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It was thought that declassifying and releasing those 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission report would produce the smoking gun that Saudi Arabia was exclusively behind the attacks. While there were some interesting facts and connections, the real proof was not there. In the first order of business since the return from summer break, the House voted along with the Senate approving legislation where victims’ families could sue Saudi Arabia. This puts, Barack Obama in a precarious position with regard to his veto pen. Does he stand with the families or with Saudi Arabia?
We have the answer according to Josh Earnest, the White House spokesperson:
“That is still the plan. The president does plan to veto this legislation,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. “I do anticipate the president will veto the legislation when it is presented to him. It hasn’t been presented to him yet.”
The Press Secretary reiterated the White House’s concerns with passing the bill saying, “It’s not hard to imagine other countries using this law as an excuse to haul U.S. diplomats or U.S. service members or even U.S. companies into courts all around the world.”
“The president believes that it’s important to look out for our country, to look out for our service members, to look out for these diplomats and allowing this bill to come into law would increase the risk that it would face,” he continued. More here.
It was al Qaeda that struck America 15 years ago for sure, but Iran and Saudi Arabia had is some measure a hand in training, financial support and harboring key al Qaeda operatives. Meanwhile, the al Qaeda operation is still quite functional and not to be dismissed or under-estimated.
In part from the LWJ: Some US officials argue that al Qaeda has been “decimated” because of the drone campaign and counterterrorism raids. They narrowly focus on the leadership layer of al Qaeda, while ignoring the bigger picture. But even their analysis of al Qaeda’s managers is misleading.
Al Qaeda has lost dozens of key men, but there is no telling how many veterans remain active to this day. Experienced operatives continue to serve in key positions, often returning to the fight after being detained or only revealing their hidden hand when it becomes necessary. Moreover, al Qaeda knew it was going to lose personnel and took steps to groom a new generation of jihadists capable of filling in.
From left to right: Saif al Adel, Abu Mohammed al Masri and Abu Khayr al Masri. These photos, first published by the FBI and US intelligence officials, show the al Qaeda leaders when they were younger.
Last year, several veterans were reportedly released from Iran, where they were held under murky circumstances. One of them was Abu Khayr al Masri, who paved the way for Al Nusrah’s rebranding in July. Another is Saif al Adel, who has long been wanted for his role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. At least two others freed by Iran, Abu Mohammed al Masri and Khalid al Aruri, returned to al Qaeda as well.
Masri, Al Adel, and Aruri may all be based inside Syria, or move back and forth to the country from Turkey, where other senior members are based. Mohammed Islambouli is an important leader within al Qaeda. After leaving Iran several years ago, Islambouli returned to Egypt and eventually made his way to Turkey, where he lives today.
Sitting to Julani’s right during his much ballyhooed announcement was one of Islambouli’s longtime compatriots, Ahmed Salama Mabrouk. The diminutive Mabrouk is another Zawahiri subordinate. He was freed from an Egyptian prison in the wake of the 2011 uprisings.
Al Qaeda moved some of its senior leadership to Syria and several others from this cadre are easy to identify. But al Qaeda has also relied on personnel in Yemen to guide its global network. One of Zawahiri’s lieutenants, Hossam Abdul Raouf, confirmed this in an audio message last October. Raouf explained that the “weight” of al Qaeda has been shifted to Syria and Yemen, because that is where its efforts are most needed.
The American drone campaign took out several key AQAP leaders in 2015, but they were quickly replaced. Qasim al Raymi, who was trained by al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the 1990s, succeeded Nasir al Wuhayshi as AQAP’s emir last summer. Raymi quickly renewed his allegiance to Zawahiri, whom Raymi described as the “the eminent sheikh” and “the beloved father.” Another al Qaeda lifer, Ibrahim Abu Salih, emerged from the shadows last year. Salih was not a public figure beforehand, but he has been working towards al Qaeda’s goals in Yemen since the early 1990s. Ibrahim al Qosi (an ex-Guantanamo detainee) and Khalid al Batarfi have stepped forward to lead AQAP and are probably also part of al Qaeda’s management team.
This old school talent has helped buttress al Qaeda’s leadership cadre. They’ve been joined by men who signed up for al Qaeda’s cause after the 9/11 attacks as well. In July, the US Treasury Department designated three jihadists who are based in Iran. One of them, known as Abu Hamza al Khalidi, was listed in bin Laden’s files as part of a “new generation” of al Qaeda leaders. Today, he plays a crucial role as the head of al Qaeda’s military commission, meaning he is the equivalent of al Qaeda’s defense minister. Treasury has repeatedly identified other al Qaeda members based in Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Some members of the “new generation” are more famous than others. Such is the case with Osama’s son, Hamzah bin Laden, who is now regularly featured in propaganda.
This brief survey of al Qaeda is not intended to be exhaustive, yet it is still sufficient to demonstrate that the organization’s bench is far from empty. Moreover, many of the men who lead al Qaeda today are probably unknown to the public.
The threat to the West
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that al Qaeda “nodes in Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey” are “dedicating resources to planning attacks.” His statement underscored how the threats have become more geographically dispersed over time. With great success, the US worked for years to limit al Qaeda’s ability to strike the West from northern Pakistan. But today, al Qaeda’s “external operations” work is carried out across several countries.
During the past fifteen years, Al Qaeda has failed to execute another mass casualty attack in the US on the scale of the 9/11 hijackings. Its most recent attack in Europe came in January 2015, when a pair of brothers backed by AQAP conducted a military-style assault on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. AQAP made it clear that the Charlie Hebdo massacre was carried out according to Zawahiri’s orders.
Thanks to vigilance and luck, al Qaeda hasn’t been able to replicate a 9/11-style assault inside the US. Part of the reason is that America’s defenses, as well as those of its partner nations, have improved. Operations such as the 9/11 hijackings are also difficult to carry out in the first place. Even the 9/11 plan experienced interruptions despite a relatively lax security environment. (Most famously, for example, the would-be 20th hijacker was denied entry into the US at an Orlando airport in the summer of 2001.)
But there is another aspect to evaluating the al Qaeda threat that is seldom appreciated. It is widely assumed that al Qaeda is only interested in attacking the West. This is flat false. Most of the organization’s resources are devoted to waging insurgencies in Muslim majority countries.
