Posted on 11/23/2002 12:09:30 AM PST by flamefront
FBI manhunt for foreign terrorists
On April 19, 1995, I was working as an investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City, KFOR-TV and was one of the first journalists to broadcast to an international audience what Americans never expected to hear: an enormous truck bomb rocked the heartland.
The FBI immediately launched an international pursuit of several Middle Eastern looking males who were seen fleeing the Murrah Building in a brown Chevy pickup just moments before the blast. Within hours and without explanation, federal agents instructed Oklahoma County law enforcement officials to cancel the all-points-bulletin issued that morning for foreign terrorists.
However, the FBI apparently continued to aggressively seek Middle Eastern suspects. Agents detained and interrogated several Pakistanis nationals, originally from Dallas and New York, whom were spotted by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman in Oklahoma City one hour before the bombing. The license plate on their GM Blazer had been switched from a rental car they leased at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport the day before.
On the afternoon of April 19, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued an all-points-bulletin for three Middle Eastern subjects in the GM Blazer. Shortly thereafter, the men were caught and questioned, then subsequently released. Their presence in Oklahoma City and the reason for the switched plate on their vehicle were never satisfactorily explained.
Within 48 hours, the focus of the investigation shifted from the Middle East to homegrown terrorism. The FBI had two suspects in custody, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Both were publicly labeled as disgruntled army veterans who were motivated by anti-government views.
However, the arrests of American citizens did not dissuade the federal government from employing precautionary measures to guard against further strikes by Middle Eastern terrorists. According to a Department of Defense memorandum, the FBI director contacted the defense secretary and requested that the Army Arabic linguists monitor live wiretaps in real time of "radical fundamentalist Islamic organizations" operating in several major U.S. cities. This unique correspondence was initiated in an effort to "protect the President from possible attack during his attendance of the memorial service in Oklahoma City on Sunday, April 23."
The specter of "others unknown"
When the federal grand jury issued the official indictment of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, it concluded they acted with "others unknown." Several members of the Denver juries who convicted the two Oklahoma City bombers candidly expressed their strongly held belief that after months of examining every facet of the government's evidence, they determined the April 19 bombing involved more than those who had been arrested and charged.
Lead defense counsel for McVeigh's federal trial, Stephen Jones, disclosed the American terrorist failed a polygraph examination when he denied that several unidentified conspirators aided and abetted in the construction of the truck bomb. "I believe Timothy McVeigh's role in the Oklahoma City bombing was a very minor one," Jones postulated in a nationally televised interview. "A member of the conspiracy? Yes. The leader? No. The financier? No. The organizer? No. Timothy McVeigh saw his role as the cover for everybody else, to be the person to fall on the sword. It served deep-seated emotional needs that he had, and it furthered the role of the conspiracy."
When sentencing Terry Nichols to life behind bars, U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch remarked, "It would be disappointing for me if the law enforcement agencies of the United States government have quit looking for answers."
Driven by a belief that federal prosecutors presented only a partial picture of the events of April 19, an Oklahoma state legislator spearheaded a citizens' petition drive to seat a grand jury to probe further into the looming presence of un-indicted conspirators. In December 1998, after eighteen months of research and examination of 117 witnesses, the Oklahoma County grand jury making inquiry into "conspiracy theories" swirling around the bombing returned no indictments; yet the panel carefully worded this telling statement in its final report: "However, in spite of all the evidence before us, we cannot put full closure to the question of the existence of a John Doe II."
Middle Eastern terrorist cell operating in the heart of Oklahoma City
On April 20, KFOR-TV's news director assigned me to track local leads regarding possible suspects. The assignment amounted to nothing more than monitoring satellite feeds of FBI press conferences - that is until one telephone call to the newsroom led me directly to the doorstep of what several esteemed intelligence experts later determined to be a Middle Eastern terrorist cell operating in the heart of Oklahoma City.
Several American employees at a local property management company that we were investigating claimed they saw a brown Chevy truck, which matched the getaway vehicle aggressively pursued by law enforcement, parked outside the business office in the days before the bombing.
The PLO/Iraqi connection
The company owner was a Palestinian immigrant from Tel Aviv who had pleaded guilty to federal insurance fraud in the early 1990's and served time in the penitentiary. Court records revealed that the FBI suspected the Palestinian businessman, who operated under eight known aliases, of having connections with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. This man, a psychologist from the Oklahoma State Department of Human Services, funded his vast, four million dollar rental housing empire through money he received from siblings living in Baghdad, Jerusalem, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and Amman, Jordan.
