9/11 and the War on Terrorism

[Guest guest]

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO409D.html

 

9/11 and the " War on Terrorism "

 

With links to selected articles and essays

 

by Michel Chossudovsky

 

 

" Millions of people have been misled regarding the

causes and consequences of September 11.

 

When people across the US and around the World

find out that Al Qaeda is not an outside enemy but a creation of US

foreign policy and the CIA, the legitimacy of the bipartisan war

agenda will tumble like a deck of cards. " (Michel Chossudovsky, War

and Globalization, The Truth behind September 11, 2002)

 

 

Global Research E-Monograph and Reports Series, No. 1, 2004

 

Copyright Michel Chossudovsky and the Centre for Research on

Globalization 2004. .

 

See complete copyright note at the end of the page

 

 

Preface

 

 

As the election campaign unfolds, the " war on terrorism " has

become the main if not the sole election issue. Ironically, Osama bin

Laden has become a central figure of the election debate.

 

Whatever it takes " … said President Bush:

 

" [We will] fight the terrorists across the Earth, not for

pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. "

 

Senator Kerry has promised to do even better:

 

" As President, I will fight a smarter, more effective war

on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal: our economic as

well as our military might; our principles as well as our firepower. "

 

In other words, the tragic events of 9/11 are being used by both

political parties to galvanize public opinion in support of America's

war agenda.

 

9/11 is being used as a justification to wage a pre-emptive war

against " rogue states " and Islamic terrorists, which are " threatening

the security of Homeland " .

 

Meanwhile, the " war on terrorism " has diverted attention from all

other issues, including the militarization of America and a looming

social and economic crisis, marked by rising levels of poverty and

unemployment.

 

Across the land, the image of an " outside enemy " is instilled in

the consciousness of Americans. Al Qaeda is threatening America and

the world. The repeal of democracy under the Patriot legislation is

portrayed as a means to providing " domestic security " and upholding

civil liberties.

 

The Big Lie

 

This evolving bipartisan consensus is based on a lie. Confirmed by

congressional transcripts, intelligence and news reports, this

illusive outside enemy is a creation of the US intelligence apparatus.

 

The enemy of America is " Made in America " . This is an inescapable

fact.

 

The " Islamic Militant Network " (the forerunner of Osama bin

Laden's Al Qaeda), was created and sustained by the CIA. CIA-sponsored

guerrilla training in Afghanistan and Pakistan were integrated with

the teachings of Islam. The madrasas were set up by Wahabi

fundamentalists financed out of Saudi Arabia, with the support of

Washington.

 

The Reagan, Bush senior and Clinton administrations actively

supported the Islamic brigades during the Soviet-Afghan war and its

aftermath. The Taliban were the " graduates " of the CIA sponsored

madrasas. They would not have been able to form a government, had it

not been for US military aid, channeled through Pakistan.

 

Confirmed by official congressional documents, US support to Al

Qaeda continued after the Cold war.

 

Ironically, during the Clinton administration, it was the

Republicans who were accusing Bill Clinton of having links to the

Islamic Militant Network in Bosnia and Kosovo. A 1997 document

emanating from the House Republican Party Committee entitled

" Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into

Militant Islamic Base " , accused Clinton of working hand in glove with

Al Qaeda in Bosnia:

 

" The Clinton administration's hands-on involvement with

the Islamic network's arms pipeline included inspections of missiles

from Iran by U.S. government officials... [T]he Third World Relief

Agency (TWRA), a Sudan-based, phoney humanitarian organization ... has

been a major link in the arms pipeline to Bosnia... TWRA is believed

to be connected with such fixtures of the Islamic terror network as

Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the convicted mastermind behind the 1993

World Trade Centre bombing) and Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi

émigré believed to bankroll numerous militant groups. " (Congressional

Press Release, Republican Party Committee (RPC), U.S. Congress,

Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into Militant

Islamic Base, Washington DC, 16 January 1997, available on the website

of the Centre of Research on Globalisation (CRG) at

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html .

 

Needless to say these Congressional documents, while revealing the

outright lies behind US foreign policy, were not meant to be read by

the broader public.

 

US Support to Al Qaeda (1999-2001)

 

US and NATO support to Al Qaeda continued during the wars in

Kosovo (1999) and Macedonia (2001). Three weeks before 9/11, the US

government and the " Islamic Militant Network " were working hand in

glove in supporting and financing the self-proclaimed National

Liberation Army (NLA), involved in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia.

US military advisers mingle with Mujahideen within the same

paramilitary force, Western mercenaries from NATO countries fight

alongside Mujahideen recruited in the Middle East and Central Asia.