The story in Syria has been telling. Although al Qaeda may have more resources in Syria than anywhere else, Zawahiri did not order his men to carry out a strike in the West. Al Qaeda’s so-called “Khorasan Group” laid the groundwork for such operations, but Zawahiri did not give this cadre the green light to actually carry them out. Zawahiri’s stand down order is well known. In an interview that aired in May 2015, for instance, Julani explained that the “directives that come to us from Dr. Ayman [al Zawahiri], may Allah protect him, are that Al Nusrah Front’s mission in Syria is to topple [Bashar al Assad’s] regime” and defeat its allies. “We have received guidance to not use Syria as a base for attacks against the West or Europe so that the real battle is not confused,” Julani said. However, he conceded that “maybe” the mother al Qaeda organization is plotting against the West, just “not from Syria.” Julani emphasized that this “directive” came from Zawahiri himself.
To date, al Qaeda has not lashed out at the West from inside Syria, even though it is certainly capable of doing so. Al Qaeda’s calculation has been that such an attack would be too costly for its strategic interests. It might get in the way of al Qaeda’s top priority in Syria, which is toppling the Assad regime. This calculation could easily change overnight and al Qaeda could use Syria as a launching pad against the West soon. But they haven’t thus far. It helps explain why there hasn’t been another 9/11-style plot by al Qaeda against the US in recent years. It also partially explains why al Qaeda hasn’t launched another large-scale operation in Europe for some time. Al Qaeda has more resources at its disposal today than ever, so the group doesn’t lack the capability. If Zawahiri and his advisors decided to make anti-Western attack planning more of a priority, then the probability of another 9/11-style event would go up. Even in that scenario, al Qaeda would have to successfully evade the West’s defenses. But the point is that al Qaeda hasn’t been attempting to hit the West nearly as much as some in the West assume.
In the meantime, it is easy to see how the al Qaeda threat has become more diverse, just as Clapper testified. AQAP has launched several thwarted plots aimed at the US, including the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing. In 2009, al Qaeda also plotted to strike trains in the New York City area. In 2010, a Mumbai-style assault in Europe was unraveled by security services. It is not hard to imagine al Qaeda trying something along those lines once again. Other organizations tied to al Qaeda, such as the Pakistani Taliban, have plotted against the US as well.
Fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks, al Qaeda lives. Fortunately, Zawahiri’s men have not replicated the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. But the al Qaeda threat looms. It would be a mistake to assume that al Qaeda won’t try a large-scale operation again. Comprehensive story here.
Iran, a known and proven state sponsor of terror has a history of stealing worldwide peace.
Below is the Congressional hearing of the money transfer transaction(s) to Iran, and the testimony reveals there are more coming and others not previously known.
There is an extensive al-Qaeda network feeding global branches based in the Islamic Republic.
Fifteen years on from the 11 September 2001 terror attacks on the US, al-Qaeda is better-positioned than ever before. Its leadership held, and it has rebuilt a presence in Afghanistan. More importantly, al-Qaeda has built powerful regional branches in India, North Africa, Somalia, Yemen and Syria.
Rebranding itself away from the savagery of Iraq, al-Qaeda has sought to embed itself in local populations by gaining popular legitimacy to shield itself from retribution if, or when, it launches terrorist strikes in the West. This is proceeding apace, above all because of a failure to assist the mainstream opposition in Syria, sections of which were forced into interdependency with al-Qaeda to resist the strategy of massacre and expulsion conducted by the Assad regime.
The 9/11 massacre had not come from nowhere. In February 1998, Osama bin Laden, then-leader of al-Qaeda, plus Ayman al-Zawahiri and three others signed a document that said “kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim”.
Al-Qaeda attempted to blow up US troops in Yemen in December 1992. Three months later, al-Qaeda attacked New York’s World Trade Center, murdering six people. In November 1995, a car bomb in Riyadh targeted the American training mission for the Saudi National Guard, killing six people. In June 1996, Iran blew up the US military living quarters at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, murdering 19 people.
Al-Qaeda played “some role, as yet unknown” in the attack, according to the 9/11 Commission. The US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were levelled in August 1998, slaughtering 224 people and wounding 5,000, mostly Africans. And in October 2000, a skiff containing two suicide bombers struck an American Naval vessel, the USS Cole, in the port of Aden, killing seventeen sailors.
The conspiracy theories about 9/11 are now a feature of life today. Often proponents will hide behind the façade of “asking questions”. Instead of queries about jet fuel melting steel beams and nano-thermite, however, this inquisitiveness would be much better directed at the actual unanswered questions surrounding 9/11, which centre on the role of Iran.
In 1992, in Sudan, al-Qaeda and Iran came to an agreement to collaborate against the West “even if only training”, the 9/11 Commission records. Al-Qaeda members went to the Bekaa valley to be trained by Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese proxy. Hezbollah’s military leader at that time, Imad Mughniyeh, personally met Bin Laden in Sudan to work out the details of this arrangement.
There is no doubt that training provided by Iran made the 1998 East African Embassy bombings possible, and after the bombing numerous al-Qaeda operatives fled unhindered through Iran to Afghanistan. The 9/11 Commission documented that over-half of the death pilots “travelled into or out of Iran” and many were tracked into Lebanon.
Iran and Hezbollah wished to conceal any past evidence of cooperation with Sunni terrorists associated with al-Qaeda
Senior Hezbollah operatives were certainly tracking some of the hijackers, in at least one case travelling on the same plane. The operational planner of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, lived in Iran for long stretches of the 1990s. To this day there is an extensive al-Qaeda network that feeds the global branches based in Iran, sheltered from US counter-terrorism efforts.
“Iran and Hezbollah wished to conceal any past evidence of cooperation with Sunni terrorists associated with al-Qaeda,” the 9/11 Commission noted. But the connections were there, and “this topic requires further investigation”. Sadly, such investigation has never occurred. Instead, the Islamic Republic has been brought into the fold, with billions of dollars released to it through the nuclear deal and a curious belief that Tehran can, or will, help stabilise the Middle East has taken hold.
Bin Laden had intended to drive the US out of the region with the 9/11 attack. “Hit them and they will run,” he told his followers. This was a theme of his 1996 fatwa first declaring war on America. In this, he miscalculated.
The Taliban regime had sheltered Jihadi-Salafists from all over the Arab world. Some left over from the fight against the Soviet occupation; others on the run from the security services of their native lands or just wanting to live in a land of “pure Islam”. Though the training and planning for global terrorism occurred in Afghanistan, most of al-Qaeda’s resources were directed more locally, toward irregular wars, notably in Algeria, Bosnia, and Chechnya. Al-Qaeda trained up to 20,000 jihadist insurgents before 9/11. This sanctuary was lost in the aftermath of 9/11, something lamented by jihadi strategist Mustafa Setmariam Nasar (Abu Musab al-Suri).
