Now America accuses Iran of complicity in World Trade Center attack

[zimv20]

link (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/18/wiran18.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/07/18/ixportaltop.html)


By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 18/07/2004)

Iran gave free passage to up to 10 of the September 11 hijackers just months before the 2001 attacks and offered to co-operate with al-Qa'eda against the US, an American report will say this week.

The all-party report by the 9/11 Commission, set up by Congress in 2002, will state that Iran, not Iraq, fostered relations with the al-Qa'eda network in the years leading up to the world's most devastating terrorist attack.

The bipartisan commission has established that between eight and 10 of the September 11 hijackers, who had been based in Afghanistan, travelled through Iran between October 2000 and February 2001. The terrorists in question are believed to have been the "muscle" - hired to storm the aircraft cockpits and overpower crew and passengers.

Iranian officials were instructed not to harrass al-Qa'eda personnel as they crossed the border and, in some cases, not to stamp their passports.

According to testimony received by the commission - based on information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and about 100 electronic intercepts by the National Security Agency - an alliance of convenience was established between the Shia Muslim Iranian leadership and the Sunni terrorist organisation, well before September 11, 2001.

The report is expected to confirm the claim by Thomas Kean, its chairman, last month that "there were a lot more active [al-Qa'eda] contacts, frankly, with Iran and Pakistan, than there were with Iraq".

(more)


afaik, bush has been mum about his plans for a second term. i'm getting the feeling it includes the oft-predicted two side squeeze of iran.

'cuz if he wins, he'll of course have a "mandate."

[skunk]

afaik, bush has been mum about his plans for a second term. i'm getting the feeling it includes the oft-predicted two side squeeze of iran.

'cuz if he wins, he'll of course have a "mandate."
And of course the rest of the AoE will just fall into line, won't they?

[takao]

must....resist...to...post...funny....picture...

linky (http://unix.rulez.org/~calver/pictures/derf.gif)

....sorry ;)

[skunk]

must....resist...to...post...funny....picture...

....sorry ;)
Thanks for the laugh. Pity it's true. :(

[Sayhey]

Thanks for the laugh. Pity it's true. :(

The real pity is that takao's map is the playbook for the Bush administration and much of the US media. Where do you think we get such views of the world?

[BakedBeans]

you know what... i bet there hiding weapons of mass destruction.... lol
no seriously.... capable of lanching a nuclear attack in 45mins...

[Backtothemac]

Ok, we were dupped by Iraqi defectors, etc. That is cool.

But this is the 9/11 commission. And the evidence is coming from the mouths of the guys that we have captured.

If true........

What do we do? Do we take out Iran as well?

[zimv20]

What do we do? Do we take out Iran as well?
i'm much more interesed in what the UN security council has to say about it than the bush administration. i know you're not a huge fan of the UNSC, but i can't trust the latter one iota.

[skunk]

Ok, we were dupped by Iraqi defectors, etc. That is cool.
"Cool", except that 10,000 people died. How "cool" is that?

But this is the 9/11 commission. And the evidence is coming from the mouths of the guys that we have captured.

If true........

What do we do? Do we take out Iran as well?
What??? You are suggesting invading ANOTHER country because they didn't stamp somebody's passport???? Is this the only policy you have?

[Backtothemac]

Na, i have been clear. I say take out the threat before it is a threat. How about that we all have evidence from the IAE that Iran is developing nuclear weapons material? What about their ties with terror?

I say take em out.

[pseudobrit]

Na, i have been clear. I say take out the threat before it is a threat. How about that we all have evidence from the IAE that Iran is developing nuclear weapons material? What about their ties with terror?

I say take em out.

With whose army?

[mactastic]

Yeah, the real kick in the teeth here is that even if we were facing a real and credible threat, we couldn't mount an invasion anywhere with our military spread so thin as it is. I mean, we're already tapping the IRR, where would we find another 100,000+ troops for an invasion against a country that HASN'T been under sanction for a decade?

[skunk]

Na, i have been clear. I say take out the threat before it is a threat.
What threat? Have they threatened anybody? I must have missed it.

How about that we all have evidence from the IAE that Iran is developing nuclear weapons material?
No evidence. Traces of enriched plutonium? It's not certain those traces weren't there before the Iranians did anything.

What about their ties with terror?
What about the US' "ties to terror"? Not good enough.

I say take em out.
Who is "them"? A few mullahs and another 10,000 civilians? Get real.

[zimv20]

seems to me the bush administration would be more than happy to have a new enemy about whom they can make noise, what with the election coming up and all.

if bttm's ready for a new war, i have to believe there's 100+ million others ready, too.

