Confronted
with mounting evidence, the US Administration can no longer deny its links to
Osama. While the CIA admits that Osama bin Laden was an "intelligence asset"
during the Cold War, the relationship is said to "go way back". Most
news reports consider that these Osama-CIA links belong to the "bygone
era" of the Soviet-Afghan war. They are invariably viewed as "irrelevant"
to an understanding of present events. Lost in the barrage of recent history,
the role of the CIA in supporting and developing international terrorist organisations
during the Cold war and its aftermath is casually ignored or downplayed by the
Western media.
Yes, We
did support Him, but "He Went Against Us"
A blatant example of media distortion is the so-called "blowback"
thesis: "intelligence assets" are said to "have gone against
their sponsors"; "what we've created blows back in our face."1
In a twisted logic, the US government and the CIA are portrayed as the ill-fated
victims:
The sophisticated
methods taught to the Mujahideen, and the thousands of tons of arms supplied
to them by the US - and Britain - are now tormenting the West in the phenomenon
known as `blowback', whereby a policy strategy rebounds on its own devisers.
2
The US media,
nonetheless, concedes that "the Taliban's coming to power [in 1995] is
partly the outcome of the U.S. support of the Mujahideen, the radical Islamic
group, in the 1980s in the war against the Soviet Union".3 But it also
readily dismisses its own factual statements and concludes in chorus, that the
CIA had been tricked by a deceitful Osama. It's like "a son going against
his father".
The "blowback"
thesis is a fabrication. The evidence amply confirms that the CIA never severed
its ties to the "Islamic Militant Network". Since the end of the Cold
War, these covert intelligence links have not only been maintained, they have
in become increasingly sophisticated.
New undercover
initiatives financed by the Golden Crescent drug trade were set in motion in
Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence
apparatus (controlled by the CIA) essentially "served as a catalyst for
the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics
in Central Asia." 4
Replicating
the Iran Contragate Pattern
Remember Ollie North and the Nicaraguan Contras under the Reagan Administration
when weapons financed by the drug trade were channeled to "freedom fighters"
in Washington's covert war against the Sandinista government. The same pattern
was used in the Balkans to arm and equip the Mujahideen fighting in the ranks
of the Bosnian Muslim army against the Armed Forces of the Yugoslav Federation.
Throughout
the 1990s, the Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was used by the CIA
as a go-between -- to channel weapons and Mujahideen mercenaries to the Bosnian
Muslim Army in the civil war in Yugoslavia. According to a report of the London
based International Media Corporation:
"Reliable
sources report that the United States is now [1994] actively participating in
the arming and training of the Muslim forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina in direct
contravention of the United Nations accords. US agencies have been providing
weapons made in ... China (PRC), North Korea (DPRK) and Iran. The sources indicated
that ... Iran, with the knowledge and agreement of the US Government, supplied
the Bosnian forces with a large number of multiple rocket launchers and a large
quantity of ammunition. These included 107mm and 122mm rockets from the PRC,
and VBR-230 multiple rocket launchers ... made in Iran. ... It was [also] reported
that 400 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran) arrived in Bosnia
with a large supply of arms and ammunition. It was alleged that the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) had full knowledge of the operation and that the CIA
believed that some of the 400 had been detached for future terrorist operations
in Western Europe.
During September
and October [1994], there has been a stream of "Afghan" Mujahedin
... covertly landed in Ploce, Croatia (South-West of Mostar) from where they
have traveled with false papers ... before deploying with the Bosnian Muslim
forces in the Kupres, Zenica and Banja Luka areas. These forces have recently
[late 1994] experienced a significant degree of military success. They have,
according to sources in Sarajevo, been aided by the UNPROFOR Bangladesh battalion,
which took over from a French battalion early in September [1994].
