an EXTREMELY interesting article from Jane's (the highly respected d UK defense consultancy)

Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view

Israel's military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world's foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden.

The two men have not been seen for some time. Mughniyeh is probably the world's most wanted outlaw. Unconfirmed reports in Beirut say he has undergone plastic surgery and is unrecognizable. Zawahiri is thought to be based in Egypt. He could be Bin Laden's chief representative outside Afghanistan.

The Iraqis, who for several years paid smaller groups to do their dirty work, were quick to discover the advantages of Al-Qaeda. The Israeli sources claim that for the past two years Iraqi intelligence officers were shuttling between Baghdad and Afghanistan, meeting with Ayman Al Zawahiri. According to the sources, one of the Iraqi intelligence officers, Salah Suleiman, was captured last October by the Pakistanis near the border with Afghanistan. The Iraqis are also reported to have established strong ties with Imad Mughniyeh.

"We've only got scraps of information, not the full picture," admits one intelligence source, "but it was good enough for us to send a warning six weeks ago to our allies that an unprecedented massive terror attack was expected. One of our indications suggested that Imad Mughniyeh met with some of his dormant agents on secret trips to Germany. We believe that the operational brains behind the New-York attack were Mughniyeh and Zawahiri, who were probably financed and got some logistical support from the Iraqi Intelligence Service (SSO)."

Mughniyeh was the only one believed to have tried it before. On April 12th 1997, he was reported to be only two hours away from achieving the highest goal of any terrorist organization (until last week): blowing up an Israeli El-Al airliner above Tel Aviv. A man carrying a forged British passport with the name Andrew Jonathan Neumann was in a Jerusalem hotel preparing a bomb he was supposed to take on board an El-Al flight leaving Israel, when it accidentally went off. Andrew Jonathan Neumann was very badly injured but strong enough to reveal later to the Israelis that he was not British but Lebanese, and that his operation was supposed to be a special "gift" to Israel from Imad Mughniyeh.
'A psychopath'
"Bin Laden is a schoolboy in comparison with Mughniyeh," says an Israeli who knows Mughniyeh . "The guy is a genius, someone who refined the art of terrorism to its utmost level. We studied him and reached the conclusion that he is a clinical psychopath motivated by uncontrollable psychological reasons, which we have given up trying to understand. The killing of his two brothers by the Americans only inflamed his strong motivation." Experts on Iraq and Saddam Hussein also believe that Iraq was the state behind the two terror masterminds. "In recent months, there was a change, and Iraq decided to get into the terror business. On July 7th, they tried for the first time to send a suicide bomber, trained in Baghdad, to blow up Tel Aviv airport (Foreign Report No. 2651)."

Our sources believe that it will be very difficult to get to the bottom of this unprecedented terror operation. However, they believe the chief of the Iraqi SSO is Qusai Hussein, the dictator's son, and his organization is the most likely to have been involved.

Mughniyeh, 48, is a "sick man", says an intelligence officer who was in charge of his file. He isconsidered by Western intelligence agencies as the most dangerous active terrorist today. He is wanted by several governments and the Americans have put a $2m reward on his head.

[Detailed list of Mughniyeh operations removed for Non-Subscriber Extract] It was the assassination of one man in March 1984 that is said to have made Mughniyeh the CIA's most wanted terrorist. Mughniyeh allegedly kidnapped the head of the CIA station in Beirut, William Buckley. The kidnapping triggered what later became known as 'Irangate', when the Americans tried to exchange Buckley (and others) with arms for Iran. However, the attempt ended in a fiasco. By one unconfirmed account, Mughniyeh tortured and killed Buckley with his own hands.

A year later, in a combined CIA/Mossad operation, a powerful car bomb went off at the entrance to the house of Hizbullah's spiritual leader, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah. Seventy-five people were killed. One of them was his brother. Hunted by the CIA and the Mossad, Mughniyeh hid in Iran. In February 1992, Israeli helicopter gunships attacked the convoy of the then head of Hizbullah, Sheikh Abas Musawi, in South Lebanon. Musawi, his wife and children were killed and the revenge attack followed a month later. According to press reports, Mughniyeh was called back into action and, in a well-planned and devastating attack, his people blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina. The building was demolished and 92 were killed. Only last year, after a long investigation, did Argentina issue a warrant for Mughniyeh's arrest. The reprisal for the attack in Argentina came in December 1994, when a car bomb went off in a southern Shi'ite suburb of Beirut. Four people were killed. One of them was called Mughniyeh, but to the deep disappointment of those Israelis who planted the bomb it was the wrong one. Mughniyeh's life was saved, but his other brother Fuad was killed. Mughniyeh waited for his opportunity for revenge. Our Israeli sources claim to see Mughniyeh's signature on the wreckage in New York and Washington. How to counter this kind of terrorism? "To fight these bastards you don't need a military attack," said an experienced Israeli commando officer. "You only need to adopt Israel's assassination policy."

