1994.
That may be significant, sources told WorldNetDaily, because of Nichols' trips to the Philippines prior to the 1995 bombing.
"In the Philippines as part of 'Project Bojinka,' Ramzi Youssef, on behalf of Iraq, recruited conspirators to attempt to simultaneously bomb U.S. 747 aircraft over the Pacific," the suit alleges. Delayed timers "with many similarities" to the Pam Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 were to be used, said the suit.
"Youssef also conceived of plans to highjack planes bound for the United States in order to dive them, in suicide attacks, into U.S. targets like CIA headquarters … a tactic later adopted by [al-Qaida terrorist group founder] Osama bin Laden," the suit said.
"Plaintiffs assert that at some point … Youssef recruited a willing convert in the person of Terry Nichols, who witnesses say went to the Philippines seeking technical help in learning to build a bomb," said the suit. "Meetings between Terry Nichols and Ramzi Youssef were witnessed by a Filipino government informant."
Nichols made his last trip to the Philippines Nov. 22, 1994, after marrying a local 17-year-old Filipino girl.
Besides the plaintiffs, others believe the OKC bombing may have an Iraqi connection.
According to a "Washington Whispers" segment in the Oct. 29, 2001, issue of U.S. News & World Report, some top Defense Department officials believed McVeigh was an Iraqi agent.
"Some dismiss it as being akin to Elvis sightings, but a few top Defense officials think Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh was an Iraqi agent," wrote magazine correspondent Paul Bedard.
"The theory stems from a never-before-reported allegation that McVeigh had allegedly collected Iraqi telephone numbers. Why haven't we heard this before about the case of the executed McVeigh? Conspiracy theorists in the Pentagon think it's part of a cover-up," he wrote.
And David Schippers, counsel for the House-led impeachment effort against former President Clinton, also says he believes there is a Middle East connection to the bombing.
"I am thoroughly convinced that there was a dead-bang Middle Eastern connection in the Oklahoma City bombing," he told TalkNetDaily host Geoff Metcalf during an Oct. 21, 2001, interview. "I think bin Laden was behind it. I think that there were Middle Eastern people on the scene running away."
Perhaps.. former NAACP president Ben Chavis left the org to become a 'preacher' in the religious hate group Nation of Islam. NAACP does good things where I live, working for equal rights for minorities.
Yet if Rush is so racist, why are his guest hosts so racially pure?
Why are his black guest hosts only right-winged conservatives? Either way, he supports racist government policies.
That's an assumption. I keep up on the news.
Gun issue? Come on, everyone KNOWS Schumer is a liberal gun -grabber. To claim otherwise is foolishness.
To say that Schumer is liberal on the gun issue is foolish.
And no, ACU is not "right-wing." The rating system thye use is applied equally to all Congressmen. Schumer rates a lifetime score of 6 out of a possible 100. How much more liberal than that do you expect?
I take everything the ACU says with a grain of salt. ACU claims Al Gore is a left-leaning liberal.
.How on earth could you conclude that Schumer is anything but a liberal on the gun issue?
He wants greater restrictions on gun ownership not more liberal policy..
Mf GOD he has authored anti-gun legislation! He has a well-deserved F from both GOA and NRA. A liberal. Pure and simple. He is from NYC. Goes with the territory.
He may be from NY but he's still not liberal when it comes to gun ownership rights.
Racial profiling, anti-immigration legislation, the death penalty, the drugwar, ..
clinton could have had our nation fighting against terrorism after the OKLA bombing with stepped up fervor and national awareness had he had the courage to follow ALL LEADS in the OKLA bombing. Instead...the FBI, via the DOJ, via the WH, of course, was ORDERED to ignore Jayne's documentation of middle eastern involvement!!!! PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to find out the NAMES of the people who actually shut down her information alone....and trace back to home base.
Note to clinton:
9/11<----worthy trade for the continuance of a red hot economy? It's the national security, STUPID!
Agreed. Here's one American rooting for David Schippers.
But if as a result of that suit you discover Chinagate ... the true extent and purpose of Filegate ... a scheme like Emailgate ... the fact that there were 2 survivors in the Ron Brown crash rather than the one the government admitted ... etc. etc. etc ... THEN what do you call it.
