Expert: Bin Laden Warned of 'Unprecedented' Attack

Expert: Bin Laden Warned of 'Unprecedented' Attack
(Reuters) Sep 11, 11:19 AM ET

Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he and his followers would carry out an unprecedented attack on U.S. interests for its support of Israel, an Arab journalist with access to him said Tuesday.

Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi, an Arabic-language weekly news magazine, said Islamic fundamentalists led by bin Laden were "almost certainly" behind the attack of the World Trade Center in New York.

"It is most likely the work of Islamic fundamentalists. Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he would attack American interests in an unprecedented attack, a very big one," Atwan told Reuters.

"Personally, we received information that he planned very, very big attacks against American interests. We received several warnings like this. We did not take it so seriously, preferring to see what would happen before reporting it."

Atwan has interviewed bin Laden and maintains close contacts with his followers. ...

This information was reported by Reuters on the day of 9/11. Some news outlets reported it, but many didn't or after initially reporting it, they later left out the reference to Israel. (On TV I only saw this report mentioned once and it looks like it slipped in because Tom Brokaw read from the news wire, reading it live on air without knowing what it was going to say. I didn't see him make one mention of it after) UPDATE: I found another mention, this time by CBS, where someone read this Reuters newswire to include the part mentioning Israel. Here is an example of where they didn't read “Israel”

Dana Perino Pushes Bush's Big Lie, Reporters Sit on their Asses

Dana Perino Pushes Bush's Big Lie, Reporters Sit on their Asses

Thom Hartmann's Hypocrisy for Israel Part 2

Thom Hartmann's Hypocrisy for Israel Part 2Thom Hartmann tries to dismiss as a bizarre "conspiracy theory" the idea that Israel pushed for a war against Iraq. Apparently Thom Hartmann is so eager to dismiss any idea that Israel was part of the push for the Iraq War that he misrepresents the basic information.

NYT bias for Israel continues

NYT bias for Israel continues
Action Alert

"When Human Rights Watch recently released two investigations of the 2006 Israel/Lebanon war, the New York Times found the group's documentation of unlawful attacks against Israel to be far more newsworthy than unlawful attacks committed by Israel." - Whose Human Rights Matter?

ACTION: Ask New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt to investigate why the Times considered the Human Rights Watch report on Hezbollah's military tactics much more newsworthy than the group's similar investigation of Israeli actions.
CONTACT:
New York Times
Public Editor
Clark Hoyt
(212) 556-7652
public@nytimes.com
The NYT bias for Israel is a pattern! SEE:
"Howard Friel and Richard Falk reveal the persistent ways the New York Times has ignored principles of international law in order to shield its readers from Israel's lawlessness."

War Propaganda Tricking People

President Bush Pushes War Propaganda Tricking People Into Supporting An Attack On Iran

President Bush illegally attacked Iraq and his actions have put the United States at greater risk of terrorism. Please see this link and the links in the post: The Bush Administration is committing fraud again in order to sell another war to the American people. In particular take note of the link that shows that Bush was not telling the truth when he made claims that the intelligence was saying Saddam has weapons of mass destruction and his lie about Saddam and al-Qaeda. "On the issue of the Saddam regime's relations with terrorist groups, the intelligence community, in the assessments it produced on that subject, never judged that there was anything close to an alliance with al-Qaeda."

Also note, as unthinkable as it may be, that Bush does not even know or he is lying about the very reason he attacked Iraq: Bush thinks Saddam didn't let the inspectors in and that is why we attacked him! He has said it at least 3 times now and the media keeps letting him get away with it!

And now we have to worry this lunatic is going to attack Iran or will give a wink to Israel to attack Iran. In a recent article, Jonathan Cook, points out that Bush is telling a falsehood which serves a propaganda effort to push another war agenda, it is a lie which is told to sell the public on the outrageous idea of attacking Iran:
"What is the basis for Israel’s dire forecasts -- the ideological scaffolding being erected, presumably, to justify an attack on Iran? Helpfully, as George Bush defended his Iraq policies last month, he reminded us yet again of the menace Iran supposedly poses: it is “threatening to wipe Israel off the map”.