Bin Laden had worked with Ahmad al-Khalayleh (Abu Musab al-Zarqawi), the Jordanian founder of what we now know as the Islamic State (Isis), to carve out a jihadi statelet in northern Iraq in the late 1990s led by a group called Ansar al-Islam.
Rice is thrown as Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top their commander Mustafa Badreddine on 13 May 2016Reuters/Aziz Taher
After the Taliban’s fall, al-Khalayleh moved into this area and into Baghdad in early 2002. After making preparations through Syria for the influx of foreign fighters, al-Khalayleh moved to the Ansar-held territory and waited for the US.led Coalition.
IS’s predecessor planned – with al-Qaeda’s blessing – to expel the Coalition forces and set up an Islamic state in Iraq that could then spread across the region, restoring the caliphate. But IS’s methods brought it into frequent conflict with al-Qaeda, and by 2008 IS had been strategically defeated after provoking a backlash among Sunnis in Iraq. The distinctions between IS and al-Qaeda hardened thereafter until their formal split in February 2014.
IS, post-2008, changed some tactical aspects so as to bring the tribes back on-board but remained remarkably consistent in its approach, including the celebration of violence, premised on the idea of building an Islamic state as quickly as possible, which would force the population into collaboration with it and ultimately acceptance over time. In contrast, al-Qaeda placed ever-more emphasis on building popular support that would culminate in a caliphate when it had a critical mass.
The discrediting of IS’s predecessor, operating under al-Qaeda’s banner, damaged al-Qaeda so much that Bin Laden considered changing the organization’s name. Events since then, above all allowing the Syria war to protract, allowed al-Qaeda to rebrand as “pragmatic”, using IS as a foil, and recover.
Al-Qaeda, vanguard-style, took on the local concerns, worked to solve them, and in turn claimed the protection of the local population. Al-Qaeda has tangled itself so deeply into local dynamics, in Yemen and Syria most notably, that it would require a substantial local effort to root them out.
Unfortunately, the Western approach is making the problem worse. A good example came on Thursday night (8 September 2016) when the US launched air strikes against some leaders of al-Qaeda in Syria, now calling itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS), which ostensibly disaffiliated from al-Qaeda in July in order to further this process of entanglement.
JFS claims it has no external ambitions and is working to break the siege of 300,000 people in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo city, yet it is attacked. Meanwhile, the US has done nothing about the thousands of Iranian-controlled Shia jihadists, tied into Iran’s global terrorist network, who are the leading element in imposing the siege, and conducted these strikes likely in furtherance of a deal with Russia, which also helped impose the siege. JFS thus claimed that it is serving the Syrian people, while the US opposes the revolution and supports the pro-regime coalition.
“It is a highly unfortunate reality that many Syrians living in opposition areas of Syria perceive JFS as a more determined and effective protector of their lives and interests than the United States and its Western allies,” wrote Charles Lister. The West has been unwilling to do anything to complicate the ability of the Bashar al-Assad regime to commit mass-murder for fear of antagonizing the Iranians and collapsing a “legacy-setting nuclear accord“. While that remains the case, al-Qaeda will continue to gain power and acceptance as a necessary-evil in Syria, and the ramifications of Syria are generational and global.
It is true that there is far too much optimism in current assessments of IS’s impending doom. The group will outlast the loss of its cities, and the misguided way the Coalition has conducted the war will provide conditions for a potential revival. Still, it is al-Qaeda that has the long-term advantage.
IS claimed sole legitimacy to rule, gained visibility and therefore followers. But as strategists like Setmariam understood, this made them visible to their enemies too, a toll that is beginning to tell, especially abroad. In Syria, formal al-Qaeda branches were never the organisation’s only lever and al-Qaeda was much more interested in shaping the environment than ruling it. In essence, al-Qaeda will give up the name and the public credit for the sake of the thing – whether that’s the popular understanding of the religion or the foundations of an Islamic emirate.
“IS wants the world to believe that it is everywhere, and … al-Qaeda wants the world to believe that it is nowhere.” That quip from Daveed Gartenstein-Ross neatly summarizes the trajectory of the two organisations. What can’t be seen is harder to stop – al-Qaeda’s counting on it.
Kyle W. Orton is associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society and a Middle East analyst and commentator.
If you think you understand the civil war in Syria and the plight of the refugees, you don’t. Not even world leaders understand it all either and furthermore Syria does affect America and the West. Is there a solution? No.
Stripes/AP: GENEVA — American officials played down hopes Friday of an imminent cease-fire agreement for Syria as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a fourth set of negotiations with his Russian counterpart in the past two weeks. Officials had suggested Kerry wouldn’t travel to Geneva unless a deal was clearly at hand.
The talks between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov aim to produce a nationwide cease-fire in Syria after more than five years of warfare and as many as 500,000 deaths.
A deal hinges on an unlikely U.S.-Russian military partnership that would come into force if Moscow can pressure its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, to halt offensive operations. Washington would have to persuade the anti-Assad rebels it supports to end any coordination with al-Qaida and other extremist groups.
Neither side has succeeded in doing its part despite months of diplomacy. And the task may be getting even more difficult as fighting rages around the divided city of Aleppo, Syria’s most populous and the new focus of the conflict.
Assad’s government appeared to tighten its siege of the former Syrian commercial hub on Thursday, following several gains over the weekend. Forty days of fighting in Aleppo has killed nearly 700 civilians, including 160 children, according to a Syrian human rights group. Volunteer first-responders said they pulled the bodies of nine people, including four children, from the rubble following air raids on a rebel-held area, after reports of helicopters dropping crude barrel bombs over the area on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, to discuss the crisis in Syria. American officials played down hopes Friday of an imminent cease-fire agreement for Syria.
Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photos via AP
The U.S. officials accompanying Kerry to Geneva said they couldn’t guarantee an agreement Friday and more talks may be needed. Aleppo will be a large part of the day’s discussions, they said, along with the technical details of a cease-fire, defining everything from how far back from demilitarized areas combatants would have to stay to the types of weapons they would need to withdraw from front lines. The officials, who briefed reporters traveling on Kerry’s plane, were not authorized to discuss the developments publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kerry and Lavrov held several sessions of talks Friday in Geneva. It was unclear how long the talks would go on. A State Department official said late in the day that the two sides were advancing proposals toward a cease-fire and unimpeded humanitarian access for Syrians most in need.
Since Aug. 26, Kerry and Lavrov have now met twice each in Geneva and in China on the sidelines of a global economic summit. They’ve held a flurry of phone calls in recent days. Both governments had said they were close to a package that would go beyond several previous truces between the Syrian government and armed opposition — all of which failed to hold. For Kerry, securing a sustainable peace in Syria has become his biggest objective as America’s top diplomat since last summer’s Iran nuclear deal.