The Mujahedin landing at Ploce are reported to have been accompanied by US Special Forces equipped with high-tech communications equipment, ... The sources said that the mission of the US troops was to establish a command, control, communications and intelligence network to coordinate and support Bosnian Muslim offensives -- in concert with Mujahideen and Bosnian Croat forces -- in Kupres, Zenica and Banja Luka. Some offensives have recently been conducted from within the UN-established safe-havens in the Zenica and Banja Luka regions.
(...)
The
US Administration has not restricted its involvement to the clandestine contravention
of the UN arms embargo on the region ... It [also] committed three high-ranking
delegations over the past two years [prior to 1994] in failed attempts to bring
the Yugoslav Government into line with US policy. Yugoslavia is the only state
in the region to have failed to acquiesce to US pressure.5
"From
the Horse's Mouth"
Ironically, the US Administration's undercover military-intelligence operations
in Bosnia have been fully documented by the Republican Party. A lengthy Congressional
report by the Republican Party Committee (RPC) published in 1997, largely confirms
the International Media Corporation report quoted above. The RPC Congressional
report accuses the Clinton administration of having "helped turn Bosnia
into a militant Islamic base" leading to the recruitment through the so-called
"Militant Islamic Network," of thousands of Mujahideen from the Muslim
world:
Perhaps most threatening to the SFOR mission - and more importantly, to the safety of the American personnel serving in Bosnia - is the unwillingness of the Clinton Administration to come clean with the Congress and with the American people about its complicity in the delivery of weapons from Iran to the Muslim government in Sarajevo. That policy, personally approved by Bill Clinton in April 1994 at the urging of CIA Director-designate (and then-NSC chief) Anthony Lake and the U.S. ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, has, according to the Los Angeles Times (citing classified intelligence community sources), "played a central role in the dramatic increase in Iranian influence in Bosnia.
(...)
Along
with the weapons, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and VEVAK intelligence operatives
entered Bosnia in large numbers, along with thousands of mujahedin ("holy
warriors") from across the Muslim world. Also engaged in the effort were
several other Muslim countries (including Brunei, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, and Turkey) and a number of radical Muslim organizations. For
example, the role of one Sudan-based "humanitarian organization,"
called the Third World Relief Agency, has been well documented. 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... the 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
Center bombing) and Osama Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi émigré believed
to bankroll numerous militant groups. [Washington Post, 9/22/96] 6
Complicity
of the Clinton Administration
In other words, the Republican Party Committee report confirms unequivocally
the complicity of the Clinton Administration with several Islamic fundamentalist
organisations including Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.
The Republicans
wanted at the time to undermine the Clinton Administration. However, at a time
when the entire country had its eyes riveted on the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
the Republicans no doubt chose not to trigger an untimely "Iran-Bosniagate"
affair, which might have unduly diverted public attention away from the Lewinsky
scandal. The Republicans wanted to impeach Bill Clinton "for having lied
to the American People" regarding his affair with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky. On the more substantive "foreign policy lies" regarding
drug running and covert operations in the Balkans, Democrats and Republicans
agreed in unison, no doubt pressured by the Pentagon and the CIA not to "spill
the beans".
From Bosnia
to Kosovo
The "Bosnian pattern" described in the 1997 Congressional RPC report
was replicated in Kosovo. With the complicity of NATO and the US State Department.
Mujahideen mercenaries from the Middle East and Central Asia were recruited
to fight in the ranks of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1998-99, largely
supporting NATO's war effort.
Confirmed
by British military sources, the task of arming and training of the KLA had
been entrusted in 1998 to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain's
Secret Intelligence Services MI6, together with "former and serving members
of 22 SAS [Britain's 22nd Special Air Services Regiment], as well as three British
and American private security companies".7
The US DIA
approached MI6 to arrange a training programme for the KLA, said a senior British
military source. `MI6 then sub-contracted the operation to two British security
companies, who in turn approached a number of former members of the (22 SAS)
regiment. Lists were then drawn up of weapons and equipment needed by the KLA.'
