The Pentagon's new "Terrorist Mastermind"
WHO IS ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI?
by Michel Chossudovsky
The US intelligence apparatus has created it own terrorist organizations.
And at the same time, it creates its own terrorist warnings concerning the
terrorist organizations which it has itself created. In turn, it has
developed a cohesive multibillion dollar counterterrorism program "to go
after" these terrorist organizations.
Counterterrorism and war propaganda are intertwined. The propaganda
apparatus feeds disinformation into the news chain. The terror warnings
must appear to be "genuine". The objective is to present the terror groups
as "enemies of America."
The underlying objective is to galvanize public opinion in sup****t of
America's war agenda.
The "war on terrorism" requires a humanitarian mandate. The war on
terrorism is presented as a "Just War", which is to be fought on moral
grounds "to redress a wrong suffered."
The Just War theory defines "good" and "evil." It concretely ****trays and
personifies the terrorist leaders as "evil individuals".
Several prominent American intellectuals and antiwar activists, who stand
firmly opposed to the Bush administration, are nonetheless sup****ters of
the Just War theory: "We are against war in all its forms but we sup****t
the campaign against international terrorism."
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 propaganda campaign presents the ****traits of the leaders behind the
terror network. In other words, at the level of what constitutes
an "advertising" campaign, "it gives a face to terror." 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 re****ts.
* * *
Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is presented to World public opinion, as the upcoming
terrorist mastermind, overshadowing "Enemy Number One", Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. State Department has increased the reward for his arrest from $10
million to $25 million, which puts his "market value" at par with that of
Osama. Ironically, Al Zarqawi is not on the FBI most wanted fugitives
list.
(http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm
)
AL ZARQAWI LINKS TO AL QAEDA
Al Zarqawi is often described as an "Osama associate", the bogyman,
allegedly responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in several
countries. In other re****ts, often emanating from the same sources, it is
stated that he has no links to Al Qaeda and operates quite independently.
He is often presented as an individual who is challenging the leader****p
of
bin Laden.
His name crops up on numerous occasions in press re****ts and official
statements. Since early 2004, he is in the news almost on a daily basis.
Osama belongs to the powerful bin Laden family, which historically had
business ties to the Bushes and prominent members of the Texas oil
establishment. Bin Laden was recruited by the CIA during the Soviet-Afghan
war and fought as a Mujahideen. In other words, there is a longstanding
documented history of bin Laden-CIA and bin Laden-Bush family links, which
are an obvious source of embarrassment to the US government.
In contrast to bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi has no family history. He comes from
an impoverished Palestinian family in Jordan. His parents are dead. He
emerges out of the blue.
He is described by CNN as "a lone wolf" who is said to act quite
independently of the Al Qaeda network. Yet surprisingly, this lone wolf is
present in several countries, in Iraq, which is now his base, but also in
Western Europe. He is also suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on
American soil.
He seems to be in several places at the same time. He is described as "the
chief U.S. enemy", "a master of disguise and bogus identification papers".
We are led to believe that this "lone wolf" manages to outwit the most
astute US intelligence operatives.
According to The Weekly Standard --which is known to have a close
relation****p to the Neocons in the Bush administration:
"Abu Musab al Zarqawi is hot right now. He masterminded not only Berg's
murder but also the Madrid carnage on March 11, the bombardment of ****a
wor****ppers in Iraq the same month, and the April 24 suicide attack on the
****t of Basra. But he is far from a newcomer to slaughter. Well before
9/11, he had already concocted a plot to kill Israeli and American
tourists
in Jordan. His label is on terrorist groups and attacks on four
continents." (Weekly Standard, 24 May 2004)
Al-Zarqawi's profile "is mounting a challenge to bin Laden's leader****p of
the global jihad."
In Iraq, he is said to be determined to "ignite a civil war between Sunnis
and ****ites". But is that not precisely what US intelligence is aiming at
(
"divide and rule") as confirmed by several analysts of the US led war?
Pitting one group against the other with a view to weakening the
resistance
movement. (See Michel
Collon, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/COL312A.html
, See also
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RAD308A.html
)
The CIA, with its $30 billion plus budget, pleads ignorance: they say they
know nothing about him, they have a photograph, but, according to the
Weekly Standard (24 May 2004), they apparently do not know his weight or
height.
There is an aura of mystery surrounding this individual which is part of
the propaganda ploy. Zarqawi is described as "so secretive even some
operatives who work with him do not know his identity."