Subject: Descent into Hell (before 9am on 9/11/01)
Sent by Tim Bailey

Dear Friends,

The following are my experiences as they unfolded last Tuesday and the images I caught on film. Please read when you have free time, if you wish to read it at all. This process has proven quite cathartic for me. The pictures aren't the best, but you can imagine what it was like here in NYC that day. The following pictures were taken with a disposable camera I had used while I was on vacation in Nevada for the "arts" festival known as Burning Man (a story in complete contrast to what I experienced on this day). Feel free to share this email with anyone you wish. I hope to complete my reflections on what this experience has meant for me soon. Look forward to it.

Tuesday, Sept. 11 started as a beautiful morning in NYC. I had gone to sleep the night before having experienced the worst torrential downpour, accompanied by the most intense thunder & lightning that I have ever experienced. It was so bad sidewalks became flooded and the crushing sound of thunder and crackling of lightning forced me under a gas station awning for over 30 minutes. This is unusual for someone who loves the extremes of nature (except when I have a tee time). I was elated by the warm crystal blue skies as I proceeded to work. A couple of blocks into my short walk down Houston St. to my office in Soho, I was disrupted by emergency vehicles of all kinds moving at break neck speeds, ignoring sidewalks and medians to get where they needed to go. My heart sank, I quickly realized something beyond the usual for NY was happening. I turned down Lafayette St. over a mile from the WTC when I caught my first glimpse.
> <<WTC1FirstSight.jpg>>

I continued to West Broadway, a favorite place of mine to stare at these towering giants as they once dwarfed the beautiful Cast-Iron buildings of Soho, the precursors to the age of skyscrapers, of which the WTC towers were the utmost conclusion. I was also carried by the disbelief of what I was seeing and the confusion of how a small plane could possibly crash into the WTC. Was it too early for workers to be in their offices? Please!!! Although I did not see the 2nd plane coming, nor did I ever expect it, this picture captured what I missed. You can see the small dot of the plane to the right of WTC1 and above the satellite dishes on top of the low rise building (clearer in the actual picture):
> <<WTCplane2.jpg>>

The shock wave from the explosion of the second plane as it ripped through the WTC2 could be heard and felt from where we stood (1 mile from the WTC in front of the Soho Grand Hotel). It shook me to the core. I could only cry out "what in the hell is happening?" I expected no response, but from somewhere a voice informed me that "we are under terrorist attack." I tried desperately to fight this by creating alternative possibilities, but I could come up with nothing. I soon was faced with this most grim possibility. I soon heard the voice of my father from Portland (6:05am PST) on my cell phone informing me of all the details he was witnessing on television. A second plane had in fact crashed into the WTC2. My heart sank and what was a mild shaking in my body, became uncontrollable. I apologize for the shaking in these pictures.
> <<WTC2Explodes.jpg>>

<<WTC2Plume.jpg>>

My shock was so great from all that was unfolding that I managed to run out of film before I even realized that I was taking pictures. Film became irrelevant, the tragedy had surpassed my desire to take pictures.
> <<WTCBurning.jpg>>

