The Wreck of the Patrick Fitzgerald

[reprehensor]

Well, I guess Patrick Fitzgerald is going to have to sue HarperCollins, just like he threatened. He says that Peter Lance's book, Triple Cross contains lies and false accusations about him, and thus, the book must be pulped!

The real problem with Lance's book is not that it is brimming with lies, but rather that Lance's tendentious prose enforces the general paradigm put forward by the 9/11 Torture Commission*, while at the same time exposing seriously problematic aspects of the run-up to 9/11 that fail to lay down and die like they should. (Or more accurately, like some people want them to die.)

Lance writes of his on-going brouhaha at Playboy.com;

"I’d become the latest target of Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for Chicago and former special counsel in the CIA leak investigation. I’d raised some questions about his record on counterterrorism, and Fitzgerald, described by a former colleague at Justice as “Eliot Ness with a Harvard degree and a sense of humor,” was not amused.

The man who jailed publishing magnate Conrad Black and got Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich indicted has enjoyed an extraordinary reputation for honesty and integrity, but he’s also used his power to intimidate the media. The story of how he came gunning for me sheds light on his methods as a prosecutor and calls into question certain decisions he made in the years leading up to 9/11.

The evidence I unearthed stems from Fitzgerald’s tenure in the mid-1990s as co-head of the Organized Crime-Terrorism Unit in the Southern District of New York, the U.S. attorney’s office that turned out Rudolph Guiliani and Louis Freeh. In 1995, after President Clinton issued Decision Directive 39—a secret order targeting domestic and international terrorism—Fitzgerald was assigned to effectively supervise I-49, the elite bin Laden squad in New York’s FBI office. It would be a career-making position for Fitzgerald, the son of an Irish immigrant doorman...

...Back on my trip in 2002 I’d received classified evidence about Yousef’s Manila plans from Colonel Rodolfo B. Mendoza of the Philippines National Police. I was shocked to find that Mendoza had sent the same intel in 1995 to the U.S. embassy in Manila, where it was forwarded to prosecutors in the Southern District.

I had traced the chain of custody, interviewing the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent who picked up the intel from Mendoza at Camp Crame in Manila and stood by as the FBI legal attaché at the U.S. embassy sent it to the SDNY. The agent confirmed an earlier account he’d given that Mike Garcia and Dietrich Snell, the assistant U.S. attorneys who later prosecuted Yousef, “almost certainly had access to the materials.” By December 1995 Garcia and Snell were working directly under Patrick Fitzgerald.

In short, the SDNY had more than five years’ prior warning of Ramzi Yousef’s hijacking scenario."

Perhaps you haven't heard of this. Most people haven't. The 9/11 Torture Commission didn't bother mentioning it. I mean, why worry anybody's pretty little head over the fact that the FBI and the SDNY had the nuts and bolts of the 9/11 plot in their hot little hands since 1995.

You see, along with the Bojinka Plot, the man in charge of decoding Ramzi Yousef's laptop also found an alternative to "Project Bojinka"**;

"Decoding Yousef's computer was not difficult. I bypassed the passwords and immediately accessed the files. The principal job was reading the files and summarizing them. This was done using a text search program.

This was how we found out about the various plots being hatched by the cell of Ramzi Yousef. First, there was the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II. We learned that a suicide bomber would approach the Pope and detonate a bomb that he would be carrying, killing the bomber, the Pope, and the people around both of them. Because the Pope was coming to Manila, we thought this was the principal plot and prime reason for the group to be in Manila.

Then, we discovered a second, even more sinister plot: Project Bojinka, or a Yugoslav term for loud bang. This was a plot to blow up 11 airlines over the Pacific Ocean, all in a 48-hour period. The planes would have come from Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, and Manila. Even the airlines and the specific flight numbers had been chosen. There was a document where calculations had been made on how to set the timers on the bomb to be placed on each flight so that they would explode within a set time.

Then we found another document that discussed a second alternative to crash the 11 planes into selected targets in the United States instead of just blowing them up in the air. These included the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia; the World Trade Center in New York; the Sears Tower in Chicago; the TransAmerica Tower in San Francisco; and the White House in Washington, DC. Murad himself was to fly the plane that would be crashed into the CIA headquarters.

Lance offers an explanation as to why the Torture Commission didn't share this info with the public; Snell was Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission.

--------------------

And then there's the whole Ali Mohamed thing.

Researcher Peter Dale Scott has given the Fitzgerald/Mohamed relationship close scrutiny;

...I wrote of Ali Mohamed, the close ally of Osama bin Laden and his mentor Ayman al-Zawahiri. It is now generally admitted that Ali Mohamed (known in the al Qaeda camps as Abu Mohamed al Amriki — "Father Mohamed the American") worked for the FBI, the CIA, and U.S. Special Forces. As he later confessed in court, he also aided the terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, a co-founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and by then an aide to bin Laden, when he visited America to raise money.

