Switzerland Likely Used as Base for Financing, Logistical Support for 9/11

[CShine]

BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Investigators have concluded that Switzerland was likely used as a base for financing and logistical support for the Sept. 11 attacks by al-Qaida, the country's attorney general said Thursday. Federal Prosecutor Valentin Roschacher said authorities plan to begin court proceedings in the coming weeks in three terror cases, capping investigations started four days after the 2001 suicide hijackings in New York and Washington. A special task force initially was charged with investigating Mohammed Atta, the alleged leader of the hijackers. Atta reportedly spent several hours in Zurich in July 2001 en route from Miami to Madrid, Spain.

But the scope of the investigation widened. The task force also focused on officials of the now-defunct Al-Taqwa Management Organization, a Swiss-based firm that went into liquidation in December 2001. The U.S. government says Al-Taqwa helped fund Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. The company was founded in 1988 and run from Lugano by its Egyptian-born managing director, Youssef M. Nada, and his Syrian-born associate, Ali Himat.

Swiss authorities blocked the accounts of the company and the personal accounts of board members, while neighboring Liechtenstein froze the accounts of an affiliate firm. Company officials have repeatedly denied links to terrorism, and accused Swiss authorities of taking part in a U.S.-led anti-Muslim campaign.

"I have nothing to do with terrorism. I have nothing to do with violence," Nada said in an interview late Thursday with Swiss public radio. "If they say I am Islamist, yes, I am. If they say I am an activist, yes I am. But I am against terrorism and violence," he said, adding that bin Laden's acts were "against humanity."

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBJ0YFHVVD.html

[oblivious]

1. OK, so none of the planning or training or financing was in Afghanistan

It was all done in the US, UK, Germany and Switzerland. We now know that for sure.

So we massacred Afghanis and destroyed their country.

OK.

[Turley]

18. That's nonsense

and you know it.

[oblivious]

19. Nope. Even today, there is zero proof that Afghanistan was involved.

There is proof (Newsweek, etc) that a number of the alleged hijackers were trained by the US military, many of the rest at US civilian air training facilities. The FBI Director has said that there is no proof linking 911 to Al-queda or Afghanistan, and he has never retracted that statement. Payment to the alleged head hijacker was arranged by the head of the Pakistani ISI, who was at the Pentagon the week of 911.

But that is not what people want to hear, so it is ignored. It's terrible to think that we bombed the wrong country and that the real guilty ones are still free. So we ignore the obvious. We shout loud and strong: NO THEY DID IT. The fact is, we destroyed a country based on a massive lie. An astounding fraud.

[TheDonkey]

2. If I were Cheney I'd bomb them "f-ing" switerlanders

I'm sure they have wmds too.

[Kinkistyle]

4. No way! They'd lose their inheritance savings.

Thats where people like the Bush Evil Empire keep all their Nazi-era blood money!

[Voice_of_Europe]

11. Mooo...

Yes we do... ^_^

Catapults with cows....


Oh yes, and many F18's you sold us...




But now for serious...
There are tons of laws against money laundering, duty to check where the money comes from, etc..etc..

You CANT'T check everybody and anything, it's not humanely possible.

Something can besuspicious and it must be checked... but if it's not suspicious?? You know.. they do NOT come here with a suit case of money and their Al-Quaeda membership card, throw that movie clichee out of the window please... nobody flies around the world with cash anymore when you can have such easy bank transactions covered as donations to welfare organisations.

There is some huge software running all the time, checking doublechecking and crosschecking for suspicious transactions, but still you always have to define "What is suspicious?".

And as the man said you can't deny making business just because the guy believes in Allah, we also have laws about racism and religious freedom, you know?

And last but not least...
Afterwards you're always smarter.

And it's "the Swiss" not "Switzerlanders" and not "Sweden" either, now try and find our little country on the map first, ok?
(so much about the clichees.. ^_^)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. Yeah, lets let our military fight somewhere nice for once

come on, spread it around... the next target of the terra war is...

Switzerland!

[DoNotRefill]

5. shit....

Invading Switzerland isn't an option. Nuking them, OK, that's do-able, but an invasion? With troops on the ground??? NFW.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. Yeah, we would lose whole divisions to desertion and seeking

asylum.

That is the secret to both Switzerland's and Sweden's safety through all the last 300 years, every army that goes there disappears.

[DoNotRefill]

10. Nope...the problem is....

that virtually EVERY able-bodied Swiss man is armed with a machinegun and EXTREMELY territorial.

Switzerland can be sucessfully conquered. All it would require is the complete depopulation of Switzerland. I'm talking TOTAL genocide. Because if you leave a SINGLE Swiss person alive, they WILL figure out a way to kill you.