While these covert operations were continuing, serving members of 22 SAS Regiment,
mostly from the unit's D Squadron, were first deployed in Kosovo before the
beginning of the bombing campaign in March. 8
While British
SAS Special Forces in bases in Northern Albania were training the KLA, military
instructors from Turkey and Afghanistan financed by the "Islamic jihad"
were collaborating in training the KLA in guerilla and diversion tactics.9:
Bin Laden
had visited Albania himself. He was one of several fundamentalist groups that
had sent units to fight in Kosovo, ... Bin Laden is believed to have established
an operation in Albania in 1994 ... Albanian sources say Sali Berisha, who was
then president, had links with some groups that later proved to be extreme fundamentalists.
10
Congressional
Testimonies on KLA-Osama links
According to Frank Ciluffo of the Globalized Organised Crime Program, in a testimony
presented to the House of Representatives Judicial Committee:
What was
largely hidden from public view was the fact that the KLA raise part of their
funds from the sale of narcotics. Albania and Kosovo lie at the heart of the
"Balkan Route" that links the "Golden Crescent" of Afghanistan
and Pakistan to the drug markets of Europe. This route is worth an estimated
$400 billion a year and handles 80 percent of heroin destined for Europe. 11
According
to Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence division also in a testimony
to the House Judicial Committee:
The U.S.
State Department listed the KLA as a terrorist organization, indicating that
it was financing its operations with money from the international heroin trade
and loans from Islamic countries and individuals, among them allegedly Usama
bin Laden" . Another link to bin Laden is the fact that the brother of
a leader in an Egyptian Jihad organization and also a military commander of
Usama bin Laden, was leading an elite KLA unit during the Kosovo conflict. 12
Madeleine
Albright Covets the KLA
These KLA links to international terrorism and organised crime documented by
the US Congress were totally ignored by the Clinton Administration. In fact,
in the months preceding the bombing of Yugoslavia, Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright was busy building a "political legitimacy" for the KLA. The
paramilitary army had --from one day to the next-- been elevated to the status
of a bona fide "democratic" force in Kosovo. In turn, Madeleine Albright
has forced the pace of international diplomacy: the KLA had been spearheaded
into playing a central role in the failed "peace negotiations" at
Rambouiillet in early 1999.
The Senate
and the House tacitly endorse State Terrorism
While the various Congressional reports confirmed that the US government had
been working hand in glove with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, this did not prevent
the Clinton and later the Bush Administration from arming and equipping the
KLA. The Congressional documents also confirm that members of the Senate and
the House knew the relationship of the Administration to international terrorism.
To quote the statement of Rep. John Kasich of the House Armed Services Committee:
"We connected ourselves [in 1998-99] with the KLA, which was the staging
point for bin Laden..." 13
In the wake
of the tragic events of September 11, Republicans and Democrats in unison have
given their full support to the President to "wage war on Osama".
In 1999,
Senator Jo Lieberman had stated authoritatively that "Fighting for the
KLA is fighting for human rights and American values." In the hours following
the October 7 missile attacks on Afghanistan, the same Jo Lieberman called for
punitive air strikes against Iraq: "We're in a war against terrorism...
We can't stop with bin Laden and the Taliban." Yet Senator Jo Lieberman,
as member of the Armed Services Committee of the Senate had access to all the
Congressional documents pertaining to "KLA-Osama" links. In making
this statement, he was fully aware that that agencies of the US government as
well as NATO were supporting international terrorism.
The War
in Macedonia
In the wake of the 1999 war in Yugoslavia, the terrorist activities of the KLA
were extended into Southern Serbia and Macedonia. Meanwhile, the KLA --renamed
the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC)-- was elevated to United Nations status, implying
the granting of "legitimate" sources of funding through United Nations
as well as through bilateral channels, including direct US military aid.
