Remedial Reading: The Al Qaeda Connection
|
Henry See
Signs of the Times
8 September 2006
|
China's Xinhua news agency was carrying this story today:
Bin Laden meets with Sept. 11 hijackers before tragedy
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-08 03:48:58
CAIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Qatar's al-Jazeera television showed a video Thursday, saying al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden had met with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers before that tragedy in 2001.
In the video, bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the Sept.11 hijackers, including his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.
Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001, while Binalshibh was captured in Pakistan four years ago.
Bin Laden, wearing a dark robe and white head gear walking outdoors in a mountainous area, smiled as he received several of the Sept. 11 hijackers, according to the video.
Meanwhile, al-Jazeera late Thursday also aired an audio tape showing new al-Qaida head in Iraq Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, which is said to be first released by him since he succeeded the slain militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi three months ago.
In the tape, al-Muhajir called for Muslims unity against the enemy, saying "place your hands in our hands ... our enemy has unified his ranks, now is the time to unite."
Do they think that we are stupid or something?
The story tells us that "bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the Sept.11 hijackers, including his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings". The word "including", infinitive "to include", means "Comprise, embrace, (thing etc) as part of a whole" according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary. Therefore, the story is telling us that bin Laden met with some of the September 11 hijackers, and that Atef and Binalshibh form part of the whole of the hijackers, i.e., they were two of the alleged hijackers that brought down, according to the official story, the World Trade Centre towers, hit the Pentagon, and commandeered the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
Hopefully we can agree on this point, on what the article is attempting to make us believe.
Following logically from the "fact" that they were both among the hijackers and that according to the official story all the hijackers died on September 11 in an act of "suicide terrorism", Atef and Binalshibh, therefore, must have both died on September 11. Or to frame it as a syllogism:
1. All the hijackers died on September 11.
2. Atef and Binalshibh were hijackers.
3. Atef and Binalshibh died on September 11.
Then what could it possibly mean when the article says:
Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001, while Binalshibh was captured in Pakistan four years ago.
That they were not hijackers on September 11? That the story is a lie?
Well, then we turn to Al Jazeera's own report:
Al-Qaeda video takes credit for 9/11
Friday 08 September 2006,
10:27 Makka Time, 7:27 GMT
A new videotape aired on Aljazeera television has shown Osama bin Laden and senior al-Qaeda members meeting some of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks against the US in 2001.
The 90-minute video apparently shows bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, taking part in the planning and preparation of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
So, in the opening paragraph, the lead-in, we are given an unequivocal statement that the video shows bin Laden meeting some of the hijackers. In the next paragraph, we learn that it isn't so certain: it is only "apparent". We learn just how "apparent" below.
The footage, first aired on Thursday, also shows Abu Hafsa al-Masri, al-Qaeda's then military leader, and Ramzi bin al-Shaiba, co-ordinator of the 9/11 attacks, meeting in al-Qaeda's training camps in Taliban controlled Afghanistan.
The tape also says that a previous unknown Arab Islamist, Abu al-Turab al-Urduni, supervised the training for the attacks.
The video said the preparation for the attacks included not only flight training but also lessons in street-fighting and how to forge official documents.
The video also showed two of the 19 Islamists who took part in the attacks, Saudi nationals Hamza al-Ramdi and Wael el-Shemari.
The men said that their actions were inspired by an urge to avenge the suffering of Muslims in Bosnia and Chechnya.
Ramzi bin al-Shaiba was captured by the US in 2002. He is now reportedly being held in Guantanamo Bay.
Aljazeera has aired only three minutes of the tape.
Afghanistan training camp
Parts of the tape show bin Laden - wearing a dark robe and white head gear - strolling through an Afghan training camp, greeting dozens of followers, some masked, some barefaced, many carrying automatic weapons.
Aljazeera said that among those he greeted in the footage were several of the 9/11 hijackers but their faces were not clear, and it was not immediately known which ones were shown.
Above we are told the video shows Hamza al-Ramdi and Wael el-Shemari. Here we learn that "their faces were not clear, and it was not immediately known which ones were shown".
In one scene, bin Laden addresses the camera, calling on Muslims to support the hijackers.
"I ask you to pray for them and to ask God to make them successful, aim their shots well, set their feet strong and strengthen their hearts," bin Laden said.
The comments were apparently filmed before the attacks but never before released.
The footage also shows scenes of training at the camp.
We remember the appearance of Osama in the days before the 2004 presidential elections giving his support to Bush. Yesterday, we carried an article on the upcoming US elections, Changing of the Guard. The analysis painted a potentially bleak picture for the Republicans in November because of growing disatisfaction with the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq -- ignoring for the moment that they succeeded in stealing the last two presidential elections through fraud. However, the article also noted that:
Republicans are pinning their hopes on the one bright spot in the polls for them that gives the president high marks for handling the war on terrorism.
Are we surprised, then, when Osama makes another convenient appearance just prior to the fifth anniversary of the neocon/Israeli attack on the US?
Of course, the mainstream media doesn't expect its readers to thoroughly read the articles. Many people scan the headlines and read the first paragraph or two of an article, and as we have seen, they will be left with the "knowledge" that Osama did in fact meet with the 9/11 "hijackers".
|
|