Posted on 02/26/2003 9:24:42 AM PST by kabar
Spin it anyway you like, Iraq and their Anthrax produiction (a FACT, not conjecture) provides *lovely* cover for Hatfill, and, I don't fault Powell ONE BIT for using it as FURTHER leverage to get UN (or US) cooperation in taking Iraq to task for their continued threatenting actions.
Futhermore, I think Hatfill did it for the purpose of showing *how vulberable* we are.
Liken it akin to the several Fire Inspectors we've seen in recent years who turned out to be fire bugs in their respective towns if you will ...
On January 8, 1998, Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on terrorism charges relating to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb U.S. passenger airlines in the Far East. While we have no specific information of a threat, the potential exists for retaliation by Yousef's sympathizers against American interests. United States Government installations abroad have been instructed to review their security precautions. American citizens traveling abroad should pay close attention to their personal security practices in light of the potential threat.
This replaces the Public Announcement of November 12, 1997 and expires April 7, 1998.
His "Kuwaiti" "uncle," "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."
And guess who is the acknowledged author of 9/11?
"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."
And the reason we all have all heard the name "Osama bin Laden" thousands of times over the last year and half, but most people have never even heard of "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed" is...?
But what about all those al-Qaeda proxies, untraceable to Iraq, giving him deniability?
Even ignoring that, this can't go on forever. Saddam isn't going to just sit and wait for us to blunt the effectiveness of his deterrent, since at that point he's finished. From his perspective, he must take action some time before we finish bringing our civil defenses up to speed.
This is very much a game of chicken that the U.S. and Iraq are playing. There's a big advantage to both sides in waiting -- as long as you don't wait so long that the other side moves first.
If you think through both sides' strategies, we're in an unstable equilibrium; it may last for a long time, but it will shatter suddenly one day. One of the sides will take action the moment it thinks the other side is about to take action.
There is a lot of war talk these days. There is a lot of preparation for war. But it is clear that neither side is in any rush for the actual fighting.
Mylroie's view has been endorsed by former Clinton CIA Director R. James Woolsey. Her book, which was devoted entirely to the Yousef-Iraq connection, and which was the only book to predict 9/11 and the intelligence failures which accompanied it, was lavishly praised by Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, William F. Buckley, Vincent Cannistraro, the WSJ, and the Washington Post.
According to CBS News, five hours after the WTC was hit on 9/11, Rumsfeld was directing his staff to draw up plans to strike Iraq. According to Bob Woodward's Bush at War, George W. Bush has always assumed Saddam was the most likely author of 9/11.
Which takes us back to the acknowledged organizer of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ("KSM"), and the curious near-blackout on discussion of this figure in the media. The media isn't talking about KSM because the government isn't talking about KSM. Why isn't the government talking about KSM? This is all the more remarkable since KSM has been subject to a sealed indictment since the 1990s, probably related to his authorship with Yousef of Project Bojinka, an obvious prototype for 9/11. All the more remarkable since he supposedly studied engineering in North Carolina for several years during the 1980s -- although, conveniently, no photographs of KSM from those days are available. It's remarkable, too, that it took more than a year for that tidbit about the organizer of 9/11 having lived and studied in the US to make it into print, even after he destroyed the WTC and smashed an airliner into the Pentagon. One would think this aspect of his past would be at least as newsworthy as the ventilation system in Osama bin Laden's non-existent mountain fortress.
KSM and Yousef/Basit both have many identities, supported by forged paperwork: KSM is said to have used at least 32 identities. The dynamic duo emerged out of South East Asia a couple of years after the Gulf War. Curiously enough, in the run-up to Desert Storm, we know Iraq assembled terrorist hit teams using agents with false identities operating out of South East Asia expressly for the purpose of intimidating coalition members. The conventional wisdom is that KSM and Yousef are uncle and nephew, and that they are Kuwaitis. They both studied engineering in the West: KSM in the United States, Yousef/Basit in the UK. Very likely the visa history from those student days was useful in affording them them freedom of movement during their subsequent terroristic careers. According to government records in Kuwait, their family left the country for Pakistan during the Iraqi occupation. No one seems to be able to locate any living members of their family. How convenient!
There's a reason we're not being told much about KSM. It's the same reason we are not getting told what really happened in Prague between Mr. Atta and Mr. al-Ani. It's the same reason we are being fed a cover story about the anthrax. Can you think what the reason might be?
No, Iraq will just hunker down and hope that Bush blinks, just as it did in 1991, with partial success. Saddam has no military moves that can further his survival at this point. Which doesn't mean he's in a weak position. It just means there is no rational basis for him to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Funny statement. By your own admission, I have been proven right while the chestbeaters have time and again ended up with egg on their faces. Seems like I'm not the one who has some 'splainin to do, doesn't it?
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