Mohammed Atta trained in Baghdad prior to 9/11?

[BTox]

So claims the London Telegraph. If true, this will really knock the wind out of the anti-war sails...

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.



telegraph atta article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F12%2F14%2Fwterr14. xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=31804)

[Nasarius]

Three days training by a non-Iraqi in Baghdad is pretty insubstantial support, though it is the only actual link so far discovered. We shall see if it can be confirmed.

[Jocko]

Originally posted by Nasarius
Three days training by a non-Iraqi in Baghdad is pretty insubstantial support, though it is the only actual link so far discovered. We shall see if it can be confirmed.

Trained by a Palestinian in Baghdad? It may as well have been an Iraqi, then. Saddam's government were big, open supporters of Palestinian terrorism. He may not have been an Iraqi but he was certainly there as their guest.

And wasn't his death last year - in Baghdad - considered to be a tad fishy? Silenced, perhaps? I'll be curious to see if this one pans out. I know, I know.... 48 hour rule.

[aerocontrols]

Proof that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks visited Iraq shortly before the attacks for training (and implications of consultation)

+

Niger shipment


all in one convenient memo.






huh.

[The Fool]

Didn't he recieve training in the USA too? Those Damn Yankees must be responsible;)

I am in possession of a hand written memo from Saddam saying that all the money he has stashed in Switzerland is now mine....

[Jocko]

Originally posted by The Fool
Didn't he recieve training in the USA too? Those Damn Yankees must be responsible;)

Well, they found "Crocodile Dundee II" in the VCR at his apartment, lest we forget. So don't try to shirk your culpability in this!

[The Fool]

Originally posted by Jocko


Well, they found "Crocodile Dundee II" in the VCR at his apartment, lest we forget. So don't try to shirk your culpability in this!
Damn...they found the dundee tapes?? We told him to eat them....

[crackmonkey]

Though I wouldn't doubt that Saddam would have helped Atta, this memo handed over to the Telegraph seems a little too prefect for me... I'll wait till I hear more before I do any endzone dancing.

[peptoabysmal]

Here's a link with a few more details. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'll bet a fiver this is genuine. Any takers?

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/14/1071336810270.html

[Gem]

From theage article:

The second item explains how Iraqi intelligence, helped by "a small team from the al-Qaeda organisation", arranged for an (unspecified) shipment from Niger to reach Baghdad by way of Libya and Syria.

Iraqi officials believe this is a reference to the controversial shipments of uranium ore that Iraq acquired from Niger to aid Saddam in his efforts to develop an atom bomb.


the discovery by Iraq's interim government of a document

This sounds just waaaayy too fishy.

Gem

[kroman]

Just thought this might be interesting:

http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/000150.html

"There's news about Mohammed Atta potentially having been trained in Iraq by Abu Nidal in the Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/14/wterr14.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/12/14/ixportaltop.html

Problem is, the Telegraph printed a story at the beginning of this year that said Saddam killed Nidal because he wouldn't train Al-Qaeda fighters."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/08/25/wnidal25.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=133523

[The Fool]

Originally posted by peptoabysmal
Here's a link with a few more details. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'll bet a fiver this is genuine. Any takers?

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/14/1071336810270.html


While it is almost impossible to ascertain whether the document is legitimate, Iraqi officials are convinced of its authenticity, even though they decline to reveal where and how they obtained it.


And thats enough to convince you to risk five bucks? Damn I wish I was selling you cars...



;)

[corplinx]

Seeing as how we have been at war with Iraq since the early nineties, I doubt the kind of people who don't know that will now support the war because of some guy they have never heard of.

[American]

Originally posted by BTox
If true, this will really knock the wind out of the anti-war sails...


No it won't, and this is fundamental to understanding the left and the recent transformation of America's perception of them: they will never change.

They will never be happy or satisfied. Their dearest dreams died in the early 1970s when the drug culture caught up with them, when pot-for-peace turned into heroin-for-profit, when social activists turned to bank robberies, kidnapping, and murder in support of left-wing revolutionary bombings and other criminal activity. 1960s Marxism is their singular dream, and NOTHING will ever change that. The war on terror is a microcosm, to them, of a decade America rejected. They will never regain their hopes, nor accept them as dead as they are.

