The Missing Link behind 9-11
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Outlook, No. 2. Summer 2002
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),
globalresearch.ca , 20 June 2002
The foreknowledge issue is a Red Herring: "A Red Herring is a fallacy in
which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the
original issue."
ON May 16th The New York Post dropped what appeared to be a bombshell: "Bush
Knew . . . " Hoping to score politically, the Democrats jumped on the
bandwagon, pressuring the White House to come clean on two "top-secret
documents" made available to President Bush prior to September 11,
concerning "advance knowledge" of Al Qaeda attacks. Meanwhile, the U.S.
media had already coined a new set of buzzwords: "Yes, there were warnings"
and "clues" of possible terrorist attacks, but "there was no way President
Bush could have known" what was going to happen. The Democrats agreed to
"keep the cat inside the bag" by saying: "Osama is at war with the U.S." and
the FBI and the CIA knew something was cooking but "failed to connect the
dots." In the words of House Minority Leader, Richard Gephardt:
"This is not blame-placing. . . . We support the President on the war
against terrorism - have and will. But we've got to do better in preventing
terrorist attacks." 1
The media's spotlight on 'foreknowledge' and so-called "FBI lapses" served
to distract public attention from the broader issue of political deception.
Not a word was mentioned concerning the role of the CIA, which throughout
the entire post-Cold War era, has aided and abetted Osama bin Laden's Al
Qaeda, as part of its covert operations.
Of course they knew! The foreknowledge issue is a red herring. The "Islamic
Brigades" are a creation of the CIA. In standard CIA jargon, Al Qaeda is
categorized as an "intelligence asset". Support to terrorist organizations
is an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. Al Qaeda continues to this date
(2002) to participate in CIA covert operations in different parts of the
World.2 These "CIA-Osama links" do not belong to a bygone era, as suggested
by the mainstream media.
The U.S. Congress has documented in detail, the links of Al Qaeda to
agencies of the U.S. government during the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
as well as in Kosovo.3 More recently in Macedonia, barely a few months
before September 11, U.S. military advisers were mingling with Mujahideen
mercenaries financed by Al Qaeda. Both groups were fighting under the
auspices of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), within the same terrorist
paramilitary formation.4
The CIA keeps track of its "intelligence assets". Amply documented, Osama
bin Laden's whereabouts were always known.5 Al Qaeda is infiltrated by the
CIA.6 In other words, there were no "intelligence failures"! In the nature
of a well-led intelligence operation, the "intelligence asset" operates
(wittingly or unwittingly) with some degree of autonomy, in relation to its
U.S. government sponsors, but ultimately it acts consistently, in the
interests of Uncle Sam.
While individual FBI agents are often unaware of the CIA's role, the
relationship between the CIA and Al Qaeda is known at the top levels of the
FBI. Members of the Bush Administration and the U.S. Congress are fully
cognizant of these links.
The foreknowledge issue focussing on "FBI lapses" is an obvious
smokescreen. While the whistleblowers serve to underscore the weaknesses of
the FBI, the role of successive U.S.
administrations (since the presidency of Jimmy Carter) in support of the
"Islamic Militant Base", is simply not mentioned.
Fear and Disinformation Campaign
The Bush Administration - through the personal initiative of Vice President
Dick Cheney - chose not only to foreclose the possibility of a public
inquiry, but also to trigger a fear and disinformation campaign:
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S. are almost a
certainty. . . . It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, it
could happen next year, but they will keep trying. And we have to be
prepared." 7
What Cheney is really telling us is that our "intelligence asset", which we
created, is going to strike again. Now, if this "CIA creature" was planning
new terrorist attacks, you would expect that the CIA would be first to know
about it. In all likelihood, the CIA also controls the so-called 'warnings'
emanating from CIA sources on "future terrorist attacks" on American soil.
