by Enver Masud
May 6, 2011 (Rev May 8)
The Wisdom Fund
Is Bin Laden dead? Probably. Was he killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan? Possibly. Was he the 'mastermind' of 9/11? No -- his death is a distraction from more important issues.
On May 1, President Obama reported that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S. Navy SEALS in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In the following we present what we know, and do not know, about the killing of the alleged mastermind of 9/11. In the interest of brevity, the presentation is in outline form.
9/11: The Evidence Against Bin Laden
FBI Director Robert Mueller, in a speech at the Commonwealth Club on April 19, 2002, said: "In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either here in the United States, or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot."
In fact there are no Arab names on the partial list of passengers on the 9/11 flights.
To this day, the FBI page states: "Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world."
In June 2006, when asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on the FBI's web page, Rex Tomb, the FBI's Chief of Investigative Publicity, is reported to have said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11."
On September 22, 2001, the Bush administration said that "it would release evidence that Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks Sept. 11 on the United States, part of an effort to convince the world that a military response is justified."
"I am absolutely convinced that the al-Qaida network, which he heads, was responsible for this attack," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Ten years on, we're still waiting for this evidence.
On March 29, 2006, on Fox News Radio, the Tony Snow Show, Vice President Dick Cheney stated: "We've never made the case, or argued the case, that somehow Osama Bin Laden was directly involved in 9/11. That evidence has never been forthcoming."
Taliban Offered Bin Laden to U.S.
• The Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, made the offer at a news conference in Islamabad. Zaeef said the Taliban would detain bin Laden and try him under Islamic law if the United States makes a formal request and presents them with evidence. ("U.S. rejects Taliban offer to try bin Laden," cnn.com, October 7, 2001)
• The offer yesterday from Haji Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, to surrender Mr bin Laden if America would halt its bombing and provide evidence against the Saudi-born dissident was not new. (Andrew Buncomb, "Bush rejects Taliban offer to surrender bin Laden," Independent, October 15, 2001)
Prior Reports of Bin Laden's Death
• Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. . . .
About 30 close associates of bin Laden in Al Qaeda, including his most trusted and personal bodyguards, his family members and some "Taliban friends," attended the funeral rites. ("Report: Bin Laden Already Dead," foxnews.com, December 26, 2001)
• . . . former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is telling reporters that the Bush administration may already have captured Osama bin Laden and will release the news just before next year's presidential election. ("Madeleine Albright: Bush Planning Bin Laden October Surprise," newsmax.com, December 17, 2003)
• Angelo M. Codevilla, who teaches international relations at Boston University, is a former U.S. intelligence officer who studied Soviet disinformation techniques during the Cold War. He says a close examination of all the alleged bin Laden tapes, including the videos, have convinced him that Elvis Presley is more alive than Osama bin Laden. . . .
The last credible intercepts of bin Laden's voice were made by overhead satellites in early December 2001 as he was escaping through the Tora Bora mountain range . . .
Bin Laden was suffering from a kidney ailment, and some experts say he died Dec. 13, 2001, four days after his escape from Tora Bora. (Arnaud de Borchgrave, "Man or myth argument is alive and well online," Washington Times, July 26, 2010)
• The leaked documents also claim that Osama bin Laden, who was reported dead three years ago by the late Pakistan candidate Benazir Bhutto on BBC, was still alive, conveniently keeping the myth alive for the Obama Administration War on Terror at a point when most Americans had forgotten the original reason the Bush Administration allegedly invaded Afghanistan to pursue the Saudi Bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks. (F. William Engdahl, "Something stinks about Wikileaks," vheadline.com, August 11, 2010)
• Preeminent 9/11 author, Prof. David Ray Griffin, examined purported messages from bin Laden since 2001 and found little evidence that they in fact came from bin Laden himself. (David Ray Griffin, "Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?," Olive Branch Press, May 20, 2009)
Report: OBL Assassinated in Abbottabad
• U.S. officials said the helicopter raid in Pakistan was carried out by CIA paramilitaries together with the elite Navy SEAL Team Six. The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden's remains, which American officials said were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition. . . .
In August, 2010, intelligence officials found what they suspected to be bin Laden's residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan, an affluent area with lots of retired military. ("Osama Bin Laden is Dead," CBS/AP, May 1, 2011)
• The release of a photograph purporting to show bin Laden's corpse - which was later confirmed to be a fake - added to the confusion. ("Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death?," yahoo.com, May 2, 2011)
• Sources confirmed to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that his body was released into the sea from a U.S. Navy vessel on Monday, likely into the Indian Ocean.
Bin Laden was a Saudi national, but officials tell CBS News that the Kingdom was unwilling to have his remains repatriated. ("Osama bin Laden's body buried at sea," CBS/AP, May 2, 2011)
• Islam does NOT require burial within 24 hours. Why not bury him in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo . . . or let the locals bury him?
• US officials have now conceded that Bin Laden was not armed during the assault, did not fire back and that his wife was only injured in the assault. (Peter Foster, "Osama bin Laden 'Was Not Armed and Did Not Use Wife as Human Shield'," Telegraph, May 3, 2011)
• Four of the five people shot to death in the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, including the al-Qaida leader himself, were unarmed and never fired a shot, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday - an account that differs markedly from the Obama administration's original claims that the Navy SEALs came under heavy small-arms fire in a prolonged firefight. (Jim Miklaszewski, "Bin Laden 'firefight': Only one man was armed," msnbc.msn.com, May 4, 2011)
Conclusion
• In 1976, President Ford issued Executive Order 11905 to clarify U.S. foreign intelligence activities. The order was enacted in response to the post-Watergate revelations that the CIA had staged multiple attempts on the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
. . . Section 5(g), entitled "Prohibition on Assassination," states: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." ("U.S. policy on assassinations," cnn.com, November 4, 2002)
• "China holds that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country should be respected," said Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, according to Xinhua news agency. ("China blasts US government for operation that killed Osama," ibtimes.com, May 5, 2011)
About a year ago, I wrote: "We suspect that when bin Laden is 'killed,' we'll just have to trust the folks that lied us into war to confirm they got him."
Is Bin Laden dead? Probably. Was he killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan? Possibly. Was he the "mastermind" of 9/11? No.
Bin Laden's death is a distraction from more important issues: Why did President Bush launch the war on Afghanistan? Why did President Obama make it his war?
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