linked - Investigating the Terror

Recommendations

Info

a deliberately provoked act of terrorism, if not a fully and actively state sponsored act of terrorism. As such, we are left to wonder the extent to which the Ramzi Yousef story has been exaggerated, mythologised, or in some cases simply fabricated to help create the backstory of violent, radical Muslims attacking America, that became so important in September 2001. Some researchers, including Peter Lance (a fine investigative journalist but a terrible intelligence analyst), even attribute the idea for the 9/11 plot to Yousef, though as I demonstrated in the Operation Bojinka dossier, the papertrail contradicts Lance’s version. Laurie Mylroie, Who is Ramzi Yousef? And Why It Matters, The National Interest, Winter 1995/96 One concrete example of the legend of Ramzi Yousef being used and abused for political is in the work of Laurie Mylroie. She is a neoconservative academic and writer who has carved out a niche for herself trying to argue that Saddam Hussein was directly involved with Al Qaeda. Her connections to figures like Richard Perle and Daniel Pipes, and the various institutes she’s been employed by, should come as no surprise. However, it is in her work on Ramzi Yousef that she has caused the most controversy, and has suffered the brunt of unanimous criticism. Mylroie found that the records from when Yousef lived with his family in Kuwait in the period before the Iraq invasion were incomplete and to some extent inaccurate (she makes a lot of the issue of Ramzi’s height, on which the records are contradictory). She maintains that when the Iraqis invaded they probably killed Yousef, then known by his birthname of Abdul Basit, and tampered with the files to create a legend for ‘Ramzi Yousef’, who was in reality an Iraqi secret agent. It is an absurd theory, based on discrepancies between government records in countries that are known for having terrible bureaucracy. It would also entail the Iraqis being stupid enough to replace Abdul Basit with a fake Abdul Basit calling himself Ramzi Yousef - among many other pseudonyms - who looked different to Basit and was between 4 and 6 inches taller. Given that Yousef collaborated at times with people who had known him for years (crucially, they knew him as Basit from before the first Gulf war) Mylroie’s theory is profoundly unlikely, to the point of being ridiculous. Ramzi Yousef’s Iraqi passport, issued September 1991 Mylroie has been subject to widespread criticism from a great many commentators, even being labelled ‘the NeoCons favourite conspiracy theorist’. In 2005 she was paid around $75,000 to produce a ‘History of Al Qaeda’ for the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment. Nice work if you can get
it. In the ‘History’ she propounded once again the theory that Saddam was bosom buddies with Al Qaeda. She even included a copy of Ramzi Yousef’s Iraqi passport, which is included here for reference. Transcript of meeting between Saddam Hussein and advisers on the World Trade Center bombing, undated but probably from 1994 Following the second Iraq war the Pentagon found, analysed and released hundreds of documents from Saddam’s government. Included among them is a transcript from an original audio recording of a meeting between Saddam and several advisers, talking about the WTC bombing. It is not clear when this meeting took place, but it is important for a few different reasons. First, it dispels Mylroie’s theories entirely. There is no hint of the Iraqis secretly running Basit/Yousef, or of collaborating with Abdul Yasin, one of the conspirators who fled back to his homeland of Iraq after the bombing. Mylroie maintains that he ‘escaped’ back to Iraq, but in reality he was arrested and held in prison in Iraq rather than given a hero’s welcome. In particular, Saddam makes it clear in the meeting that it is important that Yasin remain alive to face prosecution. They offered several times to hand him over to the Americans in exchange for a lifting of sanctions and a public acceptance that Iraq had nothing to do with the bombing, but the offers were refused. Yasin has not been seen or heard since 2002. The transcript also shows that Saddam, knowing his government was not to blame, speculated that the American, Israeli or Saudi governments were behind the attack. Bizarrely, the record from the US database seems to think the meeting was a discussion about the 9/11 attacks, though one can easily imagine Saddam saying similar things after those events too. The meeting also included discussion of the relevance of the US relationship with Egypt. JFT-GITMO Matrix of Threat Indicators for Enemy Combatants, undated but probably from 2007 Further illustrating how the Ramzi Yousef story continues to feed into the modern day War on Terror narrative, this Matrix of Threat Indicators includes mention of the Casio F-91W, a popular digital watch. It was these same watches that Ramzi used in his design for a small bomb built to be fully assembled on board a plane, then set on a timer using the watch’s alarm. The Matrix claims that, ‘The possession of a Casio F-91W model watch and the silver-color version of this model, the A159W, is an indicator of al-Qaida training in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices’. To be sure, Osama Bin Laden has also been pictured wearing one of these watches, but then so has Max Keiser (in response to the soft headed analysis in this document). There is no evidence suggesting that Max Keiser is a member of Al Qaeda, except for his own comical ranting to that effect.