This myth has been endlessly recycled since a translating error was made of a speech Ahmadinejad delivered nearly two years ago. Farsi experts have verified that the Iranian president, far from threatening to destroy Israel, was quoting from an earlier speech by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in which he reassured supporters of the Palestinians that “the Zionist regime in Jerusalem” would “vanish from the page of time”.

He was not threatening to exterminate Jews or even Israel. He was comparing Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians with other illegitimate systems of rule whose time had passed, including the Shahs who once ruled Iran, apartheid South Africa and the Soviet empire. Nonetheless, this erroneous translation has survived and prospered because Israel and her supporters have exploited it for their own crude propaganda purposes." - Israel’s Jewish problem in Tehran - So why hasn’t Iran started by wiping its own Jews off the map? by Jonathan Cook

Bush is obviously trying to justify starting yet another war(for the public or even in his own mind, perhaps truth means nothing to him) . See this link: Bush is Ignorant and Extremely Dangerous (either way, either he knows he is telling falsehoods or he is ignorant, either way, the man is not fit to be commander in chief and he must be immediately stripped of the powers he has abused.) He must be stopped, we must demand that our representatives impeach him and remove him from office immediately. This is too dangerous a situation to allow to continue:

• http://www.house.gov/writerep/
• http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• FAIR's Media Contact List

warning

"The results of an attack on Iran could be horrendous. After all, according to a recent study of "the Iraq effect" by terrorism specialists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, using government and Rand Corporation data, the Iraq invasion has already led to a seven-fold increase in terror. The "Iran effect" would probably be far more severe and long-lasting. British military historian Corelli Barnett speaks for many when he warns that "an attack on Iran would effectively launch World War III." - Noam Chomsky
SEE VIDEO: Why Fallon's Resignation is Frightening
See Video:
Also see: A Warmongering War President Catapulting the Propaganda and God Help Us All If We Don't Impeach Him Fast

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are the only two in the U.S. House of Representatives who voted against the horrible war propaganda resolution, H CON RES 21.

"I object to resolutions that lay the groundwork for an offensive, unprovoked war. The resolution passed by the House today sets a dangerous precedent in foreign affairs. A mistranslation could become a cause of war. The United States House may unwittingly be setting the stage for a war with Iran." - Dennis Kucinich (D)

"I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. This resolution is an exercise in propaganda that serves one purpose: to move us closer to initiating a war against Iran." - Ron Paul (R)

Also see: The Public Campaign to Stop the Lies and the Denial of the Main Motive for the 9/11 Attacks: U.S. Support for Israel

Israel Chooses Expansion and Oppression over Security

Israel Chooses Expansion and Oppression over Security
"Well, I've felt for many years, and have written incidentally, that the people who call themselves supporters of Israel are in reality supporters of Israel's moral degeneration and probably ultimate destruction. I mean, Israel can have security. In fact, that's been true for over 30 years. It has chosen instead expansion at the cost of security.

I agree with my Israeli friends who think that the policies they are taking are extremely self-des - first of all WRONG but also self-destructive and that if they do pursue security and peace instead of expansion and oppression their prospects are very much improved." - Noam Chomsky

The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians

Interventions

Perilous Power: The Middle East & U.S. Foreign Policy: Dialogues on Terror, Democracy, War, and Justice

It was support for Israel that got us attacked on 9/11

It was support for Israel that got us attacked on 9/11

I created new fund raising buttons for the campaign:

"It is depraved to deny the main motive for the 9/11 attacks."

