Did Cheney Undermine Case Against Airline Bombers?

[babsbunny]

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/09/hbc-90005660

By Scott Horton

On Labor Day, a British court convicted a group of terrorists who plotted to bring down airplanes. Today, in a feature in The Times (London), Andy Hayman, the man who led the criminal investigation into the plot, lashes out against unnamed Bush Administration officials. British counterterrorism officials had been carefully tracking the cells involved, doing their best to identify others connected to the plot. Throughout this period, Americans were briefed about the progress of the operation, with Prime Minister Blair updating President Bush with some frequency. The Americans, Hayman reports, were constantly skittish and concerned that their British colleagues, by dragging the investigation on, would allow a plot to be implemented.

The authorities in Pakistan had arrested a man called Rashid Rauf and the consequences of that were serious for our operation. Rauf, who hailed from Birmingham, was believed to be strongly linked to the senior command of al-Qaeda in Pakistan and as such was suspected as a key reference point for directing terror plots around the world. While not provable, he was also thought to be a contact for those attending terrorism training in the tribal areas. We suspected that the terrorism cell were known and linked to him.