Taliban Told U.S. It Would Give Up Osama - Middleman

[ze_dscherman]

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. and Taliban officials met secretly in Frankfurt almost a year before the Sept. 11 attacks to discuss terms for Afghanistan to hand over Osama bin Laden, according to a German television documentary.

But no agreement was reached and no further negotiations took place before the suicide hijackings in 2001.

ZDF television quoted Kabir Mohabbat, an Afghan-American businessman, as saying he tried to broker a deal between the Americans and the purist Islamic Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who were sheltering bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

SNIP

A German member of the European Parliament, Elmar Brok, confirmed to Reuters that he had helped Mohabbat in 1999 to establish initial contact with the Americans.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5346537

Hey, Elmar Brok is a conservative politician from my town!

[leesa]

1. They offered many times, but Bush refused because obviously

OBL and Al Qaeda were not the reason they invaded Afghanistan. They invaded as they promised they would in July of 2001 because the Taliban refused their pipeline offer. This has been clearly spelled out for a long time now.

This sounds like a RW attempt to blame Clinton once again. Bush was offered bin Laden two or three times after 9-11. They only asked for proof of 9-11 involvement. Bush couldn't provide any proof, still hasn't, and refused the deal.

[ze_dscherman]

2. Proposals after 9/11 also put down by US

From the article:



In fact, no more talks took place before Sept. 11. But negotiations did resume five days after the attacks, in the Pakistani city of Quetta, ZDF said. This meeting has been reported in U.S. media.

Mohabbat said the Americans pressed in Quetta for bin Laden's handover within 24 hours, but the Taliban were unable to meet that demand.

Within weeks, U.S.-led forces intervened in Afghanistan to drive the Taliban from power and kill, capture or disperse al Qaeda fighters based in Afghan training camps. Bin Laden himself is still at large.

Brok said he had not personally taken part in either reported meeting between the Taliban and the United States but believed there had been a "political decision" not to pursue negotiations after the one in Frankfurt.

[oblivious]

6. Exactly. There can be only two reasons for the refusals.

1. OBL was useful.
or
2. OBL was not a threat.

Any more possibilities?

LeT in Pakistan sounds infinitely more dangerous than Al-qaeda because of its association with some of Pakistan's nuclear scientists, but we hear hardly a word about them. Al-Q is a useful propaganda device.

[UpInArms]

3. no "middleman" was necessary as the CIA met OBL in July 2001

http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,584444,00.html

CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July

French report claims terrorist leader stayed in Dubai hospital

Anthony Sampson
Thursday November 1, 2001
The Guardian

Two months before September 11 Osama bin Laden flew to Dubai for 10 days for treatment at the American hospital, where he was visited by the local CIA agent, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The disclosures are known to come from French intelligence which is keen to reveal the ambiguous role of the CIA, and to restrain Washington from extending the war to Iraq and elsewhere.

Bin Laden is reported to have arrived in Dubai on July 4 from Quetta in Pakistan with his own personal doctor, nurse and four bodyguards, to be treated in the urology department. While there he was visited by several members of his family and Saudi personalities, and the CIA.

The CIA chief was seen in the lift, on his way to see Bin Laden, and later, it is alleged, boasted to friends about his contact. He was recalled to Washington soon afterwards.

Intelligence sources say that another CIA agent was also present; and that Bin Laden was also visited by Prince Turki al Faisal, then head of Saudi intelligence, who had long had links with the Taliban, and Bin Laden. Soon afterwards Turki resigned, and more recently he has publicly attacked him in an open letter: "You are a rotten seed, like the son of Noah".

...more...

[Kellanved]

4. The original ZDF TV story (including video (German, sorry))

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/31/0,1872,2123839,00.html
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/mediathek/0,1903,VI-2054113,00.html

[struggle4progress]

5. kick

:kick:

[tkmorris]

7. I'll say what others won't

I have yet to see one shred of evidence that OBL had jack-all to do with 9/11. It looks for all the world as if he has been made a convenient patsy and USA boogeyman #1 simply for the purposes of furthering the agenda of the Bush street gang.

Could we please come down from our collective national freak out after 9/11 and actually investigate the damned crime? It sure would be nice to actually get to the bottom of it and prosecute a few people. Or, as an alternative, we could invade Belize or somebody and kill a few tens of thousands more people just to satisfy the blood-lust.

[FDRrocks]

8. Exactly

We'd be hard pressed to prove it in a court of law. Of course the court of public opinion is fascistic.

But the oft posted facts posted in this title still remain true, and, especially, they undermine the credibility of such books as "Losing Bin Laden". The Bushies wanted to bomb brown people so much they didn't care if they could get thier prime suspect for nothing.

[pinniped]

9. Didn't you see the "authentic" home video featuring OBL...

and the cleric which was produced on some soundstage but was conveniently found in some bombed out house in Afghanistan?

That sure disappeared off the radar screen fast.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Note the timing: During the Florida debacle

They were negotiating with the Clinton Administration, but before it was apparent who was going to be declared the winner for the next term.

Of course the monarchists will tout this as another example of the Clenis dropping the ball, but what it smacks of is this: the Bushies were unconcerned with Terrorism; they wanted to open negotiations about that pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan. Calling off the dogs (including a Naval Task Force) they threw $43M at the Taliban, tried to make a deal, but lost to another bidder because they were too greedy.

Once the Taliban decided to go with the Argentine company, Junior and his marauders girded for war. With a handy provocation like 9-11, they had the momentum to seize Afghanistan for their mercantile designs, and any attempt of the Taliban leaders to cough up Bin Laden after 9-11 would have been conveniently ignored because it wouldn't allow the oil boys to take the country. Taking Bin Laden would also lessen the fear of the American People, a necessary ingredient to the junta's march toward world domination.

When we hear "a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs" (Tom Simons' alleged line) in the national press, then we'll be on to something.

[dbt]

11. LIHOP Kick!

Or maybe it's a MIHOP kick.

:freak:
dbt