See how BUSH fucked up & caused the London bombings last week...

[LynnTheDem]

August 9, 2004

Newsweek reports that a "knowledgeable British source" says Bush administration officials "compromised an ongoing surveillance operation that ultimately could have uncovered more about al Qaeda operations around the world" by raising the terror threat last week and publicly revealing new intelligence they had found.

A senior intelligence official told the New York Times that one of the arrested men, computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, was in contact with al Qaeda operatives who are plotting to disrupt the fall elections.

The United States issued a terror alert based on that information.

Some have questioned whether the warnings were politically motivated to strengthen Bush's image as commander in chief in an election year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/09/national/main634684.shtml

August 9, 2004; U.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'

Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/08/09/terror.wrap/index.html

August 7, 2004; bush Administration outs Al Qaida double agent

http://news.neilrogers.com/news/articles/2004080801.html

July 14,2005

Officials tell ABC News the London bombers have been connected to an al Qaeda plot planned two years ago in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

The laptop computer of Naeem Noor Khan, a captured al Qaeda leader, contained plans for a coordinated series of attacks on the London subway system, as well as on financial buildings in both New York and Washington.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/LondonBlasts/story?id=940198&page=1

[leftchick]

1. Thank you Lynn

Good God what a fuck up. It is like he WANTS terror attacks!!
Oops! I think he does....

[FreedomAngel82]

5. Of course he does

It's all about the imaging. Do whatever you can to make *him* look good. Forget everybody else. Ugh!

[ultraist]

15. LIHOP...

And WHY are they letting these training camps sit and fester, rather than taking them down? They are spending BILLIONS murdering Iraqis and blowing up their cities rather than going after actual terrorists.

http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/40683.asp

US failed to dismantle Pak terror infrastructure: reports
Jul. 14, 2005


The bombers who carried out the London blasts may have been trained in Pakistan as recently as this year, reports said, leading to criticism that Bush Administration has failed to effectively dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in that country. Shehzad Tanweer, a British citizen of Pakistani descent and a suspected bomber in the attacks that killed at least 52, studied at a Madrassa or Islamic boarding school in Pakistan as recently as February this year, according to Pakistani officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. Madrassa network? They said they are investigating whether he or either of the two other British nationals of Pakistani descent named as suspects had ties to al Qaeda or Pakistani militant groups associated with it. These groups traditionally have recruited heavily from Pakistan's madrassa network. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pledged after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US to break up the madrassas or Islamic schools that preach violence against the West. If the London bombers really were trained in Pakistan, "it really looks terrible" for the Bush Administration and would call into question much of the counterterrorism work with Pakistan, said Evan Kohlmann, a terrorism expert. The Links The suspected links between the London bombings and Pakistani extremist groups, said the paper, are renewing criticism that the Bush Administration has failed to effectively dismantle a terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, and that it may have missed signals of possible attacks in UK. "Are we really getting the support of Pakistan? I really don''t know," John Tkacik, an Asia expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington was quoted as saying today by the Journal. The US and UK had received information from Pakistan that al Qaeda might be targeting the UK. Last July, Pakistani security forces arrested al Qaeda computer expert Naeem Noor Khan in Lahore with maps of Heathrow Airport and mass transit systems on his hard drive. No warnings Confirming that they had received last week significant intelligence suggesting al Qaeda was targeting mass transit systems in the West, US officials said they did not have have any specific information suggesting London was a target. British officials have repeatedly denied they had any intelligence or warning regarding the attacks. "U.S. officials say Pakistan has been instrumental in Washington's battle with al Qaeda... the Bush Administration has offered only muted criticism of Musharraf for his failure to deliver on a number of democratic reforms he promised since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1999," the daily said. After the London bombings of three subway trains and a bus, senior U.S. intelligence officials initially characterised the attacks as a new mode of al Qaeda terror, using decentralised operatives trained in their home countries. They stressed that the attacks did not seem to involve the "core" al Qaeda leadership believed to be in Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, in recent days, counterterrorism experts have said that the bombings may not be that different from past al Qaeda attacks, such as the September 11, 2001 plane hijackings and attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, in which Islamic militants were trained in South Asia and sent to attack targets in the West.

[Richard Steele]

2. I remember being PISSED when they did this.

They announced his "capture"...

But didn't mention:
he had been CAPTURED weeks earlier, and had been
COOPERATING WITH AUTHORITIES
to uncover other Al-Quaida members!

Until B*shCo tipped off the world, and blew his cover!

[GeekMonkey]

3. How much can they get away with!?!?!?

This is soooo sickening!

[Carla in Ca]

8. My thought, too

How much more do they think they can get away with? It is way too late for any more of their dirty tricks. Even his tough-guy "Wanted dead or alive" act is laughable. It wouldn't matter even if OBL was found now. This mess we are in is way past that making a difference.

[KerryOn]

4. Unbelievable..

Saw the beginnings in the other thread, but very glad that you posted it here. Thanks!

