THE AMERICAN MONITOR NOW HAS ITS OWN WEBSITE

The new site is now up and running!

GO HERE!

US-terror links kept in the dark as former Bush associate refuses to testify

Fearing for his life, Sami al-Arian, an admitted terrorist financer and one-time acquaintance of President George W. Bush, has refused to provide information to a federal grand jury regarding a Northern Virginia-based criminal network with connections to the U.S. government.

For nearly five years, investigators have been attempting to untangle the complex web of corporations, charities, and think tanks, which have allegedly been used by al-Arian and his associates to launder money for terrorist activities overseas and in the United States.

As The Washington Post reported, "The government believes Arian could help untangle the money trail, court documents indicate. In an affidavit filed in support of the search warrants and unsealed in 2003, Homeland Security agent David Kane laid out alleged ties between Arian and IIIT, writing that IIIT was once the largest contributor to what he called a Palestinian Islamic Jihad front group run by Arian."

Although it has been grossly underreported in the mainstream media, the network under investigation has been intimately linked to the U.S. government, suggesting that some of the group’s activities have been sanctioned, protected, and possibly even coordinated by U.S. intelligence.

At the center of the investigation, the National Review has noted, is Yaqub Mirza, who is said to have contacts high within the FBI. Mirza was a board member of a company known as Ptech, which maintained several sensitive contracts with the U.S. government.

“Mirza has been publicly linked to the alleged financing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad through his organizations International Institute of Islamic Thought and Safa Trust,” the National Review reported.

Mirza's alleged coconspirator and Bush associate Sami al-Arian, along with another convicted terrorist supporter, Abdurahaman Alamoudi, both of whom have alleged links to 9/11, met several times with senior Bush Administration officials in the run-up to the attacks.

In June 2001, for instance, as a member of the American Muslim Council (AMC) (which was founded by Alamoudi) al-Arian was “invited to the White House complex for a briefing by Bush political adviser Karl Rove.”

Bush with al-Arian

Similarly, in 2000 Alamoudi “was one of several Muslims invited to meet with [presidential] candidate [George W.] Bush in Austin, Texas”; and remarkably, just three days after the 9/11 attacks, Alamoudi was invited to a prayer service with the president.

Bush with Alamoudi

In addition to founding the AMC, al-Arian's associate Alamoudi also co-founded Ptech, the U.S. defense contractor for which Mirza served as a board member. U.S. intelligence officials have described Ptech as a CIA front “on the level of Iran-Contra.”

Reports have connected Ptech to money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing. The company maintained contracts with numerous U.S. government departments and agencies, including the Army, the Air Force, Naval Air Command, Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, Customs, the FAA, the IRS, NATO, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the White House. As of 2004, despite being publicly connected to terrorism and organized crime, the company still maintained contracts with several government agencies, including the White House.

Ptech’s primary investor and owner, Yassin al-Qadi, who has been identified as one of Osama bin Laden’s “chief money launderers,” escorted U.S. officials around during their official visits to Saudi Arabia and, prior to being publicly connected to money laundering and terrorist-financing, al-Qadi openly and regularly spoke of his friendship with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Furthermore, Ptech cofounder Alamoudi founded a U.S. Army chaplain program for which he served as a consultant for over a decade. “The right to select military chaplains,” the ultra conservative Front Page Magazine has noted, “offered Alamoudi and his colleagues the chance to recruit still more Islamists with specialized and highly useful skill-sets.”

There are indications that prior to 9/11, al-Arian, Mirza, Alamoudi, al-Qadi, and other members of the alleged criminal network were protected from prosecution by high-ranking US officials, effectively preventing the FBI from stopping 9/11.

FBI Agent Robert Wright, who was in charge of investigating the Virginia-based network during the 1990s, said the FBI “intentionally and repeatedly thwarted and obstructed” his attempts to arrest terrorists, seize assets, and expand his investigation.

Approximately three months prior to the 9/11 attacks, agent Wright wrote a memo warning that American citizens would die as a result of the FBI's incompetence. He said there was “virtually no effort on the part of the FBI's International Terrorism Unit to neutralize known and suspected international terrorists living in the United States."

