Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:26:15 GMT
 At least 2,970 people died on the morning of September 11, most of them civilians. |
According to a recent article published in the American Free Press weekly, the revelation that the cousin of alleged 9/11 hijacker Ziad al-Jarrah was in fact working as a longtime Mossad agent is proof that Israel had a hand in the terror attacks on US soil.
The New York Times recently reported that Lebanese national Ali al-Jarrah, a supposedly earnest Palestinian supporter, had been actually working as a highly valued spy for Israel over the past two decades.
Al-Jarrah reportedly admitted that he had been conducting covert espionage activities against Palestinian groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah since 1983.
"It is not the family's first brush with notoriety. One of Mr. Jarrah's cousins, Ziad al-Jarrah, was among the 19 hijackers who carried out the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001," said the Times.
His connections with one of the key masterminds of the terror attacks have fueled speculations about Israel's recruitment of people claiming to be Muslims as undercover assets.
Israeli connections to 9/11, according to the New York Times, can be traced back to the five 'dancing Israelis' who were witnessed jumping and high-fiving with shouts of 'joy and mockery' as Flight 11 and Flight 175 slammed into the World Trade Center in New York.
The Israelis were reportedly held in custody for 71 days before being quietly released after they were suspected of being Mossad agents.
Citing two former CIA operatives, the Forward weekly then reported that at least two of the detained Israelis were found to be members of a Mossad surveillance team.
"There was no question but that [the order to close down the investigation] came from the White House. It was immediately assumed at CIA headquarters that this basically was going to be a cover-up so that the Israelis would not be implicated in any way in 9/11," the weekly stated.
At least 2,970 people died on the morning of September 11, most of whom were civilians.
Former Italian prime minister Francesco Cossiga has touched on the issue, suggesting that the events of 9/11 were none other than a CIA-Mossad inside job.
"All the [intelligence services] of America and Europe ... now know well that the disastrous attack has been planned by the CIA and the Mossad in order to put under accusation the Arabic countries and in order to induce the western powers to take part ... in Iraq [and] Afghanistan," the Italian ex-premier was quoted by Corriere della Sera as saying.
 Jewish personnel working at the center were reportedly advised to skip work on September 11, 2001. |
Odigo headquarters is situated 2 blocks away from the former location of the World Trade Towers.
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Voice of 9/11, Eckert silenced in crash
Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:42:11 GMT
 "My silence cannot be bought," Beverly Eckert said in 2003. |
An advocate for the families of 9/11 victims, Beverly Eckert was aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407 to Buffalo, New York to celebrate the 58th birthday of her late husband -- Sean P. Rooney -- and to launch a scholarship in his memory.
Eckert was among the 50 people killed when the plane nosedived into a house outside Buffalo late Thursday, killing all on board and one person on the ground.
According to The Times, the last radio messages from the plane showed no sign of distress as the pilot was asked to fly at 2,300ft. However, a minute later air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft.
The flight's black box showed signs of "significant ice build-up" on the wings and windscreen before the crash.
The incident came as earlier on February 6, Eckert met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss fresh approaches for the new administration to deal with those suspected of terrorism.
 The site of the plane crash in Buffalo, New York |
"You see, Beverly lost her husband on 9/11. And became a tireless advocate for those families whose lives were forever changed on that September day," added the US president.
"She was an inspiration to me and to so many others, and I pray that her family finds peace and comfort in the hard days ahead."
Eckert was a member of The Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission, which lobbied for a reform of the US intelligence system that ultimately won passage in 2004.
Eckert also served as a founding member of the Voices of September 11, an advocacy group that pushed for stronger investigations to shed light on the attacks along with a permanent memorial for the victims.
"My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless," Eckert wrote in a USA Today opinion article in 2003. "My silence cannot be bought."
Obama may freeze 9/11 trials
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:46:22 GMT
 US President-elect Barack Obama |
Obama may suspend the court-martial in line with his promise of closing the Guantanamo detention center where the detainees are held, DPA reported on Monday.
The trial, which started on Monday, witnesses the five suspects representing themselves before Military Judge Stephen Henley who will decide their faith. The five could face death sentences upon conviction.
They include the alleged al-Qaeda number three Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who claims to have engineered the attack. He has confessed to planning the hijacking of four passenger planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field killing almost 3,000 people.
The president-to-be, however, describes the infamous detention center as a "sad chapter in American history" pledging that "under my administration we will not torture."
 Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed |
On the other hand, he has said the closure would not take effect within the first 100 days of his swearing-in citing diplomatic and legal complications.
"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," he said on January 11.
Many countries including Spain, Australia and Germany have raised the possibility of taking in the facility's 250 inmates.
'Israel tasked with spying on Americans'
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:28:35 GMT
 Bamford says concerns over the relationship between Israeli spy agencies and the FBI 'greatly increased following disclosure of the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping operations'. |
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the White House launched a massive program to spy on millions of Americans, best-selling author James Bamford has claimed in his latest book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America.
Bamford is a celebrated journalist who writes about US intelligence agencies.
According to the author, the National Security Agency (NSA) was tasked with monitoring 'billions of private hard-line, cell, and wireless telephone conversations; text, e-mail and instant Internet messages; Web-page histories, faxes, and computer hard drives'.
The two largest American telecom companies AT&T and Verizon collaborated with the NSA, assisting the federal government in eavesdropping on their customers.
Bamford maintains that the bugging of the entire two networks, 'carrying billions of American communications every day', were handed to two companies founded in Israel.
Verint and Narus, the two Israeli corporations, are 'super intrusive -- conducting mass surveillance on both international and domestic communications 24/7,' and sifting traffic at 'key Internet gateways' around the US, Bamford claims.
"The greatest potential beneficiaries of this marriage between the Israeli eavesdroppers and America's increasingly centralized telecom grid are Israel's intelligence agencies," Bamford writes.
According to Electronic Intifada, there has yet to be a congressional oversight of the Israeli intelligence-linked firms operating in the heart of the US security establishment.
