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9/11 - How Much Did They Know?
The attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan were portrayed as a response to 9/11. Yet the US and UK made extensive preparations for this "response" rapidly and decisively on a very large scale shortly before 9/11. How was this possible, unless they knew what was about to happen on 11 September 2001?
The war on terror began with a spectacular show of military strength. Britain suddenly deployed a huge "strike force" to the Middle East, the largest British deployment since the Falklands war of 1982. America launched the invasion of Afghanistan together with their allies from the Northern Alliance, rapidly taking the strategic town of Bamiyan. There is no doubt that the US and UK were "primed" for the conquest of Afghanistan, and ready "at any moment" for deployment to neighbouring Iraq.
The thing is, this all happened relatively quietly a few weeks BEFORE the 9-11 attacks!
When the planes crashed down on 9/11, the US and UK were surprisingly well prepared for their response. Conveniently, only weeks earlier, they had deployed troops to the very region where they would soon be required. They invaded Afghanistan to find Osama bin Ladin, but they never found him. Soon afterwards, they invaded Iraq to find the WMD, but they never found those either. Nevermind, it was still the right thing to do, or so we are encouraged to believe.
If you are just beginning to wonder what the "war on terrorism" is REALLY about, congratulations, you've just joined a growing number of people around the world who have woken up and decided to start thinking for themselves.
SOURCES
BBC News, "Carrier heads for the Middle East", 3 September 2001.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1522987.stm ]
The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has sailed from Portsmouth to lead the biggest Royal Navy and Royal Marine deployment since the Falklands.
HMS Illustrious is the flagship of three groups of warships travelling to the Middle East to take part in exercise "Saif Sareea 2".
More than 24 surface ships from Britain, plus two nuclear submarines, will be completing the 13,000 mile round trip.
The operation, costing nearly £100m, will end with a major excercise before Christmas that will also involve the Army, Royal Air Force and Armed Forces of Oman.
The strike force has been put together to take part in a conflict between the fictional forces of the so-called state of 'Alawham' and those of Oman.
British military planners want to see if they can muster the kind of rapid reaction force outlined in the defence review which took place in 1998.
Rear Admiral James Burnell-Nugent CBE, Commander of the UK Maritime Forces, is heading the group.
He said: "This is a significant display of maritime power, we are sending 8,500 sailors, airmen, and Royal Marines to the Gulf Region.
"In total the Argonaut task group consists of 40 separate commands, brought together into an integrated, self-sustaining joint fighting force." The deployment will include the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, the assault ship HMS Fearless, destroyers, frigates and mine countermeasures vessels.
Maritime power
Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships will also be taking part in the exercise.
Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade will be involved in amphibious landings on the coast of Oman.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Rear Admiral Burnell-Nugent said: "One of the advantages that a naval task group brings is that it carries all of its logistics with it, a full range of capabilities from cruise missiles to laser-guided bombs to Royal Marine Commandos."
He said he was aware that his forces, which include 23,000 British military personnel from all three services, could be redeployed at any moment.
"I'm not aware of any plans to do so, but there's a capability there which the government can draw on," he said.
Jane's International Security News, "India joins anti-Taliban coalition", 15 March 2001.
[ http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010315_1_n.shtml ]
India is believed to have joined Russia, the USA and Iran in a concerted front against Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
Military sources in Delhi, claim that the opposition Northern Alliance's capture of the strategic town of Bamiyan, was precipitated by the four countries' collaborative effort.
BBC News, "US 'planned attack on Taleban'", 18 September 2001.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1550366.stm ]
A former Pakistani diplomat has told the BBC that the US was planning military action against Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban even before last week's attacks.
Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.
Mr Naik said US officials told him of the plan at a UN-sponsored international contact group on Afghanistan which took place in Berlin.
...
The wider objective, according to Mr Naik, would be to topple the Taleban regime and install a transitional government of moderate Afghans in its place - possibly under the leadership of the former Afghan King Zahir Shah.
Mr Naik was told that Washington would launch its operation from bases in Tajikistan, where American advisers were already in place.
He was told that Uzbekistan would also participate in the operation and that 17,000 Russian troops were on standby.
Mr Naik was told that if the military action went ahead it would take place before the snows started falling in Afghanistan, by the middle of October at the latest.
BBC News, "On board Britain's biggest warship", 4 October 2001.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1577929.stm ]
As US and British warships are concentrating in the region around the Gulf, local Arabs fear that a western military strike against their fellow Muslim neighbour Afghanistan is imminent.
Around 24 British Royal Navy warships as well as 23,000 British troops are gathering in Oman for long-planned exercises with the Omanis, known as Saif Sareea 2.
It's the biggest British military deployment to the Middle East since the Gulf war of ten years ago, but British officers insist that despite the rumours, it remains purely an exercise.
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BBC News, "UK ponders troop deployment", 3 October 2001.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1615755.stm ]
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About 600 Royal Marine Commandos and several hundred special forces currently on the pre-planned exercise in Oman will not return to the UK at the end of the training next week.
At least four Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships will also stay behind.
The size of the force involved suggests British troops will play a much bigger role in any offensive.
20,000 servicemen have been involved in the military exercise in Oman - the largest in 15 years.
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BBC News, "Allies primed for assault", 7 October 2001.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1583931.stm ]
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Mr Blair said the international coalition against terrorism was now ready to act.
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FURTHER READING
Daily Mail (UK), "MI5 let al Qaida in, says Shayler", 18 April 2004.
[ http://www.femail.co.uk/pages/standard/article.html?in_article_id=211629 ]
Security bosses let thousands of al Qaida members into the UK during the 1990s, former spy David Shayler has claimed.
The renegade ex-MI5 agent, who was jailed for selling top secret documents to a newspaper, also claimed some of the terrorists were granted British citizenship in an amazing blunder by his former bosses.
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He based his claims on information from French security service officials, who Shayler said, warned their British counterparts that al Qaida terrorists were trying to get into the country.
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BBC News, "Analysis: President's private testimony", 29 April 2004.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3668597.stm ]
When President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney appear before the 9/11 commission on Thursday, it will be in private, with no cameras and no transcripts.
The fact that the president and vice-president will be appearing together has been a gift from heaven to political satirists, with one cartoonist depicting Dick Cheney as the ventriloquist and George W Bush as his dummy.
It has also prompted some awkward questions for the president - including the obvious: Why does Dick Cheney have to be there too?
[Answer: for the same reason that law enforcment agencies always separate suspects during questioning. Questioning all of the suspects together enables them to get their story straight.]
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"The Insider" mailing list article, 29 April 2004.
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