According to John Loftus, even after 9/11 "people in the intelligence community came and said-guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren’t being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them, because there were being funded by the Saudis and a political decision was being made at the highest levels, don’t do anything that would embarrass the Saudi government.” He went on to say:

“[W]ho was it that fixed the cases? How could these guys operate for more than a decade immune from prosecution? And, the answer is coming out in a very strange place. What Alamoudi and al-Arian have in common is a guy named Grover Norquist. He's the super lobbyist. ...Grover Norquist's best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things.”

Norquist started an Islamic lobbying group, the Islamic Institute, founded with seed money from Alamoudi. The group, according to Front Page Magazine, “has placed a number of questionable Muslim activists -- including the son of a Wahhabi preacher who helped Osama bin Laden's second in command raise money -- inside the Bush administration, including the White House, the Transportation Department and the Homeland Security Department, as well as other sensitive agencies.”

At first glance it may appear that a terrorist support network infiltrated the U.S. government through lobbying groups and companies such as the Islamic Institute and Ptech. There are, however, strong indications that such links went far beyond standard corruption, incompetence, and a desire not to embarrass the Saudis.

It has been well documented, yet drastically underreported, that throughout the 1980s and 1990s the U.S. government supported elements of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, and elsewhere, giving rise to what is now known as 'al-Qaeda'.

The alleged 9/11 'paymaster', Omar Sheikh, for instance, was reportedly recruited out of the London School of Economics during the 1990s by the MI6 and CIA. Prior to 9/11, Sheikh was reportedly sent to Bosnia and later to Kosovo on behalf of Western intelligence. He was even offered a passport by the British government in 2000.

Similarly, it would appear that members of the Virginia-based network were also involved in such CIA-supported operations.

Alamoudi, and the founding director of his Islamic Institute, Khaled Saffuri, both raised funds to support Muslims in Bosnia during the civil war of the 1990s.

Yassin al-Qadi -- the Ptech owner, "chief money launderer" for Osama bin Laden, and 'friend' of Vice President Cheney -- also allegedy supported the Bosnian jihad.

Al-Qadi reportedly made a payment of $195,000 to Bosnia's wartime president, Alija Izetbegovic, in 1996, the same year Izetbegovic earned the "International Democracy Award" and the same year that Ptech began obtaining contracts with the U.S. government.

Former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke has testified before Congress that al-Qadi's charity, the Muwafaq foundation (which was allegedly used to funnel the cash to Izetbegovic), “reportedly transferred at least $3 million, on behalf of Khalid bin Mahfouz, to Usama bin Laden".

Khalid bin Mahfouz, who "established and funded" the Muwafaq foundation, was once the principal shareholder and director of BCCI, a "criminal enterprise" used by the CIA to "funnel cash through its Islamabad and other Pakistani branches to CIA client Osama bin Laden, part of the $2 billion Washington sent to the Afghani mujahideen."

Mahfouz's and al-Qadi's Muwafaq foundation, according to the congressional testimony of former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Jonathan M. Winer, provided direct support for terrorist activities in Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia, and Chechnya—all areas where the CIA reportedly conducted operations of mutual interest.

Ptech, which al-Qadi owned, was reportedly used to launder drug profits for such CIA-sponsored 'al-Qaeda' operations. According to U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to 9/11 whistleblower Indira Singh, Ptech was a CIA front "on the level of Iran-Contra."

According to Singh, a CBS affiliate in Boston "paid for private investigators to follow a couple of the Ptech people, and it did go to a mob-run warehouse area and the reports came back that basically it was a drop shipment place for drugs."

Singh presented such information to Senator Chuck Grassley, who reportedly confirmed the most damning of allegations: "I told him (Sen. Grassley) that I had stumbled onto the drugs and they were giving a free pass to all those affiliated with terror financing for 9/11. ... We had a very in depth exchange where he basically broke down and admitted a lot of things to me...he corroborated that it's all corrupt...he told me you're right."

Sami al-Arian will likely to be held in contempt of court for refusing to proivde testimony regarding the network, possibly adding as much as 18 months to his prison term. According to his lawyers, al-Arian is afriad for his life and is unlikely to change his mind.

