ARCHIE LEVINE's LOOK AT SEPTEMBER 11TH

Osama Bin Forgotten (Or September 17th and the War on Terror)

(updated February 10th, 2005)

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9/11 Commission Says US Aviation Officials Received Warnings About Possible Hijackings By VOA New, Voice of America, 10 February 2005
Report: FAA had many pre-9/11 warnings, The Associated Press, February 10th, 2005
9/11 Report ID's Security Failures: FAA Had 52 Warnings Before Attacks, The Boston Channel, February 10, 2005
Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?, by Robert Scheer, LA Times, January 11th, 2005
Is it conceivable that Al Qaeda, as defined by President Bush as the center of a vast and well-organized international terrorist conspiracy, does not exist?
Bush, Osama and Israel: Concealing Causes and Consequences, by William A. Cook, Counterpunch, January 10, 2005
Bin Laden aims to bankrupt United States, UPI, November 2, 2004
Among comments not released until Monday, bin Laden said: "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," adding it was "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration."
How Bush Was Offered Bin Laden and Blew It, by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, Counterpunch, November 1, 2004
George Bush, the man whose prime campaign plank has been his ability to wage war on terror, could have had Osama bin Laden's head handed to him on a platter on his very first day in office, and the offer held good until February 2 of 2002. This is the charge leveled by an Afghan American who had been retained by the US government as an intermediary between the Taliban and both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Robert Fisk: "Bin Laden's Vote is For George Bush", Democracy Now!, November 1st, 2004
As the newest videotaped message from Osama bin Laden is broadcast four days before the election, we speak with veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, who has interviewed bin Laden three times. Fisk also discusses Iraqi civilian casualties, kidnapped humanitarian worker Margaret Hassan, Palestinian leader Yasser Araft's ailing health and much more.
A Post-Bush Mind-Set, by Ellen Goodman, Washington Post, October 30, 2004
Time to Call a Cop LA Times, October 30, 2004
Anything that heightens the perceived threat to national security would tend to squelch voters' doubts and push them toward President Bush. Yet on the logic side of the equation, the tape is also evidence that the man Bush vowed to capture "dead or alive" is still able to professionally communicate his message.
The Other Shoe Drops: bin Laden Weighs in, by Juan Cole, Informed Comment, October 30, 2004
In a new video, bin Laden indicts Bush for still hiding the truth from Americans, saying that the reasons for attacking the U.S. are still there. In other words, Bush has not made us safer.
Bin Laden Accuses Bush of Deceiving Americans, Reuters, Oct 29, 2004
"It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the country (Bush) would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone ... because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important," bin Laden said, referring to Bush's visit to a school when the attack occurred.
Bush exploits suffering of 9/11, says Carter, by Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian, October 25, 2004
The War Bin Laden Wanted: How the U.S. played into the terrorist’s plan, by Paul W. Schroeder, The American Conservative, October 25, 2004 issue
The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror, Democracy Now!, October 22nd, 2004
Thinktank: invasion aided al-Qaida, by Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, October 20, 2004
The 9/11 secret in the CIA's back pocket: Agency withholds damning report that points at senior officials, by Robert Scheer, Creators Syndicate, 10.19.04
Our War on Terrorism: With the failure so obvious, and the president tripping over his words trying to pretend otherwise, it astonishes us that a majority of Americans believe the president has done "a good job" in the war on terrorism. By Howard Zinn, The Progressive, October 19, 2004
Dreaming in Kabul, by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, October 9, 2004
CIA review finds no evidence Saddam had ties to Islamic terrorists, by Warren P. Strobel, Jonathan S. Landay, and John Walcott, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Oct. 05, 2004
No sign of Osama bin Laden - or peace, by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, October 5, 2004
The State Department's extreme makeover: A veteran Foreign Service officer warns that when Colin Powell departs in a second Bush term, America will lose its last bulwark against the radical ideologues who are planning more Iraqs. By "Anonymous" (A veteran Foreign Service officer currently serving as a State Department official. The views expressed are personal and not related to his official position.), Salon.com. Oct. 4, 2004
Twisting Dr. Nuke's Arm, by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, September 25, 2004
Misreading the 9/11 Report: Victory in the War on Terror depends less on homeland security than global collaboration. By Paul W. Schroeder, The American Conservative, September 13, 2004
Taking On the Myth, by Paul Krugman, September 14, 2004
An open letter to Dick Cheney on the anniversary of my daughter's murder, by Donna Marsh O'Connor, One Thousand Reasons, September 11th, 2004
This was the day the world changed, The Sydney Morning Herald, September 11, 2004
"The terrorists have panicked the US and other Western nations into compromising the rule of law and civil liberties, the principles they claim to defend. Meanwhile, ruthless governments have been handed a neat rationalisation for repressing internal enemies. It is indeed a dreadful anniversary."
After Three Years, War on Terror Looks Like a Loser, by Jim Lobe, AntiWar.com, September 11, 2004
The Phantom of Osama Bin Laden: Where are they now: 20,000 trained in al Qaeda camps. By Peter Philipp, Deutsche Welle, September 11th, 2004
Three years after the Sept. 11, the terrorism map has spread and the threat has become transparent and harder to ferret out. Nor have we tackled the roots of the problem: poverty and oppression in many Muslim countries.
Bush shamefully exploits tragedy, by Dan Payne, Boston Globe, September 11, 2004
Exploiting Sept. 11: A Capital Times editorial, September 11, 2004
Three Years After 9/11, more than 40% of Americans Still Think Saddam Did It: Media failure or willful public indifference to the truth? By Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, September 10, 2004
Graham Says White House Hid Sept. 11 Info, by Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press, Sep 7, 2004
As the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, it's becoming clear that the fight against terrorism has been a story of ... Missed opportunities: U.S. was blind to terror threat, but evidence was abundant, by Joseph Cirincione, San Francisco Chronicle, September 5th, 2004
It's too easy to blame bin Laden, by Jason Burke, The Observer [UK], September 5, 2004
White House blocked probe of Sept. 11-Saudi link: top US senator, AFP, September 5th, 2004
Bush says U.S. will win war he called unwinnable Dems ask, what if Reagan said same about Cold War? By Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief, San Francsisco Chronicle, September 1st, 2004
Bush's 'War on Terror': No Lack of Imagination, Ivan Eland, Anti-war.com, August 31, 2004
I Can't Win This War: George Bush the Peace Candidate? By Dave Lindorff, August 31, 2004
Bush's risky 9/11 legacy: GOP walks fine line in touting its terror record vs. politicizing it, by Liz Marlantes, The Christian Science Monitor, August 30, 2004
The imprecise `war on terrorism', by Nicholas Thompson, Boston Globe, August 23, 2004
The Unnamed Enemy, by Dan Froomkin, Special to washingtonpost.com, August 12, 2004
- Bush and bin Laden - Supplemental Material, by Dan Froomkin, Special to washingtonpost.com, August 12, 2004
Secrecy order stymies claims of 9/11 blunder, The Age, July 7, 2004 US authorities have gagged an interpreter who claims intercepts were badly translated before September 11, reports Anne Kornblut in Washington.
U.S. raises figures for 2003 terrorist attacks: 'Significant attacks' at 21-year high (not 34 year low as previously reported), revised data show, from Elise Labott, CNN Washington Bureau (Tuesday, June 22, 2004)
More Agents Track Castro than Bin Laden, by John Solomon, Thursday, April 29, 2004, Associated Press
Of Testimony and Terrorism: 9/11 Commission Testimony Reveals Bush Administration Lacked Focus on Terrorism Prior to Attacks, by Melvin A. Goodman, April 12, 2004
Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S: President's Daily Brief for August 6th, 2001 (April 11th, 2004)
Right-Wing attacks 9/11 Commission (April 21, 2004)
9/11 Commission: Opposition and Obsuscation (Center for American Progress, April 7, 2004)
Bush to Limit Interview with 9/11 Panel to an Hour (Reuters) Fri Feb 27, 2004 Come on, it's important enough for an hour of the President's time.
Admissions by high ranking officials that 9-11 could have been prevented
Report Warned Of Suicide Hijackings (CBS) May 17, 2002
What Bush Knew BEFORE 9-11 (CBS) May 17, 2002
How bin Laden got away: A day-by-day account of how Osama bin Laden eluded the world's most powerful military machine. By Philip Smucker, The Christian Science Monitor, March 04, 2002
Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes, CNN, January 29, 2002

