Regarding a connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq, “One of the most persistent assertions, again arising from information provided by [Ahmed] Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress, is that [Iraq’s ambassador to Turkey] Mr. [Faruk al-] Hijazi was dispatched by Hussein in [December] 1998 to meet with Osama bin Laden and offer him and his supporters in […]
Category: quotes
12/15/1998
” ‘The British and the American people loudly declared their support for their leaders’ decision to attack Iraq,’ bin Laden announced in December 1998 in the Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat. According to his logic, this made it imperative that all Muslims ‘confront, fight and kill’ Britons and Americans.” [The 15th of the month used […]
12/15/1998
“On January 14, 1999, ABC News reported that three intelligence agencies believed that Saddam had offered asylum to bin Laden. ‘Intelligence sources say bin Laden’s long relationship with the Iraqis began as he helped Sudan’s fundamentalist government in their efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. …ABC News has learned that in December [1998], an […]
12/8/1998
In a speech on December 8, 1998, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said: ” ‘Through constant confrontation, our policy of containing Iraq has been successful. But that does not mean that by itself it is sustainable over the long run.’ Noting the many costs of containing Saddam and the concern that with time international support […]
12/8/1998
On December 8, 1998, “the toughest UN Security Council Resolution on Afghanistan to date [Resolution 1214]… threatened unspecified sanctions against the Taliban for harboring international terrorists, violating human rights, promoting drugs trafficking and refusing to accept a cease-fire. ‘Afghanistan-based terrorism has become a plague,’ said US envoy Nancy Soderberg. Pakistan was the only country that […]
12/7/1998
“In a [December 7] 1998 article for the New Republic, [former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul] Wolfowitz wrote, ‘Toppling Saddam is the only outcome that can satisfy the vital U.S. interest in a stable and secure Gulf region, because, to a degree unique among contemporary tyrannies, the Iraqi regime is Saddam Hussein. …The vast […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “IG [terrorist group Gama’at al-Islamiyya] leader Islambuli in late September was planning to hijack a US airliner during the ‘next couple of weeks’ to free [World Trade Center bombing conspirator Shaykh Umar] ‘Abd al-Rahman and the other [co-conspirator] prisoners… The same source late last […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Some members of the Bin Ladin network have received hijack training, according to various sources, but no group directly tied to Bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization has ever carried out an aircraft hijacking. Bin Ladin could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft. […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “[Redacted] indicate the Bin Ladin organization or its allies are moving closer to implementing anti-US attacks at unspecified locations, but we do not know whether they are related to attacks on aircraft. A Bin Ladin associate in Sudan late last month told a colleague […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Bin Ladin associates last month discussed picking up a package in Malaysia. One told his colleague in Malaysia that ‘they’ were in the ‘ninth month [of pregnancy].’ An alleged Bin Ladin supporter in Yemen late last month remarked to his mother that he planned […]