Photos Prove Connection Between Iraq and Al-Qaeda Terrorists

Rush Limbaugh ^ | March 14, 2003

[Republican_Strategist]

Photos Prove Connection Between Iraq and Al-Qaeda Terrorists
March 14, 2003
About 20 minutes before show time, we posted satellite imagery of Salman Pak - home of the terrorist training center in Iraq we've been telling you about. I want to thank Gary Napier and his whole staff from Space Imaging, Inc. for these images from their IKONOS satellite. It's not in geo synchronous orbit, so they can move it to map, measure and monitor anywhere on earth. The third of the three shots zeros in on what looks like a Boeing 727 fuselage to me. Everyone says it's a 707, but its wings would be farther forward if that were the case. So it's probably a 727, or at least a tri-jet. One of the stories I read this week and put into Rush's Saddam Stack of Stuff in researching all this, cited Aviation Week and Space Technology's article on this facility. This confirms the existence of that fuselage, which Iraqi defectors including Captain Sabah Khodada warned America about.
Jet Fuselage in Salman Pak, Iraq Used to Train Al-Qaeda Terrorists
UN inspectors say this was once and could still be the site of BW research. The facility includes a terrorism training facility where they train on this civilian airliner. (Read the chilling transcript.) The entire facility sits in an ox bow of the Tigris River, 25 km south of Baghdad. This series of shots gradually gets closer to the plane’s fuselage, located at the southern (bottom) part of the facility, above the bend in the river. IKONOS travels 423 miles above the earth's surface at a speed of 17,500mph, but it's done a better job of pointing this out than the UN Inspectors who saw it on the ground.

[Republican_Strategist]

According to U.S. and foreign intelligence officials, in the spring of 2000, IRAQI INTELLIGENCE agents met with September 11th pilot hijackers ZAID SAMIR JARRAH and MARWAN AL-SHEHHI in Dubai, UAE in order to advance the hijacking of U.S. aircraft to commit terrorist acts. Not long after the meeting, ALSHEHHI entered the United States on May 29 and JARRAH entered on June 27, to begin preparations for attacks.

[xzins]

They hijacked the plane in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The timing was always suspicious... an overnight drive or boat trip from Aden, Yemen (site of the Cole bombing) also on the coast. Had they hijacked from Yemen it would have been too obvious.

[Mister Baredog]

(If they had, don't you think we would have heard about it?)

???From who???

[Republican_Strategist]

Boeing 707





Pictures of the Boeing 707



Boeing 727



I think we have a match and I don’t know how looking at these pictures could lead you to say there was no match unless you weren’t looking or saw what you wanted to see rather than what was in front of you.

Shadows? Look at the picture of the 727 I posted for you. No shadow under the wings even though you are looking from a slanted angle. In the picture in question - your looking at a satellite picture - straight down. I can’t believe you tried to raise the objection.

The position of the wing on the fuselage better fits an aft-engined aircraft.

I don’t know why you claimed there was a southeast structure and that was somehow supposed to prove this wasn’t an aircraft used for practicing hijacking.

Clearly we see the fuselage of an aircraft at an Iraqi terrorist training camp where a defector made clear it was used in part to train hijackers.

[First_Salute]

Sorry; no match; and definitely, that image is not a Boeing.

It is not a jet aircraft.

Thank you for the great pictures of the venerable Boeing 707 and 727.

[Republican_Strategist]

No, it looks like a 727 or as noted above - at least a tri-jet. Thanks for the denials - save em' for your interview with Iraqi officials. Hey! Look at the green patch in the Southwest - must be a field - maybe that means this isn't a jet aircraft.

[Yasotay]

Is it just me or are you seemingly trying to vent frustration with this damning indictment of Iraq...

No if it is in a training camp for terrorists then yes it is a 'damning indictment'. I also believe that Saddam is very guilty of aiding terrorists including those of WTC1 ... OKC and 9-11 (checkout Jayna Davis's website). but there are many possibilities for uses of fuselages.