Carefully Planned Intelligence Operation The 9-11 terrorists did not act on
their own volition. The suicide hijackers were instruments in a carefully
planned intelligence operation. The evidence confirms that Al Qaeda is
supported by Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services
Intelligence (ISI). Amply documented, the ISI owes its existence to the CIA:
"With CIA backing and the funnelling of massive amounts of U.S. military
aid, the ISI developed [since the early 1980s] into a parallel structure
wielding enormous power over all aspects of government....The ISI had a
staff composed of military and intelligence officers, bureaucrats,
undercover agents and informers estimated at 150,000."8
The ISI actively collaborates with the CIA. It continues to perform the role
of a 'go-between' in numerous intelligence operations on behalf of the CIA.
The ISI directly supports and finances a number of terrorist organizations,
including Al Qaeda.
The Missing Link
The FBI confirmed in late September, in an interview with ABC News (which
went virtually unnoticed) that the 9-11 ring leader, Mohammed Atta, had been
financed from unnamed sources in Pakistan:
"As to September 11th, federal authorities have told ABC News they have now
tracked more than $100,000 from banks in Pakistan, to two banks in Florida,
to accounts held by suspected hijack ring leader, Mohammed Atta. As well . .
. "Time Magazine" is reporting that some of that money came in the days just
before the attack and can be traced directly to people connected to Osama
bin Laden. It's all part of what has been a successful FBI effort so far to
close in on the hijacker's high commander, the money men, the planners and
the mastermind."9
The FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly who was
financing the terrorists. Less than two weeks later, the findings of the FBI
were confirmed by Agence France Presse (AFP) and the Times of India, quoting
an official Indian intelligence report (which had been dispatched to
Washington). According to these two reports, the money used to finance the
9-11 attacks had allegedly been "wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from
Pakistan, by Ahmad Umar Sheikh, at the instance of [ISI Chief] General
Mahmoud [Ahmad]." 10 According to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source):
"The evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider range and
depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced
act of terrorism." 11
Pakistan's Chief Spy Visits Washington
Now, it just so happens that General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged "money man"
behind 9-11, was in the U.S. when the attacks occurred. He arrived on the
4th of September, one week before 9-11, on what was described as a routine
visit of consultations with his U.S. counterparts. According to Pakistani
journalist, Amir Mateen (in a prophetic article published on the September 10):
"ISI Chief Lt-Gen. Mahmoud's week-long presence in Washington has triggered
speculation about the agenda of his mysterious meetings at the Pentagon and
National Security Council. Officially, he is on a routine visit in return to
CIA Director George Tenet's earlier visit to Islamabad. Official sources
confirm that he met Tenet this week. He also held long parleys with
unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon.
But the most important meeting was with Marc Grossman, U.S. Under Secretary
of State for Political Affairs. One can safely guess that the discussions
must have centred around Afghanistan . . . and Osama bin Laden. What added
interest to his visit is the history of such visits. Last time Ziauddin
Butt, Mahmoud's predecessor, was here, during Nawaz Sharif's government, the
domestic politics turned topsy-turvy within days." 12
Nawaz Sharif was overthrown by General Pervez Musharaf. General Mahmoud
Ahmad, who became the head of the ISI, played a key role in the military coup.
Condoleeza Rice's Press Conference.
In the course of Condoleeza Rice's May 16 press conference (which took place
barely a few hours after the publication of the "Bush Knew" headlines in The
New York Post), an accredited Indian journalist asked a question on the role
of General Mahmoud Ahmad:
Q: Dr. Rice?
Ms RICE: Yes?
Q: Are you aware of the reports at the time that the ISI chief was in
Washington on September 11th, and on September 10th $100,000 was wired from
Pakistan to these groups here in this area? And why was he here? Was he
meeting with you or anybody in the Administration?
Ms RICE: I have not seen that report, and he was certainly not meeting with
me.
