By Trevor Aaronson | Fri Jan. 11, 2013

Editor's note: This story is adapted from The Terror Factory [1], Trevor Aaronson's new book documenting how the Federal Bureau of Investigation has built a vast network of informants to infiltrate Muslim communities and, in some cases, cultivate phony terrorist plots. The book grew from Aaronson's award-winning [2] Mother Jones cover story "The Informants [3]" and his research in the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California-Berkeley.

Illustration: Jeffrey Smith

Quazi Mohammad Nafis was a 21-year-old student living in Queens, New York, when the US government helped turn him into a terrorist.

His transformation began on July 5, when Nafis, a Bangladeshi citizen who'd come to the United States on a student visa that January, shared aspirations with a man he believed he could trust. Nafis told this man in a phone call that he wanted to wage jihad in the United States, that he enjoyed reading Al Qaeda propaganda, and that he admired "Sheikh O," or Osama bin Laden. Who this confidant was and how Nafis came to meet him remain unclear; what we know from public documents is that the man told Nafis he could introduce him to an Al Qaeda operative.

When the terrorist attacks began on September 11, 2001, numerous U.S. intelligence agencies and facilities that should have been closely following the catastrophic events taking place in the skies over America were unaware that anything was wrong. Because of their particular responsibilities and their advanced capabilities, agencies such as the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA) should have been among the first to learn the details of the crisis. But, instead, they were apparently in an information blackout, and their knowledge of the attacks was limited to what they could learn from television reports.

The fact that key intelligence agencies and facilities experienced this problem, and all at the same time, suggests that the information blackout may have been intentional--an act of sabotage committed by the perpetrators of the attacks. Such an act could have been intended to render these agencies and facilities useless when their services were urgently needed, thereby helping to ensure that the attacks were successful.

Members of New York's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) were predicting, almost two years before 9/11, that terrorists would fly planes into the World Trade Center. JTTF members described their prediction to best-selling thriller writer Nelson DeMille while he was interviewing them as part of the research for his novel The Lion's Game.

The Obama administration has the worst track record when it comes to prosecuting whistleblowers. Obama once claimed he'd work hard to have a transparent government, but many have faced retaliation for revealing controversial government information. Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator and government whistleblower, waited 340 days for FBI clearance of her memoir but finally released it on her own, without any redactions or approval. It indicts high treason and intentional deception in the highest levels of government. Edmonds, founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, joins Abby Martin in the RT studio to discuss.

twitter.com/abbymartin

By Adam Goldman, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA had al-Qaida fooled from the beginning.

Last month, U.S. intelligence learned that al-Qaida's Yemen branch hoped to launch a spectacular attack using a new, nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for America, officials say.

But the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence, U.S. and Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The dramatic sting operation thwarted the attack before it had a chance to succeed.

It was the latest misfire for al-Qaida, which has repeatedly come close to detonating a bomb aboard an airliner. For the United States it was a victory that delivered the bomb intact to U.S. intelligence.

The officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. The cooperation of the would-be bomber was first reported Tuesday evening by the Los Angeles Times.

MEDIA ROOTS – Abby and Robbie Martin discuss FBI entrapment: how every "foiled" terror plot has either been facilitated or completely orchestrated by the US government, the gross misuse of taxpayer funds and the morality of entrapment methods; the anniversary of Bin Laden's death: the multiple reports of his death prior to the final report, the continuous alternations of the original narrative and government propaganda surrounding the death, Obama's victory lap at Bagram and corporate media cheerleading about the killing; cyber terrorism and CISPA; the hope for humanity's future: the need to shift our consciousness outside of the current paradigm, reinstate the enormous power that we all have to take charge of our minds and instill a better, more enlightened future.

In a March 12, 2012 FOIA appeal response, the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) implicitly acknowledged the existence of FBI File 203A-WF-210023, which FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has said contains evidence of top US officials’ complicity in the trafficking of nuclear secrets, arms and drugs, in addition to bribery, blackmail, money-laundering and obstruction of investigation into 9/11. In 2008, the Sunday Times of London reported that the FBI, in response to a different FOIA request, denied the existence of the file.

The January 20, 2008 report by the Sunday Times, FBI denies file exposing nuclear secrets theft, briefly summarized Edmonds’ allegations about the file in this way: “She says the FBI was investigating a Turkish and Israeli-run network that paid high-ranking American officials to steal nuclear weapons secrets. These were then sold on the international black market to countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.” According to an article by former CIA Officer Philip Giraldi, the file name 203A-WF-210023 indicates it’s an “FBI Washington Field Office, Counterintelligence Division, Turkish Unit File.”

When the Times asked Edmonds about FBI File 203A-WF-210023, she said, "The file refers to the counterintelligence programme that the Department of Justice has declared to be a state secret to protect sensitive diplomatic relations." The article goes on to say that, "the FBI responded to a [Liberty Coalition] freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist. But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file.” No other information was given regarding the latter document.

Posted last week (3/28/12) on RT, It has been awhile since the old CIA/FBI Turf feud meme has been dusted off, but I haven't seen much discussion regarding this operation foxden so it seemed worth posting.

