Reply #50: Excellent post, thank you

[Catrina]

I have been following the Abramoff hearings on C-Span for the past year and have been stunned by the range of his reach, and the sheer magnitude of the schemes he was involved in. I had also read this story of Atta being seen on a Sunkruz Casino boat, and the FBI investigating. How long does that take?

Last week when I heard that Abramoff was being pressured to make a deal, I wondered why, since he seemed to be the main target of that particular investigation (the SunKruz issue). Prosecutors rarely make deals with the main targets of their investigation.

But then I read the story of the huge, multi-million dollar loans that Abramoff and his partner, Adam Kidan were able to get, even while Kidan (and presumably Abramoff had serious debts of their own).

The question arose, why on earth would anyone okay a loan to two people whose finances were in such disarray, particularly Kidan's, in order to buy a Casino business? True, documents were forged, it seems but still, lending instituions are not that easily fooled, particularly with this much money at stake.

This Casino deal (SunKruz) therefore, might have been of interest to someone (or 'ones') other than just Abramoff and Kidan, who may have prompted the two lending agencies to go ahead and lend them the money. As of now, the two agencies involved will not answer any questions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all along, I thought that Abramoff was working for himself, while being appreciated by the Republicans who dealt with him, like Tom Delay. Now, I'm wondering, since he's making this deal, who it is the Prosecutors are REALLY interested in.

Florida, the Mafia murder of Boulis which got him out of the way of the SunKruz business, Atta, Abramoff ~ 9/11, flight schools in Florida etc. etc. So many pieces to a puzzle that keep emerging ~

Your questions about NORAD are intriguing and as yet, unanswered. We need a thorough investigation of 9/11, that has yet to happen. As more information emerges, most people I know, even Repubs, no longer believe the 'official' version.

What I don't get is though, we pretty much know that Atta was no fundamentalist Islamist. He had an American girlfriend, it was reported early on. He partied, gambled etc. So, if he did indeed die on 9/11, what was he dying for?