The fact of the matter is that IF the media would do it's job ... IF the GOP's leadership would do it's job ... IF the DOJ would do it's job ... IF Bush would do his job ... we might not need entities like Judicial Watch. But you don't want us to know ... do you?
THAT is why you and few other notable "move-on'ers" ALWAYS show up to trash ANYTHING that Klayman does ... without EVER discussing the validity of the facts that are mentioned or charged. You FEAR Klayman because he just might force a REAL investigation of the many "gates" that occurred during the last administration's stay in office. And being good democRATS your ONLY weapon is smear.
In a "legal" sense, so did Klayman's lawsuits in Filegate, Emailgate, Chinagate, etc. But so what? As a result of those suits WE learned about the scope of Clinton's and the DNC's crimes. Given that the media won't do it's job ... given that the GOP won't do its job ... given that the DOJ won't do it's job ... the job of investigating the MANY crimes that occurred during Clinton's reign, what would you have us do? Who do YOU rely on to find out the real story?
So who do you rely on for the facts, for the news? List your so-called "credible" sources and I bet I can name significant stories that we now know to be true that they never even reported. World Net Daily is not perfect but there are a great many news items that ONLY get mentioned by it and a few other outlets. THAT is how biased the mainstream media is ... the media that I suspect YOU rely on.
Here's what I get from www.dictionary.com:
6 entries found for liberal.
lib·er·al Pronunciation Key (lbr-l, lbrl) adj.
Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism. Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes. Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation.
Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education.
Archaic. Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman.
Obsolete. Morally unrestrained; licentious.
n.
A person with liberal ideas or opinions.
Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.
[Middle English, generous, from Old French, from Latin liberalis, from liber, free. See leudh- in Indo-European Roots.]
Synonyms: liberal, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded These adjectives mean willing or marked by a willingness to give unstintingly: a liberal backer of the arts; a bounteous feast; bountiful compliments; a freehanded host; a generous donation; a handsome offer; a munificent gift; fond and openhanded grandparents. See also synonyms at broad-minded
Antonyms: stingy
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English
liberal
\Lib"er*al\ (l[i^]b"[~e]r*al), a. [F. lib['e]ral, L. liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet, it pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.] 1. Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. `` Liberal education.'' --Macaulay. `` A liberal tongue.'' --Shak.
2. Bestowing in a large and noble way, as a freeman; generous; bounteous; open-handed; as, a liberal giver. `` Liberal of praise.'' --Bacon.
Infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite. --Milton.
3. Bestowed in a large way; hence, more than sufficient; abundant; bountiful; ample; profuse; as, a liberal gift; a liberal discharge of matter or of water.
4. Not strict or rigorous; not confined or restricted to the literal sense; free; as, a liberal translation of a classic, or a liberal construction of law or of language.
5. Not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in spirit; catholic.
6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint; licentious. `` Most like a liberal villain.'' --Shak.
7. Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in political or religious philosophy; independent in opinion; not conservative; friendly to great freedom in the constitution or administration of government; having tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished from monarchical or aristocratic, forms; as, liberal thinkers; liberal Christians; the Liberal party.
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6 entries found for conservative.
con·ser·va·tive Pronunciation Key (kn-sûrv-tv)
adj.
Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.
Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate.
Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism.
Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement. Conservative Of or belonging to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada. natural resources. [snip}
n.
One favoring traditional views and values.
A supporter of political conservatism.
Conservative A member or supporter of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada.
Archaic. A preservative agent or principle. conservative
\Con*serv"a*tive\, a. [Cf. F. conservatif.] 1. Having power to preserve in a safe of entire state, or from loss, waste, or injury; preservative.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
conservative
\Con*serv"a*tive\, n. 1. One who, or that which, preserves from ruin, injury, innovation, or radical change; a preserver; a conserver.
2. One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical.
3. (Eng. Hist.) A member of the Conservative party. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
conservative
adj 1: resistant to change [ant: liberal] 2: opposed to liberal reforms 3: avoiding excess; "a conservative estimate" [syn: cautious] 4: unimaginatively conventional; "a colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-gray world of business"- Newsweek [syn: button-down, buttoned-down] 5: conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class; "a bourgeois mentality" [syn: bourgeois, materialistic] n : a person who has conservative ideas or opinions [syn: conservativist] [ant: liberal]
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