US Backed Israeli Abuse of Palestinians Motivated Bin Laden

US Backed Israeli Abuse of Palestinians Motivated Bin Laden "Very early in his career and very consistently, bin Laden has been outspoken in support of the Palestinians and of course condemning the Israelis, so it's an issue that clearly weighs heavily on his mind and is motivating." - Michael Scheuer former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief interviewed by Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio Listen to the full interview: Antiwar Radio: Scott Horton Interviews Michael Scheuer

Osama bin Laden Has Been Angry About U.S. Support of Israel for Decades

The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has spread the lie that "bin Laden never focused on this issue. He only started talking about "Palestine" after September 11." Friedman put that lie in his best selling book "Longitudes & Attitudes." Friedman claims, "the fact is that bin Laden never focused on this issue. He only started talking about "Palestine" after September 11, when he sensed that he might be losing the support of the Arab street. " (p311 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) and " Osama bin Laden never mentioned the Palestinian cause as motivating his actions until he felt he was losing support in the Arab world. " (p361-362 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) What Friedman has written is a flat out lie. To give just one example that disproves what Friedman wrote: "Your position against Muslims in Palestine is despicable and disgraceful. America has no shame. " - Osama bin Laden May 1998

This canard has been spread by the mainstream media.

Peter Bergen points out that lies have been pushed: "conventional wisdom has it that bin Laden adopted the Palestinians issue only recently. Reading this declaration [the first declaration of war, issued in 1996] SHOULD PUT THAT CANARD TO REST." p164 The Bin Laden I Know, Peter Bergen

A chutzpah award goes to CNN's Anderson Cooper for pushing that canard even after reading Bergen's book. Anderson Cooper's pro-Israel bias is so extreme that even after reading Bergen's book, he still insisted on pushing the same canard. Cooper was actually interviewing Peter Bergen and says to him: "It -- it's interesting, also, to hear them reference Palestinians. As -- as I read in your book "The Osama Bin Laden I Know: The Oral History of Osama bin Laden," I mean, bin Laden wasn't talking about Palestinians from the get-go."

Bergen looked uncomfortable in having to explain to Cooper, "Well, he -- he has always been interested in the Palestinian issue."

Pundits and politicians are deceiving the American people about these foreign policies. Thomas Friedman also LIES when he wrote that terrorists "have no specific ideological program or demands. Rather, they are driven by a generalized hatred of the U.S., Israel and other supposed enemies of Islam." He is a liar, it is not "generalized hatred" it is specific things! It is beyond the pale to feed the public lies about life and death issues. Friedman wrote that in 1998, after years of crystal clear messages from the 1993 letter to the NYT to the 1998 Fatwa which lists 3 specific policies, U.S. occupation of the Arabian Peninsula., U.S. aggression against the Iraqi people, U.S. support of Israel.

The enormous injustice perpetrated in 1948 when Israel ethnically cleansed most of the indigenous population

Missing

"It is interesting that in an 11-program series focused largely on the Middle East, no mention is made of the core issue of the region: the enormous injustice perpetrated in 1948 when Israel ethnically cleansed most of the indigenous population, and its ongoing and ruthless efforts in this direction today. While the series focuses on the activities of people who are opposing past and present dispossession, it appears that no mention is made of the oppression they are resisting. It is a little like describing the actions of someone being attacked by wolves without mentioning the wolves.

The issues in the Middle East and 9/11 have far more to do with the usual causes of war, competition over territory and resources, than with religion. Nevertheless, there are religious dimensions to the conflict, and it would certainly be valuable to explicate these. Yet PBS ignores the fact that there are three major religions centered in the Middle East, not just one, and that the major ethnic-cleansing at the region's core was done in the name of one of the two religions ignored in the series. If one of the religions is going to be examined, with much of the focus on its alleged warts, it seems to me that the other two should be exposed to equal scrutiny. Why was this not done?