In addition to those killed, Syria’s conflict has chased millions of people from their homes, contributing to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Amid the chaos of fighting between Syria’s government and rebels, the Islamic State group has emerged as a global terror threat.
Knox/Yahoo: A previously unpublished behind-the-scenes account of President George W. Bush’s response in the traumatic minutes and hours after the 9/11 attacks shows him preparing for military action, serving up several doses of his trademark Western swagger and openly worrying about the safety of his wife, his daughters and his Scottish terrier, Barney.
Flooded with inaccurate reports — of a credible threat to Air Force One, of a car bomb at the State Department, of an airliner crashing near Camp David, of a “high-speed object” screaming toward his Texas ranch — Bush pressed intelligence officials for information and resolved to try to reassure Americans even as security concerns kept him away from Washington, D.C., for most of the day.
On Sept. 11, 2001, at 10:37 a.m., not quite two hours after al-Qaida terrorists crashed the first hijacked airliner into the north tower of the World Trade Center, Bush and top aides aboard Air Force One watched as a hair-removal commercial came on the airplane’s television screens, interrupting a channel’s coverage of the national tragedy.
These chaotic, sometimes surreal details come from six pages of handwritten notes taken by Ari Fleischer, Bush’s press secretary at the time. Fleischer provided the notes to me and to Steve Holland of Reuters, two print reporters who were with the president on what was supposed to have been a humdrum, even newsless education-themed trip to Sarasota, Fla., 15 years ago. (Fleischer has previously tweeted what it was like behind the scenes on 9/11 but has never published his entire notes from that day.)
There are no shocking revelations in Fleischer’s real-time narrative, which 9/11 Commission investigators reviewed as they compiled their report. But Fleischer’s detailed account helps to flesh out how Bush and his top advisers reacted to catastrophic attacks that still shape America’s national security policies and public debate today. It also serves as a good reminder of how little the reporters who cover a president see of the way the commander in chief does the people’s work — and thus as a good reminder of the importance of laws requiring the preservation and potential release of official documents. Fleischer told Yahoo News that two sections are redacted, at 10:37 a.m. and 10:41 a.m., when he wrote down the location of secure facilities where Bush daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were taken. Yahoo News has included a digital version of the notes here to give readers the ability to review them for themselves.
The chronology starts when top political adviser Karl Rove tells Bush about the first crash. The entry is labeled 8:45 a.m., a minute before the actual time of the first attack, an understandable lapse at a time of uncertainty and crisis. It then skips to 9:45 a.m., with the president aboard Air Force One. “Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. I heard about the Pentagon,” he tells Vice President Dick Cheney. Not long thereafter, Bush tells congressional leaders by phone: “We’re at war.”
An entry at 10:20 a.m. notes Bush “authorized shoot down if reason” — a reference to the president deciding that, if a hijacked airliner were dangerously on course with a potential target, fighter planes could be allowed to fire. The false threat to Air Force One — “Angel is next” — comes in via the White House switchboard at 10:32 a.m.
Five minutes later, the hair-removal commercial comes on. That’s also when Fleischer records that the Bush daughters are safe: “girls removed 2 safe house.”
The 10:37 a.m. entry is also when Bush asks White House Chief of Staff Andy Card — best remembered for whispering word of the second attack into the president’s ear in an elementary school classroom at the Florida stop — about Barney. “He’s nipping at the heels of Osama bin Laden right now,” Card replies. Officials get word that a plane “has crashed in the vicinity of Camp David, but Rove quickly corrects that to “50 [miles] outside of Pittsburgh.”
At 10:41 a.m., Bush learns that his daughters have been moved to a more secure location. “How did they take it?” he asks. “They wanted 2 stay in their apartments,” an aide replies.
At 10:55 a.m., Rove lets other officials know that reports of a car bomb at the State Department were wrong.
Bush makes another momentous decision at 11:00 a.m., taking U.S. forces to the increased DEFCON 3 state of readiness.
At 12:25 p.m., speaking to Cheney from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Bush says, “I think it’s important 4 ppl 2 see the gov is functioning because TV shows our nation has been blasted and bombed. Gov is not chaotic. It’s functioning smoothly. We’re going 2 get the bastards.” And, later, the president declares, “It’s the new war. It’s the faceless coward that [attacks].”
At 12:40 p.m. Bush announces, “I can’t wait to find out who did it. It’s going to take a while + we’re not going 2 have a little slap on the wrist crap.”
The president speaks to Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York at 12:55 p.m. “We’ll come together. God Bless.”
On the phone with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Bush says it will soon be up to the Pentagon “to respond.”
At 1:05 p.m., another inaccurate report: “high-speed object heading 4 POTUS ranch” in Crawford, Texas.
“I want 2 go back home ASAP,” Bush says aboard Air Force One at 1:25 p.m. “I don’t want whoever this is holding me outside of Washington.”
At 1:35 p.m., Bush declares “this administration will spend whatever is necessary 2 find, hunt down, and destroy whoever did this.”
The president speaks to New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Gov. George Pataki by phone at 2:25 p.m., promising to do “anything we can do to help you.” He also notes “some possibility of a second wave” of attacks.
At 2:58 p.m., Bush tells an aide “we need 2 get back to Wash. We don’t need some tinhorn terrorist to scare us off. The Am ppl want 2 know where their dang P is.”
At 4:26 p.m., the president tells his personal military aide that he’s going back to Washington.
At 4:39 p.m., after another stop, this one at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Bush finally speaks to first lady Laura Bush. “I’m coming home. See you at the White House,” he said. “Love you … go on home.” And, he adds, “If I’m in the WH and there’s a plane coming my way, all I can say is I hope I read my bible that day.”
At 5:05 p.m., Bush learns Cheney has briefed congressional leaders, who will come to the White House a day later. “We will find these ppl + they will suffer the consequences of taking on this nation,” Bush says. “We will do what it takes. Everyone must understand this will not stand.”
Over the next few hours, Bush speaks to British Prime Minister Tony Blair as aides plan briefings for Congress and start to chart the way forward after the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor. At one point, Fleischer’s chronology notes, the directive comes down: “No loose lips.”
View photos
Courtesy of Ari Fleischer
Al-Qaeda’s U.S.-Born Leader Adam Gadahn And 9/11
MEMRI: On April 23, 2015, the White House announced that Adam Gadahn, known as Al-Qaeda’s American spokesman and a major figure in the organization’s media apparatus, including its media wing Al-Sahab, had been unintentionally killed in a January 2015 U.S. drone attack in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.[1]Gadahn had been charged with treason in October 2006 – the first U.S. citizen to be so charged since World War II.