What is the role of this new mastermind in the Pentagon's disinformation
campaign, in which CNN seems to be playing a central role?
In previous propaganda ploys, the CIA hired PR firms to organize core
disinformation campaigns, including the Rendon Group. The latter worked
closely with its British partner Hill and Knowlton, which was responsible
for the 1990 Kuwaiti incubator media scam, where Kuwaiti babies were
allegedly removed from incubators in a totally fabricated news story,
which
was then used to get Congressional approval for the 1991 Gulf War.
WHAT IS THE PATTERN?
Almost immediately in the wake of a terrorist event or warning, CNN
announces (in substance): we think this mysterious individual Abu Musab
Al-Zarqawi is behind it, invariably without sup****ting evidence and prior
to the conduct of an investigation by the relevant police and intelligence
authorities.
In some cases, upon the immediate occurrence of the terrorist event, there
is an initial re****t which mentions Al-Zarqawi as the possible mastermind.
The re****t will often say (in substance): yes we think he did it, but it
is not yet confirmed and there is some doubt on the identity of those
behind the attack. One or two days later, CNN may come up with a
definitive
statement, quoting official police, military and/or intelligence sources.
Often the CNN re****t is based on information published on an Islamic
website or a mysterious Video or Audio tape. The authenticity of the
website and/or the tapes is not the object of discussion or detailed
investigation.
Bear in mind that the news re****ts never mention that Al Qaeda is a
creation of the CIA and that Al Zarqawi had been recruited to fight in the
Soviet-Afghan war (This is in fact confirmed by Sec. Colin Powell in his
presentation to the UN Security Council on 5 February 2003) (see details
below). Both Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi are creations of the
US intelligence apparatus. The recruitment of foreign fighters was under
the auspices of the CIA.
The press usually present the terrorist warnings emanating from the CIA as
genuine, without acknowledging the fact that US intelligence, has provided
covert sup****t to the Islamic militant network consistently for more than
20 years.
Amply documented, the training camps in Afghanistan established during the
Reagan Administration had been set up with the sup****t of the CIA. In
fact,
several members of the current Bush administration including Richard
Armitage and Colin Powell were directly involved in channeling sup****t to
Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where bin Laden and Al Zarqawi received
specialized training. (See Michel
Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html
and
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO303D.html
)
HISTORY OF AL ZARQAWI
The first time Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi's name is mentioned was in relation to
the thwarted attack on the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan, during
the
millennium celebrations (December 1999). According to press re****ts, he
had
previously gone under another name: Ahmed Fadil Al-Khalayleh, (apparently
among other aliases).
According to the New York Times, Al Zarqawi fled Afghanistan to Iran in
late 2001, following the entry of US troops. Official US re****ts suggest
that he was protected at the highest levels of the Tehran government.
"United States intelligence officials say they are increasingly concerned
by the mounting evidence of Tehran's renewed interest in terrorism [and
sup****t to Al Zarqawi], including covert surveillance by Iranian agents of
possible American targets abroad. American officials said Iran appeared to
view terrorism as deterrent against possible attack by the United States.
Since the surprise election of reformer Mohammad Khatami as president of
Iran in 1997 and his wide public sup****t, Wa****ngton has been counting on
a
new moderate political majority to emerge. But the hard-line faction has
maintained its grip on Iran's security apparatus, frustrating American
efforts to ease tensions with Tehran.
Now, Iranian actions to destabilize the new interim government in
Afghanistan, its willingness to assist Al Qaeda members and its fueling of
the Palestinian uprising are prompting a reassessment in Wa****ngton,
officials say." (NYT, 24 March 2002)
In 2002, his presence in Tehran, allegedly "collaborating with hardliners"
in the Iranian military and intelligence apparatus, is part of an evolving
disinformation campaign which consists in presenting Iran as a sponsor of
the "Islamic terror network":
In February 2002, he was allegedly involved in planning terror attacks
inside Israel.
COLIN POWELL'S ADDRESS TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
In the months leading up to the war on Iraq, Al Zarqawi's name reemerges,
this time almost on daily basis, with re****ts focusing on his sinister
relation****p to Saddam Hussein.
A major turning point in the propaganda campaign occurs on February 5,
2003. Al-Zarqawi was in the spot light following Colin Powell's flopped
WMD
re****t to the UN Security Council. Powell's speech presented
"documentation" on the ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, while
focusing on the central role of Al-Zarqawi: (emphasis added):
Our concern is not just about these illicit weapons; it's the way that
these illicit weapons can be connected to terrorists and terrorist
organizations...