Although there is no official confirmation that General Mahmoud Ahmad met
Dr. Rice, she must have been fully aware of the $100,000 transfer to
Mohammed Atta, which had been confirmed by the FBI. Lost in the barrage of
media reports on 'foreknowledge', this crucial piece of information, on the
ISI's role in 9-11, implicates key members of the Bush Administration
including: CIA Director George Tenet, Deputy Secretary of State, Richard
Armitage, Under-Secretary, Marc Grossman, as well as Senator Sam Biden,
Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee (who met General
Ahmad on the 13th of September).
The Bush Administration had not only provided red carpet treatment to the
alleged "money man" behind the 9-11 attacks, it also had sought his
'cooperation' in the "war on terrorism". The precise terms of this
'cooperation' were agreed upon between General Mahmoud Ahmad, representing
the Pakistani government and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in
meetings at the State Department on September 12 and 13. In other words, the
Administration decided in the immediate wake of 9-11, to seek the
'cooperation' of Pakistan's ISI in "going after Osama", despite the fact
(documented by the FBI) that the ISI was financing and abetting the 9-11
terrorists. Contradictory? One might say that it's like "asking the Devil to
go after Dracula."
CIA Overshadows the Presidency
Dr. Rice's statement regarding the ISI chief at her May 16 press conference,
is an obvious cover-up. While General Ahmad was talking to U.S. officials at
the CIA and the Pentagon, he had allegedly also been in contact (through a
third party) with the September 11 terrorists. What this suggests is that
key individuals within the U.S. military-intelligence establishment knew
about these ISI contacts with the September 11 terrorist 'ring leader',
Mohammed Atta, and failed to act. But this conclusion is, in fact, an
understatement. Everything indicates that CIA Director George Tenet and ISI
Chief General Mahmoud Ahmad, had established a close working relationship.
General Mahmoud had arrived a week prior to September 11 for consultations
with George Tenet.
Bear in mind that the CIA's George Tenet, also has a close personal
relationship with President Bush. Prior to September 11, Tenet would meet
the President nearly every morning at 8:00 a.m. sharp, for about half an
hour. 15 A document, known as the President's Daily Briefing, or PDB, "is
prepared at Langley by the CIA's analytical directorate, and a draft goes
home with Tenet each night. Tenet edits it personally and delivers it orally
during his early morning meeting with Bush." 16 This practice of "oral
intelligence briefings" is unprecedented. Bush's predecessors at the White
House, received a written briefing:
"With Bush, who liked oral briefings and the CIA director in attendance, a
strong relationship had developed. Tenet could be direct, even irreverent
and earthy."17
The Decision to go to War Was it an 'intelligence failure' to give red
carpet treatment to the 'money man' behind the 9-11 terrorists, or was it
simply 'routine'? At meetings of the National Security Council and in the
so-called "War Cabinet", on September 11, 12 and 13, CIA Director George
Tenet played a central role in gaining the Commander-in-Chief's approval to
the launching of the "war on terrorism."
George W. Bush's Timeline - September 11 (from 9.45am in the wake of the
WTC-Pentagon Attacks to midnight) Circa 9:45 a.m.: Bush's motorcade leaves
the Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, Florida.
9:55 a.m: President Bush boards "Air Force One" bound for Washington.18
Following what was as a "false report" that Air Force One would be attacked,
Vice-President Dick Cheney had urged Bush (10:32 a.m.) by telephone not to
land in Washington. Following this conversation, the plane was diverted
(10:41 a.m.) (on orders emanating from Washington) to Barksdale Air Force
Base in Louisiana. A couple of hours later (1:30 p.m.), after a brief TV
appearance, the President was transported to Offut Air Force base in
Nebraska at U.S. Strategic Command Headquarters.
3:30 p.m.: A key meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) was
convened, with members of the NSC communicating with the President from
Washington by secure video.19 In the course of this NSC video-conference,
CIA Director George Tenet fed unconfirmed information to the President.