Resources

Memory Hole Mirror Site of the The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States website
The Family Steering Committee: (FSC) is an independent, nonpartisan group of individuals who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The FSC does not receive financial or other support from any outside organizations.
Archive of NPR coverage of 9-11 Hearings
The New Yorker September 11th archive
Memory Hole Archive of 9-11 Reports

NO proven link exists to this day between Saddam Hussein and Al Quaeda or the September 11th attacks. In his March 19, 2003 letter to Congress, President Bush declared that diplomacy alone cannot solve the situation in Iraq and that he was authorized to use force against "nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.". So, how come seven months later he said what amounts to a retraction. (When I say retraction, I mean, admitting a lie) "No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th." (Bush Disavows Hussein-Sept. 11 Link; Administration Has Been Vague on Issue, but President Says No Evidence Found. Washington Post, 9/18/03)

NONE of the September 11th hijackers were Iraqis.

We STILL don't know where Osama bin Laden is, or even if he is alive.

Osama bin Laden is a Saudi.

The FBI was told to "back off the Saudis" when investigating funding of terrorists. (Source)

Ironically, John O'Neill, the security chief at the World Trade Center Towers and killed on September 11th, had formerly been one of the FBI's top counter-terrorism experts, but he quit the Bureau in disgust because the State Department interfered with his investigation of Osama bin Laden's siblings who were then living in the US. He believed he was stopped beause of corporate oil interests and our unofficial closeness to the Saudis. (source)

Most of the September 11th hijackers were Saudis.

In January of 2002, when Congress was ppreparing hearings into September 11th, both Bush and Cheney lobbied hard to get them dropped. Why?

A TIMELINE SURROUNDING SEPTEMBER 11TH

The War on Terrorism is designed to be perpetual.

When asked what would constitute victory, Donald Rumsfeld said: "Now what is victory? I say that victory is presuading the American people and the rest of hte owrld that this is not a quick matter that's going to be over in a month or a year or even five years. It is something that we need to do so that we can continue to live in a world with powerful weapons and with people who are willing to use those powerful weapons. And we can do that as a country. And that would be a victory, in my view."
(Sept. 12, 2001)

In other words, we will win the war on Terror when we convince the world that we have to fight forever, we win when people understand that we can never win. War is Peace.

"We will rid the world of evildoers."
--George W. Bush, September 16th, 2001

###

Q: Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --

THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.

Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.

So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.

And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.

Q: But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.

And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom.
--Press Conference by the President, March, 2002, Emphasis Added

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Osama Bin Forgotten (Or September 17th and the War on Terror)

Resources

"We will rid the world of evildoers." --George W. Bush, September 16th, 2001

"We will rid the world of evildoers."
--George W. Bush, September 16th, 2001