[FreedomAngel82]

6. I also read

that Rhandi told today that Plame was working on getting BinLaden and was close to it but when her name was leaked whoopsie.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Here is a link to the thread discussing Randi's show.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4104003

[Straight Shooter]

7. I remember 4 things about this incident:

1. The Brits were mad as hell

2. This was a diversionary tactic because bush was involved in some sort of trouble (choose from a buffet of A to Z as to which trouble) and they needed to claim some sort of progress in the war on terra

3. New York financial institutions placed on high alert, but bush sent Laura to NY anyway (WTF)

4. Turns out the laptop info was outdated and useless

[LynnTheDem]

10. But bush just HAD to open his big fat mouth for political gain; HELL with

peoples' lives and our national security.

911

Plame

Kahn

Iraq

[ceusi]

9. americablog has this story

John has a piece on this. He explains why Khan was outted and the result in England at the time.

[IndyOp]

11. Welcome to DU ceusi -

Link please! :hi:

[krkaufman]

13. Link? n/t

[AnnInLa]

17. Yes...Americablog has the best, most concise/thorough summary of the

whole sorry saga....even I could understand the story from the way John put it together....he does such great work!

[BurtWorm]

12. Times story last year says the Brits were angry with US and Pakistan

for compromising an operation into London Qaeda cells, courtesy of Khan.


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B16FC3B5B0C748DDDA10894DC404482

THE REACH OF WAR: TERROR ALERT; Rounding Up Qaeda Suspects: New Cooperation, New Tensions, New Questions

By AMY WALDMAN AND ERIC LIPTON; AMY WALDMAN REPORTED FROM ISLAMABAD FOR THIS ARTICLE AND ERIC LIPTON FROM WASHINGTON. PATRICK E. TYLER AND RICHARD A. OPPEL JR. CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FROM LONDON. (NYT) 2830 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 12 , Column 1

ABSTRACT - Apprehension of terror suspect Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan by Pakistani agents in Lahore on July 13 has had enormous global repercussions; government's alert level was raised in financial sectors of Washington, New York and Newark; information gathered after Khan's arrest led to apprehension of suspected masterminds behind bombings of American Embassies in 1998; in Britain, string of arrests have been made of 13 men who authorities there suspect might be terrorists; rush of activity demonstrates extraordinary interconnection among international intelligence services that has surfaced since 9/11 attacks; it also exposes awkward and at times clearly testy antiterrorism partnership between US, Britain and Pakistan; tension has been evident in past weeks, as British suggest that undisciplined acts by their two partners may have compromised ultimate success of operation; photos; timeline (L)

[krkaufman]

14. Parallel thread at....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4104485

[Zorra]

18. Rove again? n/t

[Amonester]

19. The "being strong on fighting terror" stance is a myth.

Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind
Abu Musab Zarqawi blamed for more than 700 killings in Iraq

<...>

Updated: 7:14 p.m. ET March 2, 2004

<...>

But NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself — but never pulled the trigger.

<...>

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

<...>

The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

“People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

~more~

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/

** "stronger on fighting terrorism?" How come??

:wtf:

[bleever]

20. Yeah! Will this be the phone pole that breaks the camel's back?

Thanks Lynn!

[Zorra]

21. kick

[raysr]

22. On RadioLeft

I heard that Wolf Blitzer had Dean on at that time and Dean said he thought the alert was political. There was such a dust-up over his statement that the pukes had to release Khan's name to cover the faked alert.

[dooner]

23. wild theory here....

MAYBE, due to this earlier intelligence we had received, we actually did know/suspect that this most recent attack was going to happen, and MAYBE we even tried to stop it, look like heroes, and make ammends with the British for blowing their ealier operation.

That's why Rudy Guiliani (and his security company?) was in London, that's why there was a "drill" going on in the same place same time as the actual attacks. Maybe they couldn't say all of this because in order to "capture" the attackers and pick up as much intelligence as they could, they had to let it go through until the end. MAYBE they were planning to stop what they could as late as possible. And when catching terrorists in the act didnt' work out, they couldn't admit to knowing in advance.

I know that MAYBE my tinfoil hat is pinching my head, but seriously... it does start to make some sense of the various clues. In any case it's interesting to put the mystery of the coincidental London terrorist drill together with the earlier intelligence leak. Sorry if this is a bit off the main theme of this thread.

[MadisonProgressive]

24. Unbelievable!

What a piss-ant.:mad:

[liberalla]

25. I remember this too!

It was such a screw up at the time---and now we see the real extent of the mistake. This just makes me boil---again!

[Al-CIAda]

26. .

[Karenina]

27. Kick!

:kick:

[Just Me]

28. Wow! This administration's political motivations lead to lethal results.

Shit! They increased the likelihood of a terror attack a hundred-fold!

This really freaks me out!!!

[skids]

29. kick.

...this deserves it.