September 11 Commission Report - Gnostic Liberation Front

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Unmasking the Faces Behind the Terrorist Threat
In the realm of geopolitical turmoil, where political terrorism has taken on an
international scope, the world has recently seen the emergence of two major terrorist
groups – Osama Bin Laden’s ‘Al Qaeda’ and more recently, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Terrorist incidents around the globe have been attributed to both groups, with Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi establishing global notoriety with the video-taped beheading of three hostages
in Iraq. In October of 2004, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi swore allegiance to Bin Laden,
bringing about a merger of what had been seen as separate, but possibly “linked” groups.
In a world were the international press had reported that the two leaders were not on
friendly terms, and viewed each other as possible rivals, this surprising turn of events
drew very little attention in the media. What the Muslim terrorists accomplished, with
much fanfare and publicity, was to create the link between Al Qaeda and Iraq that helped
justify the US invasion – a link that could not be proven, until someone created it and
drew world attention to it.
In retrospect, what the world knows about these two groups poses some interesting
comparisons, and contradicts the conventional knowledge about these groups. This
report attempts to bring a different perspective to the facts as commonly interpreted, and
provides an explanation for some significant failures of conventional wisdom.
The official U.S. government explanation for the success of Osama Bin Laden is that the
foundation for his ability to conduct and support international terror is based on his
inherited family wealth, family connections to conservative Saudi philanthropists, and an
education that allows him to invest wisely. The conventional ‘unofficial’ explanation is
that the CIA and British intelligence made Osama the success he is, and as long as he
threatened the stability of Iran, or the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, he received all the
arms and money he required. It allowed him to finance an impressive organization,
capable of forging passports, moving people across oceans and borders, training 1,000
potential terrorists a month, and making major arms purchases. Subsequent to the
sequestering of his funds after the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, he
appears to have been marginalized – with claim to no major terrorist attacks for over five
years.
Contrast that to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who comes from an impoverished family with
little education. He is a common criminal street thug, with no known source of funding,
and essentially comes out of nowhere with newly discovered politico-religious fervor.
Without a funding source comparable to Osama Bin Laden, he is able to launch a multinational
assault with purported attacks in Hamburg, Chechnya, Madrid (train bombing),
Mombassa (hotel bombing) and now, all over Iraq (kidnappings).
“Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the organisation responsible for the beheadings in Iraq, is regularly
portrayed by the US government as a terrorist mastermind, responsible for activity in places as
widespread as Hamburg, Chechnya, Madrid and Mombasa. But while there is no doubt that Zarqawi
has committed awful crimes, experts say that accusing him has become an easy fall-back for the
authorities as they struggle to contain the insurgency. There is no unanimity on whether Zarqawi is a
THE SEPTEMBER 11 COMMISSION REPORT Page 29