Tenet stated that "he was virtually certain that bin Laden and his network
were behind the attacks. ."20
The President responded to these statements, quite spontaneously, off the
cuff, with little or no discussion and with an apparent misunderstanding of
their implications. In the course of this video-conference (which lasted for
less than an hour), the NSC was given the mandate by the Commander-in-Chief
to prepare for the "war on terrorism". Very much on the spur of the moment,
the "green light" was given by video conference from Nebraska. In the words
of President Bush: "We will find these people. They will pay. And I don't
want you to have any doubt about it." 21
4:36 p.m.: (One hour and six minutes later . . .) Air Force One departed for
Washington. Back in the White House, that same evening (9:00 p.m.) a second
meeting of the full NSC took place, together with Secretary of State Colin
Powell who had returned to Washington from Peru. The NSC meeting (which
lasted for half an hour) was followed by the first meeting of the so-called
"war cabinet". The latter was made up of a smaller group of top officials
and key advisers.
9:30 p.m.: At the war cabinet: "Discussion turned around whether bin Laden's
Al Qaeda and the Taliban were one and the same thing. Tenet said they were."
22 By the end of that historic meeting of the war cabinet (11:00 p.m.), the
Bush Administration had decided to embark upon a military adventure which
now threatens the collective future of humanity. our civilization.
Did Bush Know?
Did Bush, with his minimal understanding of foreign policy issues, know all
the details regarding General Mahmoud and the "ISI connection"? Did Tenet
and Cheney distort the facts, so as to get the Commander-in-Chief's "thumbs
up" for a military operation which was already in the pipeline? In a bitter
irony, a meeting between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and
General Mahmoud, the 9-11 "money man", was scheduled at the State Department
for the morning after September 11 to discuss their strategy.
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Notes
1. Quoted in AFP, 18 May 2002.
2. There are numerous documents, which prove beyond doubt the links between
Al Qaeda and successive U.S. administrations. See Centre for Research on
Globalisation, Foreknowledge of 9-11: Compilation of key articles and
documents, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html May 2002,
section 3.
3. U.S. Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia
into Militant Islamic Base, Republican Party Committee, Congressional Press
Release, Congress, 16 January 1997,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html . See also Michel
Chossudovsky, 'Osamagate', Centre for Research on Globalisation,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html , 9 October 2001.
4. See Centre for Research on Globalisation, Foreknowledge of 9-11:
Compilation of key articles and documents, op. cit. section 3. See articles
by Isabel Vincent, George Szamuely, Scott Taylor, Marina Domazetovska,
Michel Chossudovsky, Umberto Pascali, Lara Marlowe and Macedonian dailies.
5. See Bin Laden Whereabouts Before 9-11, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather;
CBS, 28 January 2002, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CBS203A.html
Alexandra Richard, The CIA met bin Laden while undergoing treatment at an
American Hospital last July in Dubai, Le Figaro.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RIC111B.html
6. The Boston Globe, 5 June 2002.
7. Fox News, 18 May 2002.
8. Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign Affairs,
November-December 1999. See also Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin
Laden, Global Outlook, No. 1, 2002.
9. Statement of Brian Ross reporting on information conveyed to him by the
FBI, ABC News, This Week, September 30, 2001.
10. The Times of India, Delhi, 9 October 2001. 11. AFP, 10 October 2001.
12. Amir Mateen, ISI Chief's Parleys continue in Washington, News Pakistan,
10 September 2001.
13. Federal News Service, 16 May 2002. Note that in the White House and CNN
transcripts of Dr. Rice's press conference, the words "ISI chief" were
transcribed respectively by a blank "--" and "(inaudible)" . Federal News
Service Inc. which is transcription Service of official documents provided a
correct transcription, with a minor error in punctua6tion, which we
corrected. The White House transcript is at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020516-13.html . All three
transcripts were verified by the author and are available on Nexus. Federal
News Service documents are also available for a fee at http://www.fnsg.com/
14. New York Times, 14 September 2002, "According to Biden, [Ahmad] pledged
Pakistan's cooperation".
15. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, 17 May 2002.
16. Washington Post, 17 May 2002.
17. Washington Post 29 January 2002.
18. Washington Post, 27 January 2002.
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