The 9/11 Report mentioned him, and said that the plotters against the U.S. Embassy in Kenya were “led” (their word) by Ali Mohamed. That’s the Report’s only reference to him, though it’s not all they heard.

Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney who negotiated a plea bargain and confession from Ali Mohamed, said this in testimony to the Commission;

Ali Mohamed. …. trained most of al Qaeda’s top leadership – including Bin Laden and Zawahiri – and most of al Qaeda’s top trainers. He gave some training to persons who would later carry out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing…. From 1994 until his arrest in 1998, he lived as an American citizen in California, applying for jobs as an FBI translator.

Patrick Fitzgerald knew Ali Mohamed well. In 1994 he had named him as an unindicted co-conspirator in the New York landmarks case, yet allowed him to remain free. This was because, as Fitzgerald knew, Ali Mohamed was an FBI informant, from at least 1993 and maybe 1989. Thus, from 1994 “until his arrest in 1998 , Mohamed shuttled between California, Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia and at least a dozen other countries.” ...

...Let me say this again: one of al-Qaeda’s top trainers in terrorism and how to hijack airplanes was an operative for FBI, CIA, and the Army.***

Ali Mohamed was questioned after 9/11, and apparently knew the plot well.

You know what? Go ahead and sue HarperCollins, Patrick Fitzgerald, because more people need to know about this stuff.

--------------------

* Sigh, yes of course I mean the 9/11 Commission.

** Sometimes that archive.org link doesn't load; here is a back-up.

*** See a video of Scott presenting this info at the 1:02:50 mark; right here, introduction by Ray McGovern.

[lxlxlxl]

1. why is peter lance ignored? i have no idea

the booktv interview that he did years ago is whwat i consider essential viewing, and i hate truthers generally. the ali mohammed stuff, coupled with what bamford has revealed DEFINITIVELY shows that we knew enough about Al Qaeda on 9/10, and 9/11 happened because we couldnt put together a couple of strings of intelligence.

this blows gigantic holes in the GOP Terror treatment not only of Al Qaeda but also 'Islamofascism' or whatever boogyman the GOP uses

[noise]

8. Bamford reported that

two FBI agents assigned to Alec Station were ordered to withhold the fact that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar has US visas. It is possible (hard to confirm) that the same CIA official who gave this order was also involved in Khaled el-Masri's torture, refusing to release him even though evidence of mistaken ID had been substantiated.

Bamford has also stated on the record that Hayden's failure to use FISA has not been properly explained.

Lawrence Wright described CIA conduct in relation to the Cole investigation as "tantamount to obstruction of justice."

I don't think these descriptions are indicative of failure to "put together a couple of strings of intelligence." We have contradictory conduct by agencies tasked with preventing terrorist attacks. On one hand they tell us al Qaeda was the big threat, OTOH they failed to use legal procedures to arrest/surveil/deport al Qaeda operatives in the US.

[xiamiam]

10. are you talking about ashley bamford?..i think thats her name..she did a great job in the beginning

of the iraq/afghanistan invasion...then she disappeared..then i saw her acting like a goofy journalist talking about something totally irrelevant on the crime channel..

[lxlxlxl]

12. james bamford...your thinking of ashley banfield

...

[xiamiam]

14. thanks..nt

[John Q. Citizen]

2. I've been facinated by how Lance and Hopsicker both wrote well documented

investigative journalism books that were completely different in terms of players and motives, (not to mention style) and yet they both point to various factions of our government running interference above and beyond the call of duty for the 19 hijackers and their close associates.

They both are what is referred to as "Opps" theory, yet they both ring true to me in some very fundamental aspects.
Since their narratives are so separate in many ways, I'm wondering how insulated different parts of the eventual hijacking teams were.
My guess is they weren't integrated in any way that they themselves understood.

But I'm also guessing that the people running interference for the various teams were also compartmentalized as well and unaware of other teams and other care takers.

So there were different teams with different motivations and there were different "care takers" with different motivations. And never the twain would meet until they were all plugged in. Which suggests localized oopps and big picture coordination.

[troubledamerican]

6. Recent Hopsicker interview & new upcoming book

Hopsicker was interviewed last week on Dave Emory (WFMU.org archives) and revealed that Anthony Summers (major journalist) is doing a 9/11 book that includes confirmations of Hopsicker's work.

It's an interview worth a listen.

[noise]

3. Michael Garcia

...

U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said last year that the request for depositions with FBI agents was rejected because the aviation companies didn't explain how FBI information before the attacks would relate to their defense efforts.

Garcia said much of the information was protected from disclosure, "because it involves classified national security information or matters protected by the law enforcement investigative privilege." He also said it would be "extremely difficult and burdensome" to separate the classified information from the non-classified information and risk that some classified materials may be inadvertently disclosed.

