Just heard on KNX radio here in SoCal that the Lebanese guy failed his lie detector test and the FBI now considers this threat to be "not credible." I thought it was too much of a coincidence that an Arabic-speaking person happened to intercept this Arabic conversation. All I can say is Viva Las Vegas....think I'll head out there in the morning...hooyah!
So, whaddaya think the odds are that (1) a phone conversation in Arabic would bleed over onto someone else's phone and (2) that guy would just happen to speak Arabic?
Sometime back after 9/11 on this site saw a posted article about possible plans for a Bin Laden organization attack on Las Vegas which claimed the games of chance there as incentive.
Your right, this guy would have to be nuts to just make this up. They will probably put out a hit on him soon. He struck me on FNC as being one of the few (read:ONE) arab guy willing to do something patriotic for his country, let's not bash him. And I have heard others phone conversations many times, especially travelling from state to state. We should be touting this gentlemen as a hero.
Well they did a lie detector on the guy who reported this incident....and he failed......But I think they can't just throw in the towel on such a report.....especially since it has in the past been reported that Vegas could be a target.....ya think your parents need to get out of town and come visit ya for a bit???
The only reason I can think they would hit a hotel/casino instead of the Dam is because security most likely will be tight anyway. This man however now has been discredited by the FBI as they say he failed a lie detector test. But whether he is lying or not I just hope all cities keep an extra eye on what is going on around them as the day of our Independence is a day terrorists would love to strike on.
Yes, I heard the same reports early this AM and late last night. However, the cell phone intercept story came on the heels of a report of Al Queda sending 40 terrorists to the West Coast of the US in the last month (remember that set of stories about LA and Catalina Island). I thought it was kind of "out there", but since the timing was evident; it makes you more vigilant.
http://www.sierratimes.com/02/ 06/24/arjj062402.htm
Interview with the Man Who Heard the
Call
by J.J. & Nancy Johnson
Published 06. 24. 02 at 10:14 Sierra Time
FBI News Release, June 21, 2002:
"The FBI's investigation into the allegations made by
Michael Hamdan is substantially complete. The
remainder is expected to be concluded in the next
several days. Results of the investigation to date do
not substantiate these allegations and the FBI has
determined that this information is not credible."
Yet Michael Hamdan, 54, is
sticking to his story
- that's why he
spoke with The
Sierra Times. It may
turn out to be the
most infamous
phone call ever
heard in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Mayor,
and alleged former
Mob lawyer, Oscar
Goodman, June 21, 2002:
"I'd like to whack this guy - would like to put my arms
around his neck. He is a liar. Let him sue me."
The Las Vegas Review Journal article on Saturday sent
us on a mission. We were determined to meet Michael
Hamdan for several reasons:
1. The FBI said that the story was not
credible but did not provide any reasons for
this conclusion - as if somehow in the last
two weeks the FBI itself has acquired the
credibility to pass judgment. They have
missed tips before.
2. The FBI mentioned a polygraph, but never
stated that Mr. Hamdan had failed it. In
typical government newspeak, they implied a
connection and hoped their 8th grade reading
level subjects would make that assumption.
3. Mr. Hamdan claimed that the FBI did not
return his phone calls. This happened to us
in 1996, in the aftermath of the
pipe-bombing at the Olympics.
4. Mr. Hamdan was demonized by the local
media. Due to our past experience, that was
a clear red flag.
In short, we've seen this movie before.
The whole story seemed eerily similar to a scene out
of "Jaws" -, where Mayor Larry Vaugh made the
infamous policy: "It was only a boating accident.
Please go in the water."
He's not credible. Please go to the gaming hall. But
this year, if Hamdan is correct, the stakes will be a bit
higher this holiday. Instead of casino chips, we may
be gambling with people's lives. Remember: This is
Vegas, where the house always wins.
This was the man who had gotten his '15 minutes of
fame', from overhearing a phone call in Arabic on the
Las Vegas strip about a possible terrorist strike on
July 4th. Call it luck. Call it "the Grace of God." Call it
an aberration. Heck, go ahead and even call it 'not
credible.' But call Michael Hamdan, and get the whole
story - no matter what. It was a silent 90 minute ride
from Pahrump, Nevada to the Hamdan home in
Henderson.
At issue: on one side, a naturalized American who
thought he was doing his duty as an American;
hearing what he thought was a threat, and getting the
word out in the proper way. At a time when threats
were reportedly made about hotels and fuel trucks,
Hamdan felt this city - his city - may be in peril. After
long reflection, he chose to act - knowing that his life
may never be the same again.
On the other side: Millions, possible billions of dollars
in hotel rentals, entertainment tickets, cab fares, air
fares, and of course those dice and cards hitting those
felt covered tables. All this on the world's most
famous 3-mile strip of road in the world: Las Vegas
Boulevard. The holiday is expected to bring
vacationers from not only across the country, but from
around the world.
This is Las Vegas - where the house always wins, and
where city bosses don't need reports such as 'terrorist
threats' that might be 'bad for business.'
We arranged an
interview Sunday
afternoon. Evidence of
his 'credibility' became
evident before we even
arrived at the home.