As I continued down to the buildings, I came to the realization that I was emotionally incapacitated to be of any help. Emergency vehicles and personnel were arriving at such a pace that all I could do was stay out of the way and make sure others remained out of the way. The blank disbelieving stares filled the faces of all those around me. Soon the injured and dispossessed began to wander towards us. I happened to have my walkman, so I started to listen to the reports from around the country and share with those around me what was unfolding. The tears and sobs soon began when bodies began to fall from the windows where smoke and flames were billowing. I was numb. The terror was only broken by the stampede that started a few blocks down when the rumor of a 3rd plane attacking was signaled. The wave of emergency personnel, blue and white collar workers running and yelling for dear life was surreal. The shock returned once the rumor was disproven. But the human tragedy unfolding in the towers continued. The fires continued to rage. The image of hope I clung to was the waving of what appeared to be a white table cloth from what I assumed was a "Windows On The World" employee hanging out of the top floor in the farthest north west window. I was reminded of the amazing time I had spent up there with Mitchell, Steve, Greg (dear friends and winemakers from Santa Barbara) as well as some of the lead staff from Windows On The World. The memory from that evening and the smiling faces were right in front of me. I watched in horror as black smoke began to billow out of the window where he/she stood. Fear gripping me, but I could still see the tablecloth. "Please, NO! ! !" I began to scream in silence. Miraculously the smoke cleared and he/she reappeared - ALIVE. Somebody! A helicopter! Anyone! Help him/her. My fantasy was shattered as WTC2 began to grumble and then collapse. I stood paralyzed by the sight and sounds. The screams and gasps were broken by the rushing onslaught of black smoke which began rolling like a wave up West Broadway and debris rained from the sky. Survival took over as I joined the fleeing chaos, but once out of harms way, the enormity of the loss inside WTC2, the loss of all I thought beautiful about NYC and the loss of my sense of hope, overwhelmed me. I began crying uncontrollably. I was sobbing. A person put their arms around me. I don't know who and never will. My world and everything I knew was upside down and inside out. I was utterly lost. I began to have the faces of family and friends begin to rush through my head. I took solace from everyone, knowing each was somehow with me, at least so it felt. Shock and numbness returned, it did not leave me for the next 24 hours. I could only shed a few tears as I stood waiting for the inevitable collapse of WTC1. My descent took me to the West Side Highway (below where the film crews you saw on tv were located). I went seeking the nearest haven I knew of - Battery Park. A beautiful park on the edge of the Hudson River. I could not get there so I sat and watched the largest gathering of emergency personnel I have ever seen. I was able to make a couple of calls to loved ones after many, many tries. Then my phone died. I was alone. Soon a new friend emerged, Preston. He told me how his girlfriend from Florida had managed to awaken him from his hangover to get him out of his apartment that stood 2 blocks south of the WTC. He slept through both crashes, but managed to get dressed and grab his video camera. He showed me footage he took from the WTC plaza as the fires raged directly overhead. We talked and I told him about my best friend, Angelina who also lived near by. I told him I wanted to find her. He said he would join me and maybe we could try to get back to his apartment. He had a pair of dress shoes on without socks, his pockets were empty, including the absence of his wallet (I did give him $20).

We continued the descent into hell and the view was worse than I ever expected. As we passed the rows of empty ambulances lined up and into the heart of the world's Financial District the devastation was staggering. We managed to reach Angelina's apartment, I had a key so we entered. It was unharmed and vacant. We made some phone calls, drank some water, went to the bathroom and left. We then proceeded to Preston's apartment. It was difficult to get to. Beyond the darkness of the smoke and ash that clogged the air, the inches of ash on the ground, the quantity of paperwork that hours ago sat on/in desks now dispersed many blocks from their home was unbelievable. The one and only piece of paper I happened to pick up as we wandered by the Federal Reserve Building was page 16 of 17 of a report "The World Trade Center Vacancy Report". Chilling. . . We continued by Wall St. and down to the Battery, we wandered by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. It was void of all life, a wasteland of abandoned cars, some with doors left open and many forcefully pushed off to the side, completely covered in gray ash. We did make it up to Preston's 16th floor apartment. His window open and ash everywhere. But nothing compared to Trinity Church below and inconsequential to the burning, smoldering wreckage of the WTC- 2 blocks directly in front of us. We could see what appeared to be the roof of one of the buildings upside down and twisted in the plaza, next to the twisted, crushed remains of WTC2. We were unable to get the tv to work and only made a few calls before police began knocking on the door, they eventually got the door open and informed us that we were forced to evacuate. Preston gathered a few belongings and we left for his motorcycle parked down by the Battery. We then proceeded out of the Frozen Zone and up to his friends' apartment in Mid-Town. . . . .