In 2004, at age 26, Gadahn made it to the FBI’s most wanted list. He trained in Afghanistan terrorist camps, and was asked by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad to join a plot for a suicide attack outside Baltimore. A sealed indictment dated September 8, 2006 accused Gadahn, aka Al-Qaeda operative “Azzam the American,” of helping the terror organization with communications and propaganda, serving as its Engli sh translator, and providing it with information about American culture and vulnerabilities. The following month, the U.S. government formally announced treason charges against him.
Adam Pearlman’s parents converted to Christianity and took the last name Gadahn. Adam’s first contact with Islam came when his father sold meat he had slaughtered to Muslim halal markets. As a 17-year-old, Adam embraced Islam at an Orange County California mosque.
Both Gadahn’s knowledge of American culture and his media skill s played a significant role in the development of Al-Sahab, the Al-Qaeda media company; he was one of its key officials. He also laid the groundwork for other homegrown terrorists and for the use of the Internet for cyber jihad. High-ranking members of the Al-Qaeda leadership – even leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri – told Americans to listen to his words.
In the numerous videos that Gadahn made for Al-Sahab, the 9/11 attacks were a frequent theme. A video released September 12, 2005 showed him noting that “four years after the blessed raids on New York and Washington, we find the people of the West continuing to speculate” about the motivation and objectives behind 9/11 and other major terror attacks. He went on to clarify: “A s Sheikh Osama has told you repeatedly, your security is dependent on our security. You can’t have one without the other. If you ensure our security, you will have automatically ensured your own… We are Muslims; we love peace but peace on our terms. Peace that is laid down by Islam, not the so called peace of occupiers and dictators.”
Gadahn with image of burning World Trade Center in background
In an Al-Sahab video released September 10, 2006, titled “Knowledge Is For Acting Upon – The Manhattan Raid,” Gadahn noted that “all the brothers who took part in the raids on America were dedicated, strong-willed, highly motivated individuals with a burning concern for Islam and Muslims… All of them had lived and studied in the West. All of them had the world within their reach if they had wanted it. But how could they live with themselves if they were to enjoy this worldly life while their Ummah [Muslim nation] burns… In hindsight, everything that Al-Qaeda was doing was preparation for the Manhattan and Washington raids and the expected crusader invasion…”
Another video, titled “Mujahideen Don’t Target Muslims” and released December 12, 2009, featured Gadahn criticizing the Arab media for floating 9/11 conspiracy theories, underlining that Al-Qaeda deserved full credit for the attacks. A March 7, 2010 video titled “A Call to Arms” showed him stating: “As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a minimal budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon which can take the enemy by surprise and deprive him of sleep for years on end.”
Finally, in an October 24, 2010 video, he encouraged “Muslim brothers residing in the states of the Zio-Crusader coalition” to carry out lone wolf attacks at home, saying: “My brothers: Know that jihad is your duty as well, and that you have an opportunity to strik e the leaders of unbelief and retaliate against them on their own soil… Here you are in the battlefield, just like heroes before you, like Muhammad Atta and his fellow [9/11] pilots…”
On June 25, 2015, two months after his death was announced, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) published a special issue of its English-language magazine Resurgence featuring a lengthy interview with Gadahn.[2]In the interview, which stretches over 80 pages, Gadahn talks about his youth and his conversion to Islam, his radicalization and turn to militancy, and his experiences as a new recruit in Al-Qaeda’s training camps. He also discusses a wide range of topics on the global jihad movement, such as his and Al-Qaeda’s attitudes to the Islamic State (ISIS).
The interview also focuses on the 9/11 attacks; Gadahn notes that as soon as he joined Al-Qaeda, he was “immediately” brought to one of the organization’s main training camps in Afghanistan to train with some of the “muscle men” of 9/11; that he had met some of the 9/11 planners and attackers; that his initial reaction to the attacks was “exhilaration” as well as “apprehension”; that some people had had “prophetic dreams” predicting 9/11; that following the fall of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, 9/11 ma stermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad had “hosted and sheltered” him and his “emigrant brothers”; and more.
Cover of Resurgence Summer 2015 issue featuring Gadahn
The following report highlights Gadahn’s statements in his Resurgence interview on the subject of 9/11. They are excerpted from the forthcoming book American Traitor – The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda’s U.S.-Born Leader Adam Gadahn.
As Soon As He Joined Al-Qaeda, He Was Taken “Immediately” To Mes Aynak Training Camp Where 9/11 “Muscle Men” Trained
Resurgence: “We’ll delve into the topic of Takfeerism in more detail later (Allah willing), but right now, let’s return to the moment you joined Al-Qaeda. What happened when you were introduced to Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Misri (may Allah preserve him)?”
Gadahn: “As I recall, he asked me a few questions. Then he handed me over to Brother Khallad (Waleed bin Attash) and Sheikh Abu Al-Faraj Al-Libi (may Allah deliver them), who took me immediately to one of the main Al-Qaeda training camps at that time, which was located at the Mes Aynak copper mine in Logar province. There I was enrolled at once in an extremely difficult course which had already started some days or even weeks before. This course was taught by a tough drill sergeant known as Salahuddin the Iranian – who may have been a Baloch or a Kurd or a Persian convert from Shi’ism – assisted by a (not-so-tough) Tanzanian broth er called Abu Qatada. The focus was on close-range fighting using martial arts techniques and light weapons like knives and pistols. From what I gathered from the other brothers enrolled in the course, it was meant to train new bodyguards for Sheikh Osama bin Laden (may Allah have mercy on him). However, I later came to the conclusion – two years later, to be exact – that it was meant to train the ‘muscle men’ for the September 11th operations! And Allah knows best.”
Resurgence: “So did you finish the course?”
Gadahn: “No, I was dismissed by the instructor two days later! And for the record, I was by no means the only one to be expelled from the course or drop out of it, because as I said, it was extremely difficult. Moreover, no one actually ‘completed’ the course, since it ended up being cut short due to the camp being closed down.”
Osama bin Laden firing a rifle. Source: Resurgence, Summer 2015, p. 32.
At Training Camp, He Reacts To 9/11 Attacks With “Surprise, Amazement, And Exhilaration” – “I Had No Doubts Whatsoever About Who Was Behind Them”
Resurgence: “Aameen. Now for the obligatory question without which no interview would be complete: how did you hear about the September 11th operations and what was your reaction?”