Michael Hamdan lives
in a gated community
in Henderson, Nevada,
so beautifully
manicured and green
that the fine Nevada
dust was blissfully
absent. Even his garage floor was clean. The backyard
contained a pool, and sits on the border of the golf
course, the jewel of this Green Valley housing
complex. No sooner did we pass the gate than I
asked, "What would he need this for?" The inside of
his home was equally well-appointed, and while not
ostentatious, would surely be the envy of the average
"Special Agent."
Hamdan's artistic taste: There was a Picasso print on
the wall.
Michael Hamdan is an articulate retiree who emigrated
lawfully from Beirut Lebanon in 1987. He had worked
for IBM in the Gulf and later for Cartier. "My fame is
my family," he told us, and his proudest moment was
when he stood up in the Los Angeles convention
center and took his oath of United States citizenship.
He pays his taxes, has the social security number; the
whole nine yards.
We sat mesmerized while he described the last week
of his life. It was a week that had turned a Real
American into a sleepless, anxious man disappointed
and frustrated and not knowing where to turn. It
began Saturday, June 15, 2002 and ended on
Saturday, June 21, 2002, when the FBI and Mayor
Goodman declared Michael Hamdan "not credible." And
this story is still not over yet. He wasted no time
telling his story - a little more than what most other
media dared to report. He gave us the timeline.
June 15: Hamdan is out running errands and stops at
Good Guys, a huge music warehouse on West Sahara,
about 4 miles west of the strip. He buys a small TV
and orders a larger one, then leaves the store and
turns right, south, on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip).
Then, the familiar slow ride past world famous
Casinos: The Rivera, Circus Circus, The Sahara, The
Mirage, etc.. Planning to turn east on Tropicana Blvd.,
several miles south, Mr. Hamdan calls his wife -
somewhere near "Treasure Island."
The cell
phone is a
new
Seimens.
It's one of
those
'global
types.' It'll
work as well
in London,
Paris, Tokyo
and Mecca -
just as well
as it does in
Vegas. He has not had it long enough to program it so
he hand dials his home number to call his wife. But he
hears no click. Thinking he had not pressed the send
button, he moves the phone away from his ear when
he hear voices. The voices are speaking his native
Arabic so he begins listening.
The words he hears make him freeze. It is pure Arabic,
with no English and is one voice speaking to a second
voice that keeps saying "Tayeb." Tayeb in Arabic
means more than OK, it means acceptance or
recommendation, "I got it."
"The first voice had a thick, harsh accent from the Gulf
Region. It could have been from Saudi Arabia, Dubai,
Abu Dabu or Iraq," Hamdan said firmly.
The exact words - words that affected room holiday
reservations in Las Vegas were:
"We are in the city of corruption. We are in the city of
gambling and prostitution. And they are talking about
freedom. We are going to hit them on their day of
freedom." He repeats this twice during 60-90 seconds.
"In the background, I heard more people, and another
Arabic voice could be heard yelling, 'It's enough! Stop
it! It's enough!'". Hamdan implies that someone
realized that his loud mouth associate was spilling the
beans over a cell phone.
Mr. Hamdan was frozen in fear and began to sweat.
"The voices were not from the street," Hamdan
reported, "they were highly educated... using formal
words." He told us that the city of corruption was
"Medinat el Fasad" in Arabic. It sounded like one guy
was reporting and making a statement and the other
man was taking it.
The phone goes dead. Mr. Hamdan continues to drive
and arrives home. His wife asks him if he is alright,
and notices that he looks pale, but he is too disturbed
by the call to speak even to her. Later that evening,
he finally shares with her what had happened.
The frightened couple does not know whether to call
the police, FBI, or media. Hamdan is concerned for his
family's safety. At two in the morning, his conscious
prevails over his concern for safety "If God forbid,
something happens," Hamdan said, "I could never live
with myself."
June 16th: 2 a.m. Hamdan speaks with an FBI
operator and asks to speak with anyone with authority
about serous information. He does not provide the
nature of that information, just states that it's
valuable. No return call is received from the FBI. This
is Sunday morning.
12:00 p.m. No sleep. Could happen when you've
overheard that the city you've made your home may be
a "Jihad Target." Hamdan again calls the FBI and
speaks to a different operator. She says, "I do not see
your name." This time, because the operator is very
professional and claims to have 14 years experience
with the FBI, he tells her what had happened - in
detail. The operator takes his report and tells him that
they would find an agent immediately to call back.
He waits.
And waits.
Nobody ever calls.
Monday, June 17: Ditto - Nobody calls, according to
Hamdan.
Tuesday, June 18: Hamdan begins to call the local
media, including Channel 8 (CBS) Channel 3(NBC), and
Channel 13 (ABC). He believes that Channel 8 and 3,
which interviewed him, called the FBI. He also calls
Mayor Goodman's office. He receives a return call from
a Ms. Perez - of the mayor's office.
"I understand how the wheel of justice is sometimes
slow," he said. "I thought telling the media might
speed things up a bit."
Oh, it did alright.
The FBI finally returns Mr. Hamdan's now three-day-old
phone call. They want to go through everything. "I
have nothing to hide," he tells them and agrees to
come to the FBI office the following day.