And barely
two months after the official inauguration of the KPC under UN auspices (September
1999), KPC-KLA commanders - using UN resources and equipment - were already
preparing the assaults into Macedonia, as a logical follow-up to their terrorist
activities in Kosovo. According to the Skopje daily Dnevnik, the KPC had established
a "sixth operation zone" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia:
Sources,
who insist on anonymity, claim that the headquarters of the Kosovo protection
brigades [i.e. linked to the UN sponsored KPC] have [March 2000] already been
formed in Tetovo, Gostivar and Skopje. They are being prepared in Debar and
Struga [on the border with Albania] as well, and their members have defined
codes. 16
According
to the BBC, "Western special forces were still training the guerrillas"
meaning that they were assisting the KLA in opening up "a sixth operation
zone" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia.17
"The
Islamic Militant Network" and NATO join hands in Macedonia
Among the foreign mercenaries now fighting in Macedonia (October 2001) in the
ranks of self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), are Mujahideen from
the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.
Also within the KLA's proxy force in Macedonia are senior US military advisers
from a private mercenary outfit on contract to the Pentagon as well as "soldiers
of fortune" from Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of these Western mercenaries
had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army.18
Extensively
documented by the Macedonian press and statements of the Macedonian authorities,
the US government and the "Islamic Militant Network" are working hand
in glove in supporting and financing the self-proclaimed National Liberation
Army (NLA), involved in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia. The NLA is a proxy
of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In turn the KLA and the UN sponsored Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC) are identical institutions with the same commanders and
military personnel. KPC Commanders on UN salaries are fighting in the NLA together
with the Mujahideen.
In a bitter
twist, while supported and financed by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the KLA-NLA
is also supported by NATO and the United Nations mission to Kosovo (UNMIK).
In fact, the "Islamic Militant Network" --also using Pakistan's Inter
Service Intelligence (ISI) as the CIA's go-between-- still constitutes an integral
part of Washington's covert military-intelligence operations in Macedonia and
Southern Serbia.
The KLA-NLA
terrorists are funded from US military aid, the United Nations peace-keeping
budget as well as by several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden's
Al Qaeda. Drug money is also being used to finance the terrorists with the complicity
of the US government. The recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of
the NLA in Macedonia is implemented through various Islamic groups.
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!
But this
did not happen during the Cold war! It is happening right now in Macedonia.
And it is confirmed by numerous press reports, eyewitness accounts, photographic
evidence as well as official statements by the Macedonian Prime Minister, who
has accused the Western military alliance of supporting the terrorists. Moreover,
the official Macedonian New Agency (MIA) has pointed to the complicity between
Washington's envoy Ambassador James Pardew and the NLA terrorists.19 In other
words, the so-called "intelligence assets" are still serving the interests
of their US sponsors.
Pardew's
background is revealing in this regard. He started his Balkans career in 1993
as a senior intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for
channeling US aid to the Bosnian Muslim Army. Coronel Pardew had been put in
charge of arranging the "air-drops" of supplies to Bosnian forces.
At the time, these "air drops" were tagged as "civilian aid".
It later transpired --confirmed by the RPC Congressional report-- that the US
had violated the arms embargo. And James Pardew played an important role as
part of the team of intelligence officials working closely with the Chairman
of the National Security Council Anthony Lake.
Pardew was
later involved in the Dayton negotiations (1995) on behalf of the US Defence
Department. In 1999, prior to the bombing of Yugoslavia, he was appointed "Special
Representative for Military Stabilisation and Kosovo Implementation" by
President Clinton. One of his tasks was to channel support to the Kosovo Liberation
Army (KLA), which at the time was also being supported by Osama bin Laden. Pardew
was in this regard instrumental in replicating the "Bosnian pattern"
in Kosovo and subsequently in Macedonia...
Justification
for Waging War
The Bush Administration has stated that it has proof that Osama bin Laden is
behind the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. In the words of British Prime
Minister Tony Blair: "I have seen absolutely powerful and incontrovertible
evidence of his [Osama] link to the events of the 11th of September."20
What Tony Blair fails to mention is that agencies of the US government including
the CIA continue to "harbor" Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
A major
war supposedly "against international terrorism" has been launched
by a government which is harboring international terrorism as part of its foreign
policy agenda. In other words, the main justification for waging war has been
totally fabricated. The American people have been deliberately and consciously
misled by their government into supporting a major military adventure which
affects our collective future.