Six months prior to the bombing, the Palestinian property owner hired a handful of Iraqi soldiers to do maintenance work at his low-income rental houses. On April 19, several witnesses watched in stunned amazement as their Middle Eastern co-workers expressed prideful excitement upon hearing the first radio broadcasts that Islamic extremists had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Murrah Building. The men exuberantly pledged their allegiance to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein vowing they would "die for Saddam." My research showed these same Middle Eastern men were absent from work on April 17, 1995, the day McVeigh rented the Ryder truck that carried the bomb. Furthermore, two of these men had just completed lengthy trips to the Middle East.
The company secretary told the FBI she became suspicious of her employer because she saw the owner's Jordanian business associate at the office before the bombing in a large yellow car similar to the now infamous Mercury Marquis that was driven by Timothy McVeigh. The witness also observed this same man in the driver's seat of a brown Chevy pickup.
The Las Vegas crossroads
Staff members related details about the Palestinian property owner's travel habits, including his frequent trips to Las Vegas where prime suspects McVeigh and Nichols were known to spend one weekend a month. Had the three men crossed paths? Terry Nichols' son Josh identified the Palestinian ex-felon from a photo lineup as a man he had seen in Las Vegas. When asked if the Middle Eastern subject met with his father, Josh refused to answer.
Lana Padilla said her ex-husband Terry Nichols and Tim McVeigh would visit Josh in her home city of Las Vegas monthly and were often accompanied by unidentified men of Middle Eastern origin. She recalled the two Oklahoma City bombers frequented a bar known as Glitter Gulch, a strip club/casino located adjacent to Binion's Horseshoe, a casino/hotel where the security staff described the Palestinian ex-patriate from Oklahoma City as a "VIP" customer and "high roller at the poker tables." According to the man's secretary, he routinely traveled to Las Vegas and returned with large amounts of cash.
On April 20, 1995, less than 24 hours after the bombing, the Palestinian businessman boarded a plane in Oklahoma City bound for Las Vegas. The next day, Terry Nichols surrendered to federal authorities at the Herington, Kansas police department. News of the interrogation of the "material witness" flooded the television airwaves. Phone records reveal that just hours later, an unknown party called Nichols' Kansas home twice from a payphone at the Las Vegas casino Circus Circus. At the time, the Palestinian businessman was registered at Binion's Horseshoe and was within walking distance of the pay phones where the calls to Nichols' residence originated.
Palestinian real estate mogul's ex-wife dies in blast
The immigrant with alleged ties to the PLO exhibited peculiar behavior in the wake of the bombing, outraging several of his longtime employees. They were baffled when he departed for Las Vegas the day after the bombing, leaving behind his 18-year-old daughter to grieve the loss of her American mother. The Palestinian immigrant divorced his American wife in 1994, reaching a settlement in which she was awarded ownership of a large number of his rental properties. This woman perished on the fifth floor of the federal complex where she worked for a government agency housed in the ill-fated Murrah Building.
The daughter reluctantly admitted that her Palestinian father discouraged her from reporting her mother missing for several weeks, instructing her not to turn over dental records which were essential for medical examiners to identify the victim's remains. The woman's name did not appear on the official list of dead and missing until forty-eight hours after I turned my evidence over to the FBI field office in Oklahoma City.
FBI halts search for John Doe 2
On May 4, 1995, two FBI agents interviewed me for several hours regarding the evidence Channel 4 had uncovered. They took receipt of KFOR-TV's surveillance tape of the Palestinian real estate mogul and the Iraqi soldiers who worked at his company. In short order, the Bureau distributed a memorandum to field offices throughout the country ordering federal agents to "hold in abeyance all leads" on John Doe 2. Just four days later, on May 8, the FBI officially pulled the plug on the tip line for leads regarding McVeigh's elusive accomplice John Doe 2.
However, the most gripping evidence was displayed on the television monitor at KFOR-TV's studio. This shocking discovery was made while shuttling through surveillance videotape of the Iraqi soldiers. One frame of video captured the side view of a former Iraqi soldier known as Hussain Hashem Al-Hussaini. Alhussaini's picture, when overlaid with the government's profile sketch of John Doe 2, was arguably a perfect match. Alhussaini also fit the general physical description of the government's arrest warrant for the Oklahoma City bomber, including a tattoo on his upper left arm.
