9-11 Panel to Probe FBI Informant's Tip

[paulthompson]

NOTE TO MODERATORS: Yes, this is from the dodgy WorldNetDaily. But I hope you don't lock this thread, because it's very important material, and Paul Sperry has been doing some good reporting at a bad paper. Just as the recent Sibel Edmonds story started at Tom Flocco's website, then spread to Salon, then to the Independent, then kept spreading to dozens of other newspapers, mark my words, this story will have legs.

In short, another FBI translator has been found who confirms much of what Sibel Edmonds has been saying and provides specific details of an explosive pre-9/11 warning.

9-11 Panel to Probe FBI Informant's Tip

Man who translated lead on al-Qaida plot confirms meeting with 3 investigators

by Paul Sperry
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37...

WASHINGTON -- When he watched the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9-11, former FBI translator Behrooz Sarshar says he "immediately" remembered a tip about an al-Qaida plot the bureau got from an informant more than four months before the terror group attacked America.

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Sources familiar with the briefing say the FBI informant told two FBI agents from the Washington field office in April 2001 that his sources in Afghanistan had heard of an al-Qaida plot to attack America in a suicide mission involving planes. Sarshar, fluent in Farsi, acted as an interpreter at the meeting, held at a Washington-area residence.

The asset, an Iranian immigrant who worked in the shah's intelligence services, had been on the FBI's payroll for at least a decade, and was considered reliable. He travels abroad and is said to maintain good Afghan contacts. Iran shares its eastern border with Afghanistan.

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Some familiar with Sarshar's briefings last month say the tip cited major cities with skyscrapers, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. ... And he suggested that al-Qaida agents, already in place inside America, were being trained as pilots.

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MY COMMENT: So, to summarize: in April 2001, a reliable FBI informant told of an al-Qaeda plot to attack skyscrapers in major US cities using planes as weapons. It even mentioned that al-Qaeda agents were being trained in the US as pilots. After 9/11, the FBI tried to bury this lead and put it in a pile of things not worth retranslating. No wonder Sibel Edmonds is hopping mad. And this is only one of several warnings she knows about!

[paulthompson]

1. some comments

Here's some more info that gives some background to this warning. Apparently the 9/11 plot was an extremely poorly kept secret in Afghanistan, so it's no surprise this informant would have heard the plot details from that country:

July 2001: The CIA hears an individual who had recently been in Afghanistan say, “Everyone is talking about an impending attack.” (Senate Intelligence Committee, 9/18/02, Washington Post, 9/19/02) The Telegraph later reports that “the idea of an attack on a skyscraper was discussed among supporters in Kabul.” At some unspecified point before 9/11, a neighbor in Kabul saw diagrams showing a skyscraper attack in a house known as a “nerve center” for al-Qaeda activity. (Telegraph, 11/16/01) US soldiers will later find forged visas, altered passports, listings of Florida flight schools and registration papers for a flight simulator in al-Qaeda houses in Afghanistan. (New York Times, 12/6/01) A Bin Laden bodyguard later claims that in May 2001 he hears bin Laden tell people in Afghanistan that the US would be hit with a terrorist attack, and thousands would die. (Guardian 11/28/01)

The question is, how could some many people know and US intelligence claim they didn't know? Heck, you even have the case of a Village Voice reporter talking to a taxi driver a couple months before 9/11, telling her he was planning to get out of New York City before the upcoming big terror attack in early September.

[Blaze Diem]

3. If the 9-11 Panel caves on questioning Condi tomorrow..based on

reports like this one, what are we, American Citizens to do next?

How much more loudly do we need to speak to DC in order to receive a serious reaction?

I guess we continue to do what we are doing. We get Bush our of the White House and bring charges after that. There is just SO Effing Much, to question about the secret government of GWBush.
How can they NOT be held accountable at some point.
The key may be in removing them from power.

I, like many Americans are still holding out hope that Democracy and Justice is worth our trust. We're still patiently waiting for some proof of this.

[leftchick]

5. I think it more likely to be asked of the FBI and Justice people...

when they come before the commission later this month. Is that right Paul?

[paulthompson]

10. Yes

the more appropriate venue is when Mueller testifies later in the month. But I think Sibel Edmonds may be at some kind of press conference after the Condi Rice testimony.

[leftchick]

11. now that sounds interesting...

Hopefully some of the right-wing media will give her the air time.

[RoyGBiv]

12. Let's Hope

My understanding is that she's attending the hearing today and will be available for comment afterward.

Now, whether any reporter bothers to ask her anything is something else entirely.

[RainDog]

6. Huh??

"The question is, how could some many people know and US intelligence claim they didn't know? Heck, you even have the case of a Village Voice reporter talking to a taxi driver a couple months before 9/11, telling her he was planning to get out of New York City before the upcoming big terror attack in early September."

Paul, what's the specific link for that one??

This new information also adds credence to Hatfield's remarks about a terrorist attack, though he dismissed it as another attempt to make Bush look like a cowboy.

[paulthompson]

9. Village Voice?

A Village Voice reporter claims that on July 29, 2001, she was told by a New York taxi driver, "You know, I am leaving the country and going home to Egypt sometime in late August or Septemer. I have gotten e-mails from people I know saying that Osama bin Laden has planned big terrorist attacks for New York and Washington for that time. It will not be safe here then."

www.villagevoice.com \issues\0239\goodyear.php

There are soooo many people who knew of the attacks beforehand. It was common knowledge in certain circles, and easily the worst kept terrorist plot in history. See my website for lots more examples, for instance the imam who told all the people in his NYC mosque not to go near the World Trade Center on 9/11. The idea that US intelligence didn't know is completely untenable, IMHO.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

2. Will 9/11 commission ask Ashcroft why he stopped flying commercial in 7/01

Is Ashcroft going to be grilled? Charred I hope?

[paulthompson]

4. Idiot racists

Is this FBI agent mentioned in the article really this stupid and racist? Al-Qaeda had already simultaneously attacked two US embassies, and hit the USS Cole, but learning to fly a plane was somehow beyond them?

"At the time it sounded unbelievable," he said. "People in Afghanistan being trained to fly jumbo jets to attack America just seemed unbelievable. Camels, maybe. But not planes."

[mulethree]

7. heh flying camels more believable? ;-) n/t

[bobbieinok]

8. 'flying carpets'?????