MUCKRAKER REPORT– This past weekend, a thought provoking e-mail circulated through Internet news groups, and was sent to the Muckraker Report by Mr. Paul V. Sheridan (Winner of the 2005 Civil Justice Foundation Award), bringing attention to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist web page for Usama Bin Laden.
In the e-mail,
the question is asked, “Why doesn’t Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster make
any direct connection with the events of September 11, 2001?” The FBI says on
its Bin Laden web page that Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United
States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
and Nairobi, Kenya.
According to the FBI, these attacks killed over 200 people. The FBI concludes
its reason for “wanting” Bin Laden by saying, “In addition, Bin Laden is a
suspect in other terrorists attacks throughout the world.”
On June 5, 2006, the
Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why
Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in
connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of
Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11
on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not
mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard
evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”
Surprised by the ease in which this FBI spokesman made such an astonishing
statement, I asked, “How this was possible?” Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not
been formally charged in connection to 9/11.” I asked, “How does that work?”
Tomb continued, “The FBI gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is
turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice than
decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In
the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, Bin Laden has been
formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally
indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard
evidence connected Bin Laden to 9/11.”
It shouldn’t take long before the full meaning of these FBI statements start to
prick your brain and raise your blood pressure. If you think the way I think,
in quick order you will be wrestling with a barrage of very powerful questions
that must be answered. First and foremost, if the U.S.
government does not have enough hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11, how
is it possible that it had enough evidence to invade Afghanistan
to “smoke him out of his cave?” The federal government claims to have invaded Afghanistan
to “root out” Bin Laden and the Taliban. Through the talking heads in the
mainstream media, the Bush Administration told the American people that Usama
Bin Laden was Public Enemy Number One and responsible for the deaths of nearly
3000 people on September 11, 2001. Yet nearly five years later, the FBI says
that it has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.
Next is the Bin Laden “confession” video that was released by the U.S.
government on December 13, 2001.
Most Americans remember this video. It was the video showing Bin Laden with a
few of his comrades recounting with delight the September 11 terrorist attacks
against the United States.
The Department of Defense issued a press release to accompany this video in
which Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said, “There was no doubt of bin
Laden’s responsibility for the September 11 attacks before the tape was
discovered.” What Rumsfeld implied by his statement was that Bin Laden was
the known mastermind behind 9/11 even before the “confession video” and that the
video simply served to confirm what the U.S. government already knew; that Bin
Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
In a BBC News article reporting on the “9/11 confession video” release,
President Bush is said to have been hesitant to release the tape because he
knew it would be a vivid reminder to many people of their loss. But, he also
knew it would be “a devastating declaration” of Bin Laden’s guilt. “Were going
to get him,” said President Bush. “Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter to me.”
In a CNN article regarding the Bin Laden tape, then New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani said that “the tape removes any doubt that the U.S. military campaign
targeting bin Laden and his associates is more than justified.” Senator Richard
Shelby, R-Alabama, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said,
“The tape’s release is central to informing people in the outside world who
don’t believe bin Laden was involved in the September 11 attacks.” Shelby
went on to say “I don’t know how they can be in denial after they see this
tape.” Well Senator Shelby, apparently the Federal Bureau of Investigation
isn’t convinced by the taped confession, so why are you?
The Muckraker Report attempted to secure a reference to the U.S.
government authenticating the Bin Laden “confession video”, to no avail.
However, it is conclusive that the Bush Administration and U.S. Congress, along
with the dead stream media, played the video as if it was authentic. So why
doesn’t the FBI view the “confession video” as hard evidence? After all, if the
FBI is investigating a crime such as drug trafficking, and it discovers a video
of members of a drug cartel opening talking about a successful distribution
operation in the United States,
that video would be presented to a federal grand jury. The identified
participants of the video would be indicted, and if captured, the video alone
would serve as sufficient evidence to net a conviction in a federal court. So
why is the Bin Laden “confession video” not carrying the same weight with the
FBI?
Remember, on June 5, 2006,
FBI spokesman, Chief of Investigative Publicity Rex Tomb said, “The FBI has no
hard evidence connecting Usama Bin Laden to 9/11.” This should be headline news
worldwide. The challenge to the reader is to find out why it is not. Why has
the U.S. media
blindly read the government-provided 9/11 scripts, rather than investigate
without passion, prejudice, or bias, the events of September 11, 2001? Why has the U.S.
media blacklisted any guest that might speak of a government sponsored 9/11
cover-up, rather than seeking out those people who have something to say about
9/11 that is contrary to the government’s account? And on those few rare
occasions when a 9/11 dissenter has made it upon the airways, why has the
mainstream media ridiculed the guest as a conspiracy nut, rather than listen to
the evidence that clearly raises valid questions about the government’s 9/11
account? Why is the Big Media Conglomeration blindly content with the
government’s 9/11 story when so much verifiable information to the contrary is
available with a few clicks of a computer mouse?
Who is it that is controlling the media message, and how is it that the U.S.
media has indicted Usama Bin Laden for the events of September 11, 2001, but the U.S.
government has not? How is it that the FBI has no “hard evidence” connecting
Usama Bin Laden to the events of September 11, 2001, while the U.S. media has
played the Bin Laden – 9/11 connection story for five years now as if it has
conclusive evidence that Bin Laden is responsible for the collapse of the twin
towers, the Pentagon attack, and the demise of United Flight 93?
No hard evidence connecting Usama Bin Laden to 9/11… Think about it.
Freelance writer / author, Ed Haas, is the editor and columnist for the
Muckraker Report. Get smart. Read the Muckraker Report. http://teamliberty.net
NOTES
[1] Federal Bureau of Investigation, Most Wanted Terrorists, Usama Bin Laden, http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm,
[Accessed May 31, 2006]
[2] United States Department of Defense, News Release, U.S. Releases Videotape
of Osama bin Laden, December 13, 2001, http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html,
[Accessed June 5, 2006]
[3] BBC News, Bin Laden video angers New Yorkers, December 14, 2001, Peter
Gould, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1711874.stm,
[Accessed June 5, 2006]
[4] CNN, Bin Laden on tape: Attacks ‘benefited Islam greatly”, December 14,
2001, http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/ret.bin.laden.videotape,
[Accessed June 5, 2006]
© 2006 MUCKRAKER
Photo by flickr user Dnewman8