Hussain Alhussaini is likely an Iraqi Republican Guardsman
Colonel Patrick Lang, the former Chief of Human Intelligence for the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined Hussain Alhussaini's military tattoo indicated he likely served in Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard and was recruited into the elite Unit 999 of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Unit 999 is based in Salman Pak southeast of Baghdad and has been tasked with clandestine operations at home and overseas.
But the most incriminating evidence against the Iraqi soldier was the simple fact that his alleged alibi crumbled under scrutiny. Yet the critical link was still missing. There was no established connection between McVeigh, Nichols, Alhussaini, and his Iraqi cohorts.
Witnesses observe Alhussaini and McVeigh socializing in an Oklahoma City tavern
Then came the watershed breakthrough. On June 7, 1995, KFOR's private investigator and another reporter from the station located two eyewitnesses who independently identified the former Iraqi soldier, Hussain Alhussaini, from a photo lineup. Both were convinced he was the Middle Eastern individual they observed drinking beer with a very boisterous Timothy McVeigh in an Oklahoma City nightclub just four days before the bombing. This was no fleeting encounter. The witnesses were exposed to McVeigh and his soft-spoken friend, with distinct Middle Eastern accent, for at least three full hours.
KFOR management and legal counsel decided we had a moral obligation to report the story. At 6:00 PM that evening, the investigative report led the newscast. We carefully disguised the identities of the witnesses and the location of the establishment where the sighting occurred.
Four days later, on June 11, the tavern witness was stunned and terrified when Hussain Alhussaini returned to the nightclub. In 1998, during his civil deposition, Alhussaini volunteered he had, in fact, visited the bar after KFOR's story aired. He explained that a friend drove him to the rear entrance of the club and parked. At that moment, Alhussaini leaned forward in the passenger seat and peered inside the establishment through an open door. His testimony mirrored the story the witness told me in strict confidence regarding the encounter. She recalled how Alhussaini flashed her a threatening stare as he made eye contact with her. Most incriminating was the undisputed fact that KFOR-TV never publicly disclosed those details. The station's lawyers were the only parties who were given the information.
Three years later in a deposition, my lawyers showed our June 7, 1995 broadcast in its entirety on videotape in front of Hussain Alhussaini. At the end of the story, Channel 4's attorneys asked Alhussaini to point out how he knew the location of the bar where he had been identified socializing with Timothy McVeigh. Alhussaini was unable to provide an answer. KFOR chose not to disclose the name and address of the business in the report. Therefore, there was no reasonable explanation as to how Alhussaini could have returned to that location unless he was, in fact, the man with McVeigh on April 15, 1995.
The FBI interviewed a Chinese food deliveryman who brought an order to Timothy McVeigh's room at the Dreamland motel in Junction City, Kansas on the same day. However, the deliveryman testified during the bomber's federal trial that McVeigh was not in the room and did not receive the order. Therefore, there was no evidence that conflicted with the eyewitness accounts who placed McVeigh in Oklahoma City on the evening of April 15 with Hussain Alhussaini.
John Doe 2: a case of mistaken identity?
In mid-June of 1995, a week after KFOR unveiled the compelling testimony that McVeigh's mysterious co-conspirator could be an Iraqi national, the Department of Justice announced that John Doe 2 was a case of mistaken identity. Tom Kessinger, the mechanic at the Kansas body shop where McVeigh rented the bomb truck, admitted he was wrong about the bombing suspect. Kessinger confessed that he inadvertently described an innocent army private who visited the Ryder rental business the day after McVeigh.
The first two drawings of John Doe 2 were based upon the disavowed testimony of the body shop mechanic. However, according to published accounts, the FBI's third rendition of the suspect, which Hussain Alhussaini strongly resembled, was drafted from additional witness interviews. A downtown employee who worked near the federal complex signed an affidavit stating she spent eight hours with the FBI sketch artist who drew the man in profile. Therefore, the final illustration of John Doe 2 that was released on May 1, 1995 was not convincingly discredited.
Most significantly, the federal court record offered undeniable proof that the FBI did not rely solely upon the faulty recollection of the rental shop employee in Junction City, Kansas. The sketch artist's notes revealed that Tom Kessinger described McVeigh's alleged co-conspirator as a "heavy built" man of no less than "200 pounds." However, just hours later, when the FBI filed the official arrest warrant for the Oklahoma City bomber known only as John Doe 2, authorities dramatically departed from that description. Instead, the man who was now the target of the greatest international manhunt of the 20th Century was depicted as "175 to 180 pounds with a medium frame."
