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McCain Says He Helped Bin Laden
In both debates he called Bin Laden's mujahideen 'Freedom Fighters' and takes pride in helping them.
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McCain Calls Bin Laden's Mujahideen Freedom Fighters Again
Wow I thought he messed up the first time. . .
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Bush had no plan to catch Bin Laden after 9/11
WASHINGTON, Sep 29 (IPS) - New evidence from former U.S. officials reveals that the George W. Bush administration failed to adopt any plan to block the retreat of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the first weeks after 9/11.
That failure was directly related to the fact that top administration officials gave priority to planning for war with Iraq over military action against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
As a result, the United States had far too few troops and strategic airlift capacity in the theatre to cover the large number of possible exit routes through the border area when bin Laden escaped in late 2001.
Because it had not been directed to plan for that contingency, the U.S. military had to turn down an offer by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in late November 2001 to send 60,000 troops to the border passes to intercept them, according to accounts provided by former U.S. officials involved in the issue.
On Nov. 12, 2001, as Northern Alliance troops were marching on Kabul with little resistance, the CIA had intelligence that bin Laden was headed for a cave complex in the Tora Bora Mountains close to the Pakistani border.
The war had ended much more quickly than expected only days earlier. CENTCOM commander Tommy Franks, who was responsible for the war in Afghanistan, had no forces in position to block bin Laden's exit.
Franks asked Lt. Gen. Paul T. Mikolashek, commander of Army Central Command (ARCENT), whether his command could provide a blocking force between al Qaeda and the Pakistani border, according to David W. Lamm, who was then commander of ARCENT Kuwait.
Lamm, a retired Army colonel, recalled in an interview that there was no way to fulfill the CENTCOM commander's request, because ARCENT had neither the troops nor the strategic lift in Kuwait required to put such a force in place. "You looked at that request, and you just shook your head," recalled Lamm, now chief of staff of the Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies at the National Defence University.
Franks apparently already realised that he would need Pakistani help in blocking the al Qaeda exit from Tora Bora. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld told a National Security Council meeting that Franks "wants the [Pakistanis] to close the transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan to seal what's going in and out", according to the National Security Council meeting transcript in Bob Woodward's book "Bush at War".
Bush responded that they would need to "press Musharraf to do that".
A few days later, Franks made an unannounced trip to Islamabad to ask Musharraf to deploy troops along the Pakistan-Afghan border near Tora Bora.
A deputy to Franks, Lt. Gen. Mike DeLong, later claimed that Musharraf had refused Franks's request for regular Pakistani troops to be repositioned from the north to the border near the Tora Bora area. DeLong wrote in his 2004 book "Inside Centcom" that Musharraf had said he "couldn't do that", because it would spark a "civil war" with a hostile tribal population.
But U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, who accompanied Franks to the meeting with Musharraf, provided an account of the meeting to this writer that contradicts DeLong's claim.
Chamberlin, now president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, recalled that the Pakistani president told Franks that CENTCOM had vastly underestimated what was required to block bin Laden exit from Afghanistan. Musharraf said, "Look you are missing the point: there are 150 valleys through which al Qaeda are going to stream into Pakistan," according to Chamberlin.
.........more.... WASHINGTON, Sep 29 (IPS) - New evidence from former U.S. officials reveals that the George W. Bush administration failed to adopt any ... more -
Osama Helped Bush in '04
On Oct. 29, 2004, just four days before the U.S. presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden released a videotape denouncing George W. Bush. Some Bush supporters quickly spun the diatribe as "Osama's endorsement of John Kerry," but behind the walls of the CIA, analysts had concluded the opposite: Bin Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term. On Oct. 29, 2004, just four days before the U.S. presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden released a videotape denouncin... more
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Cheney admits there's no proof linking Bin Laden to 9/11!
This may have been put up by a 9/11 conspiracy nut, but there is some truth to it.
According to these websites: http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-...
http://www.teamliberty.net/id267.html
The FBI has admitted they have no hard evidence connecting Osama bin Laden to 9/11. He has not been formally charged in connection to 9/11. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department then decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. There is some evidence linking bin Laden to 9/11, (more evidence linking bin Laden than Bush to 9/11) but not enough to charged bin Laden. The media has remained silence on this.
However, Cheney did lie when he said "we've never made the case or argued the case that Osama bin Laden was directly involved in 9/11." Through corporate media, the Bush administration told the American people that bin Laden was "Public Enemy Number One" responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.