JFK and 9/11 - Insights Gained From Studying Both

Professor Peter Dale Scott speaks at the COPA (Coalition on Political Assassinations) Regional Meeting in Dallas, Texas on Saturday. More at 911blogger.com.

Key Stories (11/19/06 - 11/20/06)

Housing Bubble Smack-down --Dissident Voice

Judge: FBI must correct disclosures on evacuation of Saudis after 9/11 --Raw Story

The Next Act --The New Yorker (Seymour Hersh reminds us that Cheney & Co. play by their own rules, so while an attack on Iran appears less likely by the day, we must never rule out the 'wild card'.)

Senior Democrat renews call for military draft --Reuters

Another Coup in the Making in Venezuela? --Gringo in Venezuela (Alternative, permanent link.)

Corn: Changing Price Structure --Axcess News (If cellulosic ethanol really is 'right around the corner', then it better hurry up!)

"September 1, 2006 inventories of old crop U.S. corn totaled only 1.971 billion bushels, 41 million less than forecast in mid-September. The 2006 harvest is now estimated at 10.745 billion bushels, 369 million below the September forecast. The supply of U.S. corn for the current marketing year is 410 million bushels less than that projected two months ago."

Ethanol production spikes corn prices, high meat costs may be next --Northwest Indiana Times

Did the CIA kill Bobby Kennedy? --The Guardian

'Low Food Security'

Key Stories (11/15/06 - 11/18/06)

Bush's Chernobyl Economy; Hard Times are on the Way --Dissident Voice

A bigger economy doesn't always buy happiness --The Los Angeles Times (Yes, the LA Times!)

Young Barrowers Face A Life of Debt --AlterNet

Military may ask $127 billion for wars --USA Today

The Project for a 'New Middle East' --Global Research

Clear Evidence 2006 Congressional Election Hacked --OpEd News

Reviewed: Peter Lance's 9/11 Masterpiece --Truth Out (Jason Leopold takes interest in the Ali Mohammed story but fails to connect the dots. Ali Mohammed did not "infiltrate" or "hoodwink" U.S. intelligence. He was a CIA operative! That is how he accomplished 'his most stunning achievements'. )

"...Lance writes, Mohamed kept quiet about "his most stunning achievements," including how he avoided being caught in a State Department Watch List, enlisted in the US Army and was stationed at the same base where the Green Berets and Delta Force undergo training, and wooed a Silicon Valley medical technician, whom he married. In the courtroom, Mohamed, fluent in four languages, "didn't say a word about how he'd moved in and out of contract spy work for the CIA and fooled FBI agents for six years as he smuggled terrorists across US borders, and guarded the tall Saudi billionaire who had personally declared war on Americans: Osama bin Laden," Lance writes.

...Remarkably, Mohamed was never sentenced for the crimes he pleaded guilty to. He is in the witness protection program, his existence shrouded under a veil of secrecy."

UK 'ignored spy's al-Qaeda fear' --BBC News (Go here for more.)

U.S. identifies al-Qaida leader as key informant --Associated Press (Go here for more.)

Gonzales: Definition of 'freedom' is grave threat to U.S. security --CNN

Police state roundup! --AlterNet

Scientists: More research needed to balance food, energy needs --The Associated Press

Oil sands global warming threat, report says --The Calgary Sun

UCLA Student Repeatedly Tasered in Handcuffs

Another 'double agent'

An article published by the BBC Thursday states, “UK intelligence services were warned of the threat posed by al-Qaeda in the mid-90s but did not act quickly enough, says a spy who infiltrated the network.”

“Known by the pseudonym of Omar Nasiri,” the spy “worked for intelligence in the UK and France, and trained in Afghanistan,” where he met senior al-Qaeda figures, the BBC reported.

“The spy also said that to maintain his cover the French and UK services reluctantly gave him money to pass to al-Qaeda, and he did not know how the money was spent. When asked if he ever forgot he was a spy while in Afghanistan, ‘Omar’ replied: ‘Oh yeah, all the time.’”

As The New York Times, notes, the name Omar Nasiri is actually a “pseudonym for someone who lives in hiding at an undisclosed location abroad”. This one-time intelligence asset has written a book entitled, “Inside the Jihad: My Life with Al Qaeda, A Spy’s Story”.