Twenty-five pounds lighter is a far cry from the original description of the suspect. The FBI obviously considered the testimonies of eyewitnesses in Oklahoma City near the crime scene more reliable. The FBI described the stories shared by those same people as credible during Timothy McVeigh's detention hearing just one week after the bombing.
...
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui met with the suspected mastermind of the attacks in late 2000 or early 2001 in Afghanistan, a top al-Qaida operative has told his interrogators, U.S. officials said.
Ramzi Binalshibh, a former aide to top al-Qaida operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, said Mohammed provided Moussaoui with contacts in the United States, said officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Moussaoui's friend gets prison term
A Norman man who came under federal investigation because of his friendship with accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison.
Majahid Abdulquaadir Menepta, 51, admitted to being a convicted felon in possession of firearms and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Russell.
However, Menepta's association with the accused terrorist during the general time period when Moussaoui was undergoing flight training in Norman is the reason Menepta came under suspicion.
Moussaoui was indicted in December on a federal charge of conspiring with Osama bin Laden, the 19 hijackers and others to carry out the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon in which more than 3,000 people were killed.
After Moussaoui's arrest, Menepta told The Oklahoman that he had seen Moussaoui daily at a Norman mosque, had shared meals with him and believed his friend was being made a "scapegoat."
Federal agents investigating the attacks arrested Menepta on a material witness warrant Oct. 11. During a search of his home, agents found a loaded Chinese military-style semiautomatic rifle, a 12- gauge shotgun and a loaded .380- caliber pistol, as well as knives and a bag of ammunition.
Menepta is prohibited from owning guns because he was convicted in 1971 in Colorado of a felony -- aggravated robbery. He spent more than three years in prison.
Menepta also was arrested in 1997 during a demonstration in St. Louis and was put on probation for carrying a concealed weapon.
Menepta was born in Missouri as Melvin Lattimore. He converted to Islam and changed his name in 1989.
An informant told the FBI in 1995 that Menepta was a violent individual who belonged to a radical Islamic group that hated the United States and talked of destroying government targets.
However, Susan Otto, Menepta's defense attorney, told Russell on Wednesday her client credits his conversion to Islam with turning his life around and "saving him from a life of bad behavior
Reporter: Kara Kaswell, News 4
November 7, 2001 7:44 PM
(KMOV) -- The FBI wants to know more about Mujahid Menepta's alleged ties to terrorism. Menepta is friends with an associate of Osama bin Laden who is considered to be the "20th hijacker" involved in the terrorists attacks. Menepta, who grew up in North St. Louis, was arrested in a federal roundup following the attacks. He is now charged with illegal possession of firearms.
(supposed to be a photo of Menepta here, but a photo of Moussaoui is inserted above Menepta's mame)
Mujahid Menepta (KMOV)
Menepta defends his friend who is accused of having ties to the hijackers and September 11 terrorist attacks. Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested after seeking pilot training to steer but not land jets. Menepta says his friend is no terrorist.
Days after a TV interview, Menepta, a St. Louis native who has a felony arrest record, was arrested for possessing three guns, including a semi-automatic pistol.
"They had a lot of questions, no doubt about that," says Chester Buchanan.
One of the pistols seized from Menepta was registered to Buchanan of St. Louis. He says the gun was stolen in August. Menepta told the FBI he bought the gun on the street in St. Louis for $125. The FBI questioned Buchanan about the gun.
"What they told me is that the gun was found with a man that might be connected to September 11 and the terrorists. I was stunned, I sure was," Buchanan says.
Menepta grew up Melvin Lattimore in a duplex on Maple in North St. Louis. He attended Soldan High School where he played football. In 1989, he converted to Islam and changed his name.
"I think it's unfair that the government has him in jail. It's a conspiracy on the government's part," says Leon Lattimore, Menepta's brother.
Lattimore says Menepta often prayed at a storefront mosque on Geraldine in North St. Louis and he adds that his brother's religion does not advocate violence and that Menepta is definitely no terrorist.
"I think they are jumping to conclusions. My brother is terrorist nothing," Lattimore says.
Wednesday, a federal court denied bond to Menepta. Instead, they want to further investigate his possible ties to terrorists. He roomed with Moussaoui, who has been linked to the hijackers. An FBI agent also said Wednesday in court that North St. Louis mosque where he worshipped did at one time stockpile weapons.