Fundamentalist Jewish settlers are among the most fanatic and violent populations in the Middle East, and they proclaim that their violence is endorsed, even required, by their religion. Growing numbers of Christians endorse and fund this violent dispossession of the world's original Christians and others, and also claim to base their activities on their religion. Similarly, violent Jewish and Christian extremists operate in the United States, some cells defined, even by the US government, as "terrorist." While at least six out of PBS's eleven programs focus on Muslims and their connections to violence, not a single program focuses on Jewish extremists who torture farmers, attack children regularly, and whose core beliefs include the proposition that a non-Jew is "not worth the fingernail of a Jew." Similarly, there is not a single program examining American Christians who advocate violence at home and abroad, and who eagerly anticipate mass slaughter, in the name, they say, of their religion." - written by Alison Weir. Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew. Her blog is alisonweir.org

Cindy Sheehan, Mother of Spc Casey Austin Sheehan KIA 04/04/04, Sets the Record Straight or Not?

Sheehan says someone else made up the "my son died for Israel" quote that has been attributed to her

COOPER: You were also quoted as saying, "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." How responsible do you believe Israel is for the amount of terrorism in the world?

SHEEHAN: I didn't say that.

COOPER: You didn't say that? OK.

SHEEHAN: I didn't -- I didn't say -- I didn't say that my son died for Israel. I've never said that. I saw somebody wrote that and it wasn't my words. Those aren't even words that I would say.

I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved and it needs to be more fair and equitable but I never said my son died for Israel.

COOPER: OK, I'm glad I asked you that because, you know, as you know, there's tons of stuff floating around on the Internet on sites of all political persuasions.

SHEEHAN: I know and that's not -- yes.

COOPER: So, I'm glad we had the opportunity to clear that.

SHEEHAN: Yes, and thank you because those are not my words. Those aren't -- that doesn't even sound like me saying that.

COOPER: OK. I'm very glad we got that...

SHEEHAN: And I have read it. I have read it. I'm glad you did too.

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES One Woman's Protest Aired August 15, 2005

This is a quote that was attributed to her on the Internet, it is false according to Sheenan: "Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda after 9/11. We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy...not for the real reason, because the Arab-Muslims who attacked us hate our middle-eastern foreign policy. That hasn't changed since America invaded and occupied Iraq...in fact it has gotten worse."

UPDATE: Sheehan is charging the person who she asked to send the email with "anti-Semitism"*

"Sheehan now says she never wrote that, insisting her e-mail was "doctored" by a "former friend who is anti-Israel and wants to use the spotlight on me to push his anti-Semitism." In fact, the man who sent Sheehan's letter to ABC, James Morris, has posted his own messages on-line, condemning the war in Iraq as "all about Israel." But Morris says Cindy Sheehan's letter was "in no way doctored." - Brit Hume Fox News

"The email that Cindy Sheehan sent to me (which included a request to forward it to ABC's 'Nightline' on her behalf) was in no way doctored. I forwarded the original email (as received from Cindy this past March)to Emily Lenzner (who is handling the matter for ABC News) as she confirmed that she received it yesterday." - James Morris

"Indeed, it is the charge of “anti-Semitism” itself that is toxic. For this venerable slander is designed to nullify public discourse by smearing and intimidating foes and censoring and blacklisting them and any who would publish them." - - Patrick J. Buchanan The American Conservative

Sheehan's denial doesn't change the facts about the motives for attacking Iraq. In reference to Iraq, Philip Zelikow said during a war-on-terror forum at the University of Virginia Law School on Sept. 10, 2002: "Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us?" he asked a crowd at the University of Virginia on Sep. 10, 2002", Philip Zelikow explains, "I'll tell you what the real threat [is] and actually has been since 1990 -- it's the threat against Israel. And this is the threat that dares not speak its name because...the American government doesn't want to lean too hard on it rhetorically because it's not a popular sell." Good research by David Peterson and William Blum