This book will undoubtedly omit relevant information and mislead the reader on certain points, but it is still worth checking out.

“Nasiri's original motive for writing a book, he said, was revenge,” the Times reported.

“After seven years of dangerous work - principally for the Directorate-General of External Security in France - he said he felt hung out to dry by the Western agencies. The bombings of two American embassies in East Africa in 1998 left Nasiri appalled by the violence of Islamic terrorism but also uncomfortable at the role of the West.”

The book, according to the Times, “is replete with tales of phony passports, envelops stuffed with cash, and cloak-and-dagger meetings between Nasiri and his "handlers" in various European capitals.”

Along his travels, as the Times interestingly notes, Nasiri said “he encountered Abu Zubayda, a Palestinian who acted as a gatekeeper to some of the camps.”

Abu Zubayda, who was recently named as a “key informant” in the Jose Padilla trial, was, at the time of his encounters with Nasiri, also serving the interests of Western intelligence, arranging for fighters to travel from Afghanistan to Chechnya and Bosnia.

Furthermore, according to the BBC, Nasiri came into contact with Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who Nasiri asserts, “was given terror training in London.”

The article offers no explanation for why British authorities were permitting such activities to take place after they had supposedly ‘infiltrated’ the group.

It would appear Abu Hamza was also an asset of Western intelligence, originally fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviets, then against the Serbs in Bosnia, and later assisting with the recruitment and training of Islamic militants for operations in various other regions.

“Evidence collected by the American agencies shows that, as early as 1997, Hamza was organising terror camps in the Brecon Beacons, at an old monastery in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and in Scotland, suggesting that he ran a far more extensive training network than has been officially acknowledged until now,” The Observer reported in February of this year.

Some of these camps were reportedly run with the direct assistance of ex-British soldiers.

According to The Observer, “Transcripts of interviews conducted with suspected al-Qaeda terrorists held by America in Guantánamo Bay reveal that the British ex-soldiers, some of whom fought in Bosnia, were recruited to train about 10 of Hamza's followers at the Brecon Beacons camp for three weeks in 1998.”

Even The Observer seemed to have trouble explaining all this. The paper could only make a guess: “the British security services were either unconcerned or ignorant about Hamza's activities, despite warnings that he was considered a risk from foreign governments and intelligence agencies as early as 1995.”

As usual, the most reasonable explanation—that British intelligence was complicit in such activities—was ignored completely.

Al-Qaeda leader key informant

An Associated Press article Friday identified Abu Zubaydah, the one-time al-Qaeda leader turned secret CIA detainee, as a “key informant” in the Jose Padilla trial.

“A senior member of al-Qaida held for years at an undisclosed overseas CIA prison was a key source of information that led investigators to alleged terror operative Jose Padilla, federal prosecutors have disclosed,” the Associated Press reported.

“The informant, known previously only as "CS-1" in government court filings, was Abu Zubaydah, who was among a group of 14 top al-Qaida operatives and leaders who were transferred in September from the secret foreign prisons to the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”

Abu Zubaydah has been useful to the US for a long time.

Zubaydah, as The Seattle Times has noted, originally “fought the Soviets in Afghanistan alongside Osama bin Laden. At 25, he was the emir of bin Laden's training camps, serving as gatekeeper and placement director. He set up cells, doled out money and helped coordinate al-Qaida's operations around the world.” These operations were carried out with the full support of the United States.

But even following the CIA-supported anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s, Zubaydah continued exporting militants from Afghanistan.

“By this time,” according to The Seattle Times, “al-Qaida training was formalized. There was even a textbook, available in Arabic, French and other languages. The training incorporated methods American advisers had introduced to the Afghans in the 1980s in the war with the Soviets.”

This was more than blowback.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, Abu Zubaydah “arranged for fighters to travel from Afghanistan to Chechnya and Bosnia in the late 1990s and oversaw the "Khalden group" of training camps in Afghanistan between 1995 and 2000.” The CIA’s support for such elements of the ‘al-Qaeda’ network in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Bosnia has been well documented.