This decision
to mislead the American people was taken barely a few hours after the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Centre. Without supporting evidence, Osama had already
been tagged as the "prime suspect." Two days later on Thursday the
13th of September --while the FBI investigations had barely commenced-- President
Bush pledged to "lead the world to victory". The Administration confirmed
its intention to embark on "a sustained military campaign rather than a
single dramatic action" directed against Osama bin Laden. 21 In addition
to Afghanistan, a number of countries in the Middle East were mentioned as possible
targets including Iraq, Iran, Libya and the Sudan. And several prominent US
political figures and media pundits have demanded that the air strikes be extended
to other countries "which harbour international terrorism." According
to intelligence sources, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda has operations in some 50
to 60 countries providing ample pretext to intervene in several "rogue
states" in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Moreover,
the entire US Legislature --with only one honest and courageous dissenting voice
in the House of Representatives-- has tacitly endorsed the Administration's
decision to go war. Members of the House and the Senate have access through
the various committees to official confidential reports and intelligence documents
which prove beyond doubt that agencies of the US government have ties to international
terrorism. They cannot say "we did not know". In fact, most of this
evidence is in the public domain.
Under the
historical resolution of the US Congress adopted by both the House and the Senate
on the 14th of September:
The president
is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations,
organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided
the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations
or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against
the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
Whereas
there is no evidence that agencies of the US government "aided the terrorist
attacks" on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, there is ample and
detailed evidence that agencies of the US government as well as NATO, have since
the end of the Cold War continued to "harbor such organizations".
Patriotism
cannot be based on a falsehood, particularly when it constitutes a pretext for
waging war and killing innocent civilians.
Ironically, the text of the Congressional resolution also constitutes a "blowback" against the US sponsors of international terrorism. The resolution does not exclude the conduct of an "Osamagate" inquiry, as well as appropriate actions against agencies and/or individuals of the US government, who may have collaborated with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. And the evidence indelibly points directly to the Bush Administration.
Notes United Press International (UPI), 15 September 2001. The Guardian, London, 15 September 2001. UPI, op cit, For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, Centre for Research on Globalisation, 12 September 2001, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html. International Media Corporation Defense and Strategy Policy, US Commits Forces, Weapons to Bosnia, London, 31 October 1994. Congressional Press Release, Republican Party Committee (RPC), US Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, 16 January 1997, available on the website of the Centre of Research on Globalisation (CRG) at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html. The original document is on the website of the US Senate Republican Party Committee (Senator Larry Craig), at http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm) The Scotsman, Glasgow, 29 August 1999. Ibid. Truth in Media, Kosovo in Crisis, Phoenix, Arizona, 2 April 1999 Sunday Times, London, 29 November 1998. US Congress, Testimony of Frank J. Cilluffo , Deputy Director, Global Organized Crime, Program director to the House Judiciary Committee, 13 December 2000. US Congress, Testimony of Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence Division, to the House Judicial Committee, 13 December 2000. US Congress, Transcripts of the House Armed Services Committee, 5 October 1999, Quoted in the Boston Herald, 19 March 2001. Quoted in Knight Ridder News, 8 October 2001. Macedonian Information Centre Newsletter, Skopje, 21 March 2000, published by BBC Summary of World Broadcast, 24 March 2000. BBC, 29 January 2001, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1142000/1142478.stm) Scotland on Sunday, Glasgow, 15 June 2001 at http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/text_only.cfm?id=SS01025960, see also UPI, 9 July 2001. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Washington behind Terrorist Assaults in Macedonia, Centre for Research on Globalisation, August 2001, at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO108B.html.) Macedonian Information Agency (MIA), 26 September 2001, available at the Centre for Research on Globalisation at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MNA110A.html Quoted in The Daily Telegraph, London, 1 October 2001. Statement by official following the speech by President George Bush on 14 September 2001 quoted in the International Herald Tribune, Paris, 14 September 2001.