Terrorism is the LAST BEST HOPE for the left. They know it, and now so do we. Only a rag-clad loser from the middle east can destroy this country with a single WMD. If you don't believe they hope for just that, listen to their songs and read their words. They state it explicitly.

Remember- the Japs swore their lives to the emperor, and they were committing suicide in order to attack us. 2 nukes was all it took for them to surrender, and probably 1 would have done it.

Picture a US city gone like that. 1 nuke, America would surrender to Bin Laden. We're p-ssies, we would never accept a second city going up.

That's the lucky shot some are hoping for. It's no secret the Left wants America gone. They scream it in concert and sell it for $17.95 at HMV.

[Gem]

when pot-for-peace turned into heroin-for-profit, when social activists turned to bank robberies, kidnapping, and murder in support of left-wing revolutionary bombings and other criminal activity.

It's always easy to pick out trolls in forums. Explain to me how you come to the conclusion that social activists turn to bank robberies, kidnapping, etc etc...

As was stated to Jedi Knight a few times "Enlighten us, O wise one!"

Gem

[The Fool]

Originally posted by Gem


It's always easy to pick out trolls in forums. Explain to me how you come to the conclusion that social activists turn to bank robberies, kidnapping, etc etc...

As was stated to Jedi Knight a few times "Enlighten us, O wise one!"

Gem
The only thing I can't figure out is how he gets any sleep with all those people under his bed....

[The Don]

Originally posted by The Fool

The only thing I can't figure out is how he gets any sleep with all those people under his bed....

It's because American resides "in the closet"

[Hypocolius]

Would this be the same Telegraph that found documents proving that MP George Galloway was in the pay of Saddam Hussein? (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/22/ngall22.xml)

George Galloway, the Labour backbencher, received money from Saddam Hussein's regime, taking a slice of oil earnings worth at least £375,000 a year, according to Iraqi intelligence documents found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad.

Those super-sleuths at the Telegraph either have some very, very good sources, or are a mite gullible, any bets on which?

[Zep]

They're everywhere! They're everywhere! - Sydney Morning Herald, 30 November 2002 (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/29/1038386313983.html).

JI is closely associated with Al Quaeda, and is based in Indonesia. It was responsible for the Bali attack.

However this article indicates that it may well have been just hyperactive imaginations and wishful thinking - much like American's rant.

[Ed]

Originally posted by Gem


It's always easy to pick out trolls in forums. Explain to me how you come to the conclusion that social activists turn to bank robberies, kidnapping, etc etc...

As was stated to Jedi Knight a few times "Enlighten us, O wise one!"

Gem

He said "turned" and is referring to elements of the Black Panthers and other marginalized "progressive" groups. Angela Davis, noteably, was arrested for murder after robbing a Brinks truck. While the only claim to fame of the Symbionese Liberation Armywas kidnapping Patty Hearst, their forte appeared to be robbing banks. For the "people" I am sure.

I happen to think that what American is saying is pretty true. Some of the stuff that I hear on WBAI in NY (A Pacifica affiliate) is rather inflammatory.

[American]

Originally posted by Gem

It's always easy to pick out trolls in forums. Explain to me how you come to the conclusion that social activists turn to bank robberies, kidnapping, etc etc...

As was stated to Jedi Knight a few times "Enlighten us, O wise one!"

When their activism failed or was completely rejected by society, most realized they had to get a job and became school teachers and such. The core believers became angry and turned to other methods. Then you had folks like the Clintons who plotted to bring it all down from the inside.

Read Dog Soldiers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395860253/102-6012559-2436931?v=glance) by Robert Stone. Someone like your pal Malachi151 will vouch for it, probably. It's one story about the left's indictment and selling itself out. Of course this country rejected their ideals when they behaved like that. The left is not your hippie stoner friends passing a bong around. I'm good with those people, they're harmless. The left is those who conspire to create houses filled with hippie stoner kids for their own power and profit. (Hence, the drug war is a right vs left issue. It's not about the drugs, but the politics surrounding how drugs are dealt with.)