Adam: “Hmm. Let’s see… It was about 5:30 in the afternoon Qandahar time. I had just returned home from the bazaar, and when I turned on the radio and tuned it to the BBC, the first thing I remember hearing was the host was asking his guests, ‘Who could have done an oper ation like this?’ My first thought was that the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud had been confirmed and they were now trying to digest the news, because as you know, he had been the target of an attack two days before and the word around town was that he was in fact dead, contrary to official claims of him being lightly injured. But as I listened further to the broadcast, it became clear that they were talking about something else altogether, something bigger – much bigger.
“Slowly and piece by piece, the picture began to develop: New York, Washington, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, hijacked passenger aircraft, etc.; and I think it was when the announcer confirmed that the second WTC tower had just collapsed and that both towers were now down that the enormity of the whole thing really hit me. As for my reaction, it was a mix of surpr ise, amazement and exhilaration as well as some apprehension, at least in the very beginning. The magnitude of the operations, the unprecedented damage they caused and the fact that I had no doubts whatsoever about who was behind them made me entertain the possibility that Qandahar could be the target of American aggression that very night! The feeling passed, however, after I calmed down a bit and was able to think things over in a rational manner.”
Resurgence: “What was the reaction of those around you to the operations?”
Gadahn: “Many people didn’t sleep that night. I certainly didn’t. There was a celebratory atmosphere, with cars full of mujahideen driving around and groups of brothers walking and talking in the streets. People were congratulating each other on this incredible and historic victory with which Allah had favored us. I remember some brothers said that now that Allah had blessed them to see America’s nose rubbed in the dirt and the myth of its invincibility debunked, they were totally 100% ready for martyrdom: i.e., after an experience like this, what more could they possibly want from this worldly life? That was a sample of the reaction of the brothers in Al-Qaeda in particular and the Arabs and non-Afghan muhajireen [foreign fighters] in general.
“As for the Afghan brothers, I will relate one story to give you a sense of their reaction. It was about a week after the operations – and perhaps just a day or two after the announcement of the death of Massoud – and I was walking along the main road when a driver stopped his car and offered me a ride home. He was an older Talib – perhaps in his mid-forties – whose leg had been amputated and who wore a black turban. As soon as I got into the car, he began to talk excitedly about the September 11th operations and the attack on Massoud, and how the Arab mujahideen were the best mujahideen in the world (he thought I was an Arab); and this continued for the entire duration of the ride (actually only about two minutes because he picked me up close to home). And as I was about to get out of the car, he told me one more thing which struck me: he told me he wanted to carry out a martyrdom operation too and asked if I coul d help him! So if this was the direction the Afghans were going in even before the Crusader invasion of Afghanistan, it’s no surprise then that the martyrdom operation would later become an important weapon of the Afghans in their blessed Jihad against America and her allies and puppets.
“There’s another amusing anecdote I’d like to mention in the context of people’s reaction to the operations. I was with David Hicks (‘Abu Muslim the Australian’ – may Allah guide him)[3] a few weeks after the operations, perhaps just before the American bombing began, and I asked him jokingly if he had ever thought he would live to see the start of World War 3, to which he replied, ‘Yes, but I didn’t think it would be started by people w ho eat naan (Afghan flatbread) and drink chai (Afghan green tea)!’ In other words, he didn’t expect it to be started by people of such modest means and simple lifestyles.”
On 9/11 Attackers: Al-Ghamdi “Was A Cheerful Guy”; Al-Haznawi Served As “Master Of Ceremonies At A Wedding Party”
Resurgence: “Did you know any of the martyrs of the September 11th operations?”
Gadahn: “I knew a couple of the brothers fairly well, specifically Brother Julaybeeb (Hamza Al-Ghamdi may Allah accept him),[4] who was a cheerful guy who was always helping out with cooking and other chores, and Brother ‘Urwah Al-Taaifi (Hani Hanjour – may Allah accept him),[5] who spent some time with us on the Qarabagh frontline north of Kabul, and who I remember asked me once while we both were at the Ghulam Badshah guesthouse (which was located in the Karte Parwan neighborhood of Kabul) about domestic flights in America and whether security on them was less strict than on international flights, to which I replied in the affirmative. So it seems he had already been recruited for the operation by that time (late 1999).
Gadahn met Osama bin Laden (top) and 9/11 attackers (highlighted in yellow by MEMRI), clockwise from bottom left: Hani Hasan Hanjour, Hamza Al-Ghamidi, and Abdul Aziz Al-Omari, as well as Ahmad Al-Haznawi, center. Source: Resurgence Summer 2015, p. 75.
“By the way, Hani Hanjour is – as far as I know – the only one of the four pilots to have received flight training and a commercial pilot’s license before preparations commenced for the operation, which perhaps explains how he was able to seemingly effortlessly execute the difficult 330-degree turn and high-speed, low-altitude approach needed to hit the Pentagon, but the irony is that the conspiracy theorists insist on portraying him as a novice student with poor piloting skills in order to support their theory that a missile hit the Pentagon and not a plane!
“As for the other brothers, I must have seen or met most of them either in Kabul or in Qandahar, but I really can’t recall any of them, other than Brother Al-Jarraah Al-Ghamdi (Ahmad Al-Haznawi – may Allah accept him) who I am able to place only because he was the master of ceremonies at a wedding party that was held at the airport complex. I may also have exchanged greetings with Brother Abu Al-Abbas Al-Janoobi (Abdulaziz Al-Omari – may Allah accept him) during a visit to the offices of as-Sahab in Qandahar.”
“Allegations Concerning The Un-Islamic Character And Behavior” Of The 9/11 Attackers “Were A Deliberate Attempt… [To] Keep Muslims From Sympathizing With Those Behind Them And Emulating Them”
Resurgence: “Speaking of conspiracy theorists, one of the claims they have often put forward as ‘proof’ of the falseness of the official version of 9/11 is that that some of those alleged to have planned and carried out the operations were ‘known’ to have engaged – in the period in which they were supposed to be preparing for the operations – in forms of sin and debauchery inconsistent with what one would expect to be the behavior of Muslims about to become martyrs for Islam. Does this oft-repeated claim have any factual basis?”
Gadahn: “I think rumors and allegations concerning the un-Islamic character and behavior of the heroes of September 11th were a deliberate attempt by certain parties to confuse people about the operations and k eep Muslims from sympathizing with those behind them and emulating them. I know for a fact that a number of the aspersions cast on the character of the September 11th brothers are totally baseless.