But what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much
more sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network, a
nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of
murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network, headed by Abu
Musaab
al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al
Qaeda lieutenants.
Zarqawi, a Palestinian born in Jordan, fought in the Afghan War more than
a
decade ago. Returning to Afghanistan in 2000, he oversaw a terrorist
training camp. One of his specialties and one of the specialties of this
camp is poisons.
When our coalition ousted the Taliban, the Zarqawi network helped
establish
another poison and explosive training center camp, and this camp is
located
in Northeastern Iraq. You see a picture of this camp. Graphic, above.
[there were no WMDS at this camp according to ABC re****t, see below]
The network is teaching its operative how to produce ricin and other
poisons. Let me remind you how ricin works. Less than a pinch -- imagine a
pinch of salt -- less than a pinch of ricin, eating just this amount in
your food would cause shock, followed by circulatory failure. Death comes
within 72 hours and there is no antidote. There is no cure. It is fatal.
Those helping to run this camp are Zarqawi lieutenants operating in
northern Kurdish areas outside Saddam Hussein's controlled Iraq, but
Baghdad has an agent in the most senior levels of the radical organization
Ansar al-Islam, that controls this corner of Iraq. In 2000, this agent
offered Al Qaeda safe haven in the region. After we swept Al Qaeda from
Afghanistan, some of its members accepted this safe haven. They remain
there today.
.....
We know these affiliates are connected to Zarqawi because they remain,
even
today, in regular contact with his direct subordinates, including the
poison cell plotters. And they are involved in moving more than money and
materiel. Last year, two suspected Al Qaeda operatives were arrested
crossing from Iraq into Saudi Arabia. They were linked to associates of
the
Baghdad cell, and one of them received training in Afghanistan on how to
use cyanide.
From his terrorist network in Iraq, Zarqawi can direct his network in the
Middle East and beyond. [Note he is present in several countries at the
same time]
.....
According to detainees, Abu Atiya, who graduated from Zarqawi's terrorist
camp in Afghanistan, tasked at least nine North African extremists in 2001
to travel to Europe to conduct poison and explosive attacks. Since last
year, members of this network have been apprehended in France, Britain,
Spain and Italy. By our last count, 116 operatives connected to this
global
web have been arrested. The chart you are seeing shows the network in
Europe.
We know about this European network, and we know about its links to
Zarqawi, because the detainee who provided the information about the
targets also provided the names of members of the network.
....
We also know that Zarqawi's colleagues have been active in the Pankisi
Gorge, Georgia, and in Chechnya, Russia. The plotting to which they are
linked is not mere chatter. Members of Zarqawi's network say their goal
was
to kill Russians with toxins.
We are not surprised that Iraq is harboring Zarqawi and his subordinates.
This understanding builds on decades-long experience with respect to ties
between Iraq and al Qaeda.
.....
As I said at the outset, none of this should come as a surprise to any of
us. Terrorism has been a tool used by Saddam for decades. Saddam was a
sup****ter of terrorism long before these terrorist networks had a name,
and
this sup****t continues. The nexus of poisons and terror is new; the nexus
of Iraq and terror is old. The combination is lethal.
With this track record, Iraqi denials of sup****ting terrorism take their
place alongside the other Iraqi denials of weapons of mass destruction. It
is all a web of lies. When we confront a regime that harbors ambitions for
regional domination, hides weapons of mass destruction, and provides haven
and active sup****t for terrorists, we are not confronting the past, we are
confronting the present. And unless we act, we are confronting an even
more
frightening future."
(US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN Security Council, Excerpts,
5
February 2003)
The statement of Secretary Powell regarding Al-Zarqawi consisted in
linking
the secular Baathist regime to the "Islamic terror network," with a view
to
justifying the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
THE ALLEGED AL-ZARQAWI SPONSORED CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ATTACKS
Powell's UN statement with regard to Al Zarqawi rested on the existence of
a chemical-biological weapons plant in Northern Iraq producing ricin,
sarin
and other biological weapons, allegedly to be used in terror attacks on
the
US and Western Europe.