Read the full transcript of this interview at the website of the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/2006032...
For now Osama bin Laden remains the prime suspect, not to mention the only suspect. This may have been put up by a 9/11 conspiracy nut, but there is some truth to it. ... more -
U.S.: Al-Qaida 'imploding' - Terrorism- msnbc.com
Intelligence agencies caution against saying terror group's demise too soon!!!
Top U.S. counterterrorism officials Monday said al-Qaida is "imploding" and that its violent tactics have turned Muslims worldwide against the organization.
"It's imploding. It's imploding because it's not a message that resonates with a lot of Muslims," said Dell Dailey, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism.
Al-Qaida still remains the most dangerous threat to the United States, according to U.S. intelligence officials and reports. But of growing concern are organizations like Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, which combine social services, local governance, national politics with extremist attacks, Undersecretary of State James Glassman said. Intelligence agencies caution against saying terror group's demise too soon!!! ... more -
McCain Gets Fact Wrong On Hamdan Supplying Weapons To Al Qaeda
McCain's states that "The jury found that the prosecution lawyers had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hamdan had aided terrorists by supplying weapons to Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan."
Not exactly... McCain's states that "The jury found that the prosecution lawyers had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hamdan had aid... more -
Gitmo jury gives bin Laden driver 5 1/2 years
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A U.S. military jury gave Osama bin Laden's driver a surprisingly light sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors' request for at least a 30-year sentence to deter would-be terrorists.
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Salim Hamdan's sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the life sentence he could have gotten for aiding terrorism by driving and guarding bin Laden. It now goes for mandatory review to a Pentagon official who can shorten the sentence but not extend it.
It remains unclear what will happen to Hamdan once his sentence is served, since the U.S. military has said it won't release anyone who still represents a threat. The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said Hamdan, who is from Yemen, would likely be eligible for the same administrative review process as other Guantanamo prisoners.
Defense lawyers said they expect Hamdan will be let go in five months. "It was all for show if Mr. Hamdan does not go home in December," said Charles Swift, one of Hamdan's civilian attorneys.
Hamdan thanked the jurors for the sentence and repeated his apology for having served bin Laden.
"I would like to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me," Hamdan told the five-man, one-woman jury, all military officers hand-picked by the Pentagon for the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half-century.
Hamdan was found guilty of supporting terrorism by serving as bin Laden's armed bodyguard and driver while knowing the al-Qaida leader was plotting U.S. attacks. But he was found not guilty of providing missiles to al-Qaida and knowing his work would be used for terrorism. He also was cleared of being part of al-Qaida's conspiracy to attack the United States — the most serious charges he faced.
The military has not said where Hamdan will serve his sentence, but the commander of the detention center, Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas, said last week that convicted prisoners will be held apart from the general detainee population at the isolated U.S. military base in southeast Cuba.
"I hope the day comes that you return to your wife and daughters and your country, and you're able to be a provider, a father and a husband in the best sense of all those terms," the judge told Hamdan.
Hamdan, dressed in a charcoal sports coat and white robe, responded: "God willing."
Military prosecutors had said even a life sentence would be fitting in order to send an example to would-be terrorists.
But the jury, which acquitted Hamdan of the most serious charges, apparently agreed with the judge, who called him only a "small player" in al-Qaida.
"The decision showed what the jury thought Hamdan was worth," Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo trials, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Referring to the decks of cards the U.S. military has distributed with images of most-wanted terrorists, Davis said: "Hamdan would be the two of clubs."
Still, the sentence should give skeptics some pause, Davis said, by showing that military juries are independent and carefully evaluate evidence presented in the war crimes trials.
"There is a perception that trying people in front of the military was going to be a rubber-stamp process," Davis said. "This shows they are conscientious, following instructions and are making rational decisions."
The chief defense counsel for the Guantanamo tribunals, Army Col. Steve David, said the government failed in its strategy to link Hamdan to the Sept. 11 attacks.
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To read more about this click on the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/guantanamo_bin_laden_s_drive... GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A U.S. military jury gave Osama bin Laden's driver a surprisingly light sentence on Thursday, m... more -
Bin Laden's Former Driver Sentenced to 5 1/2 Years
Hamdan Receives Credit for Time Served, Could Be Released in 5 Months
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Aug. 7 -- A former driver for Osama bin Laden was sentenced today to 5 ½ years in prison for his material support for terrorism, a relatively light sentence that means the first detainee at Guantanamo Bay to face a full military commission trial could be released from custody in just five months.