According to the news reports, one of Moussaoui's primary contacts in the U.S. was Mujahid Menepta, formerly Melvin Lattimore.
Abu Zubaydah, the highest-ranking al-Qaida leader now in custody, has told American officials that Mohammed was the brains behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the first Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the failed 1995 "Bojinka" plot in Manila.
.....................................................
Mohammed used other names: Salim Ali, Ashrai Refaat, Nabith Renin, Khalid Abdul Waddod and Fahd Bin Abdullah Bin Khalid, maybe a dozen pseudonyms in all. He isn't a Saudi or Qatari businessman, as he claimed in Manila, but a Kuwaiti-born and U.S.-educated Pakistani with a vast network of contacts and covers.
CONSPIRACY TO KILL NATIONALS OF THE UNITED STATES KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED
The American people haved paid the price in blood for the right to know where in the United States was KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED educated
Please join me and write your Congressman and request to know where the Mastermind of the September 11 attack was educated in the United States.
The perfidy of the Stain in covering up this act of terrorism and trying to blame it on the white militia for relatively minor political advantage is one of the most obscene acts every taken by a politician, and politicians throughout history have been really skillful at commiting obscene acts.
I think THIS (along with 9/11) is what the coming Gulf War II is really all about. Tracking down 9/11 has seen the evil creatures hiding under the rock and network of evil sounds like it is both extensive and well entrenched. It will not come out so easily so we need to be both patient and resolute.
The quality of the work of Jayna Davis presented in this thread speaks for itself.
The American people are indebted to Jayna Davis, Charles Key and The Oklahoma Bombing Investgation Committee, Patrick Briley and the many others that have worked tirelessly to bring us the truth about the April 19, 1995 attack on us all.
Charles Key:
"It is our belief that the bombing in Oklahoma City will not be the last terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Since all of the perpetrators have not been caught, they are still free to continue their work. This will happen again."
TRANSCRIPT OF CALL
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“C:” is the man calling the eyewitness, “W:”
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C: ---- which would allow McVeigh to get away, and then arrest him later on. I don’t think they expected the truck to blow up.
I believed, and I’ve believed this for a long time --- I believe that number two, John Doe #2 , was a Federal agent working undercover. And I believe that he helped McVeigh steal the goods and helped buy the equipment, and I believe that he helped McVeigh make the bomb, and I believe his whole task in this whole thing, his only real task was to render the device safe so that the Federal agents could pretend to remove it and move in. They did not want to move in until he was cleared of the scene so that they wouldn’t tip their hands. See what I’m saying?
And the odds are pretty good the whole reason behind that is because they were after someone bigger than McVeigh which means they probably think he was linked to somebody in the militia movement or something like that.
So I think what you’re saying. You know I understand what you’re saying. But I don’t think you see the big picture. I don’t think that you know
I’d only divulge a look at the big picture if that’s the actual scenario. If that’s the actual scenario, which I believe it to be, I think there really is no claim that the agent, that was John Doe #2, did not render the bomb safe. Which he very well may have rendered the bomb safe, and then McVeigh may have put in a second fail-safe which he didn’t know about. Which is probably what’s happened.
Because if they knew the truck was loaded with bombs, and they’d go off, they would have evacuated the building. The only reason they wouldn’t have, was if they had prior knowledge that the bombs were rendered safe. Which is probably the situation here.
W: Uh. Okay
C: I would bet money on that’s, in fact, the way this whole thing came down. Yes they stood out in front of the building. Yes, they followed him directly to the building. Yes, they watched him get out of the building, get out of the truck . Yes, they watched him drive off. That’s not --- that was their plan. I don’t believe they ever planned to apprehend him anywhere near the building.
I believe that John Doe #2 was a Federal witness. His job was to render the device safe. Therefore, the only thing sitting out in front of that building was a bomb, a truck loaded with a bomb that would not go off. And I think that’s the situation. In fact I know it is.
W: Okay. So why didn’t they just come out and explain that to everybody?
C: Public does not have to know that. When it comes to the national security and things like this, the public does not know, the public is not required to know.
First of all, by doing that, they wouldn’t have, uh, put their witness, which is the Federal agent John Doe #2, they would have blown his cover, first of all. Which possibly he’s involved in something right now that you have no idea about.