Alleged attendees of the infamous “Khalden group” include 9/11 hijackers Mohammed Atta, Majed Moqed, and Satam al-Suqami, the so-called ‘20th hijacker’ Zacarias Moussaoui, and several of the alleged conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing plot, including the ‘mastermind’ Ramzi Yousef.

Scratching the Surface

Writing for Spero News, Adrian Morgan scratches the surface of the CIA-supported al-Qaeda network:

"...Wahhabism was an alien ideology to the Muslims of former Yugoslavia, though in the Bosnian war of 1992 - 1995, it became imported by radical Muslims. These had been invited to the region by then-president Alija Izetbegovic. ... When the civil war began in 1992, he invited Mujahideen fighters to the region, incorporating them into the Bosnian army. ... Izetbegovic was portrayed by the Clinton administration as a moderate, though it was recently revealed that he was in the pay of a Saudi Al Qaeda operative, Yassin al-Khadi (Yassin al Qadi). Izetbegovic was also in direct communication with Osama bin Laden, according to British journalist Eve-Ann Prentice. ..."

Although it is rarely mentioned in the mainstream media, the United States did more than just portray Izetbegovic as a moderate, as the above article suggests. Izetbegovic and the Mujahideen fighters he invited to the region were the recipients of logistical, financial, and military support from the US.

As London's The Spectator has noted, "If Western intervention in Afghanistan created the mujahedin, Western intervention in Bosnia appears to have globalised it."

Indeed, several current and former top al-Qaeda militants and financers participated in the Bosnian civil war with the full support of the United States. It was, after all, for the Bosnian jihad that the 9/11 'paymaster', Omar Sheikh, was reportedly recruited to fight by the CIA and MI6.

As the above excerpt notes, it was recently revealed that Izetbegovic was "in the pay" of Yassin al-Qadi, a specially designated global terrorist and widely reported al-Qaeda financer. Izetbegovic reportedly received $195,000 from al-Qadi in 1996, the same year he earned the "International Democracy Award" from the Center for Democracy.

Alija Izetbegovic receives the 1996 International Democracy Award during a ceremony held at the United Nations on March 25, 1997.

Al-Qadi, in addition to financing the Bosnian jihad and acting as a "chief money launderer" for Osama bin Laden, owned a company called Ptech, which provided sophisticated software to several departments and agencies of the US government, including the Army, the Air Force, Naval Air Command, Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, Customs, the FAA, the IRS, NATO, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the White House.

The same year (1996) al-Qadi was allegedly making payments to Izetbegovic, the al-Qaeda financer began obtaining contracts from the US government.

According to US intelligence officials who spoke to 9/11 whistleblower Indira Singh, Ptech was a "CIA clandestine op on the level of Iran-Contra." More after the fold...

Ptech was apparently used to launder drug money for covert operations. According to Singh, a CBS affiliate in Boston actually "paid for private investigators to follow a couple of the Ptech people, and it did go to a mob-run warehouse area and the reports came back that basically it was a drop shipment place for drugs."

Indira Singh presented her information to Senator Chuck Grassley, who reportedly confirmed the worse:

"I told him (Sen. Grassley) that I had stumbled onto the drugs and they were giving a free pass to all those affiliated with terror financing for 9/11. ... We had a very in depth exchange where he basically broke down and admitted a lot of things to me...he corroborated that it's all corrupt...he told me you're right."

As I noted in March:

"...Al-Qadi also maintained an unusually close relationship with notable US politicians. While attempting to defend Ptech, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts (ADCMA) revealed the fact that al-Qadi “was prominent in Washington circles and even showed President Jimmy Carter and Dick Cheney around during their visits to Saudi Arabia.”

Al-Qadi told an Arab newspaper in October of 2001 that he “spoke to [Dick Cheney] at length” and they “even became friends.” Similarly, while speaking with Computer World Magazine, Ptech cofounder Oussama Ziade said that al-Qadi “talked very highly of his relationship with [former President] Jimmy Carter and [Vice President] Dick Cheney." ..."

In 1998, FBI agent Robert Wright confiscated $1.4 million linked to al-Qadi, but astonishingly, according to The Boston Globe, al-Qadi "was so well respected that he escorted former President Jimmy Carter around a Saudi women's college in 2000."