During the buildup for WWI, the story goes that Kaiser Wilhelm visited Switzerland, and reviewed a military formation. At the time, the Swiss Army had 250,000 men under arms. The Kaiser stopped while reviewing the troops, and asked a PFC "what would the Swiss military do if you were invaded by a 500,000 man army?" The PFC, according to the story, replied "shoot twice and go home." THAT'S why the Swiss haven't been invaded. I know some Swiss people. They're not to be trifled with.

[Nihil]

13. Spot on!

> Nope ... the problem is ...
> ... that virtually EVERY able-bodied Swiss man is armed with a
> machinegun and EXTREMELY territorial.

Compulsory national service trains them how to use (and not abuse)
the weapons. (FWIW, they also have one of the lowest gun-crime rates
in the world despite a high per capita gun ownership but that's getting
off-track a bit.)

Just because the Swiss have maintained their official neutrality for
centuries doesn't mean that they aren't prepared to fight to defend it.

You would have a hard time picking a worse candidate to attack.

[Voice_of_Europe]

14. the Swiss army... ^_^

LOL...

Yes we have a militia army system... meaning every man (women allowed) must serve half a year army training if his health allows it.

After that repeating training for some weekes every few years.

And yes, those soldiers have a "machine gun" at home each, by which you probably mean "assault rifle".

And no, we don't pee at our houses corner to mark uor territory...

but the army has a terrible bad image nowadays and many Swiss want to abolish it or replace it with a hightech lean mean professional army.

And we have some nice fighter jets (you sold us) that cross the country in 2 minutes at full speed and probably fly into German airspace as they try a full G U-turn.. lol...

[DoNotRefill]

15. VOL, by american definition, they're machineguns, not AWs.

Here, an Assault Weapon is a semi-auto clone of a military weapon. It has the same look, but is not select-fire or fully automatic. Something like a SIG-550 is a machinegun in the US, not an AW. I know it's stupid, but that's what's been foisted off on us.

I visited a Swiss friend on August 1st a few years back. It was QUITE an eye-opener. I'd never suggest that the Swiss mark their territory by pissing on their houses. It's a beautiful, and CLEAN country. My friend there routinely shoots at targets 600M away, and he's GOOD, even by US "gun nut" standards.

I'm ex-military, ex-LEO, and there's NO way in hell I'd want to try to invade Switzerland unless it was completely depopulated before we went in. There are easier ways to die.

[Voice_of_Europe]

16. ok then...

ah ok...
then you're right.. they're full auto...

The term "assault weapon" perfectly matches our own name for it "Sturm Gewehr" in words, therefor I used the translation "assault weapon".
When I picture a "machine gun" it is fixed on some base and has an ammo belt.

Sorry.. was in a bad mood about all those clichees about "evil bank" and stuff...

[DoNotRefill]

17. the gun banners...

co-opted the term assault weapon many years ago, and this co-opting has generally become accepted by the ignorant, despite being inaccurate.

The way our laws are written, a semi-automatic or "self-loading" rifle with a bayonet lug, a pistol grip, and a flash supressor is an assault weapon, while a semi-automatic rifle in the same caliber, with the same capacity, but missing the bayonet lug and that has had the "flash supressor" replaced with a "muzzle break" (which is virtually identical to a "flash supressor", just called a different name) is not an assault weapon.

[goforit]

6. Truth comes out.... Poppy uses Swiss Bank, Al Qaida uses Swiss Bank

Hmmmmm.............POPPY USES AL QAIDA!!!!

ONLY MIHOP........ALL the way!!!!!

[gasperc]

7. beautiful country, visited once

sorry to know that it will have the crapped bombed out of it soon

[They_LIHOP]

9. SUCH BS

Whatever, guys.

We've only known that the one place that a lot of these guys were living at one time prior to 9/11 was GERMANY (and the USA) for, oh, say two+ years now.

I've been studying 9/11 for over two years myself, and NEVER heard Switzerland mentioned ONCE as having been a significant 'base' for this gang until this article.

Wonder what the 'angle' is on this? Trying to make sure that NO country can be 'neutral' anymore, not with the W.O.T. goin' down? With us or against us, doncha know.

Or maybe it's because the existence of a "Switzerland" causes the Chimpster's brain to go "NOMAD" (that 'floating' robot from old star trek that railed about 'carbon based units' and how they were 'imperfect'... and eventually destoys itself when Kirk proves that it made a mistake).

Switzerland, you see, occupies a 'grey' area in many respects, and therefore Pretzelboy's booze-addled "b/w only" brain isn't capable of resolving it's existence into the category of "good" or "bad" - this causes a sort-of 'infinite loop' phenomena in the ol' TRS-80 upstairs, causing stacks and buffers to overflow, resulting in blubbering BSOD's...

Oh well, Bombs Away!!!

[Solly Mack]

12. Does this mean we invade Costa Rica?