And the US media calls this a " blowback " where so-called " intelligence

assets " have gone against their sponsors!

 

Needless to say, the Republicans and the Democrats are complicit.

They accuse one another of having links to Al Qaeda. Yet successive

Democratic and Republican administrations have been involved from the

outset of the Soviet Afghan war in 1979 in developing and sustaining

Al Qaeda as a US sponsored " intelligence asset " .

 

In other words, if the Democrats were to win the 2004 presidential

elections, continuity in US foreign policy would be maintained. More

importantly, the " war on terrorism " and the lies concerning Al Qaeda

and 9/11 would also be maintained.

 

The 9/11 Commission Report

 

The 9/11 Commission Report is devoid of a historical perspective.

While it provides all the appearances of a constructive critique of

the US government, it serves to uphold the myth of an outside enemy.

 

Following the publication of the 9/11 Commission Report, the

unfolding consensus is there were " intelligence failures. " They knew

but failed to act " .

 

This line of reasoning is appealing to many 9/11 critics and

Democrats, because it tends to place the blame on the Bush

administration. Yet in a bitter irony, the very process of expressing

public outrage on the failures of senior Bush officials in waging an

effective " war on terrorism " , the Report has contributed to

reinforcing the myth of the " outside enemy " , which is being used to

justify the largest military build-up since the Vietnam war.

 

The foreknowledge issue is an obvious red herring. It serves to

present Al Qaeda as a threat, as an " outside enemy " , when in fact Al

Qaeda is a creation of the US intelligence apparatus.

 

Both the 9/11 Commission Report and the earlier Joint Senate-House

Inquiry constitute a cover-up. The function of these reports is to

destroy the historical record of US covert support to internationalism

terrorism, while creating the illusion that America and " Western

Civilization " are threatened. In turn, the various terrorist warnings

and code orange alerts have created, across America, an atmosphere of

fear and intimidation.

 

Refuting the Myth of the Outside Enemy

 

In response to the 9/11 Commission Report, we bring to the

attention of our readers a compilation of articles on 9/11 and the

" war on terrorism " .

 

This collection includes most of my recent writings on 9/11,

together with a few of earlier texts written the immediate wake of

September 11 2001.

 

The material contained in this collection will eventually be the

object of a full-length book, as a sequel to my earlier book entitled

War and Globalization, the Truth behind September 11.

 

However, in view of the urgency and the need to inform public

opinion, at this critical juncture in our history, we decided to bring

this collection out in the context of The CRG's E-Reports and

Monograph Series.

 

The Table of Contents provided below provides a link to key

articles on different aspects of 9/11 and the war on terrorism.

 

It does not, however, purport to provide an exhaustive review of

9/11 issues. Its main objective is to refute the myth of " the outside

enemy " , which has served as a justification for war and the repeal of

civil liberties.

 

 

 

Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), 8

September 2004

 

 

Table of Contents

 

I OVERVIEW

 

1. " The Big Lie "

 

The presumption is that these forewarnings and

intelligence briefs emanating from the intelligence establishment

constitute a true and unbiased representation of the terrorist threat.

 

Meanwhile, the history of Al Qaeda and the CIA has been

shoved to the background. The fact that successive US governments

since the Soviet-Afghan war have supported and abetted the Islamic

terror network is no longer mentioned, for obvious reasons. It would

break the consensus regarding Al Qaeda as the outside enemy of

America, which is a crucial building block of the entire National

Security doctrine.

 

2. America's War for Global Domination

 

We are the juncture of the most serious crisis in modern

history.

 

The Bush Administration has embarked upon a military

adventure which threatens the future of humanity.

 

The wars on Afghanistan and Iraq are part of a broader

military agenda, which was launched at the end of the Cold War. The

ongoing war agenda is a continuation of the 1991 Gulf War and the NATO

led wars on Yugoslavia (1991-2001).

 

 

II FABRICATING AN OUTSIDE ENEMY

 

3. Who Is Osama Bin Laden?

 

Prime suspect in the New York and Washington terrorists

attacks, branded by the FBI as an " international terrorist " for his

role in the African US embassy bombings, Saudi born Osama bin Laden

was recruited during the Soviet-Afghan war " ironically under the

auspices of the CIA, to fight Soviet invaders " .

 

4. Historical Roots of Al Qaeda

 

Rarely mentioned in 9/11 news reports, the " Islamic

Militant Network " was created during Jimmy Carter's presidency

(1976-1981). In July 1979, Carter signed a presidential directive to

launch a secret plan in support of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Confirmed by former CIA director, Robert Gates, in his book, From the

Shadows, this " secret plan " was instrumental in triggering the

Soviet-Afghan war.