You know there very well may have been numerous plots involving numerous buildings. See what I’m saying? You don’t have the whole picture, without full knowledge, and what you do may cost them their lives. You should be very aware
W: Okay. Well, that’s what I’ve being trying to be very careful of. I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt. At the same time
C: Well, if that guy’s cover’s been blown, he’s dead already.
W: Do you think so?
C: Sure. I’m sure. Once you have gone up to this point, it has gotten out, which I’m sure it has, because there are moles every where . The chances are good that he’s been terminated already and this whole thing has blown up in their face. I don’t believe that, out of an act of negligence, these highly trained professionals would have allowed that man to leave that truck out in front of that building with it’s live bomb in it.
W: No, no, no. It stood out there for the whole time, from the time it pulled up until that went off.
C: That’s what I’m saying. They would not have allowed it. The only reason they allowed that truck to sit there so long, is because in my opinion they were under the impression that that bomb was rendered safe. And I’d say that there was no rush, there was no reason to evacuate the building. There was no rush to make an arrest. The truck was just going to sit out there until they went and towed it off.
So I don’t think they thought it was an emergency and I think either that John Doe #2 made a mistake in rendering the bomb safe, or McVeigh was smart enough to plant a second fail-safe, which most bomb makers do.
W: Do you think that’s why they didn’t tell anybody?
C: No
W: Well
C: Exactly, the bomb was safe as far as they knew.
W: Okay. Well, that explains why there was so many of them there so fast.
C: Exactly. They followed him to the building, their agent was in the truck with him when they followed him to the building, every thing was under control, so far as they thought. As far as they thought, all they had was the man who built the bomb that was going to go off, because the agent rendered it safe. And their whole thing was not a problem. Let him drive his truck right in front of his target, allowed him to drive off.
Once he drives off, he renders the truck safe . And then we can have the chauffeur arrested on the interstate for bogus charges, which they did. And this was all planned out one hundred percent. I, I don’t believe they allowed that truck
W: You don’t think they intentionally let the bomb go off ?
C: No, that’s right. I’ll never believe that.
W: Well, I mean, that’s the only thing about this that I found so hard to believe.
C: They, they thought the bomb was safe. They thought their agent, who was in the truck and who helped prepare the bomb, would set it so it would not go off. Now, whether McVeigh went back to the truck, where the agent did not know, and put a second fail safe? The agent made a mistake and did not actually render the bomb safe like he was supposed to. That’s what’s going on here.
W: Well, see, that’s it then. I wanted someone that would be able to tell us for a fact if this was like, deliberate or not. You know what I’m saying?
C: I’m not going to tell you that. Let me tell you something. I’m sure they had --- everything was under surveillance, under surveillance there. So I’m sure they do have audio tapes of them saying, Let them go, let them go. Wait, wait, there was no rush in their mind. In their mind, there was no rush to get that truck away from that building. Because that building, that bomb, was not supposed to go off.
Therefore, every thing they did fits, if you think about it. They followed it, they allowed it to drive up there knowing that there was a bomb in the truck. Their idea was to let John Doe #2, the Federal agent --- And they would be able to use him in further investigations of these bombings, of these groups that are in militia groups. And this was a perfect entry in, because he could have went through there.
After McVeigh was arrested, John Doe #2 would have become a hero to the cause of the militias. And the militias would have taken him in and hid him, which would have made him part of the infrastructure of the militias. Which is what their goal was for this whole thing, was to bust the militias.
If you take the big picture, and look at the big picture, there were very few mistakes made on this sting operation. With the exception that John Doe #2, the Federal agent, did not render the bomb safe. Just think of it this way, (name of W: spoken)
W: I’ve always been a big fan of the United States and that, but then I’ve always been --- this was the one thing that bothered me.
C: They didn’t let this building fall intentionally. Their opinion was that this bomb was rendered safe and this bomb would not go off. And their whole thing on this thing, if you think about it, makes sense from a tactical standpoint. You would follow the truck to the building. You allow your lead suspect to get away clean. Okay? Then you set up a deal where you take the truck away from the building because it didn’t blow up because it’s not supposed to.
You take John Doe #2. He gets away, which is your Federal agent. John Doe #1, McVeigh is arrested on a bogus charge and then later proven that he’s the one who planted the bomb that did not go off.
W: But you honestly don’t think that they really intended
C: Not at all. Not at all. They would not have . No.
W: Okay. Well see that was the only thing. Because, see I’d heard from the very beginning that they intended for the building to blow up.
C: These are dedicated professionals. I don’t believe that.