> Wishing you the best, Tim

I forward my mother's, Betsy Herrick White, response to the afghan letter:
She is a scholar on women in Islam, her specialty being Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
Hi Eric,
Interesting comments, though I think the analogy with hitler and concentration camps is inaccurate. The writer's point that making a martyr of bin laden could unite Muslims in very disparate countries is not far off....sympathy will lie with the weaker side. we've been talking a lot with our friends here about the terrorism and about Mike Martin's senseless death hiking alone in a canyon in Utah. bob Working said, maybe it's time for America to reassess its insolent foreign policy, its blatant overuse and waste of the world's resources, it s ignoring of poverty and suffering; a big tax on oil would reduce consumption and dependence on Saudi Arabian oil and our alliance with some very repressive regimes that produce oil...Nigeria, as well. The philosopher Susan Sontag was quoted saying that more violence is not the answer to violence. I fear the administration will do some spectacular strike at Afghanistan, (miss bin Laden, of course) to satisfy the public demand for revenge and thereby alienate many other countries and individuals who might help hunt down the perpetrators.

From: David Cohen <davidc@undergirl.com>

Dear Friends,
As only some phone calls and emails were able to get through and I was unable to make calls and email out, I want to let you know that my family I and are OK.
Unfortunately I watched the whole thing from my rooftop in Greenwich Village, including the people jumping and the subsequent collapse of the towers. I then watched the soot covered survivors walking up Lafayette St, by my apartment like a scene from the Night of the Living Dead. Hopefully, you don't buy into the bullsh*# that this is the work of one man. As some of my liberal left wing friends have stated in the past, that they do not want to state their opinions because they want to be politically correct----- wake up! The public needs to realize that these people responsible, truly believe that they are just being religious, observant and loyal to their faith. I am not talking about a small amount of people, but the millions of so called religious people. Look at what has been happening in Israel, I am not talking about the current parades of victory in the streets (put on CNN), I am talking about the suicide bombings of innocents for the last 50 YEARS. There are a lot of pseudo religious people out there willing to murder us and our children without any guilt. People are saying that the kids parading around celebratin do not know any better. Do you think that they will know better when the grow up and come to America to be trained to fly commercial airlines in Florida, or do you think they will know better after we bring them to America for training sessions to learn how to use the weapons we sell them. Thebombers of the World Trade Center in 1995 were from the Palestinian Territories and Iraq. Coincidence--- I doubt it. These people are not the same as the more moderate people of Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. They are bread to hate. Believe it or not, slavery is still legal in certain parts of the middle east. It is truly backwards. The Palestinians have a bad situation in Israel, but prior to 1948, Palestine was just a territory of Jordan, Great Britain, and the Ottoman Empire, etc. not an independent country. As bad as it is today, conditions were a hell of a lot worse when it was under Islamic rule. Regardless, it is no excuse to target the non-military population, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN. It is even more sickening to put their own innocent kids in the line of fire in order to gain public sympathy. The religious peopl actually think they are giving their kids a free ticket to heaven. Believe it or not, my sister was leaving college yesterday and was screamed at that "it is all the Jews fault". That's like blaming someone for walking into someone else's neighborhood and then getting their best friend shot because of it. I am sorry for getting all political on you, but I have been to 7 hospitals in the last 24 hours and have seen some heavy sh*#. Terrorism has to stop here and everywhere. If you have similar feelings, do not be quiet about it. If you need this driven home more, wait for the death toll next week. I actually have to go right now, because I have a 2:00 appointment to give blood, I suggest you do the same if you live in the Tri-State area. The hospitals have also requested clothing.

Peace,
David

From The Palestinian Chronicle 9/12/01
As news of the catastrophes poured in even as it became clear that the death toll would be monstrous and sickening some Palestinians began to celebrate. "America thinks it can play God, but this proves that God is greater," said Fahmi Abu Nab, a 25-year-old driver, who was watching the chaos unfold on television in a Jerusalem coffee shop. "This is their punishment from God. This is a gift from God to the Palestinian and Iraqi people. In the West Bank town of Nablus, thousands of people poured into the street shortly after the attacks. Several gunmen fired into the air, while other marchers carried Palestinian flags. By Palestinian standards, these scenes are fairly small scale, and are unlikely to represent the more ambivalent feelings of the majority. But there were plenty who were willing to speak cheerfully of these ghastly events. Nawal Abdel Fatah, 48, said she was happy because "America is the head of the snake; America always stands by Israel in its war against us".