 

5. Where was Osama bin Laden on 9/11? Bush Administration knew the

Whereabouts of Osama

 

According to CBS News, Osama had been admitted to a

Pakistani military hospital on September 10, courtesy of America's

ally. In all likelihood he was still in hospital in Rawalpindi on the

11th of September, when the attacks occurred.

 

6. " Osamagate "

 

Three weeks before 9/11, the US government and the

" Islamic Militant Network " were working hand in glove in supporting

and financing the self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA),

involved in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia. US military advisers

mingle with Mujahideen within the same paramilitary force, Western

mercenaries from NATO countries fight alongside Mujahideen recruited

in the Middle East and Central Asia. And the US media calls this a

" blowback " where so-called " intelligence assets " have gone against

their sponsors!

 

7. Who is behind the " Terrorist Network " in Northern Iraq ,

 

Sec. Colin Powell accused Baghdad of supporting Ansar

al-Islam, a " deadly terrorist network " based in the ethnic Kurd

controlled region of Northern Iraq

 

8. Iraq and the " War on Terrorism "

 

The Bush administration desperately needs the " war on

terrorism " as a justification for the killings of civilians in Iraq,

which it describes as " collateral damage " .

 

9. The Pentagon's new terrorist mastermind: Who is Abu Musab

Al-Zarqawi?

 

To reach its foreign policy objectives, the images of

terrorism must remain vivid in the minds of the citizens, who are

constantly reminded of the terrorist threat.

 

The " war on terrorism " rests on the creation of one or

more evil bogeymen, the terror leaders, Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab

Al-Zarqawi, et al, whose names and photos are presented ad nauseam in

daily news reports.

 

10. The Pentagon's Diabolical Intelligence Operation in

Afghanistan: Kidnapping and deporting civilians to Guantanamo,

providing a safe-haven to Al Qaeda fighters,

 

Al Qaeda fighters and their senior Pakistani advisers were

" saved " on the orders of Donald Rumsfeld. Meanwhile, also on the

orders of the Secretary of Defense, innocent civilians who had no

relationship whatsoever to the war theater were categorized as " enemy

combatants " , kidnapped, interrogated and sent to Guantanamo.

 

11. Pentagon Simulated a Scenario of an actual Terrorist Attack 10

months before 9/11, June 2004

 

In October 2000, a military exercise was conducted which

consisted in establishing the scenario of a simulated passenger plane

crashing into the Pentagon.

 

 

III COVER-UP AND COMPLICITY

 

12. Cover-up or Complicity of the Bush Administration? The Role of

Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks

 

Pakistan's chief spy Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad " was in the

US when the attacks occurred. " He arrived in the US on the 4th of

September, a full week before the attacks. He had meetings at the

State Department " after " the attacks on the WTC. But he also had " a

regular visit of consultations " with his US counterparts at the CIA

and the Pentagon during the week prior to September 11.

 

13. 9/09/01: Shah Masood, leader of the Northern Alliance

assassinated two days before 9/11,

 

It happened two days before the 9/11 attacks on the WTC

and the Pentagon. Masood died from wounds suffered in the suicide

attack on the Saturday (9/15) following 9/11.

 

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the killing of

Ahmad Shah Masood was barely mentioned. The broad media consensus was

that the two events (9/9 and 9/11) were totally unrelated.

 

14. The 9/11 Joint Inquiry chairmen in " conflict of interest " :

Mysterious September 11 Breakfast Meeting on Capitol Hill,

 

On the morning of September 11, the three lawmakers Bob

Graham, Porter Goss and Jon Kyl (who were part of the Congressional

delegation to Pakistan) were having breakfast on Capitol Hill with

General Ahmad, the alleged " money-man " behind the 9-11 hijackers

 

15. Expose the Links between Al Qaeda and the Bush Adminstration,

 

The relationship of the Bush Administration to

international terrorism indelibly points to the criminalisation of the

upper echelons of US State apparatus. Let's use this information to

dismantle the Bush Administration's war plans. Sensitize our fellow

citizens. Expose the " dubious links. " Because when the truth trickles

down, the leaders' war plans will not have a shred of legitimacy in

the eyes of millions of Americans who believe that Al Qaeda is " A

Threat to America " and that their president is committed to their

security.