Philip Zelikow, was executive director of the September 11 commission. He also served on the National Security Council. He was on the Bush transition team, and was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2001 to 2003. - Business Week Online ("Blame Bush for What Came After 9/11; The real issue isn't why the U.S wasn't ready for the attack, but why the Administration used the tragedy to invade Iraq," April 15). "Therein, the author, Ciro Scotti, quotes a speech that the 9/11 Commission's Executive Director, Philip D. Zelikow, delivered at the University of Virginia Law School on September 10, 2002---several months before the Bush regime empanelled the 9/11 Commission, and therefore several months before it appointed Zelikow to be its Executive Director." - David Peterson

Zelikow ADMITS that he said the war on Iraq was really about Israel's security and not about US security. See link: Philip Zelikow Executive Director for the 9/11 Commission on C-SPAN

"The Israeli lobby
Philip Zelikow is of the type of whom it is customarily said: "He has impeccable establishment credentials". He is currently executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Between 2001 and 2003 he served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president. Before his appointment to PFIAB he was part of the Bush transition team in January 2001. And in 1995 he co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice.
It's recently been revealed that in 2002 he publicly stated that a prime motive for the upcoming invasion of Iraq was to eliminate a threat to Israel." The Anti-Empire Report, No. 9, April 3, 2004 by William Blum

*Was Sheehan pressured into denying what she originally wrote about the motive for the War on Iraq or is she under so much pressure that she doesn't remember correctly? Why isn't the media exploring if powerful individuals influenced our government to attack a country that didn't attack us, didn't threaten to attack us and had no connection to 9/11? Are Sheehan's PR people (Fenton Communications) the reason she is now backpedaling about writing the letter?

"Sheehan subsequently implied, through a spokesperson at Fenton Communications, that Morris had hacked into her e-mail. Later, Fenton Communications and Sheehan backed off the hacking claim, but both maintain that the words in the letter about Israel are not her own." — Blake Wilson Slate.com

"There is other proof that Sheehan wrote the whole letter. After she sent the letter to Morris, Sheehan also e-mailed it to several other people, including Tony Tersch, a retiree living in Thailand, and Skeeter Gallagher. Both belong to a small Internet bulletin board called Bull Yard. Tersch had become her correspondent after contacting her out of personal and political sympathy. At Gallagher's request, Tersch posted Sheehan's letter to Bull Yard on March 17. Here is the letter as it appears there. This is the version that has been circulating, and from which Slate quoted. Tersch has confirmed that he received the letter from Sheehan directly and has stated that he did not doctor the e-mail before posting it.

Unless Sheehan is the victim of an elaborate Morris-Tersch conspiracy quietly put in motion on March 17, months before she became famous, those are her words." — Blake Wilson Slate.com

"I believe Pat Buchanan's comment is right on track and useful. The late Ambassador George Ball said on several occasions that Israel lobby's most powerful instrument in intimidating critics of Israel is the reckless charge of anti-Semitism. Cindy is now under that reckless charge and trying to escape. I feel sorry for her. I hope I live long enough to see the day when the news media and the public at large permit unintimidated free speech in discussing U.S. policy in the Middle East. It is a sad but clear fact that Israel's lobby--consisting of both ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews as well as fundamentalist Christian elements--has a tight grip on U.S. policy in that region. It's the proverbial elephant in the room. Everyone knows the elephant is Israel, but hardly anyone is willing to mention it. Today, no one, not even a Gold Star mother, can note the gross pro-Israel bias in U.S. policy and its dreadful cost to the American people without being accused of anti-Semitism. Retired General Anthony Zinni is one of the rare exceptions. He identified the elephant publicly and stood his ground." - Paul Findley 08/20/2005

Paul Findley served 22 years as an Illinois congressman and was a senior member of the House Middle East Committee. Findley points out that there is an unwillingness for open debate among politicians with regard to U.S. policy in the Middle East and blames AIPAC. He points out the cause and effect of US support of Israel and the anger around the world because of this unjust support and the violent reactions to US support of Israel like the attacks on 9/11.