With reference to the North Iraqi facility where the ricin was allegedly
produced, The London Observer's correspondent in Northern Iraq (9 February
2003) blatantly refutes Colin Powell's statement:
" There is no sign of chemical weapons anywhere - only the smell of
paraffin and vegetable butter used for cooking. In the kitchen, I
discovered some chopped up tomatoes but not much else. The cook had left
his Kalashnikov propped neatly against the wall. Ansar al-Islam - the
Islamic group that uses the compound identified as a military HQ by Powell
- yesterday invited me and several other foreign journalists into their
territory for the first time. 'We are just a group of Muslims trying to do
our duty,' Mohammad Hasan, spokes-man for Ansar al-Islam, explained. 'We
don't have any drugs for our fighters. We don't even have any aspirin. How
can we produce any chemicals or weapons of mass destruction?'"
Barely a few weeks later, at the height of the military campaign, US
Special Forces, together with their "embedded" journalists, entered the
alleged chemical biological weapons facility in Northern Iraq:
"What they found was a camp devastated by cruise missile strikes during
the
first days of the war. A specialized biochemical team scoured the rubble
for samples. They wore protective masks as they entered a building they
suspected was a weapons lab. Inside they found mortar shells, medical
supplies, and grim prison cells, but no immediate proof of chemical or
biological agents. For this unit, such evidence would have been a
so-called
smoking gun, proof that it has banned weapons. But instead, this was a
disappointing day for these troops on the front line of the hunt for
weapons of mass destruction here. Jim Sciutto, ABC News, with US Special
Forces in Northern Iraq " (ABC News, 29 March 2003)
THE RICIN THREAT
On February 8th 2003, three days after Colin Powell's UN speech, the ricin
threat remerges this time in the US. Al Zaqwari was said to be responsible
for "the suspicious white powder found in a letter sent to Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist which contained the [same] deadly poison ricin."
In a CIA re****t which was apparently "leaked" to Newsweek, a group of CIA
analysts predicted that there was
"a 59 percent probability that an attack on the U.S. homeland involving
WMD
would occur before 31 March 2003"... It all seems so precise and
frightening: a better than 90 percent chance that Saddam will succeed in
hitting America with a weapon spewing radiation, germs or poison. But it
is
im****tant to remember that the odds are determined by averaging a bunch of
guesses, informed perhaps, but from experts whose careers can only be
ruined by underestimating the threat."
(Newsweek, 24 February 2003,
http://newsmine.org/archive/propoganda/terror-threats/2003/terror-alert-assumptions-hints.txt
)
The picture of Al Zarqawi, the mastermind is featured prominently in the
Newsweek feature article.
In the National Review (February 18, 2003), Al Zarqawi was described as Al
Qaeda's "chief biochemical engineer":
"It is widely known [from where, what evidence] that Zarqawi, al Qaeda's
chief biochemical engineer, was at the safe house in Afghanistan where
traces of Ricin and other poisons were originally found. What is not
widely
known-but was briefly alluded to in Sec. Powell's U.N. address-is that
starting in the mid-1990s, Iraq's embassy in Islamabad routinely played
host to Saddam's biochemical scientists, some of whom interacted with al
Qaeda operatives, including Zarqawi and his lab technicians, under the
diplomatic cover of the Taliban embassy nearby to teach them the art of
mixing poisons from home grown and readily available raw materials."
RADIOACTIVE DIRTY BOMBS
There were rumors of attacks within the US also using ricin, sarin and
other poisonous gases. In the immediate aftermath of Powell's speech,
there
was an orange code alert. Official statements also pointed to the dangers
of a dirty radioactive bomb attack in the US.
Again Al Zarqawi was identified as the number one suspect.
The various ricin and dirty bomb terror alerts proved to be fabricated. A
fabricated story emanating from the CIA on so-called 'radioactive dirty
bombs' had been planted in the news chain (ABC News, 13 Feb 2003). A few
days following his address to the UN, Sec. Powell warned that:
"it would be easy for terrorists to cook up radioactive 'dirty' bombs to
explode inside the U.S. . 'How likely it is, I can't say... But I think it
is wise for us to at least let the American people know of this
possibility.'"(ABC This Week quoted in Daily News (New York), 10 Feb.
2003).
Meanwhile, network TV had warned that "American hotels, shopping malls or
apartment buildings could be al Qaeda's targets as soon as next week.".
Following the announcement, tens of thousands of Americans rushed to
purchase duct tape, plastic sheets and gas-masks.
It later transpired that the terrorist alert was fabricated by the CIA, in
all likelihood in consultation with the State Department (ABC News, 13
Feb.