...

Airlines blame FBI, CIA and terrorists for 9/11

As I recall, the plaintiff's lawyer (Donald Migliori of Motley Rice) agreed that the FBI testimony wasn't really necessary. I found this odd because the families who continued to push for a trial were doing so in order to learn as much as possible about the security breakdowns. The public has never learned why known al Qaeda operatives--linked to the Yemen hub and USS Cole attack--were not apprehended by the FBI. Years ago Claudio Manno (head of the FAA intelligence division at the time of 9/11) testified in front of the Joint Inquiry panel. He stated that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar would have been picked up in the reservation process had their names been shared with FAA Intelligence. Why weren't their names shared? Is it true that they reserved and purchased tickets in their real name? Why on earth would they employ such amateurish terrorist tradecraft? What happened at the FBI UBLU unit in the lead up to 9/11? This was the unit that kept the al-Hazmi/al-Mihdhar information from the USS Cole investigators.

Garcia made his comments in 4/08. One notes the bizarre level of secrecy involved in 9/11 even now. For example, NARA has not declassified the MFR's involving the same FBI/CIA officials that the airline companies were originally trying to depose.

[pleah]

4. K&R Maybe this will convince a few that were

all for PF to be the special prosecutor for war crimes, that he would NOT be a good choice. I knew the guy was not all that up and up.

[troubledamerican]

7. Merry Fitzmas?

And BIG thanks to Reprehensor for mentioning Peter Dale Scott.

[shadowknows69]

5. Damn, I was hoping for a parody song

Paging SalmonChantedEvening!!!

[dysfunctional press]

9. i wonder if flight 93 was headed for dc, or langley?

if cheney hadn't ordered it shot down, we might have found out.

[TexasObserver]

11. Patrick Fitzgerald is a disgrace.

He completely cowered before Bush, Cheney and Rove. Worst prosecutor ever.

[Bolo Boffin]

13. Only 14 recommends this time?

You're losing your touch, reprehensor. Maybe you should cozy up to Time for change the next time you spam GD with your conspiracy theory stuff.

[noise]

17. What do you mean?

Views that run counter to political/media establishment consensus should be considered "conspiracy theory stuff?" IMO that is authoritarian. Look at what issues the OP raised--Ali Mohamed (so called triple agent) and a government report based in part on confessions by way of torture. Such a lofty standard of conduct for government officials! Impressive! Why should they account for any of their actions? After all, the only people who have a problem with their conduct are unpatriotic conspiracy theorists.

[Bolo Boffin]

18. Conspiracy theory stuff should be considered conspiracy theory stuff.

That's what I mean. That's not authoritarian, unless you consider reality authoritarian.

Hmm, perhaps that's what you do mean.

[noise]

19. And torture is actually

enhanced interrogation. Reality twisted to fit a desired narrative.

Feel free to explain your criteria for labeling the OP conspiracy theory.

[Bolo Boffin]

20. You really don't want to imply that I'm belittling torture.

You really do not.

You apologize first. Then we talk.

[noise]

21. So you have a double standard?

Authority figures who advocate for torture are scumbags but if they advocate for the use of the term "conspiracy theorist" to dismiss legitimate questions about state conduct they are well intentioned?

I get the fact that you don't support torture. I posted that because it's a good example of how authoritarianism and propaganda are used in concert to distort reality.

[SDuderstadt]

22. Isn't it a little silly to be claiming or implying that....

members at DU could possibly be authoritarian?

[noise]

23. Not at all

The criticism of the OP appears to be based on the criteria that questioning state authority in relation to 9/11=conspiracy nuttery. Said poster has thus far not explained his actual criteria. I read Lance's book and found nothing convincing in the "triple agent" theory. For example, Robert Hannsen was a Soviet/Russian mole. He was never offered a deal to enter the Federal Witness Relocation Program. I am not impressed by the 9/11 Commission's weak defense for the use of testimony by way of torture. My views on these two issues are hardly tin foil.

[SDuderstadt]

24. Okay...let me say it another way...

I believe slinging the "authoritarian" label around will cause people to take your posts less seriously.

[noise]

25. That is the risk I will have to take

IMO some debunkers employ a double standard as they appear to hold government officials to a much lower standard than 9/11 skeptics. IMO the dismissal of the OP as "conspiracy theories" is a good example of this double standard.

[noise]

26. Are the claims of the OP

tinfoil conspiracy nuttery?

[Bolo Boffin]

27. That wasn't an apology. n/t

[aldo]

15. Hey Pat, go ahead and sue, insufferable blowhard

and Republican bagman. Of course he doesn't want to sue, he just wants to throw his weight around. Obama, fire this jackass.

[Fainter]

16. I Sure Wish I Could Recommend This. Really Good Work Rep. n/t.