Reply #185: Tom Ridge, the DNC, and the London attacks

[Roland99]

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1615407

I think blaming the attacks in London on Bush would be a stretch, but ABC has linked the London attacks to Naeem Noor Khan and plans he had on his laptop. This links the terror alerts during the DNC to the London attacks. What I didn't know is that apparently Khan was working for the Pakistani military intelligence after he was arrested and during the DNC alerts when the information was shared with the US media. This blew the cover of Khan and forced British intelligence to act on tips early. Here's some stuff gathered by some blogs. I'll just quote the relevant sections without adding blog commentary.
ABC:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LondonBlasts/story?id=940198&page=1

Officials tell ABC News the London bombers have been connected to an al Qaeda plot planned two years ago in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

The laptop computer of Naeem Noor Khan, a captured al Qaeda leader, contained plans for a coordinated series of attacks on the London subway system, as well as on financial buildings in both New York and Washington.

"There's absolutely no doubt he was part of an al Qaeda operation aimed at not only the United States but Great Britain," explained Alexis Debat, a former official in the French Defense Ministry who is now a senior terrorism consultant for ABC News.

At the time, authorities thought they had foiled the London subway plot by arresting more than a dozen young Britons of Pakistani descent last August in Luton, a city known for its ties to terrorism.

Juan Cole:
http://www.juancole.com/2004/08/outing-of-muhammad-naeem-noor-khan.html

Here is what we now know. The Pakistani government arrested a 25-year-old computer expert in Lahore on July 13. The arrest was never given to the Pakistani press by the Pakistani government, and no notice appeared in any Pakistani or other newspaper. This absence can only be deliberate, since the Pakistanis could easily have held a press conference to trumpet their new captive. This decision to keep the arrest quiet appears to have been made because Khan had been "flipped," i.e., had become a double agent and continued to have email contact with al-Qaeda members in London, e.g., but now with the Pakistani military intelligence listening in.

There was no reason for any reporter anywhere to inquire about Khan, since nothing had come out in Pakistan about his case. Pakistani intelligence was passing on to British intelligence what it was finding out about the London cell. Khan was still communicating with it on Monday August 2.

In addition, Khan's computer had on it surveillance information about financial institutions in New York and Washington that dated back three years, before the September 11 attacks. The Pakistanis shared this information with both British and American intelligence.

<...>

The British, especially MI5 and Home Secretary David Blunkett, had not wanted his name made public, and were furious at all of the detailed information being given out to the public by the Bush administration or in consequence of its revelations. For some reason, the British seem to have feared that the naming of Abu Eisa al-Hindi would complicate the case against him. The Times of India reports that Abu Musa (or Abu Eisa) al-Hindi's real name is Dhiron Barot. He is one of the 8 charged in London on Tuesday. He is from a Hindu family, but converted to Islam at age 20 and got pulled into jihadi activities in Kashmir (about which he published a book). He was the one who cased the financial institutions in the US for al-Qaeda. The story of Barot, like that of Richard Reid, shows that al-Qaeda isn't mainly about Islam per se, it is a political-religious ideology that can attract non-Muslims.

This fills in some missing details:

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/219869p-188947c.html

A captured Al Qaeda computer whiz was E-mailing his comrades as part of a sting operation to nab other top terrorists when U.S. officials blew his cover, sources said yesterday.

Within hours of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's name being publicized Monday, British police launched lightning raids that netted a dozen suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, including one who was nabbed after a high-speed car chase....

Now British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious with the Americans for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist suspects.

Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat expressed dismay the trap they had hoped would lead to the capture of other top Al Qaeda leaders, possibly even Osama Bin Laden, was sprung too soon.

There's a whole bunch more stuff cited here: http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/07/bush-admin-may-be-responsible-for.html

HOLY CRAP!!


So...that July 2004 push by the Propagandist and his administration to push Pakistan to come up with some high-quality arrests timed to coincide with the Democratic National Convention have possibly resulted in someone linked to those arrested having "turned" to a double-agent and involved in the London attacks?!?!?!