 

16. White House Nominee to Head the CIA has Dubious Links to the

Terror Network

 

Two weeks before 9/11, Porter Goss, the White House

nominee for the CIA Director of Intelligence was being " briefed on the

growing threat of al Qaeda " (WP, 5/04/03) by a Pakistani General who

" ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the

Taliban. " (WP, 5/18/02)

 

 

IV WAR PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA DISINFORMATION

 

17 War Propaganda

 

The blatant distortion of the truth and the systematic

manipulation of all sources of information is an integral part of war

planning. In the wake of 9/11, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

created to the Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), or " Office of

Disinformation " as it was labeled by its critics:

 

18. Fabricating an Enemy

 

One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to

«fabricate an enemy» . As anti-war sentiment grows and the political

legitimacy the Bush Administration falters, doubts regarding the

existence of this " outside enemy " must be dispelled.

 

19. The US Nuclear Option and the " War on Terrorism "

 

The multilateral safeguards of the Cold War era with

regard to the production and use of nuclear weapons have been scrapped.

 

While Al Qaeda is presented to public opinion as

constituting a nuclear threat, the US Senate has provided a " green

light " to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in conventional war

theaters against " rogue states " and terrorist organizations.

 

According to the Pentagon, these weapons are " harmless to

civilians " .

 

 

V BOGUS TERROR ALERTS

 

20. The Criminalization of the State,

 

The " Criminalization of the State " , is when war criminals

legitimately occupy positions of authority, which enable them to

decide " who are the criminals " , when in fact they are the criminals

 

21 Bush Administration " Guidelines " for Postponing or Canceling

the November Presidential Elections,

 

Concurrent with Homeland Security's statement regarding

the possibility of a large scale " 9/11 type attack " , EAC director

DeForest B. Soaries , a Bush appointee, has hinted to the need for:

" establishing guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if

terrorists strike the United States again " .

 

22. The Count Down to Martial Law: Coup d'Etat in America?

 

An Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack has been

contemplated as a " trigger mechanism " for carrying out a Coup d'Etat.

Whether it is going to be carried out is another matter. The

statements of the Bush administration regarding the possibility of a

red code alert must, nonetheless, be taken seriously.

 

The coded terror alerts and " terror events " which have

been announced by Department of Homeland Security are part of a

disinformation campaign carried out by the CIA, the Pentagon, the

State Department and Homeland Security. US intelligence is not only

involved in creating phony terror warnings, it is also firmly behind

the terror groups, providing them with covert support

 

23. CIA warns of " New 9/11 " : Why has John Kerry remained Mum on

the Issue of Postponing the Elections?

 

At least two out of the five post 9/11 orange code alerts

were based, according to police reports, on phony intelligence. Why

are the Democrats not outraged at the recent terror alert and election

cancellation announcements, emanating out of Homeland Security and the

CIA? Why are they not saying anything? It's a talking point on network

TV. Why is not an election issue?

 

24. Fabricating Intelligence for Political Gain

 

The decision to launch the code orange terror alert in New

York City, Washington DC and northern New Jersey was taken on the

night of July 29th, within hours of John Kerry's acceptance speech at

the Democratic convention

 

 

VI 9/11 AND THE SPOILS OF WAR

 

25. The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade,

 

The heroin business is not " filling the coffers of the

Taliban " as claimed by US government and the international community:

quite the opposite! The proceeds of this illegal trade are the source

of wealth formation, largely reaped by powerful business/criminal

interests within the Western countries. These interests are sustained

by US foreign policy.

 

26. Oil: The Anglo-American Military Axis,

 

The Bush Administration's war plans have nothing to do

with " Saddam's weapons of mass destruction " or his alleged links to

Osama bin Laden. The invasion of Iraq was intended to exclude rival

European, Russian and Chinese interests from the Middle-East and

Central Asian oil fields.

 

27. Who are the Financial Actors behind the WTC?

 

Barely a few months before 9/11, the Port Authority leased

the WTC for 99 years to Silverstein Properties and Westfield America

Inc. This transfer from the New York and New Jersey Port Authority was

tantamount to the privatisation of the WTC Complex. The official press

release described it as " the richest real estate prize in New York

City history " .

 

 

VII WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE THE PLANES

 

28. The 9/11 Commission Report: More Holes in the Official Story:

The 9/11 Cell Phone Calls ,

 

According to the American Airline / Qualcomm announcement,

the technology for cell phone transmission at high altitude will only

be available aboard commercial aircraft in 2006. This is an

inescapable fact.

 

 

Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best-seller

" War and Globalisation, The Truth Behind September 11, published in

ten languages. He is Professor of Economics at the University of

Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG),

which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca .

He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings

have been translated into more than 20 languages.