Wednesday, June 19: Hamdan leaves two messages
with Ms. Perez of the Mayor's Office - without a
response.
Hamdan meets with two male agents in a small room
at the FBI and describes the intercepted call. They ask
him to produce the AT&T wireless records and he
agrees. They ask him to ask Channels 3 and 8 to hold
the story for 24 hours. Channel 3 airs it that night,
anyway.
June 20: George Knapp of Channel 3 interviews
Hamdan at 11:00 am in front of Treasure Island and
airs this at 6:00 p.m. Thursday. The Sierra Times
releases the story at 6:50 p.m. and it takes off from
there. The Associated Press releases the story at 8:05
p.m. The networks, Fox, CNN, CBS follow suit. The
media feeding frenzy is on.
The FBI calls and asks Hamdan to take a polygraph on
Monday. Fifteen minutes later (perhaps after
Washington read someone the riot act) they ask him
to do it tomorrow, Friday.
June 21: Hamdan appears on CBS "The Early Show"
and is picked up at 3 a.m. by a limo. He attempts to
delay the polygraph because he is exhausted but the
FBI refuses to change the appointment. "We know
you've been busy," the agent sneers. He does not
mention this during the interview, but he also misses
the local morning radio talk show (KXNT - AM 840) for
the same reason. The morning hosts made mention of
this while we were driving to his home Sunday.
Instead of getting any more media, Hamdan would
finally get to do what he's been wanting all week - get
all the facts on the table with the FBI, and get rid of
those annoying cameras and microphones.
On the morning of June 21, 2002, he is met at the FBI
front door by...
...a throng of media.
Who tipped them off? Who knows, but it sure wasn't
Hamdan. He just wanted to get it over with.
Hamdan is only asked a series of numbers and eight
verbal questions, and is not directed to lie in response
to any of them. In a polygraph examination, "the
machine must be calibrated," an anonymous source
told us. The source, who had been subjected to FBI
polygraphs as part of his own security clearance for
ten years, explained that the calibration should be
done with a simple question like the color of the
subjects shirt. However, in the 1996 Georgia federal
trial of U.S. v. Gilliard, the federal government
presented the testimony of Thomas F. Lewis, II, a
Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI since 1976.
Special Agent Lewis testified under oath that the FBI
does not recognize any of the directed lie techniques.
First, Mr. Hamdan is asked to choose a number from
one to ten, then cards are shown to him and he is
asked if he had picked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. He truthfully
responded as to which number he picked and which he
did not. He was then asks a series of questions
culminating with, "Did you hear a conversation on your
cell phone regarding what you told us?"
Michael Hamdan did not lie in response to any of
them. He was never asked to lie in response.
Hamdan spent four and one half hours at the FBI
office.
The test was given three times, and between every
set of questions the examiner came from behind
Hamdan and took off the blood pressure cuff, spoke
with him for awhile and then replaced it. S.A. Lewis
testified that the issue of talking between tests
causes him some concern. [Id.] He was exhausted and
was suffering from recent cataract surgery the entire
day.
When the test was over, the examiner told him that
on only one question was there 5% uncertainty,
meaning only 5% chance of a lie. Hamdan was told
that they were going to stop the investigation
concerning his claim but would 'be alert.' The FBI's
only statement concerning the information that they
were given:
"The FBI's investigation into the allegations made by
Michael Hamdan is substantially complete. The
remainder is expected to be concluded in the next
several days. Results of the investigation to date do
not substantiate these allegations and the FBI has
determined that this information is not credible."
The AT& T records found no call from Hamdan's phone.
This, however, supports his story as the intercept
apparently prevented his call to home from going
through. But this is a 'global' phone, leaving one to
speculate that the overheard call was a call made to
somewhere - on the other side of the globe.
But again, that's just speculation.
Hamdan told us "I was concerned for my family, but
never felt afraid. I cannot feel afraid in my country, in
my city. They should be afraid, they are hiding. They
are afraid because they are hiding and they are hiding
because they are cowards." His 4th of July plans
include a barbeque and hopefully, watching fireworks
later that night - in peace.
And in spite of the results, Hamdan would come
forward again, "You bet your life. Every American
should do it." Despite the media assault that greeted
him in the morning paper the next day, his resolve is
clear: "I hope no one else will be afraid to come
forward with information," was his parting hope.
The leaves us with a man who could have simply
purchased a TV ad to get fame, putting his reputation
and good name on the line to report what he
overheard in a phone call about a possible strike on
Las Vegas this July 4th; calling the proper authorities;
only to get a return call after the story hits the media;
a questionable polygraph test, and a conclusion that
"his information is not credible," some of the most
vicious verbal assaults ever heard from a Mayor;
concluding with what could only be described as a 'hit
piece' in the Saturday paper to close out the week.
And this Real American - Michael Hamdan is sticking to
his story. Is he telling the truth? You decide.
And if what he says he has heard is true, the gambling
'mecca' of the world could in for a day where the house
looses.
To the FBI, this is a closed matter. But to many
others, this story has only just begun. Stay tuned…