Meanwhile, Agent Wright was "intentionally and repeatedly thwarted and obstructed" from arresting terrorists, seizing assets, and expanding his investigation into the financial network of which al-Qadi was a part. According to Wright, 9/11 could have been prevent had he been allowed to do his job.

Former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke has testified before Congress that al-Qadi's charity, the Muwafaq foundation (which was allegedly used to funnel cash to Izetbegovic), “reportedly transferred at least $3 million, on behalf of Khalid bin Mahfouz, to Usama bin Laden".

Khalid bin Mahfouz, who "established and funded" the Muwafaq foundation, was once the principal shareholder and director of BCCI, a "criminal enterprise" used by the CIA to "funnel cash through its Islamabad and other Pakistani branches to CIA client Osama bin Laden, part of the $2 billion Washington sent to the Afghani mujahideen."

Mahfouz's and al-Qadi's Muwafaq foundation, according to the congressional testimony of former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Jonathan M. Winer, provided direct support for terrorist activities in Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia, and Chechnya—all areas where the CIA reportedly conducted operations of mutual interest.

Key Stories (11/14/06)

The Highjacking of a Nation, Part 1: The Foriegn Agent Factor --Sibel Edmonds (NSWBC)

US is top purveyor on weapons sales list --The Boston Globe

Corporate and Government Looting of the Gulf Coast --Truth Out

The Bush Administration's Trojan Horse: Robert Gates --Online Journal

Cleric Details CIA Abduction, Egyption Torture --The Washington Post

"His captors offered a deal: They would allow him to return to Italy if he agreed to become an informant. Nasr said he refused. As a result, he said, he was interrogated and physically abused for the next 14 months in two Cairo prisons."

Immigrants may be held indefinitely, may not challenge imprisonment --The Associated Press

Former CIA chief: 'Oil dependence threatens US, Israel' --The Jerusalem Post

Oilsands threaten water supply in Saskatchewan --Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Rumsfeld, Vagabond

From the great Mr. Fish...

The End of Suburbia

This 52 minute version of "The End of Suburbia" is available free on YouTube for a limited time...

A Dark Day

A seriously ill Mike Ruppert has announced the end of From The Wilderness. Today is truly a dark day. I am speechless. This video from the 2004 9/11 Citizens' Commission hearing is all I can think of posting. A tribute to Mike.

Response to 9/11 Press For Truth 'debunking'

Below is an attempt by the blog, "Screw Loose Change," to dubunk the documentary 9/11 Press For Truth, followed by my response.

This is the hot new video in the 9-11 Denial Movement, although that seems a bit odd as the film does not (according to those who've seen it all) include any mention of the popular conspiracy theories, like the Bumble Planes or the missile into the Pentagon, or the controlled demolition at the World Trade Center. I am going to analyze the film in short bits; today I'll look at the first 10 minutes.

The film starts with a brief intro of clips from 9-11, including the initial CNN report and the crash of Flight 175 into the South Tower. It then jumps to President Bush. The music at this point is rather harsh and jarring in the background as the president gives his speech that evening. The image splits into two, then four then 9 and so on, distancing us from him.

We are introduced to three of the four Jersey Girls, 9-11 widows from the Garden State. Note particularly the soft music as they are introduced. The voice over notes that these widows had questions. At the top of their list is the question of "Why had the US military defenses failed to stop any of the four hijacked planes?"

Here the film engages in a little casual dishonesty. First we are shown a clip that the first hijacking was reported to the military at 8:38 AM (true). Then the announcer intones, "The last plane was reported to have crashed in Pennsylvania just after 10:00 AM (true enough, but the screen says 10:06, which is false; the 9-11 Commission concluded that the plane crashed at 10:03). One of the Jersey girls laughs and says, "That's almost two hours, that planes were flying around the skies of the United States with no military response."

And that is a lot of crap. First, even if we use their times, that's not even an hour and a half. And anyway, the question is not how long the air defenses had to react to all the hijackings, it's how long they had to react to each individual hijacking. As we know, that's not a very long time.