2003). The FBI, for the first time had pointed its finger at the CIA.
While
tacitly acknowledging that the alert was a fake, Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge decided to maintain the 'Orange Code' alert:
"Despite the fabricated re****t, there are no plans to change the threat
level. Officials said other intelligence has been validated and that the
high level of precautions is fully warranted." ( ABC News, 13 Feb. 2003 ).
A few days later, in another failed propaganda initiative, a mysterious
Osama bin Laden audio tape was presented by Sec. Colin Powell to the US
Congress as 'evidence' that the Islamic terrorists "are making common
cause
with a brutal dictator". (US official quoted in The Toronto Star, 12 Feb.
2003). Curiously, the audio tape was in Colin Powell's possession prior to
its broadcast by the Al Jazeera TV Network. (Ibid.)
Meanwhile, Al Zarqawi had been identified as the mastermind behind the
(thwarted) ricin attacks in several European countries including Britain
and Spain.
In London, in January 2003, there was a ricin terror alert, which had
apparently also been ordered by Al Zarqawi. The ricin had allegedly been
discovered in a London apartment. It was to be used in a terror attack in
the London subway.
British press re****ts, quoting official statements claimed that the
terrorists had learnt to produce the ricin at the camp in Northern Iraq.
Yet when US Special Forces in March 2003 raided the camp in Northern Iraq,
nothing resembling biological or chemical weapons was found (see ABC
re****t
quoted above).
It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that news stories on the chemical
weapons plant in Northern Iraq, have continued to be churned out, despite
the fact that US Forces said that it did not exist. In a recent story in
the Wa****ngton Times:
Zarqawi stands as stark evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein's
autocratic regime and bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network. Zarqawi, 38,
operated a terrorist camp in northern Iraq that specialized in developing
poisons and chemical weapons.(Wa****ngton Times, 8 June 2004)
THE SPANISH CONNECTION
Meanwhile in Spain, Bush's coalition partner, Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar had initiated his own disinformation campaign, no doubt in liaison
with US officials.
Perfect timing! While Colin Powell was presenting the Al-Zarqawi dossier
to
the UN, on the very same day, February 5, 2003, Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar was busy briefing the Spanish parliament on an alleged chemical
terror attack in Spain.
According to Aznar, Al Zarqawi was apparently linked to a number of
European Islamic "collaborators" including Merouane Ben Ahmed, "an expert
in chemistry and explosives who visited Barcelona" (re****ted in El Pais,
February 6 2003).
Prime Minister Aznar's speech to the Chamber of Deputies (Camera de
diputados) intimated that the 16 alleged Al Qaeda suspects, who apparently
were in possession of explosives and lethal chemicals, had been working
hand in glove with Al Zarqawi.
The information had been fabricated. The Spanish Ministry of Defense
re****t
confirmed that the "lethal chemicals" turned out to be "harmless and some
were household detergent... " (quoted in Irish News, 27 February 2003,
emphasis added):
A defence ministry lab outside Madrid tested the substances - a bag
containing more than half a pound of powder and several bottles or
containers with liquids or residues- for the easy-to-make biological
poison
ricin...The Spanish defence ministry, which carried out the tests, and the
lab itself declined to comment " (Ibid)
THE LINK TO ANSAR AL-ISLAM
Following Powell's February 2003 presentation to the UNSC, Al-Zarqawi
immediately gained in public notoriety.
Since early 2004, his name appears almost daily in CNN re****ts. All in
all, his name is linked to some 25 "terrorist attacks" in Iraq, not to
mention numerous terrorist warnings, threats or alerts. Already before the
war in Iraq, he was presented in media re****ts as an ally of Saddam
Hussein.
The press re****ts, which quoted Colin Powell's UNSC 5 Feb 2003 speech,
confirmed that Al Zarqawi was back in Iraq, working hand in glove with
Ansar Al-Islam, which was held responsible for the attack on the UN in
Baghdad. In August 2003, Zarqawi was identified, without sup****ting
evidence, as having played a role in the attack on the UN, which led to
the
death of the UN head of mission and 24 other people.
Bear in mind Ansar was also said to be behind the alleged ricin plant in
Northern Iraq, which was confirmed to be a fake.
It is useful to recall that Ansar al-Islam, which constituted a
pre-existing Islamist group, developed into a paramilitary organisation,
only after the 9/11 attacks. Ironically, it was allowed to develop in a
region of Iraq, which was already under US military control, namely
Kurdish
held Northern Iraq.
Ansar was largely involved in terrorist attacks directed against the
secular institutions of the Kurdish regional governments. It was also
involved in assassinations of members of the Kurdish PUK. And the US
military and intelligence were present in the region.
In other words, prior to the war, Northern Iraq -which was in "the no fly
zone"-- was already a US protectorate. According to one re****t «Al Qaida
affiliates coordinating the movement of people, money and supplies for
Ansar al-Islam have been operating freely in the [regional] capital."
(Midland Independent, 6 February 2003).
Responding to Colin Powell's February 2003 UN address, an Iraqi foreign
ministry spokesman had stated at the time that:
"the Iraqi government helped the [PUK] Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani
against the Ansar al-Islam group. He [the spokesman] accused Ansar
al-Islam
of carrying out acts of sabotage inside Iraq.[and] that the United States
had turned down an Iraqi offer to cooperate on the issue of terrorism."
(News Conference by Lieutenant-General Amir al-Sa'di, adviser at the Iraqi
Presidency; Dr Sa'id al-Musawi, head of the Organizations' Department at
the Iraqi Foreign Ministry; and Major-General Husam Muhammad Amin, head of
the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate. BBC Monitoring Service, 6
February 2003).
THE ABU GHRAIB PRISON SCANDAL
Was it a coincidence? At the very outset of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal,
there were rumors of an Al Zarqawi terrorist attack on American Soil, in
Jordan as well as in Iraq.
Al Zarqawi identified by CNN as "the lone wolf" was, according to these
re****ts, planning terrorist attacks simultaneously in several countries.
Then there was the mysterious video on the Nicholas Berg execution.
The Attacks in Jordan
A mysterious tape released by CNN pointed to Al Zarqawi's plan to attack
the Jordanian intelligence headquarters in an attack using chemical
weapons
which could have been more deadly than 9/11. Again the evidence is based
on
a mysterious tape.
CNN 27 APRIL 2004
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jordanian special forces
raiding an apartment house in Amman in the hunt for an al Qaeda cell. Some
of the suspects are killed, others arrested, ending what Jordanian
intelligence says was a bold plan to use chemical weapons and truck bombs
in their capital; targets including Jordanian intelligence headquarters,
the prime minister's office and the U.S. embassy. The Jordanian government
fears the death toll could have run into the thousands, more deadly even
than 9/11.
For the first time the alleged plotters were interviewed on videotape,
aired on Jordanian TV. CNN obtained copies of the tapes from the
Jordanians. This mn revealing his orders came from a man named Azme
Jayoussi, the cell's alleged ringleader.
HUSSEIN SHARIF (through translator): The aim of this operation was to
strike Jordan and the Hashemite royal family, a war against the crusaders
and infidels. Azme told me that this would be the first chemical suicide
attack that al Qaeda would execute.
VAUSE: Also appearing on the tape, Azme Jayoussi, who says his orders came
from this man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the same man the U.S. says is behind
many of the violent attacks in Iraq.
AZME JAYOUSSI, ACCUSED PLOTTER (through translator): I took advanced
explosives course, poisons, high level, then I pledged allegiance to Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, to obey him without any questioning, to be on his side.
After this Afghanistan fell. I met Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq.
VAUSE: Al Jayoussi was only shown in profile. He had marks on his hand,
neck and face. The Jordanians who taped the confessions say the suspect
suffered the injuries during the arrest. CNN was not allowed access to any
of those arrested. The Jordanian government says this plot is only the
latest attempt by al Qaeda to destabilize this country.
ASMA KHADER, JORDANIAN MINISTER OF STATE: Jordan was fighting this type of
plans years now, and the security forces were able to confront them.
VAUSE (on camera): The Jordanians say the alleged terrorist plot was just
days away from execution. If successful, Jordan's King Abdullah told a
U.S.
newspaper it could have decapitated his government.
John Vause, CNN, Amman, Jordan.
The press re****ts which followed the original CNN re****t, often quote CNN
as the sole source for their information.
Al-Zarqawi's plans for Amman scale the heights of horror. CNN quoted
Jordanian authorities as saying that the attack involved a combination of
71 lethal chemicals, including blistering agents to cause third-degree
burns, nerve gas and choking agents, which would have formed a lethal
toxic
cloud over a square mile of the capital, Amman. Many thousands would have
died in what would have been al-Qaida's deadliest terrorist attack.
