Osama bin Laden, a dead boggie man?

There is paranoia by Americans about the security apparatus designed to protect them:

This week and into next, NorthCom and NORAD are conducting a joint exercise called “Vigilant Shield ’09.” The focus will be on “homeland defense and civil support,” a NorthCom press release states. From November 12-18, it will be testing a “synchronized response of federal, state, local and international partners in preparation for homeland defense, homeland security, and civil support missions in the United States and abroad.” -progressive

Why? This should be reassuring, right? After all, anti war news is running a story: Obama Warned of ‘Spectacular’ al-Qaeda Attack During Transition.

... political leaders and intelligence officials in both the US and Britain are warning President-elect Barack Obama that his fledgling administration may be an appealing target for a ’spectacular’ attack by al-Qaeda, as it struggles to handle a wartime transition of power. The fears are nothing new, and indeed President Bush was predicting an attack during the transition period virtually as soon as the election results came in.

But with CIA Director Michael Hayden’s words of warning yesterday about the growing threat of a resurgent al-Qaeda and comments from Britain’s Lord West about a “significant terror plot” there is an increasing focus on this what-if scenario, even with two months before Obama is actually inaugurated. And despite Hayden’s claims about Osama bin Laden’s increasing isolation from the day-to-day operations of al-Qaeda, we also had a recent report in an Arabic language newspaper that he is plotting an attack against US interests which would “outdo by far” September 11.

A skeptic might ask, however: Would that be the dead Osama bin Laden, who is increasingly more isolated from the fake al-Qaeda?



Information on countless web sites simply does not fit the official story about Osama bin Laden being a threat today.

Some say Osama bin Laden was most likely murdered in December 16 or 17, 2001 (3 months after the 9/11 attacks) by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. (aka Ahmed Umar Syed Sheikh) - (Photo left)

In a November 2, 2007 live interview, less than two months before she would be assassinated, Benazir Bhutto claimed Omar Sheikh was "the man who murdered Osama bin Laden."

Stranger still: Sheikh in the months before 9/11, using the alias "Mustafa Mohammad Ahmed", transferred at least $100,000 to Mohammad Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers.

Atta was paid at the direction of the head of the Pakistani ISI, Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad who was in Washington DC on the morning of the 9/11 attacks.

A juicy direct connection was also established between Mahmoud and Republican Congressman Porter Gross and Democratic Senator Bob Graham. They were all in Washington together discussing Osama bin Laden over breakfast when the attacks of September 11, 2001, happened.  Mahmoud's involvement in September 11 might be dismissed as only Indian propaganda. But Indian intelligence swears by it, and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed the whole story: Indian intelligence even supplied Saeed's cellular-phone numbers. - atimes

Here is an interesting time line.

If the funeral (of Osama bin Laden) took place 10 days before this article was published in al-Wafd and The Observer of Pakistan, this would put the death of Osama bin-Laden around the 16th or 17th of December 2001. Israeli intelligence officials also told reporters in October 2002 that they and United States officials believe that Osama bin-Laden had been killed in December 2001.

If you look at a timeline of events involving Osama bin-Laden, ignoring the questionable videotapes, there is a noticeable shift in the type of communication Osama bin-Laden has with the world and the rhetoric used by Bush Administration and Pakistani officials in regards to the threat Osama bin-Laden poses starting in the middle of December 2001. Some highlights:

September 9, 2001: CIA Director Meets ISI Director and 9/11 Attack Funder about Bin Laden Issue

September 11, 2001: (8:00 a.m.) US Intelligence Committee Chairs Meet with ISI Head and 9/11 Attack Funder as the Attack Occurs

September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack WTC and Pentagon.

September 11, 2001: White House starts taking Cipro to protect against anthrax attack that happens weeks later from a US military source who was on the 9/11 investigation team and received the highest civilan medal from Bush in 2003.

September 11, 2001: In what the government describes as a bizarre coincidence, one U.S. intelligence agency, the US National Reconnaissance Office conducts a plane into building exercise.

September 15, 2001 – President Bush says of bin-Laden, “If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken.”

September 17, 2001 – President Bush says, “I want justice. And there’s an old poster out West, I recall, that says, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.’”

November 7, 2001 - Pakistani reporter Hamid Mir interviews Osama bin-Laden in person.

November 16, 2001 - Battle of Tora Bora begins.

November 25, 2001 - Osama bin-Laden gives his last known public speech to his followers in Milawa, Afghanistan, a village located on the route from Tora Bora to the Pakistani border.

November 28, 2001 - Osama bin-Laden reportedly escapes Tora Bora

December 15, 2001 - Osama bin-Laden's voice is reportedly intercepted for the last time communicating with his fighters in Tora Bora via his shortwave radio

December 17, 2001 - US Intelligence and Pentagon officials admit they have lost Osama bin-Laden

December 17, 2001 - United States declares victory at Tora Bora

December 26, 2001 - Article about Osama bin-Laden's funeral is published in Pakistan and Egypt. The funeral allegedly takes place about 10 days earlier. The article is also discussed by Fox News.

December 28, 2001 – President Bush says, “Our objective is more than bin-Laden”

January 18, 2002 – Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf tells CNN that he believes Osama bin-Laden to be dead.

January 27, 2002 - Vice President Dick Cheney says that Osama bin-Laden "isn't that big of a threat. Bin Laden connected to this worldwide organization of terror is a threat."

January 27, 2002 – White House Chief of Staff Andy Card tells CNN, “"I do not know for a fact that he's alive. I happen to believe he's probably alive… Our overall objective is to defeat terrorism, wherever it is around the world. And so, our objective is not to get Osama bin Laden."

January 29, 2002 – President Bush delivers his first State of the Union address since 9/11. While he labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the “axis of evil”, he fails to mention Osama bin-Laden at all.

March 13, 2002 – President Bush says, “Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all… He’s a person who’s now been marginalized.… I just don’t spend that much time on him.… I truly am not that concerned about him.”

April 4, 2002 - Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers says, "The goal has never been to get bin-Laden"

July 18, 2002 - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-terrorism chief, Dale Watson, says he thinks Osama bin Laden is "probably" dead.

October 7, 2002 -Afghan President Hamid Karzai: Osama bin Laden is "probably" dead.

October 14, 2002 – President Bush says, “I don’t know whether bin-Laden is alive or dead”

October 16, 2002 – Middle East Newsline reports that Israeli Intelligence officials confirmed that Israel and the United States believe Osama bin-Laden was killed in mid-December 2001 during the Tora Bora bombing campaign.

This timeline, with Osama bin-Laden's death allegedly occurring in the middle of December 2001, makes it possible that Omar Sheikh could have committed the murder. From October 2001 through January 19, 2002, Omar Sheikh was living openly in his home in Lahore, Pakistan. His positions as leader of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (a Taliban and Osama bin-Laden partner) and ISI agent (the source of funds for Harkat-ul-Mujahideen) would also have given him means for access to Osama bin-Laden.

While it is disturbing that Benazir Bhutto may have revealed that our government has been (and continues to be) lying to us about Osama The Big Bad Wolf, the revelation that his supposed killer was Omar Sheikh raises even more questions than the obvious 'Who the hell is making and releasing all those Osama bin-Laden videos and for what purpose?'. -lcl