The six military officers who found Salim Ahmed Hamdan guilty of terror charges yesterday came back with the sentence this afternoon, knowing that the judge in the case was going to give Hamdan credit for the five years and one month of his pre-trial incarceration at Guantanamo.
Hamdan, whose case at one point reached the Supreme Court and forced the U.S. government to retool its trial system for alleged terrorists held at Guantanamo, received the first verdict under a full military commission and arguably both won and lost. He was convicted of supporting al-Qaeda by driving and guarding bin Laden and ferrying weapons for the terror group, but he was acquitted of charges alleging terror conspiracy and escaped a potential life sentence.
It is unclear what will happen to Hamdan after he finishes serving his remaining time, because military prosecutors and military commissions officials have argued they have the ability to hold enemy combatants indefinitely, until the end of hostilities in the so-called war on terror. While the Bush administration could order him held, officials could also transfer him to the custody of his home country, Yemen, or release him outright.
At the sentencing hearing, Hamdan had pleaded for a light sentence and apologized to U.S. victims of terrorist attacks. "It was a sorry or sad thing to see innocent people killed," Hamdan was quoted as saying.
"I personally present my apologies to them if anything what I did have caused them pain."
He admitted that he kept working for the al-Qaeda leader even after he learned that bin Laden had planned terrorist attacks.
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Much more at link.
Interesting conclusion, to say the least, and a surprisingly fair verdict, all things considered. Hamdan Receives Credit for Time Served, Could Be Released in 5 Months ... more -
Bin Laden's driver gets 5 1/2 yrs....
Osama Bin Laden's former driver has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison at the first US military trial in Guantanamo Bay.
Salim Hamdan had been convicted on Wednesday of supporting terrorism but acquitted of conspiracy to murder.
Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of not less than 30 years but Hamdan, a Yemeni, had pleaded for leniency.
The military judge earlier ruled Hamdan could have five years' credit for time served so may be free in six months.....
Regret
The jury of six US military officers, not the judge, imposed the sentence under the tribunal rules.
"It is my duty as president [of the jury] to inform you that this military commission sentences you to be confined for 66 months," a juror told Hamdan.
In his earlier appeal for leniency to the jury, Hamdan said in a prepared statement: "It's true there are work opportunities in Yemen, but not at the level I needed after I got married and not to the level of ambitions that I had in my future."
He said he regretted the loss of "innocent lives".
The White House earlier said the trial was "fair", although the defence team had announced an appeal after the conviction.
Hamdan, who is aged about 40, had admitted working for Bin Laden in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2001 for $200 (£99) a month, but said he worked for wages, not to wage war on the US.
Convicting him on five counts of aiding terrorism, the jury accepted he was a member of al-Qaeda who had served as Bin Laden's armed bodyguard and driver while knowing that the al-Qaeda leader was plotting attacks against the US.
But he was found not guilty on three other counts of aiding terrorism, alleging that he knew that his work would be used for terrorism and that he provided surface-to-air missiles to al-Qaeda.
He was also cleared of two charges of conspiracy, alleging that he was part of the al-Qaeda effort to attack the US - the most serious charges he faced.
About 270 suspects remain in detention in Guantanamo Bay.
Among the dozens of other inmates due to be tried there in the coming months are men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. Osama Bin Laden's former driver has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison at the first US military trial in Guantanam... more -
Military jury convicts bin Laden's driver
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) -- A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life.
The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before convicting Salim Hamdan of supporting terrorism. He was cleared of the conspiracy charge.
Hamdan, who faces a maximum life sentence, held his head in his hands and wept at the defense table after a Navy captain presiding over the jury read the sentence in a hilltop courtroom on this U.S. Navy base.
The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for later Wednesday.
Defense lawyers had feared a guilty verdict was inevitable, saying the tribunal system's rules seemed designed to achieve convictions, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Salim Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney.
Hamdan's attorneys said the judge allowed evidence that would not have been admitted by any civilian or military U.S. court, and that interrogations at the center of the government's case were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement. GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) -- A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war... more -
Closing arguments of Bin Laden's driver's trial
" Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, the first inmate at the Guantanamo jail to face a full-scale trial before the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush.
