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Al
Qaeda Page
1 of 2
.,
)NTW
WIEHDW
F08M
«
SPONSORED
Elf
March
25,2004
Target: Al
Qaeda
S
ome of the
American intelligence community's actions relating
to
Osama
bin
Laden during
thefive
years before Sept. 11,
2001,
according
to
reports released
by the
commission investigating
the
September
attacks:
1996
The
C.I.A.'s
Counterterrorist
Center creates
a
special "issue station" devoted exclusively
to Mr. bin
Laden,
who is
considered
to be a terrorist financier.
MAY
Mr. bin
Laden leaves Sudan
for
Afghanistan.
1997
By
early
1997,
the issue station is aware that Mr. bin Laden is not just a financier but an organizer ofterrorist activity.C.I. A. headquarters authorizes American
officials
to begin developing a network of
agents
to gather
intelligence
in Afghanistan and prepare a plan to capture Mr. bin Laden.
1998
AUG. 7 Car bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
kill
224
people
and woundthousands.
After
the bombings, President
Bill
Clinton authorizes the
C.I.A.
to undertake
offensive
operations in
Afghanistan
against Mr. bin Laden.Operations are planned using local
Afghan
groups who would ambush Mr. bin Laden if the opportunityarose. The groups reported that on about six occasions
before
Sept.
11,
they considered attacking Mr.binLaden,but had toaborttheoperations.AUG. 20 Cruise missile strikes are launched against suspected terrorist sites in Afghanistan and Sudan,but neither Mr. bin Laden nor other terrorist leaders are killed.
DECEMBER
After
receiving intelligence that Mr. bin Laden is in Kandahar, Afghanistan, cruisemissile strikes are prepared, but they are not carried out because of concerns about the quality of the
intelligence
and possiblecivilian
casualties.
1999
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/politics/25HUNT-TIME.html?pagewanted=print&po...3/25/2004
 
JURT
TV
ONLINE
- TOP
NEWS Page
1 of 2
Man
says
was
recruited
by bin
Laden
for
suicide attack
on
U.S. Embassy
inParis
PARIS (AP)
A
French-Algerian
man has
provided
authoritieswith
intricate
details of a
plot
to carry out a
suicide
mission against
the
U.S. Embassy
in
Paris,
saying he was
recruited
by
Osama
bin Laden's
deputy
and
told the
time
to act had come, officials
said
Tuesday.Djamel Beghal, 35, a French-Algerian, was extradited to
France
from
the
United Arab Emirates
on
Sunday
and
questioned
in
connection
with
an
alleged
terrorist
ring.
Beghal
outlined the
plot
for a suicide mission againstthe U.S. Embassy in Paris
that
was to be carried out
before
March
ofnext year, accordingtocourt officials,
who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
He
said an
attack
was also planned for an Americancultural center but embassy officials said Tuesday there
is
nosuch
center.
The
embassy declined
to
comment
on the
alleged plotother than to say in a statement: "This is part of an
ongoing
investigationbyFrench
authorities,
inwhomwe
have
full
confidence."
According
to the
plan, another
man —
Nizar Trabelsi,
a
Tunisian
who was
arrested Sept.
13 in
Belgium
— was
to
penetrate
the
embassy, strapped
with
explosives,while a minivan was to be detonated outside thecultural section, Beghal
told
the
court during
11
hours
of
questioning Monday.
Beghal
told the judge
that
he had signed a pact in
March
with bin Laden's
deputy,
Abu Zubaydah, inAfghanistan, where
he
trained
in a
camp
run by bin
Laden'sal-Qaida
organization.
AI-Qaidadepositedmoney
for the
operation
in a
Moroccan bank account,
he
said.
According
to
French
officials,
Beghal said
the
meeting
with Abu Zubaydah took place in bin
Laden's
home, but
he
said
he
never
met bin
Laden himself.
Abu
Zubaydahtold
him
that
he
should undertake
the
operation
in
order
to be a
good
Muslim,
Beghal
told
investigators.
Europe-1 radio reported
that
Beghal said
that
Abu
Zubaydah
"told me
that
the
time
to act had come. He
asked
me
if I
was
ready,
and
I
said yes."
Beghal's
job in the
plot
was
apparently
to
gather
information
and
study
the
embassy's security plans,
French
officials said.
http://www.courttv.com/assault_on_america/1002_suicideattack_ap.html
1/27/2004
 
Mike Hurley
From:
Warren Bass
Sent:
Sunday, January
25,
2004 8:27
PM
To:
Team
3
Subject:
The Economist:
"10,000
new
fanatics"
Remember the Economist piece that Berger and a few other Clinton folks said rebuked them
for
the8/20/98 strikes, arguing they'd breed 10,000 moreUBLs?Well, it's stillasnotty
piece,
but
it's
a bit more nuanced than advertised.Copyright 1998 The Economist Newspaper Ltd.
All
rights reservedThe Economist
August 29,
1998, U.S.
Edition
SECTION: Leaders;
Pg. 16
LENGTH: 958 wordsHEADLINE: Punish and be damnedBODY:The perils of over-hasty military reactionHOWEVER frequentlyitoccurs, terrorism doesnotloseitsabilitytoshock.
Nor
should
it. It
remains
one of the
most despicable
of
crimes, both because
the
killing and wounding of innocents are central to its purpose, and because itsperpetrators can so easily do their work without having to confront theirenemies,
or
their victims, before slinking
off to
safety.
The
sense
of
outrage
that
attends terrorist attacks should not, however, be assumed to be equivalent
to
a
sense
of
powerlessness:
public outrage
is one of the
most potent weapons
inthe
limited
armoury
ofcounter-terrorism.Ittips thosewhosympathise withthepoliticalaimsof theterrorist againstthe manhimself.Itdenies sanctuary.
It
buys co-operation. Nothing should be done to undermine its potency. Which iswhy at least some of America's counter-terrorist air strikes on August 20th mayturn out to have been
unwise.
That is not to saythat America should neverhitbackatterrorists. America
is
a special target for people like the bombers who blew up its embassies inKenya and
Tanzania
on August 7th because it does things other countries are not
called
upon
to do. It
does these things
in its own
interests,
but
also
in the
interests
of its
allies
and
indeed
of
free countries
everywhere.
It is the
nearest thing that exists to a world policeman, but it must operate without aworld police force, a world judiciary or a proper world system of law.
Sometimes, if any
action
is to be
taken against terrorists,
it
will have
to be
American military action.Butevenonthese occasions America will havetotakecare to keep public opinion on its side and not to dissipate the world's sense
of
outrage. That means explaining its actions in
full,
and showing convincingevidence
for all the
claims
it
makes
to
justify them.
Few
fair-minded people
can
doubt that
the
targets
of the
attacks
in
Afghanistan were indeed training camps and bases for Islamist fanatics. Manypeople will also be ready to believe that Osama bin Laden, the hitherto obscureSaudi dissidentnowelevatedto thestatusof theworld's most dangerous man,isconnected with the camps, and that he played a part in the two embassybombings.That will be enough perhaps to make
many
people, at least in the West, think theattacks were right, and deserved. Whether they were judicious is another matter.
of 00

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