Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

IMMORAL TENET & HIS BLIND-EYE SURVEILLANCE (July 13, 2002 version)

ADRIAN MORE | 16.07.2002 16:22

The CIA placed two Sept. 11 skyjackers under surveillance as early as January 2000 - arguably only to allow them to ram American Airlines 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11 (IF indeed AA77 ever crashed into the Pentagon).


IMMORAL TENET & HIS BLIND-EYE SURVEILLANCE (July 13, 2002 version)



A T.I.P. (Text In Progress) by

ADRIAN MORE




Hey CIA director Tenet!

Is it true that two of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, were under surveillance in January 2000 on a trip of theirs to Malaysia? Source: Los Angeles Times, Feb2, 2002, "Indonesian Cleric Had Role In Skyjackings, Officials Say", by Mark Fineman and Bob Drogin; Eric Bailey contributed; online at :
 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-020202malay.story
Here’s what I read - and what blew me away.

"Local officials said U.S. authorities had asked Malaysian intelligence to watch for a group of SUSPECTED ARAB TERRORISTS [my caps] who might be entering the country in 2000. The CIA asked the authorities to only record and watch their movements, NOT TO ARREST THEM [my caps]."

Now, wait a minute. WHY DID THE CIA TELL THE MALAYSIANS "NOT TO ARREST THEM"? WERE OR WEREN’T THEY "SUSPECTED ARAB TERRORISTS"?

My above quoted source continues, somewhat oddly, stating that "those suspects [that is, the group of suspected Arab terrorists], AS WELL AS ALMIHDHAR AND ALHAZMI, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on JAN.5, 2000 [my caps], and Malaysian agents tracked them to…a…condominium complex called Evergreen Park."

Now, the oddity is in the words "those suspects, AS WELL AS Almihdhar and Alhazmi": does this mean that Almihdhar/Alhazmi were not part of the suspects? Why did the reporters write "AS WELL AS" instead of "including"? Anyway, "those suspects" AND Almihdhar/Alhazmi, whether the latter two were already suspects or not, ALL went to Evergreen Park, the article appears to say, and were ALL tracked by Malaysian agents. That is, Almihdhar/Alhazmi should have become "suspects" too from this point on, whether they were already suspects from earlier or not: because they joined the "group of suspected Arab terrorists".

Let’s read on:
"Malaysian officials said they immediately gave SURVEILLANCE PHOTOS of the group to U.S. intelligence."
Additional source nr 1: "MALAYSIAN OFFICIALS TURN OVER A FULL REPORT TO THE CIA, INCLUDING PHOTOS AND FULL NAMES OF THE TWO HIJACKERS [my caps]."

Summing up so far:
1. CIA director Tenet may have known Almihdhar + Alhazmi were suspected Arab terrorists as early as 1999, because "U.S. authorities…asked Malaysian intelligence to watch for…suspected Arab terrorists who might be entering the country in 2000."
2. God knows why, "the CIA asked the [Malaysian] authorities…NOT TO ARREST THEM".
3. CIA director Tenet IMMEDIATELY GOT "SURVEILLANCE PHOTOS" of the group.
4. Therefore, at least AS EARLY AS JANUARY 2000, CIA director Tenet knew that Almihdhar/Alhazmi were suspected Arab terrorists, probably had their photos - and let them go - to the U.S.!
Where CIA director Tenet allegedly lost track of them - until Sept.11, 2001.

Now, wait another minute. Since Almihdhar/Alhazmi had been linked to a group of suspected Arab terrorists in Kuala Lumpur, and even assuming for a moment that the reason why CIA director Tenet didn’t want them arrested there and then was to learn more about them; THEN WHY FOR GOD’S SAKE WAS THEIR SURVEILLANCE APPARENTLY DROPPED WHEN THEY LEFT MALAYSIA - AND FLEW TO THE U.S.?
AND IF THE CIA SURVEILLANCE OF ALMIHDHAR/ALHAZMI WAS NOT DROPPED BUT CONTINUED IN THE U.S., WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONLY LOGICAL THING TO DO, THEN WHY WEREN’T THEY STOPPED BEFORE SEPT.11? TESTIFY UNDER OATH, TENET!
BEFORE AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION THAT IS, IN AN OPEN HEARING AND LIVE ON PRIME TIME CNN!