Source:
http://rt.com/usa/news/fbi-fighting-911-agency-675/

In 1999 the US had the opportunity to potentially stop the 9/11 attacks in New York City, but failed due to internal disputes between the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations and National Security Agency.

In that same year the Taliban had settled on a license with an American company, Afghan Wireless Communications, to build a cell-phone and Internet system in Afghanistan.

The stealthy arrangement which was dubbed “Operation Foxden,” would have given access to the US government to monitor all al-Qaeda and Taliban phone calls and e-mails.

“Had this network been built with the technology that existed in 2000, it would have been a priceless intelligence asset,” said an unnamed former NSA official to David Rose a contributing editor for Vanity Fair.

Who is Ken, or Kenneth, Wainstein?

Monday, 5. March 2012

9/11 Questions Bubble Up in the Media

On Friday February 24, Boiling Frogs posted an article titled “Media Sleepwalks, While History is in the Making.” Three articles had come out the week before, one in the London Daily Telegraph and two in the Florida-based Broward Bulldog, raising important new questions about the crimes of September 11, 2001 and the quality of the government’s investigation. In particular, these articles discussed new information and questions coming from former Senator Robert Graham, questions relating to secret documents that Graham described as running at odds with past government assertions in the 9/11 investigation. These three articles also raised new questions about the role of the government of Saudi Arabia.

The Feb 24 Boiling Frogs post discussed those three articles, and noted that there hadn’t been a single article in the mainstream media on the issues they raised, even though a week had gone by. The post then asked if a valid prediction market could be established for the date when the media would wake up.

Political prediction markets have a very interesting history. One of the difficulties in having a successful market, a market that people trust, is related to a similar issue in futures markets. Futures contracts need to be specified carefully and clearly, and remain free of ambiguous legal interpretation.

Nor Cal Truth      Dec 10, 2011

“How can Budget Increases…Addition of ‘Intelligence Czar’ Fix the Problem?” -Sibel Edmonds

Sibel Edmonds, former FBI translator, wrote this open letter to 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean in 2004. I have edited it down just slightly in hopes that more people read it, though the full text links are recommended and provided at bottom. I have added bold for emphasis of one, consistent point.

I encourage everyone to become more familiar with Sibel Edmond’s story – this is a really good starting point. – Brian @ Nor Cal Truth

————

Dear Chairman Kean:

Am I a Threat to National Security?
by Justin Raimondo • September 30th, 2011 • Related • Filed Under

When I first saw the memo from the FBI’s counterterrorism center in Newark, declaring that I’m “a threat to National Security,” not to mention an “agent of a foreign power,” I was incredulous. These can’t be real FBI documents, I thought to myself. Someone is pulling my leg.

Sadly, no. As I discovered upon further investigation, the memo is all too real. The provenance of the documents, which indicate that the feds launched a “preliminary investigation” of Antiwar.com, myself, and our webmaster, Eric Garris, is as follows: An obscure blogger made an FOIA request for information about the FBI’s investigation of the “High Fivers”—the five Israelis who were arrested on September 11 and held for six months on suspicion that they had some foreknowledge of the events on that dark day. I wrote about this subject in the August 2003 issue of Chronicles—and, what do you know, that piece is included in the FBI file! Isn’t it encouraging to learn that our state-subsidized sneaks are reading this magazine?

From the History Commons Groups blog:

A large number of new entries have been added to the Complete 9/11 Timeline at History Commons describing important events that took place on the day of 9/11, while other new entries add to the growing body of information about 9/11-related training exercises.

One new entry describes how, from 1998, the US Secret Service included computer simulations of planes crashing into the White House in its training exercises. Another notable exercise was held early on the morning of September 11 in the White House Situation Room, based on the scenario of a terrorist bombing in the Middle East.

http://cryptome.org/info/fbi-pentagon/fbi-pentagon.htm

Also, http://911datasets.org/index.php/PENTAGON_FBI_FOIPA_1141552 has images and video that the FBI released.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/22/foia-shows-bush-admin-targeted-antiwar-com/

By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, August 22nd, 2011

During the Bush-era, a great many Americans were swept up in the spying dragnet laid after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 by federal officials hoping to prevent another major terrorist attack -- people like pacifist Christians, liberal activists, families with members overseas and even street-level falafel sellers.

Now Americans can add another group to the list of those who were viewed as a potential threat: the staff of Antiwar.com.

Senator Rand Paul sent a letter to Robert Mueller with some questions he would appreciate a response to.

"Why did FBI supervisors and lawyers block the search warrant sought by field
agents in Minnesota who believed that Zacarias Moussaoui was a terrorist who
might use a commercial airplane as a weapon in the weeks before September
11th? Why did the so--called "Phoenix memo," written by FBI agent Kenneth
Williams in July of 2001, which warned of an unusual number of young Arab men
seeking flight training in the U.S., never reach the highest levels of the FBI? Was
anyone ever disciplined, fired, or their career ended for these errors in judgment?"

Here's a link to Senator Rand Paul's letter:
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/216473-rand-paul-letter-to-f-b-i-director-robert-mueller.html