Flight 11: NEADS notified at 8:38. Crashed at 8:45.
Flight 175: NEADS notified at 9:03. Crashed at 9:03.
Flight 77: NEADS notified at 9:34. Crashed at 9:37.
Flight 93: NEADS notified at 10:07. Crashed at 10:03.

As you can see most advance warning that NEADS (Northeast Air Defense Sector, a unit of NORAD) had for any of the hijacked planes was seven minutes for Flight 11. The notion that our air defenses could have intercepted any of these planes with that little warning is completely unrealistic.

The movie then goes on to contrast this supposedly slow response by the military to the 1999 incident where air traffic controllers lost radio contact with Payne Stewart's plane. But in that incident air traffic control (PDF) got no response at 9:33 AM EDT. A Cubana Air flight tried to raise the plane at 9:38. According to the NTSB report on the plane crash the a military plane intecepted Stewart's jet at 9:54 CDT. That may sound like 21 minutes, but note the Time Zone change--it's actually an hour and 21 minutes. So the notion that the military did a crackerjack job with Payne Stewart, but was sluggish in response to 9-11 is just not borne out by the facts.

Next we comes a question about Bush's personal response on 9-11. Once again we get the creepy music; this documentary makes no bones about who's the villain of the piece, and it ain't Osama. We're shown a clip of Cheney talking about the Secret Service yanking him from the White House, and this is contrasted with Bush sitting in the classroom reading to the children, with I guess the implication being that the Secret Service screwed up by not pulling the President from the room. One of the Jersey girls helpfully asks, "If people fell down on the job, by not informing those who were in leadership positions, who had the power to do something, why were we not looking at our protocols so we could fix it going forward."

Of course, one assumes that the standing order since 9-12 is that if there is a terrorist attack again, the President is immediately to be pulled away from what he's doing. And as for that "power to do something", what exactly does she think he could do, run outside and shoot down the hijacked planes with a SAM?

So now we're two "questions" into the movie and they're asking about procedure changes in the event of a terrorist attack?

I actually agree with some of your overall views regarding the various sects of the so-called “9/11 Truth Movement”, but much of your own research is equally flawed and, more importantly, your approach is counterproductive.

There is absolutely no reason or justification for ridiculing members of the Family Steering Committee. They are simply searching for answers regarding the deaths of their loved ones, and they have presented several legitimate questions.

Trying to ‘shut them up’ with personal and poorly researched counterpoints is futile, and, dare I say, wrong.

Instead of wasting your efforts portraying the Jersey girls and other American citizens as brainwashed conspiracy theorists, why not spend some of your time actually analyzing the origins and motivations of the Family Steering Committee and the ‘9/11 Truth Movement’ as a whole?

If you take the time, you will discover that many so-called ‘conspiracy theorists’ are actually highly respectable and well-researched individuals that, in many cases, have uncovered explosive information.

By solely concentrating on any given social movement’s flaws and fringe elements, it is easy to convince oneself that the social movement is delusional and wrong, which is apparently your specialty.

This, of course, accomplishes nothing…except to provide a slight boost to your own self-confidence.

You want my advice?

Instead of blindly attempting to refute every conspiracy you come across, try objectively analyzing the evidence and picking out the ‘gold from the garbage’. Instead of stomping the Jersey girls into the ground, offer constructive criticism that could be used to improve and refine their cause.

Fight for the people, not for the institution.

Now for the facts…

"Why had the US military defenses failed to stop any of the four hijacked planes?"

Contrary to your viewpoint, this is a perfectly legitimate question.

You have the audacity to label Lorie Van Auken’s statement as a “lot of crap,” but you blatantly misinterpret her comments. As you yourself state, Van Auken said, "That's almost two hours that planes were flying around the skies of the United States with no military response."

From the first hijacking (about 8:13) to the downing of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania (10:03-10:06) is indeed nearly two hours.

Your contrasting viewpoint is based on inaccurate military notification times, along with the omission of ATC and FAA notification times, and the subsequent delayed responses to those notifications, all of which have yet to be explained by any government investigation.

You write, “The notion that our air defenses could have intercepted any of these planes with that little warning is completely unrealistic.”