Page 2 and 3: Contents Introduction by Tom Secker
Page 4 and 5: Introduction The bombing of the Wor
Page 6 and 7: information available at the time o
Page 8 and 9: The prosecution claimed that urea n
Page 12 and 13: Ironically, this Matrix also lists
Page 14 and 15: INTELWIRE.com
Page 32 and 33: 9/11 Personal Privacy Current Class
Page 34 and 35: MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: SUBJECT: REF:
Page 36 and 37: MEMORANDUM TO: CA - Ms. Mary A. Rya
Page 38 and 39: -2- 9/11 Closed by Statute JAccordi
Page 40 and 41: With specific respect to sections 2
Page 42 and 43: -7- year. Cairo also reported that
Page 44 and 45: Series: Team 5 Files WITHDRAWAL NOT
Page 46 and 47: WITHDRAWAL NOTICE RG: 148 Expositio
Page 48: Series: Team 5 Files WITHDRAWAL NOT
Page 51 and 52: j jev. F 11—1 5—83) ttflu&tIOfl
Page 53 and 54: —LS—83) ntinuationofFD-302o1 AB
Page 55 and 56: v 11—3—83) ontinuationofFD-302o
Page 57 and 58: Blast Damage by Steven C. De Rosa T
Page 99 and 100:
SECTION C: WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBI
Page 101 and 102:
Williams testified that he had expe
Page 103 and 104:
Personnel in the FBI Laboratory mad
Page 105 and 106:
nitric acid and were noted undernea
Page 107 and 108:
weights would have to be different
Page 109 and 110:
If Dave was supervising, Dave was s
Page 111 and 112:
the chemists specializing in the ex
Page 113 and 114:
pounds of urea and 1694 pounds of n
Page 115 and 116:
We have reached several conclusions
Page 117 and 118:
where they had purchased urea or ni
Page 119 and 120:
laboratory setting--would have been
Page 121 and 122:
AGENT WILLIAMS: I don't recall. . .
Page 123 and 124:
Williams claimed in his OIG intervi
Page 125 and 126:
We conclude that Williams' VOD opin
Page 127 and 128:
of explosive damage. By putting all
Page 129 and 130:
That's my question, sir. AGENT WILL
Page 131 and 132:
and one was C-4; and I had individu
Page 133 and 134:
(iii) General Discussion Agent Thur
Page 135 and 136:
velocity of detonation are just a t
Page 137 and 138:
(2) Analysis MR. CAMPRIELLO: I didn
Page 139 and 140:
completely shucked of the wrappers,
Page 141 and 142:
explosive. [] Williams' use of the
Page 143 and 144:
nitrate, the court was unable to pu
Page 145 and 146:
AGENT WILLIAMS: Well, after looking
Page 147 and 148:
(Italics added.) extracts of urine
Page 149 and 150:
Although defense counsel's question
Page 151 and 152:
the use of smokeless powder and lea
Page 153 and 154:
Whitehurst and Burmeister then prep
Page 155 and 156:
and sol[i]d probe/triple quadrapole
Page 157 and 158:
dictation. Whitehurst acknowledged
Page 159 and 160:
-. Q 3..-1G42) FEDERAL BUREAU OF IN
Page 161 and 162:
D—302a (Rev i:—15—13) ontiflu
Page 163 and 164:
FD—302a (Rev. 11—15-43) Continu
Page 165 and 166:
FD—302a (Rev. 11—15.43) Contmua
Page 167 and 168:
D—302a (Rev 11—15—83) intiriu
Page 169 and 170:
FD—302a Rev 11—15—13) Contrnu
Page 171 and 172:
FD—302a (Rev. 11—15—83) Conti
Page 173 and 174:
D—302a (Rev. 11—15.43) nt1nu1tI
Page 175 and 176:
FD—302a (Rev. 11—15—3) Contln
Page 177 and 178:
FD—302& (Rev II 1543) Cotiuatio o
Page 179 and 180:
'FD—302a (Rev. 11-.1S43) C Conimu
Page 181 and 182:
. TRWO191 311 950210 Z:54 159H-TP-2
Page 183 and 184:
TRW0191 511 950210 23:54 IWH-TP-216
Page 186 and 187:
14 that the targets included both m
Page 188 and 189:
Gulf War. If so, and if, as U.S. of
Page 190 and 191:
ureaucracies that there was "no evi
Page 192 and 193:
Abdul Rahman Yasin--Musab's brother
Page 194 and 195:
Musab lived in the same building as
Page 196 and 197:
[12] Of Passports and Fingerprints
Page 198 and 199:
Logic and circumstance also suggest
Page 200 and 201:
acknowledged in July having had an
Page 202 and 203:
2. Indeed, there is good reason to
Page 204 and 205:
Cover of the passport that Ramzi Yo
Page 206 and 207:
Pages 3 and 4 of Ramzi Yousef’s p
Page 208 and 209:
Pages 7 and 8 of Ramzi Yousef’s p
Page 210 and 211:
Pages 10 and 11 of Ramzi Yousef’s
Page 213:
The classification markings are ori
Page 233 and 234:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 J
Page 236 and 237:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 T
Page 239 and 240:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 (
Page 242 and 243:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 o
Page 244 and 245:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 P
Page 246 and 247:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 (
Page 248 and 249:
S E C R E T // NOFORN // 20320915 A
show all

linked - Investigating the Terror

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?