“For example, the enemies claim that Brother Ziad Jarrah – may Allah accept him – had a Turkish ‘girlfriend’ in Germany who he continued to visit and correspond with until shortly before the execution of the operations. But I heard from none other than Brother Said Bahaji, one of the members of the so-called ‘Hamburg Cell,’ that she was in fact Ziad’s legal wife whom he had married according to Islamic law; however, their marriage was not registered with the government, which led the enemies to call her his ‘girlfriend.’
“Similarly, Commander Khalid Sheikh Muhammad – may Allah deliver him – is sometimes described as having been some sort of irreligious, womanizing playboy, when in fact everyone who knows him knows he is a devoted family man with a great love for Islam from an early age. You can see his zeal for Islam clearly in the words of Sheikh Abdullah ‘Azzam (may Allah have mercy on him), who, in an article in Al-Jihad Magazine eulogizing ‘Aabid Sheikh Muhammad (Khalid’s brother who was martyred in the Afghan Jihad against the Russians – may Allah have mercy on him) mentions that he (i.e. Sheikh Abdullah Azzam) spent time during one of the major battles with Khalid, whom he called ‘the Secretary,’ and that Khalid loved to listen to Koranic recitation, and that both he and Khalid each tried to finish reciting the entire Koran in seven days, which is how the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – used to recite it. Obviously, this is not the description of a man with a superficial connection to Islam. And those who want to read more can find Sheikh ‘Azzam’s eulogy of ‘Aabid Sheikh Muhammad in a compilation of articles and transcripts entitled ‘Ushaaq Al-Hoor (Lovers of Houries).”
Photo of New York City skyline during 9/11 attacks. Source: Resurgence, Summer 2015, p. 77.
Two “Prophetic Dreams” He Heard About Prior To 9/11
Resurgence: “One of the things brothers talk about in connection with September 11th is the prophetic dreams which were seen by a number of people before the operations. Can you tell us about some of these dreams?”
Gadahn: “Yes. One dream I overheard being related second-hand in late 1999 while at the Ghulam Badshah guesthouse went something like this: ‘A brother saw in his dream that he was flying, and he entered a large building or a tower, and th en an angel struck the building with his wing, and it fell down.’ This was around the same time that Brother ‘Urwah asked me about security on flights; and some of the other pilots may also have been staying in Kabul then. Another dream which was related to me just a few months before the operations, and which I heard directly from the mouth of the brother who saw it, was as follows: ‘I saw New York City, with its famous skyline, but the city was empty and devoid of life, like a ghost town.’
“The brother interpreted it as meaning that there might be some sort of an attack on New York City which might cause the city to be evacuated, an interpretation which I took with a grain of salt at the time! I should mention that the brother who saw this dream had absolutely nothing to do with the operations and would not have known anything about them.
“And I totally forgot about this dream until one of the brothers reminded me of it a few days after September 11th. There was at least one other dream I heard before the operations involving towers and some sort of aircraft, again seen by someone with no connection to the operations and (moreover) no connection to Al-Qaeda – he was a businessman visiting from the Arabian Gulf – but the two I have mentioned here are the most direct and explicit and the ones which have stayed with me over the years. I should point out in this context that these sorts of visions were not limited to the run up to September 11th; rather, they were regularly seen before other major operations as well, to the extent that Sheikh Usama had to forbid people from relating any dreams they might have had just before the attack on the destroyer USS Cole, because so many people were seeing dreams about attacks on ships and Jihad at sea that the Sheikh was afraid that the operation would be compromised or uncovered by the enemies if they got wind of this ‘chatter’!”
After 9/11 And Fall Of Islamic Emirate In Afghanistan, 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad And Family “Hosted And Sheltered” Gadahn And His “Emigrant Brothers”
Resurgence, Summer 2015, p. 79.
Resurgence: “How was your time in Pakistan after the fall of the Islamic Emirate?”
Gadahn: “While in Pakistan, I and my emigrant brothers were blessed by Allah to have numerous Ansaar (supporters) who combined Nusra (support) with Hijrah (emigration), Jihad and Istishhaad (seeking of martyrdom), and who hosted and sheltered us and did their best to take care of all our needs despite the difficulties and risks. We are greatly indebted to them all, and if I could, I would mention and thank all of them by name, but because I know that naming them could compromise their security, I will only mention a few of those who have embraced martyrdom or will not be harmed by being mentioned: [Gadahn lists and details a number of individuals]… Commander Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (may Allah deliver him) and his nephews, family and friends (may Allah accept their martyrs and free their captives).”
Among Those He Was “Most Inspired Or Affected By” Gadahn Lists Leading Al-Qaeda Figures – Including Current Al-Qaeda Leader Al-Zawahiri
Resurgence: “Amongst your teachers and instructors over the years, who has inspired or influenced you most?”
Gadahn: “I think those I have been most inspired or affected by were by and large the scholars and students of knowledge, whether those whom I studied under, like Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Mauritani, Sheikh Abu Abdullah Al-Muhajir and Sheikh Abu Yusuf Al-Mauritani (may Allah accept him), or those I consulted with in matters of ‘aqeedah and fiqh and from whose fatwas I have benefited, like Sheikh Abu Al-Waleed Al-Ansaari, Sheikh Esa and Sheikh Mansoor Al-Shami (may Allah accept him), as well as those who I came to know later on and work with and consult not only in matters of religion but also in matters of media and policy, like Sheikh ‘Attiyatullah and Sheikh Abu Yahya – may Allah accept them – and our beloved Ameer Sheikh Ayman Al-Zaw ahiri – may Allah preserve him – who has never been sparing nor stingy in offering me encouragement and advice as well as constructive criticism whenever needed.
“I think Sheikh Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri also deserves mention in this context. Another person really dear to me and close to my heart is Sheikh Ibn Al-Sheikh Al-Libi (may Allah accept him), the ameer of Khalden, although he wasn’t really one of my teachers, but he was a really nice person who I looked up to; and the same goes for Abu Zubaidah, Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Misri (may Allah have mercy on him), Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and a number of other Sheikhs, commanders and brothers too many to mention here. And last but not least, I have to make special mention of the director of As-Sahab, who has taught me a lot about media work.”
Meeting With Bin Laden
Also in the interview, Gadahn spoke of meeting Osama bin Laden numerous times, even of sharing meals with him. “There was an occasion,” he added, “where I acted as translator between Shaykh Usama and a group of brothers who had come from Pakistan. I also attended a number of gatherings and events at the Qandahar airport complex (aka Tarnak Farms), where Shaykh Usama lived. One of the memories I have of those gatherings is the day on which were taken those famous pictures of Shaykh Usama dressed in white and firing a Kalashnikov from a crouching position with his bodyguards and other brothers lined up behind him (I’m the one on th e Shaykh’s right who is wearing a white turban, long green shirt and black shoes and has his hands crossed behind his back).”