But even General Ralph Eberhart testified before the 9/11 Commission that the Air Force could have intercepted and shot down all of the planes, that is, if the FAA had immediately alerted the military as standard procedures require. Eberhart was asked by the Commission…

“…would it have been physically possible, if everything had gone right in terms of communication of information and communication of orders -- would it still physically have been possible for the military pilots to have shot down either the plane that hit the first World Trade tower, or the plane that hit the second World Trade tower, or the plane that hit the Pentagon?

GEN. EBERHART: …if that is the case, yes, we could shoot down the airplanes. …”

So what exactly interfered with “communication of information and communication of orders”?

For one, all of STRATCOM, in coordination with several military and civilian branches of government, including the FAA, were participating in a massive military exercise, which included the use of an alternative communication/command system, a fact the 9/11 Commission avoided completely.

The exercise, known as Global Guardian, was conducted in conjunction with several related exercises, such as NORAD’s Vigilant Guardian, which included at least one hijacking scenario roughly scheduled for the same time as the attacks.

As for the military notification times you have listed, they are all in dispute, and some have been proven wrong, which is exactly why a new and independent investigation is warranted.

If you wish, I can elaborate further on any of these issues. I also welcome your criticism, but please refrain from name-calling and personal attacks.

As for your bit on Payne Stewart, standard scramble and interception procedures were and are executed on a regular basis, as documented in 9/11 Press For Truth and omitted from your review. Payne Stewart is just one example.

NORAD maintained 14 ‘alert sites’ in the United States, each with two fighters that could be scrambled within five minutes notice, but standard procedures were not followed on 9/11 and, consequently, not one of the hijacked flights was intercepted.

More to the point, you neglect to mention the fact that the information presented in 9/11 Press For Truth regarding the Payne Stewart incident is provided by an ABC news clip, which states, "just 25 minutes into the flight, controllers lost radio contact with the pilot and an Air Force F-16 on a training mission was sent to take a look.”

You claim to refute ABC’s above statement, citing an NTSB report and an apparent time zone discrepancy.

The fighters referred to in the ABC report, however, were from Tyndall Air Force Base, while the fighters you are referring to (and referred to in the NTSB report) were scrambled from Eglin Air Force Base.

As Knight-Ridder reported, “according to an Air Force timeline, a series of military planes provided an emergency escort to the stricken Lear, beginning with a pair of F-16 Falcons from the Air National Guard at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., about 20 minutes after ground controllers lost contact.”

This is corroborated by a separate ABC report, which states, “According to an Air Force summary, after contact was initially lost, two F-15s from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., were sent to track the Learjet.”

The AP timeline confirms the Tyndall scramble order at 10:08, Eastern Time, “Two F-16s from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., were airborne on routine mission when diverted to provide the initial escort.”

Further confirmation comes from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which reported, “At 10:08, Eastern time, at the FAA's request, two F-16 Air Force fighter jets scrambled from Tyndall Air Force Base to overtake and visually inspect the unresponsive Learjet.”

Note that some reports place the loss of contact at 9:34, while others place the time at 9:44. Regardless, your analysis is, to barrow a phrase, ‘a lot of crap’.

I do not know why the NTSP report does not mention the Tyndall fighters, but a measure of time and distance makes clear that the scramble order was indeed placed much earlier than you claim.

Furthermore, loss of contact with a commercial passenger airliner is considered far more serious than loss of contact with a private Learjet, and there are and were standard procedures for dealing with such a situation—procedures that, for whatever reason, were apparently not followed and/or obstructed on 9/11.

This issue certainly deserves further scrutiny.

Your third point regarding President Bush is nothing but a half-witted shot in the dark, so I won’t even waste time going into detail regarding the Secret Service’s and Bush’s lack of action, but there is one point worth mentioning.

You say, “And as for that "power to do something", what exactly does she think he (the President) could do, run outside and shoot down the hijacked planes with a SAM?”

If you dedicated just a fraction of your time to research instead of crafting sarcasm you would have quickly discovered that the only person with the authority to order a commercial aircraft shot down is the President. That is his “power to do something”.

9/11 Paymaster Video

Larger version available here. Keep in mind, this is my first try.