Hamdan, a Yemeni national about 40 years old, is accused of conspiracy and material support to terrorism, and faces a possible sentence of life in prison if a jury of six military officers finds him guilty.
A verdict could be handed down as early as Monday afternoon in the trial, underway at the prison camp on a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since July 21.
"He was an Al-Qaeda warrior," said John Murphy, a Justice Department prosecutor. "He pledged bayat to Osama bin Laden," Murphy said, using the Arabic word for a pledge of allegiance.
Lawyers for Hamdan, who has already spent six years behind bars at Guantanamo, have questioned the fairness of the proceedings and argued that Hamdan was an insignificant figure while employed by bin Laden from 1998 to 2001, saying he was not involved in any way in Al-Qaeda operations.
"This is a classic case of guilt by association," said Lieutenant Commander Brian Mizer, an assigned military defense lawyer for Hamdan. Mizer described Hamdan as a driver with a fourth-grade education, motivated by financial gain not ideological passion.
"Mr Hamdan is not an Al-Qaeda warrior, he is not Al-Qaeda's last line of defense," Mizer said. "He's not even an Al-Qaeda member."
"You should not punish the general's driver today with the crimes of the general."
Once closing arguments wrap up, military jurors will immediately begin their deliberations amid predictions from human rights groups that Hamdan will likely be found guilty on at least some of the charges. " " Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, the first inmate at the Guan... more -
Bin Laden's Driver Pleads Not Guilty
The first Guantanamo war crimes trial began Monday with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. The first Guantanamo war crimes trial began Monday with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Lad... more
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Pakistan: U.S. can't hunt bin Laden on its turf
Pakistan's top diplomat said Saturday there are no U.S. or other foreign military personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in his nation, and none will be allowed in to search for the al-Qaida leader.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his nation's new government has ruled out such military operations, covert or otherwise, to catch militants.
"Our government's policy is that our troops, paramilitary forces and our regular forces are deployed in sufficient numbers. They are capable of taking action there. And any foreign intrusion would be counterproductive," he said Saturday. "People will not accept it. Questions of sovereignty come in." Pakistan's top diplomat said Saturday there are no U.S. or other foreign military personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in hi... more -
Gitmo's youngest detainee revealed
Secret documents were unsealed this week showing for the first time the extent of Canada's federal government's knowledge of the treatment of Omar Khadr inside of Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Khadr is Canada's only prisoner detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.At age 17, Khadr was placed in a special program at the camp that intentionally deprived him of sleep, and moved him every 3 hours for 21 days in order to prepare him to speak to government officials.It is reported that the document release is just ahead of a release of video tapes of the interviews with those government officials that will give the first look at a detainee being questioned at the prison.From the Canadian news The Globe and Mail:"On a number of occasions, the teenager was observed crying uncontrollably, and claiming he was at least partly blind. He removed his shirt to show interviewers bullet wounds, one of them still seeping blood, that he had suffered to his back and stomach during a battle in Afghanistan.The documents show that:Mr. Khadr was subjected to what was known as a "frequent flyer program," which moves a prisoner from cell to cell every three hours 24 hours a day. The idea is to keep prisoners from resting, making them more susceptible to interrogation. A Foreign Affairs document states that Mr. Khadr was placed in the program prior to a set of interviews and “will soon be placed in isolation for up to three weeks and then he will be interviewed again.†The effectiveness of the method was questionable in the eyes of the Canadians."Certainly Umar did not appear to have been affected by three weeks on the 'frequent flyer' program. He did not yawn or indicate in any way that he was tired throughout the two-hour interview. It seems likely that the natural resilience of a well-fed and healthy 17-year-old are keeping him going."During the first Canadian visit, in February of 2003, Mr. Khadr recanted certain admissions claiming "all the information provided in his previous interviews was said only due to 'torture.'"During that same visit, Canadians agents questioned Mr. Khadr about his family. The cameras caught the teenager complaining about his wounds, his eyes and a shoulder, and dabbing “at a small spot on his shoulder that was seeping blood.â€Foreign Affairs kept records of the visits under intelligence files marked "UBL" or "Bin Laden." The Khadr family once lived with the al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. A forensic psychologist told DFAIT that Mr. Khadr was "a Mama's little boy."(more...) Secret documents were unsealed this week showing for the first time the extent of Canada's federal government's knowledge of... more
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US not hunting bin Laden on it's turf, syas Pakistan
