As well, the video included footage of Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Laden’s deputy), seated next to Bin Laden, while he spoke about the 9/11 attacks and praised the “19 martyrs.” In speaking about 9/11, Zawahiri uses the words “our” (”It [the victory] is not a result of our skills or expertise, rather it is purely through Allah’s Grace”) and “we” (”the victory that we enjoy today”). In doing so, Zawahiri essentially admits that Al Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks — something that 9/11 “truthers” question.
Al Qaeda has released a new video which includes approximately ten minutes of footage showing 9/11 hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi reciting his last will and testament. Ghamdi was one of the muscle hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which was the second plane to strike the World Trade Center. The last wills of several other hijackers have been released previously, and more can probably be expected in future years.
In all, this video is nearly 1 1/2 hours, most of which is uninteresting. There is substantial footage of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s deputy. There also are a few clips of Osama bin Laden speaking about Palestine, which he says is a “great opportunity for mujahadeen who have been fighting in Iraq,” speaking as though Al Qaeda has been doing well in Iraq lately (that is actually not the case, with foreign mujahadeen leaving in large numbers). The video also includes some old clips of Abdullah Azzam, who along with Bin Laden, established the Maktab al-Khidamat (Services Office) in 1984 for supporting the mujahadeen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
The video was released several days late, after technical problems with online forums and sites that Al Qaeda uses. This may mean that the organization Al Qaeda had previously with creating and disseminating videos and other material has been disrupted in some way. Adam Gadahn, a U.S. born Al Qaeda operative, has played a key role in the organizations media operations. There are unconfirmed reports that he was killed in a missile strike in North Waziristan, located in Pakistan along the Afghanistan border.
Secrecy News, a blog run by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), has obtained a CIA document that provides a compilation of Osama bin Laden statements and interviews, spanning 10 years from 1994 to 2004.
Some of the information in the document is preliminary and unconfirmed, including sections of the document that talk about 1996 interviews with Ros al-Yusuf, an Egyptian publication, where it says the interviews took place in London. Also, the content of what Bin Laden supposedly said to Ros al-Yusuf seems dubious, mentioning how he was residing in Turkey at the time when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. At the time, Bin Laden was a student at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The CIA document admits uncertainty regarding this interview, saying that interview “allegedly took place in London.”
Another issue is that these are all English translations. Translating from Arabic to English and conveying meaning of statements is difficult, due to the nuanced nature of the Arabic language.
It’s an interesting read, though details need to be corroborated with other sources.
A copy of the document has been added to this site:
SnagFilms has made available for free viewing a number of documentary films regarding 9/11 and Afghanistan. The films available include “7 Days in September”, which was produced by Steven Rosenbaum. This film tells the story of what happened on 9/11 and the days after in New York City, through the experiences and footage from amateurs. “Saint of 9/11″ is a documentary about Father Michael Judge, a New York Fire Department Chaplain who was killed on 9/11. The third film is “We Are Family”, which involved contributions from numerous celebrities.
The films covering what happened in Afghanistan include “Afghanistan Revealed”, which addresses the story of Ahmed Shah Massoud who was assassinated days before 9/11. “Beyond Belief” is the story of an American couple, from Boston, who traveled to Afghanistan after 9/11 to help widows and others there.
NIST released today a draft of the final report on the collapse of 7 World Trade Center. The NIST investigation involved extensive computer modeling to simulate what happened, along with use of eyewitness accounts, photographs, video, and other evidence. The key findings include that the fire, fueled by office contents, and not fought (due to severed mains and lack of water), was the main cause of the collapse. Fires continued to burn throughout the afternoon on floors 7-9 and 11-13. Eventually the heat from the fire caused a critical column on the 13th floor to buckle. This triggered failure of structural elements surrounding the column, including the floor structure above to fail. This all led to a progression of the structural failure, vertically to the roof, and then horizontally across the structure and ultimately the entire structure collapsed.
NIST rejected any blast scenario, explaining that if it happened, the sound would be so very loud and couldn’t be missed. However, there were plenty of witnesses around at the time, as well as news and other video footage. Any such sounds of detonations were definitely not there. In my experience, from seeing actual controlled demolitions, the charges are detonated in a quick succession over a period of 10+ seconds and are extremely loud and you do feel the vibrations. None of that occurred with WTC7.
Anyway, the final report includes a summary 115-page report (PDF), along with detailed reports: PDF (1), PDF (2), PDF (3). There is also an FAQ and other material. NIST has given a few weeks as a public comment period, and will come back after that with a final version of the report.
Richard A. Clarke spoke at the Middle East Institute conference at the end of October. He began by talking about Al Qaeda (previous post), and then about how to move forward and deal with Al Qaeda, as well as problems in Iraq and with Iran.
The Global War on Terrorism, “GWAT” as he terms it, is a misnomer. It is not global, and not so much a war, but rather a struggle against violent Islamic extremism. Al Qaeda uses terrorism as a tactic, in its quest to replace apostate governments in the Middle East with a Caliphate. Al Qaeda is not so much political (no programs and policies), but would lead similarly to the Taliban in Afghanistan in how women are treated, restrictions on cultural activities, and other such restrictions. Clarke advocates an intelligence/law enforcement approach, more so than a military approach. Key Al Qaeda leaders that have been captured thus far, they have been located and captured by intelligence or law enforcement. It is also required to challenge Al Qaeda on its ideology. The “Battle of Ideas” is critical in dealing with Al Qaeda.
The War in Iraq has damaged the credibility of the U.S. in Muslim countries. On the notion that “if the U.S. leaves Iraq, there will be chaos and Al Qaeda will build a sanctuary there”, Clarke asks “how would we know? how would chaos be different than the current situation”? Al Qaeda has already gone in, and have training opportunities in Iraq with targets brought to them. If Al Qaeda tries to build camps in Iraq, would the U.S have to accept that? No. Clarke explains that “We would ask the government to eliminate it. If they don’t we do.” That does not require the U.S. to have troops in Iraq, as the U.S. would still have air capabilities, as well as special forces stationed in the Persian Gulf region. Regarding Iran, Clarke does not support an aggressive, military approach towards them, as that only exacerbates the situation rather than helping.
Audio of his talk, as well as from other speakers, is available online at the conference website.
NIST released today a draft of the final report on the collapse of 7 World Trade Center. The NIST investigation involved extensive computer modeling to simulate what happened, along with use of eyewitness accounts, photographs, video, and other evidence. The key findings include that the fire, fueled by office contents, and not fought (due to severed mains and lack of water), was the main cause of the collapse. Fires continued to burn throughout the afternoon on floors 7-9 and 11-13. Eventually the heat from the fire caused a critical column on the 13th floor to buckle. This triggered failure of structural elements surrounding the column, including the floor structure above to fail. This all led to a progression of the structural failure, vertically to the roof, and then horizontally across the structure and ultimately the entire structure collapsed.
Richard A. Clarke spoke at the Middle East Institute conference at the end of October. He began by talking about Al Qaeda