W: Oh well, see, all I’ve been wanting to hear is just someone to tell me that was an accident.
C: Basically, what happened is, this was a mistake. Someone screwed up and the only one that screwed --- the agents on the scene. They didn’t screw up. They did exactly what their orders were. Wait, allow the suspect to leave the scene. Once the suspect has left the scene, then render the truck safe., which is already safe. All they have to do is get in, give a hot-wire, and drive it off to a safe location and then open up the back and disarm the bomb, which was supposedly rendered safe to begin with. Okay?
W: Yeah, okay.
C: And then from there they charge in. See the plan? They allow John Doe #2 --- This plan was put in motion before the bomb ever went off. Their intent was to allow McVeigh to be arrested later on. John Doe #2 to get away. And then John Doe#2 --- the Federal government would have released a sketch or picture. And then, that man would have had to go underground and hide.
Where would he hide? He would have hid with the militias. The militias would take him in as a hero. The militias would give him hero status in the militia movement, which would allow him to be privy to information that the government could use later on.
W: Yeah, and it also could keep other people from being blown up, too.
C: That’s exactly correct.
W: That makes a lot more sense than anything I’ve ever heard.
C: I mean, if you think about it all --- and I know how these agents in these types of scenarios
W: But I hope you understand why, you know, well, because someone explain to me what had happened, you know, and I just couldn’t help but feel like, you know, that --- because I heard from these radical groups that they let the building blow up.
C: No. They did not want that building to blow up. I guarantee you this, their whole intent was that that bomb was rendered safe before it was ever parked in front of that ---- first available emergency --- otherwise, they would have quietly
W: Got everybody out of the building?
C: Got everybody out of the building, before the bomb ever being pulled up in front of the building. There was no reason for them to do that, because according to their plan, the bomb was safe now. There was no reason to evacuate the building and the panic --- because there was a truck loaded with a bomb that was not going to blow up.
W: Yeah, because it was just ammonium nitrate, right? And we have ammonium nitrate all over town.
C: Exactly. And their whole thing was John Doe #2, who helped him to build this bomb, was a Federal witness, a Federal agent. In his job, I’m sure he is a trained explosives expert. His job was to render the device safe. But something happened and there was a mistake made. Either he did not --- Either he thought he had rendered it safe and he did not, or he rendered it safe and later on after it was rendered safe, McVeigh went back to the truck and set a second time. Which is probably what’s happened.
W: Okay.
C: See what I’m saying? And John Doe #2
W: Why didn’t you talk to me about this a long time ago?
C: Well, I didn’t know that you’d be able to get this far with it. By going this far with it --- Let me explain something to you. Your actions have consequences. There are a lot of witnesses, there are a lot of agents right now in the hills that are infiltrating these militia groups and
W: Uh, huh. I will shut up. I will put a stop to it.
C: All these people will get killed. Their blood will be on your hands. I understand that you want --- If I really thought that the government allowed the building to blow up, I would be with you one hundred per cent. But I know
W: Okay. I give you my word. I will drop it right now. If you believe that (a man’s first name is spoken) --- Okay. If you believe it, then I’ll drop it right now.
C: I’ll just say that I appreciate your saying that. And I believe that’s the truth. They were horrified when the bomb went off, really horrified.
W: Yeah, they all looked like they were in shock.
C: They figured as soon as McVeigh got free, as soon as he got --- drove off his car --- And I’ll tell you another thing they did --- big deal. They did his car. You know what they did?
W: What?
C: They stole his license plate off that car. You know why?
W: Why?
C: So that they’d have probable cause to stop him on the interstate.
W: Oh. Okay.
C: They stole his plate. Why do you think the plate was never found? His plate was stolen from the vehicle and the Federal government stole the plate from the vehicle. So that he would be arrested, John Do #2 would go free, they would put a sketch out that would make him like “America’s Most Wanted.”
The only place that a man that would be wanted by the government can hide would be to be hid by the militia groups inside their infrastructure.
But once he infiltrates the infrastructure, and he’s in --- All of a sudden he’s a hero. And right now you know, these groups probably believe that they have John Doe#2 and that they’re hiding him from the government and they’re doing the patriotic thing. And they believe that the building should have blown up.
So they’re holding him. Now this man’s privy to all kinds of information about future bombings, which we don’t even know about how many bombs they have stopped because of the agents
W: Okay.