[Republican_Strategist]

Well, if you had tried reading up on this topic a little more before swinging off the handle - yes - it is an Iraqi Terrorist Training Camp - a.k.a. Salman Pak - defectors have already clearly stated that one of the things that goes on in the camp is the training of hijackers - this is just further photographic evidence that drives the nail in the coffin.

There are many possible usages for a terrorist camp, but that doesn’t mean the training of hijacking isn’t one of these specific things that occurs at this particular camp and that the fuselage in question is used for just that purpose.

[wizzler]

I'd be leery of attempting to justify the war on the basis of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. This sort of evidence may bolster the case for war, but it is not, at heart, the justification for this war.

The problem with relying on evidence like this is that it allows the argument to become one about the strength of the evidence. And so it becomes a knotty empirical debate: "This is enough evidence" / "No it's not."

Instead, we should stick with the reasons laid out clearly by the president nine days after Sept. 11, 2001, and clearly restated since that time: War was launched upon us, and we are fighting back with the goal of dismantling the foundation of Islamic terrorism. This fight involves a new policy doctrine that includes the use of preemptive attacks on states that support terrorism.

It's all very simple. There's no need to clutter up the argument -- the left will do enough of that on its own.

[river rat]

"Look at the copyright date on the second photo. That's almost three years old, and before the Sept 11th attacks..."

Most attacks are planned and trained for BEFORE they are executed..
Semper Fi

[First_Salute]

Correction; actually, your silouhette is the Boeing 720.

Here is the silhoutte of the original "stubby" Boeing 727, from the same website where you found your silhoutte:

Boeing 727

Now, look at the trailing edge of the "right wing" in the "spy satellite" pic. From the "wingtip" to the "fuselage," as you traverse the trailing edge, it sweeps to the rear --- that amount of curve does not match either the Boeing 727's trailing edge curve or the Boeing 720 trailing edge curve.

The leading edge of the "right wing" does not match the Boeing 727.

The leading edge of the "right wing" does have some resemblance to the Boeing 720; but again, the trailing edge does not have the sweep seen in the pic.

[T. P. Pole]

"Look at the copyright date on the second photo. That's almost three years old, and before the Sept 11th attacks..."

Most attacks are planned and trained for BEFORE they are executed..
Semper Fi

Yes, but we often aren't peaking at their training ahead of time. Kind of ruins the surprise.

This dating would indicate that somebody was interested enough in this to be looking at before the site became important for other reasons.

[dinodino]

It IS a fuselage. It's not a 707, though; it's a Tu-154:

http://www.aerosite.net/tu154.htm

[river rat]

I suspect that there is not a square foot of Iraq that hasn't been photographed and mapped -- from BEFORE Gulf War I....

It often takes "additional information" to study specific areas for specific shapes.....

It this case...that additional information was present and it appears that specific shapes were found in the "suspicious area" that seems to confirm the information....

It does NOT look good for Saddam..
I believe he WILL be tied to Al Quaida terrorists and attacks against American targets...
Perhaps all the way back to OKC....

Semper Fi

[dinodino]

It's a Tu-154, common in the region.

[cmsgop]

I knew it! Thanks for pointing out. I saw how those wings are so far back on the FL. You Win!

[snopercod]

Nice work. The missing shadow under the right wing is a dead giveaway, as well as the lack of match to known aircraft types.

VERY nice work.

Now the question is, who is trying to spoof the media?

[safisoft]

Sorry; no match; and definitely, that image is not a Boeing

I am an airline pilot. I have seen thousands of aircraft on the ground from the air. It is my job to identify aircraft. The AIRCRAFT in the picture is a Boeing 727-100. Part of the vertical stabilizer is missing at the back, and the horizontal stabilizer is missing. As well, the left wing has had the slats removed... but beyond that it is CLEARLY a BOEING 727-100.

[dinodino]

I disagree...the wings are more swept back than on the 727-100. Also, compare the shape of the nose. Both match the Tu-154.

[dinodino]

It ain't a spoof, it's a Russian-made airliner. See my link above for a top-down view of the Tupolev 154 and you'll see it's a perfect match.