AP foreign, Saturday July 12 2008 By JOHN HEILPRIN and PETER JAMES SPIELMANN Associated Press Writers NEW YORK (AP) - Pakistan's top diplomat said Saturday there are no U.S. or other foreign military personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in his nation, and none will be allowed in to search for the al-Qaida leader. In an interview with The Associated Press, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his nation's new government has ruled out such military operations, covert or otherwise, to catch militants. ``Our government's policy is that our troops, paramilitary forces and our regular forces are deployed in sufficient numbers. They are capable of taking action there. And any foreign intrusion would be counterproductive,'' he said Saturday. ``People will not accept it. Questions of sovereignty come in.'' The United States has grown increasingly frustrated as al-Qaida, the Taliban and other militants thrive in Pakistan's remote areas and in neighboring Afghanistan, and has offered U.S. troops to strike at terror networks. Critics in Washington also have expressed frustration with the new Pakistani government's pursuit of peace deals with tribes in the region. Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. Tension between the U.S. and Pakistan have been high after Pakistan said U.S. aircraft killed 11 of its soldiers at a border post in June. U.S. officials have said coalition aircraft dropped bombs during a clash with militants. Qureshi said he tried to reassure Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at their meeting Friday that his government was doing everything it can to combat militants in lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan regularly exchange criticism about not doing more to fight extremists operating along their long, remote, mountainous border that is seen by the U.S. as crucial to stopping terrorism. Qureshi also met Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who agreed to Pakistan's request to establish an independent commission that will investigate Bhutto's killing. Qureshi acknowledged Saturday that ``there are some infiltrations'' still occurring, but there are no covert U.S. military operations trying to catch al-Qaida figures and its chief, Taliban members or any other suspected militants. ``There are none,'' he said. ``It will create such an anti-U.S. feeling in Pakistan that I would say would mar the atmosphere of cooperation that exists between us.'' Qureshi described Pakistan's counterterrorism as a ``grassroots'' approach. ``Our strategy is that the military option alone is not enough,'' he said. ``This war has to be fought besides the armies, with the help of the people, by winning hearts and minds.'' Does he believe bin Laden is in Pakistan? ``I don't think so. I'm not sure,'' he said. ``Nobody's aware of that. Nobody can speak with certainty. But our policy's very clear. We are allies in this war. And if Pakistan has actionable information vis-a-vis Osama bin laden or any other high value target, Pakistan will immediately take action.'' AP foreign, Saturday July 12 2008 By JOHN HEILPRIN and PETER JAMES SPIELMANN Associated Press Writers NEW YORK (AP) - Pakistan's ... more
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Bin Laden's Family
What ever happened to Osama Bin Laden? There isn't much news on him lately, and the Bush Administration seemed to half-heartedly seek him out, and then shifted their focus on an illegitimate war in Iraq. Regardless, this article is fascinating and talks about the power and influence of the Bin Laden family, and their rise to power. What ever happened to Osama Bin Laden? There isn't much news on him lately, and the Bush Administration seemed to half-heartedly ... more
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CIA Report: Bin Laden Is Dying Of Kidney Failure… Still
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A top secret CIA report, leaked to TIME magazine, which suggests that Osama Bin Laden has between six and eighteen months to live, smacks of controlled propaganda as part of an effort to intensify the war on terror during the remaining months of the Bush administration.
Visit http://www.infowars.net/articles/july2008/020708Laden.h... for the full story. Steve Watson Infowars.net Wednesday, July 2, 2008 ... more -
The Post-9/11 Afghan Heroin Explosion
The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. Narco-Terrorism. Prior to 9/11, the poppy production levels in Afghanistan were at a low and many of the Taliban were against heroin and the poppies. However, since U.S. forces entered after 9/11, the poppy crop has skyrocketed. The UN released a report saying that the six-year boom has lead to the Afghan crop being responsible for 92% of the world's heroin trade. With Homeland Security and the War on Terror, it's amazing that the drug still gets into the USA, one of it's strongest marketplaces. The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. Narco-Terrorism. Prior to 9/11, the poppy production levels in Afghanistan were at a low and many... more
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Obama: Don't Kill Osama!
Obama says that if Osama is captured alive, killing him would make him a martyr, and we shouldn't do that.....because you know, its not like all of the taliban fighters we kill or who kill themselves arent seen as martyrs.(sarcasm) Obama says that if Osama is captured alive, killing him would make him a martyr, and we shouldn't do that.....because you know, i... more
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