Referring to the letters taken from bin Laden’s compound in Abottabad, Pakistan after his assassination, he said that he was glad that they showed bin Laden’s concern for the wellbeing of the Al-Qaeda fighters, and added: “The Shaykh would also regularly inquire about the conditions of the Mujahideen in the various regions, whether in terms of supplies, finances, their security situation or even their marital status and how often they were able to visit their families.”
*Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
[3] David Hicks is an alleged terrorist who was held at Guantanamo from 2002 to 2007. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and to providing material support for terrorism in exchange for a transfer to an Australian prison, but is now attempting to have his conviction overturned. See Abc.net.au, January 23, 2015.
[4] Hamza Al-Ghamdi was on United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into th e World Trade Center’s south tower, the second of the two planes to hit the World Trade Center buildings.
[5] Hani Hanjour was on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
FNC: As many as 100,000 Iranian-backed fighters are now on the ground in Iraq, according to American military officials — raising concerns that even if the Islamic State falls, it may only be replaced by another anti-American force which fuels more sectarian violence in the region.
The ranks have swelled inside a network of Shiite militias known as Popular Mobilization Forces. Since the rise of Sunni-dominated ISIS fighters inside Iraq more than two years ago, the Shiite forces have grown to 100,000 fighters, Col. Chris Garver, a Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman, confirmed in an email to Fox News. The fighters are mostly Iraqis.
Garver said not all the Shia militias in Iraq are backed by Iran, adding: “The [Iranian-backed] Shia militia are usually identified at around 80,000.”
According to some experts, this still is an alarmingly high number.
Even more troubling to the U.S. military are reports that Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general who commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, is now on the ground outside Mosul ahead of an expected ground operation to retake Iraq’s second-largest city which has been under ISIS control for the past two years.
According to the Long War Journal, a spokesman for the Iranian-backed forces said earlier this month that Soleimani is expected to play a “major role” in the battle for Mosul.
When asked about Shia militias participating in the liberation of Sunni-dominated Mosul, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said last week, “The government of Iraq is in charge of this war. We’re here to support them. So, who they [want in] the campaign is really their decision.”
A U.S. military official could not confirm Soleimani’s presence in Mosul, but said Soleimani had been seen throughout Iraq and Syria in the past two years coordinating activities. More here.
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Protecting money designated for Iraq is sneaking into the hands of the Iranian militia. Exactly what are we knowingly funding and who is tracking it?
(U//FOUO) Section 1236 Report: Department of Defense (DoD) Quarterly Progress Report on the Authority to Provide Assistance to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Document here but heavily redacted.
**** Yes, there is more….
SecurityAssistance: Following the collapse of Iraq’s fighting force, the United States is again trying to train and equip the Iraqi military to effectively defeat a terrorist group. In FY2015, Congress allocated $1.6 billion for the Iraq Train and Equip Fund (ITEF) with $1.2 billion for official Iraqi forces, $350 million for Kurdish forces, and $24 million for tribal security forces.
According to the fact sheet, the United States has already provided Iraq’s security forces over 1,200 military vehicles, approximately 20,000 smalls arms and heavy weapons, 2,000 additional AT-4 anti-tank weapons and nearly 300 counter improvised explosive device equipment and more than 2,000 Iraqi Kurdish Forces received U.S. military training. In addition, the administration has requested an additional $715 million for ITEF for FY2016, which both houses of Congress have included in their versions of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Iraq does not just receive funding through ITEP though. Allocations for U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program began in FY 2012 for $850 million, originally intended to build up Iraq’s long-term sustainment and logistics capabilities, but as IS gained momentum in Iraq in 2014, portions of FMF funding were redirected to urgent counterterrorism supplies, including critical resupply of Hellfire missiles, rockets, tank ammunition, small arms/ammo and individual soldier items. Moving into FY2016, the administration has requested $250 million for FMF, the same amount that was allocated in FY 2015.
While these two programs compose the majority of security assistance to Iraq, some U.S. security aid programs still provide millions of dollars in funding to Iraq each year such as the Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR). From FY 2012-2015, Congress allocated on average $28 million annually for NADR, a relatively small decline in funding compared to the $30 million allocated annually during the last two years of the Iraq war.
U.S. security assistance to Iraq has returned to levels not seen since the end of the Iraq War in an effort to rebuild the Iraqi military and combat the Islamic State. The State Department stresses its dedication “to helping Iraq improve security, maintain sovereignty, and push back against terrorism, most recently ISIL.” As the United States continues its campaign against IS into 2016 one hopes that U.S. assistance is more effective compared to the last go-round, especially since the latest video released by IS depicts the fighters training with American-made M16 assault rifles.
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The Department of Defense was required to budget and buy Iran’s designated ‘heavy water’. Really? Yes.
In part from ScienceMag: DOE has struck a deal to purchase 32 tons of heavy water—water containing the hydrogen isotope deuterium—from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
The $8.6 million sale, expected to be completed Friday morning in Vienna, helps Iran meet a commitment under last July’s nuclear deal to shed heavy water—and it will have a swords-to-ploughshares payoff. “We’re securing material that will allow us to do great science,” says Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. DOE will resell a portion to industry for uses such as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and protecting optical fibers and semiconductors against deterioration by blasting them with deuterium gas. DOE will also send 6 tons to Oak Ridge for an upgrade of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the world’s most powerful accelerator-driven machine for generating neutrons for research.
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In part from ExchangeMonitor: Heavy water, which is used in some plutonium-producing nuclear reactors, is key for nuclear weapons development.
The agreement requires Iran to redesign and rebuild its heavy-water reactor at Arak; focus on using light water for future power and research reactors; not to build any new heavy-water reactors or accumulate the material for 15 years; and make all excess domestic heavy water available for export to foreign buyers.
In a prepared statement, the Department of Energy said there were no plans for additional purchases of Iranian heavy water: “The U.S. will not be Iran’s customer forever. It is exclusively Iran’s responsibility to find a way to meet its JCPOA commitments, whether that is by selling, diluting or disposing of future stocks of heavy water to remain within the JCPOA limit.”
Some of the heavy water will be used at the Oak Ridge lab’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), with the rest provided to commercial users.
An amendment from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) against purchases of heavy water from Iran temporarily held up passage of the Senate energy appropriations bill this spring. The amendment was eventually stripped from the legislation.
A bill from Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to prohibit any federal entity in any fiscal year from spending money on Iranian heavy water passed the House in July and was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