In theory there is a third possibility: that the surveillance of Almihdhar/Alhazmi failed for other reasons.
If so, exactly WHY and exactly WHEN did the surveillance program collapse?
It’s implausible that the two Qaedas would have eluded surveillance after Kuala Lumpur, because to elude something you first have to become aware of it. And if Almihdhar/Alhazmi had become aware of being under surveillance, the last thing in the world they would have done was fly right into the country where the surveillance was most likely to be coming from.
And: once in the U.S., the two didn’t hide or go underground - they underwent flight training, and "lived openly in the U.S., using their real names, obtaining drivers’ licenses, opening bank accounts" (additional source nr 1).

But let’s read on, for now comes the (weak) alibi for Tenet:
"CIA officials have said they determined only last summer [2001] that the [Kuala Lumpur] meeting was important, when they identified one person in the photos as a possible suspect in the bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole…As a result, they warned the FBI and U.S. immigration officials to watch for Almihdhar and Alhazmi, but it was then determined that they already had entered the United States."

Now - I don’t get it, Tenet. Here were two guys who had been linked to "suspected Arab terrorists" since January 2000. So even assuming you want to continue their surveillance to learn more, YOU CONTINUE SHADOWING THEM. AND YOU TELL FBI + IMMIGRATION TO WATCH FOR THEM RIGHT AWAY - IN JANUARY 2000, NOT SUMMER 2001!
WHETHER THE KUALA LUMPUR MEETING WAS ABOUT TERRORISM OR GOLF IS BESIDE THE POINT, THE POINT BEING: ALMIHDHAR AND ALHAZMI WERE SUSPECTED ARAB TERRORISTS, SO WHY ON EARTH DID THE CIA DROP THE SURVEILLANCE AND NOT INFORM FBI + IMMIGRATION IMMEDIATELY, TENET?!

In the best-case scenario, you are an idiot so why hasn’t Bush fired you yet.

In the worst (and more likely) scenario, the surveillance of Almihdhar/Alhazmi was NOT dropped at all, and you are a traitor who, under orders from the White House to allow September 11 to happen, turned a blind eye to whatever Almihdhar/Alhazmi did between January 2000 and September 11, 2001, although you were closely monitoring them all along.

In either case, you ought to be fired and placed under investigation on suspicion of co-conspiring in at least one of the Sept.11 terror attacks.

Additional source: "CIA officials… point out that FBI agents assigned to the CIA Counterterrorism Center were at least informed about the Malaysian meeting… But FBI officials protest that they only recently [that is, well after 911, my note] learned about the most crucial piece of information: that the CIA knew Alhazmi was in the country, and that Almihdahr could enter at will."

The additional source also says that the CIA (Tenet) issued to the FBI (directed by Pickard from Aug 23 through Sept. 3; by Mueller from Sept. 4 onwards) an all-points bulletin to hunt down Almihdhar/Alhazmi on Aug.23, 2001.
Very late, but not TOO late.
Not too late for the treasonous FBI directors Pickard & Mueller to pass the 2 terrorists’ names to all airlines + FAA.

THEREFORE IT IS INCREDIBLE THAT ALMIHDHAR/ALHAZMI WERE ALLOWED (allegedly) TO BOARD AA77 ON SEPT.11!
PICKARD/MUELLER: WHY ON EARTH DIDN’T YOU PASS THOSE 2 NAMES TO ALL AIRLINES/AIRPORTS/FAA?

That you did not, is confirmed by my source nr 2: "airline security officials did not know on Sept.11 that two of the hijackers were on an FBI watch list of potential terrorists."

AND IF ANYONE THINKS THAT ANY FUCKING CONGRESSMAN IS EVER GOING TO ASK PICKARD/MUELLER THIS ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION – I HAVE 2 TWIN TOWERS TO SELL YOU!


Almihdhar and Alhazmi went on to ram themselves into the Pentagon, reportedly killing 189 people who would be alive without your blind-eye surveillance. Immoral Tenet, you’ll get yours yet.






ADRIAN MORE
poet/songwriter-singer/essayist




July 13, 2002 edition; I wrote the first version on February 6, 2002.



Sources:
1. Los Angeles Times, Feb.2, 2002: ‘Indonesian Cleric Had Role In Skyjackings, Officials Say’, by Mark Fineman and Bob Drogin; Eric Bailey contributed;
2. Associated Press, March 3, 2002, 11:55 ET: ‘Some Sept.11 Hijackers Were Spotted’, by Jonathan D. Salant;
3. Newsweek, June 10, 2002, pp. 18 ff: ‘The Hijackers We Let Escape’, by Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, online at:  http://www.msnbc.com/news/760647.asp?cp1=1




No rights reserved. This material MAY and OUGHT be published, broadcast, rewritten and redistributed, as long as Adrian More is credited as author.

ADRIAN MORE

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech