I can’t say for certain, but don’t be surprised if very soon, we start seeing vague (or maybe not so vague) references to links between Al Qaeda, Iran and 9/11. If you doubt they’d try to pull this trick again after Iraq, then I ask you to consider this interview of Robert Baer, former CIA agent, and Thom Hartmann of Air America back in June:
Hartmann: ..by writing fiction you have been able to say some of the things that the CIA wouldn’t let you say in non-fiction, is that an accurate statement?
Baer: Absolutely, you know the two things the CIA wouldn’t let me write about – the Iranian connection to 9/11, and number two I get to take on these fictional truths – and they are fictional truths surrounding 9/11 – the whole conspiracy theory idea of what other countries were involved, was an individual involved – an American. Questions like that, and put it into dramatic art.
[..]
Hartmann: Was Iran involved – what countries were involved in 9/11? […]
Baer: The other question is Iran, who setup a strategic relationship with Bin laden in 1996 – this I know for sure, and there are a lot of questions out there.
Hartmann: But Bin laden is a Sunni Arab, and Iran is a Shia country – why would they do that?
Baer: Yeah.. tactical alliances, anything that is anti-American – anything that will cause the United States problems..
I recognize that Mr. Baer is a bit of a loose cannon, and certainly not an obvious supporter of the Bush administration, but this isn’t the first time the idea of an Iranian connection to 9/11 has been floated in the media. Far from it.
(cont.)
Back in the Summer of 2004, German intelligence documents were leaked to Michael Isikoff at Newsweek and statements were made by President Bush strongly suggesting that Iran provided assistance to Al Qaeda and the 9/11 attackers:
July 21 [2004] – Just eight months before the September 11 terror attacks, top conspirator Ramzi bin al-Shibh received a four-week visa to Iran and then flew to Tehran—an apparent stop-off point on his way to meet with Al Qaeda chiefs in Afghanistan, according to law-enforcement documents obtained by NEWSWEEK.
The final report of the 9-11 Commission, which is due out tomorrow, contains significant new information about a possible “Iran connection” to the plot, including a U.S. intelligence analysis indicating that Iranian border inspectors were instructed not to stamp the passports of Al Qaeda members entering and exiting their country. Although the information has been known to the U.S. intelligence community for some time, President Bush told reporters this week that the U.S. government was “digging into the facts to determine if there was” a possible Iranian connection to the September 11 attacks.
Hmmmm. I wonder what was going on in 2004? Oh yes, an election. Also, a lot of war planning activity at the Pentagon regarding Iran upon specific instructions by Vice President Cheney:
The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option.
Remember, these people are all about creating the next reality for us to study, and right now that next reality is the threat posed by Iran. These plans have been long in the making. At times they have been seemingly shelved or tabled, but for some reason they keep coming back from the dead.
And not surprisingly, we have a not one, but two resurrected versions of the Office of Special Plans, the DoD unit in 2002-2003 which “stove piped” phony intelligence about Iraq to the White House in order to build the case for the invasion of Iraq. We have the Iranian Directorate in the Pentagon, which is allegedly receiving both direction and intelligence about Iran from Abram Shulsky, the former director of the OSP. And we have the State Department’s version, its Office of Iranian Affairs whose unit chief reports directly to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of the vice President. Funny how that works.
So, what will be the clearest sign that Iran=9/11 is the new talking point? Well, in my humble opinion it will be the following. If you start to see the name of this alleged Iranian defector, Hamid Reza Zakeri, issuing from the mouths of right wing pundits, from “anonymous sources” in newspaper articles about Iran in the New York Times or Washington Post, and/or in speeches given by senior Bush administration officials:
The United States was warned of impending September 11 terrorist attacks by an Iranian spy, but ignored him, German secret service agents testified yesterday in the trial of an alleged al-Qaida terrorist.
The spy, identified as Hamid Reza Zakeri, tried to warn the CIA after leaving Iran in 2001, but was not believed, two German officers who interviewed him told the Hamburg court.
Zakeri worked in the department of the Iranian secret services responsible for “carrying out terrorist attacks globally”, one of the officers said.
Of course, Zakeri didn’t bother to testify in person at the trial. Instead, his alleged testimony was read by the Judge into the record:
The prosecution in the trial of Abdelghani Mzoudi presents a witness who claims to be a defector from an Iranian intelligence agency. [BBC, 1/21/04] The witness, Hamid Reza Zakeri, does not appear in court himself, but instead Judge Klaus Ruehle reads out his testimony. [Reuters, 1/22/04] According to Zakeri, the Iranian intelligence service was really behind the 9/11 attacks and had employed al-Qaeda to carry them out. Zakeri’s claims are widely publicized. However, these claims are quickly discounted, and German intelligence notes that, “he presents himself as a witness on any theme which can bring him benefit.” [Chicago Tribune, 1/22/04; Associated Press, 1/30/04; Reuters, 1/22/04; Deutsche Presse-Agenteur, 1/22/04] (Emphasis Mine)
So, Zakeri is not exactly a reliable witness, but then, when has that ever stopped the Bush administration before? These are the same people who put their faith in a clearly forged document showing the sale of 500 tons of yellowcake uranium to Saddam Hussein. They are also the same folks who swallowed the lies about Iraqi WMD put out by a shady intelligence source identified as a Curveball because it suited their purpose of building a case for war. What’s to stop Bush or Cheney or Rumsfeld from bringing up Zakeri’s testimony about Iran’s connection with 9/11? Certainly not any moral qualms they might have.
Of course, I could be completely wrong about this. Just because they lied to us before about Iraq’s connection to Al Qaeda and 9/11 doesn’t necessarily mean they will do try same trick again with Iran. And just because they recently distorted the extent of Iran’s nuclear program, even going so far as to lie about what was set forth in the IAEA’s own inspection reports on Iran, doesn’t necessarily mean they will lie about close ties between Al Qaeda, Iran and 9/11.
However, it does fit their past modus operandi in these matters, does it not?