[Sayhey]

seems to me the bush administration would be more than happy to have a new enemy about whom they can make noise, what with the election coming up and all.

if bttm's ready for a new war, i have to believe there's 100+ million others ready, too.

Why stop there? Damascus isn't much of a drive from the Iraqi border. Heck, Cuba is only ninety miles from Florida's shores. Those Venezuelans are probably terrorists in disguise as elected officials. North Korea is just ripe for our troops to run over it - it's only South Koreans who are really at risk from those pesky nukes. Well, and a few 10s of thousand troops, but that's what they signed up for, right? In fact, let's get this over with and invade our real enemy, France! Maybe roll into Berlin and Rome while we're at it. Then everything will be alright with the world. But let's save Australia, we don't want to hurt no kangaroo!

Political Science (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=3731290&selectedItemId=3731269)

[blackfox]

You know, this would make a great story titled:

"How a temp in the DoD secretary pool started the wrong war (the $500B typo)"

oops...

[mouchoir]

erm... didn't the US give free passage to all of the hijackers?

How can it be proven that Iran had knowledge of their intentions and the US didn't?

[Sayhey]

Sometimes, it is amazing what short memories we in the US have. Does anyone recall that Iran was at war with al Qaeda and the Taliban? Iran supported other forces in the Afghan Civil War. There was an active conflict along the Iran-Afghani border. Given this history we are supposed to accept the idea that if some of 9/11 hijackers travelled through Iran we then must jump to the conclusion that all the history of conflict did not exist and Iran and al Qaeda colluded on the 9/11 attacks? We are also supposed to accept this connection from the "truth-tellers" in this administration? Right.

[Thomas Veil]

seems to me the bush administration would be more than happy to have a new enemy about whom they can make noise, what with the election coming up and all.
We're at war with Oceania. We've always been at war with Oceania. ;)

[zimv20]

We're at war with Oceania. We've always been at war with Oceania. ;)
i could have sworn that two years ago, they were our ally. i just googled it and... well.... i guess i remembered wrong...

[ethernet76]

So Iran didn't stamp their passports.

Unfortunately, this is a bigger issue that most here understand. Iran is clearly in the Axis of Evil. As outlined in the 2002 state of the Union Address.

The problem isn't that they didn't get their passports stamped. The issue is they didn't get their passport stamped because Iran knew these travelers' port of desination was the United States.

Had their passports been stamped by Iran, they would have received more scrutiny and put on a watchlist.

While Iran had no idea of the hijackers intentions, this is clearly a sign of their hatred for the United States.

While I do not believe in an invasion of Iran, they should be put on an economic embargo. Hell, even North Korea would stamp my passport if they knew my destination was the United States.

/Not a bush supporter, but I believe in following international rule no matter who you hate.

[blackfox]

You know this makes me think that America can be so self-centered at times...why does everything have to be related to us?

So it would seem that Iran allowed members of Al Qa'ida to pass through it's borders, often w/o their passports being stamped. Does this mean Iran was aware that they would be headed to the US, or that they would be participating in the WTC attacks? Not necessarily, and perhaps not likely.

It should be noted that going back to the Soviet/Afghani War, relationships (often informal) were made between Iran, Pakistan and various Afghani leadership elements, as a coming together of Islam in terms of manpower and fundraising, to repel foreign invaders. UBL and Al Qa'ida are among those power structures that rose out of the region and Afghanistan in the 90's. Considering Iran's relatively hard-line Islamic leadership, it seems that UBL and Al Qa'ida would have no problems with Iran, and it would be in Iran's best interest to not create waves, especially considering it is competing with Saudi Arabia as a leader in the Region (The Saudi Arabia that UBL doeshave a problem with, on account of it's allowance of US bases and reliance on Western Support). From such a standpoint, Iran had nothing to lose and much to gain regionally speaking...

But none of this has anything to do with America, at least directly. Although Iran may ultimately benefit by the destabilization of it's once-powerful neighbor, it also has much to lose by direct confrontation w/ the US or demonstrative complicity in a terrorist attack. Speaking frankly, I believe that Iran is too smart to let that happen. I find it's behaviors perfectly reasonable as a government in the Region, negotiating a balance of power through excellent intelligence and shadowy diplomacy. That is the avenue of success for many countries, including the US (traditionally). I see nothing wrong with a country pursuing it's interests competently.

Once again though, It is self-centered for us to think that it was all about us, or that we were even mentioned.

[mactastic]

Once again though, It is self-centered for us to think that it was all about us, or that we were even mentioned.

Fry - This has nothing to do with you Bender.
Bender - That's impossible!

:D

[zimv20]

at some point, i'd like to see some data on how many and/or what percentage of people passing through iran don't get stamped passports, so we can see how large or small of a percentage the members of AQ are.