The Associated Press re****ted Monday that four of the men arrested said on
Jordanian television that they had been recruited by al-Zarqawi to carry
out "the first suicide attack to be launched by al-Qaida using chemicals
.... striking at Jordan, its Hashemite (royal family) and launching war on
the Crusaders and nonbelievers." One of the conspirators, Azmi al-Jayousi,
said he received about $170,000 from al-Zarqawi to finance the plot and
used part of it to buy 20 tons of chemicals. Images of vans packed with
chemicals and explosives were shown on television. (Charleston Post
Courier, 28 April 2004)
ALLEGED AL ZARQAWI "ATTACK ON AMERICA"
Two days later, following the alleged terrorist threat on Jordanian
intelligence, the State Department announced that Al Zarqawi was planning
an attack on America (29 April 2003, CNN Re****t). Note that the rumours of
an attack on America and the attack in Jordan took place virtually at the
same time.
"The State Department today said the number of terrorists attacks around
the world declined last year, but the government's annual re****t on
terrorism includes a chilling warning about the year ahead.
Kitty Pilgrim re****ts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The State Department says
terrorists are planning an attack on U.S. soil. High on their anxiety
list,
terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
AMB. COFER BLACK, COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM: He is representative
of
a very real and credible threat. His operatives are planning and
attempting
now to attack American targets, and we are after them with a vengeance.
Bear in mind that the Attack on America re****t, focusing on "We are after
them with a vengeance", was published on day following the CBS 60 minutes
program on torture at the Abu Ghraib prison. (Complete transcript at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CBS405A.html
).
THE NICHOLAS BERG VIDEO
Barely a couple of weeks later (11 May 2004), Al Zarqawi is re****ted as
being the mastermind behind the execution of Nicholas Berg on May 11,
2004.
Again perfect timing! The re****t coincided with calls by US Senators for
Defense Sec Donald Rumsfeld to resign over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
It occurs a few days after President Bush's "apology" for the Abu Ghraib
prison "abuses" on May 6.
The Nicholas Berg video served to create "a useful wave of indignation"
which served to distract and soften up public opinion, following the
release of the pictures of torture of Iraqi prisoners. (See the
intelligence assumptions underlying Operation Northwoods, a secret Joint
Chiefs of Staff plan to kill civilians in the Cuban community in Florida,
and blame it on Fidel Castro.
(http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NOR111A.html
) .
CNN coverage of the Nicholas Berg execution was based on a mysterious
re****t on an Islamic website, which CNN upholds as providing "evidence" of
Al-Zarqawi's involvement:
"ENSOR: The Web site claims that the killing was done by Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist whose al Qaeda affiliated group is held
responsible by U.S. intelligence for a string of bombings in Iraq and for
the killing of an American diplomat in Amman. CNN Arab linguists say,
however, that the voice on the tape has the wrong accent. They do not
believe it is Zarqawi. U.S. officials said the killers tried to take
advantage of the prison abuse controversy to gain attention.
....
BROWN: So, the administration said today we'll track these people down. We
will get them beyond, I guess, this belief that Zarqawi somehow was
involved. Are there any clues out there that we heard about?
ENSOR: This is going to be very, very difficult. They've been looking for
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for several years now. There's a large price on his
head. He's been blowing up a lot of things in Iraq according to him and
according to U.S. intelligence. They don't know where he is, so it's -- I
don't think they have any clues right now, at least none that I know of --
Aaron.
A subsequent more definitive re****t by CNN was aired 2 days later on 13
May
2004
The CIA confirms that Nicholas Berg's killer was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; The
CIA acknowledges sticking to strict rules in tough interrogations of top
al
Qaeda prisoners." (CNN)
BLITZER Because originally our own linguists here at CNN suspected that --
they listened to this audiotape and they didn't think the it sounded, the
sounded like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But now definitively, the experts at
the
CIA say it almost certainly is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?
ENSOR: They say it almost certainly is. There's just a disagreement
between
the CNN linguists and the CIA linguists. The U.S. Government now believes
that the person speaking on that tape and killing Nick Berg on that tape
is
the actual man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi."
Did the US officials check the mysterious website or was it CNN?
The video footage published on the website was called «Abu Musab
Al-Zarqawi
shows killing of an American». " Then the CIA experts released a statement
saying that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was the man in the mask who beheaded the
US citizen Nick Berg in front of a camera."