C: How many lives have been saved because that agent’s now in the militia? And, if this comes to light
W: Okay. Okay, let me. I’ll tell you what. Let me, let me cancel the meeting for tomorrow. Okay. Let me do it right now, let me do it right now, while I think of it.
C: Is it awkward?
W: No, no, no, no. Listen, you’re the only one that’s sat down and talked to me that made any sense. Cause up until now, I, I , I
C: Does it not make perfect sense?
W: Yes, it does. But let me stop it right now.
C: It makes perfect sense to me.
W: Okay. Let me stop it right now.
C: If I was the one who made the command decisions on it, that’s exactly how I would have handled it.
W: Okay. Well, let me stop it right now. Okay? Bye
After McVeigh was arrested, John Doe #2 would have become a hero to the cause of the militias. And the militias would have taken him in and hid him, which would have made him part of the infrastructure of the militias. Which is what their goal was for this whole thing, was to bust the militias.
The only problem with (C)'s scenario is that John Doe #2 was a member of the terrorist network that attacked us on September 11, in my opinion.
Note to self. Must get a Koran to step on.
absolutely riviting! when can we expect the sequel?
AFFIDAVTIT
I, HENRY C. GIBBONS, being duly sworn, do hereby state that I am an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, having been so employed for 26 years and as such am vested with the authority to investigate violations of federal laws, including Title 18, United States Code.
Further, the Affiant states as follows:
1. The following information has been received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 19-20, 1995.
2. On April 15, 1995, a powerful explosive device detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at approximately 9:00 a.m.
3. On April 19, 1995, a Special Agent of the FBI received information that a witness near the scene of the explosion saw to individuals running from the area of the Federal Building toward a brown Chevrolet truck prior to the explosion. The individuals were described as males, of possible Middle Eastern descent, approximately 6 feet tall, with athletic builds . One of the persons was further described as approximately 25-28 years old, having dark hair and a beard. The. second person was described as approximately 35-38 years old, with dark hair and a dark beard with gray in it. The second person was further described as wearing jogging pants, a black shirt and a black jogging jacket. A third person, not further identified, was believed to be in the brown Chevrolet truck.
4. At approximately 10;O a.m. on April 19, l995, an American Airlines flight left Oklahoma City en route to Chicago, Illinois. Aboard that flight was Abraham Abdallah Ahmed. Ahmed was scheduled to fly from Chicago to Rome, Italy and finally to Jordan.
5. American Airlines personnel-in Oklahoma City observed Ahmed prior to the flight and thought he was "acting nervous." They called the American Airlines national security office in Dallas, Texas, who in turned notified the Chicago office of the FBI.
6. Ahmed was interviewed by FBI Agent Chuck Miller upon his arrival in Chicago at about 12:30 p.m. Ahmed stated that he was travelling to Jordan to discuss his father's planned marriage. He also advised that he was born in Jordan but, was a naturalized United States citizen. He also said he was not scheduled to return to the United States until July 1595. Ahmed was observed to be approximately 5' 8" tall, weighing approximately 140 pounds, and wearing a moustache. His date of birth is July is, 1963.
7. The luggage of Ahmed continued on the connecting flight from Chicago to Home, Italy, while Ahmed remained in Chicago. The luggage was searched in Rome by Italian officials who discovered, inter alia: (a) multiple car radios (b) a substantial quantity of shielded and unshielded wire; (c) a small tool kit and other tools, consistent with use for both explosive devices and normal electronic repair or installation; (d) blue jogging pants and a blue jogging jacket with a floral pattern around the neck; (e) black sweatpants; (f) video cassette recorder; and (g) solder.
8. At the conclusion of the interview, Ahmed secured passage on a flight to London, England.
9. On April 20, 1335, British authorities informed the FBI Command Center in Washington, D.C., that they detained Ahmed in London and have determined that he is ineligible far entry into or transit through England and will be returned to the United States. Ahmed is expected to arrive at Washington-Dulles international Airport at 7:25 p.m. on April 20, 1995.
10. Based on the proximity in time of Ahmed's flight from Oklahoma City following the explosion to a destination outside the country, and his possession of multiple car radios, the wire, tool kit and tools, a blue jogging suit and black sweatpants, the testimony of Ahmed is required before a Federal Grand Jury investigating the April 19, 1995 explosion in Oklahoma City.
11. Ahmed's demonstrated intent to leave the country indicates that his testimony cannot be secured through the issuance of a subpoena.
Further your affiant sayeth not.
(signed)
HENRY C. GIBBONS
Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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