(See http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SAT405A.html
). Yet several
re****ts question the authenticity of the video.
(http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CAR405A.html
).
Al Zarqawi is Jordanian. Yet the man in the video "posing as Jordanian
native Zarqawi does not speak the Jordanian dialect. Zarqawi has an
artificial leg, but none of these murderers did. The man presented as
Zarqawi had a yellow ring, presumably a golden one, which Muslim men are
banned from wearing, especially so-called fundamentalists." (See Was Nick
Berg killed by US intelligence? by Sirajin Sattayev,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SAT405A.html
Another re****t states that Zarqawi was dead.
Immediately when the issue of his artificial leg was mentioned in relation
to the video, US officials revised their story, stating they were not sure
whether he actually lost a leg: "U.S. intelligence officials, who used to
believe that Zarqawi had lost a leg in Afghanistan, recently revised that
assessment, concluding that he still has both legs." (News and World
Re****t, 24 May 2004).
There were a number of other aspects of the video, which suggest that it
was a fraud: there was no blood when Nicholas Berg was beheaded. The audio
was not in synchrony with the video, indicating that the film might have
been manipulated.
3/11: THE MADRID 11 MARCH 2004 TRAIN BOMBING
While the press dispatches provide no evidence of of Al Zarqawi's
involvement in the Madrid 3/11 bombing, several of the re****ts implied,
without sup****ting evidence, that he was involved. According to the CIA,
the Moroccan group which allegedly "supervised the bombings in Madrid,
[were] acting as a link between al- Zarqawi and a cell of mostly Moroccan
al-Qaeda members." (The Australian, 27 May 2004)
A CNN statement two days after the 3/11 Madrid bombing states that Al
Zarqawi may be planning attacks on "soft targets" in Western Europe:
"LISOVICZ: And Jonathan, specifically, Abu Musaab al Zarqawi is someone
you
have described as al Qaeda 2.0, which is pretty scary.
SCHANZER: Yes. Abu Musaab al Zarqawi is the man we caught; we intercepted
his memo last month. U.S. intelligence officials found this memo. It
indicated that he was trying to continue to carry out attacks against the
United States. He was seeking help from the larger al Qaeda network and
was
seeking to foment internecine violence inside Iraq. This is a man
dangerous; he's been linked to attacks in Riyadh, Istanbul and Morocco.
This is essentially a freelancer. This is a lone wolf, someone that's
acting alone in the name of al Qaeda.
CAFFERTY: Where do we stand in your opinion on this war on terrorism? We
have got this terrible situation in Madrid. We've got this fellow,
Zarqawi,
you are talking about, the lone Wolf that is active, some think inside
Iraq. We have got terrorist attacks happening there. There is discussion
all over Western Europe of fear of terrorism, possibly being about to
increase there. Are we winning this war or are we losing it? What is your
read?
SCHANZER: I think we're winning it. We've certainly -- I mean
counterterrorism at its core is just restricting the terrorist
environment.
So we've cut down on the amount of finances moving around in the terrorist
world. We have arrested a number of key figures. So we are doing a good
job." (CNN,13 March 2004)
For details on the Madrid bombing see, Madrid 'blueprint': a dodgy
document
by Brendan O'Neill at http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/ONE404A.html
EXTENDING THE WAR ON TERRORISM
Are "we winning or loosing" the war on terrorism? These statements are
used to justify enhanced military operations against this illusive
individual, who is confronting US military might, all over the World. Al
Zarqawi is used profusely in Bush's press conferences and speeches in an
obvious public relations ploy.
You know, I hate to predict violence, but I just understand the nature of
the killers. This guy, Zarqawi, an al Qaeda associate -- who was in
Baghdad, by the way, prior to the removal of Saddam Hussein -- is still at
large in Iraq. And as you might remember, part of his operational plan was
to sow violence and discord amongst the various groups in Iraq by cold-
blooded killing. And we need to help find Zarqawi so that the people of
Iraq can have a more bright -- bright future. (Press Conference, 1 June
2004, emphasis added)
And with a new interim Iraqi government, US and British troops would be in
Iraq at "the request" of the interim government, in an agreement
sanctioned
by the UN. "The terrorists are still at large": The tasks of the so-called
"multinational force" would include "preventing and deterring terrorism",
namely going after Al Zarqawi, as a means to "establi****ng democracy"
under
G-8's "political and economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa."
* * *
For Annex: click: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO405B.html
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Copyright MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY 2004.
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