Are Crackpot Liars Being Used to Tie Iran to 9/11?

[marmar]

TruthOut.org / By Gareth Porter

Are Crackpot Liars Being Used to Tie Iran to 9/11?
A court case resulting in a "finding of fact" that Iran assisted al Qaeda is a tapestry of recycled fabrications and distortions of fact from a bizarre cast of characters.

December 29, 2011 |


Behind a mysterious December 22 Associated Press story about "finding of fact" by a District judge in Manhattan Friday that Iran assisted al Qaeda in the planning of the 9/11 attacks is a tapestry of recycled fabrications and distortions of fact from a bizarre cast of characters.

The AP story offers no indication of the nature of the evidence in the case except that former members of the 9/11 Commission and three Iranian defectors provided testimony. What it didn't say was that at least two of the Iranian defectors have long been dismissed by US intelligence as "fabricators" and that the two "expert witnesses" who were supposed to determine the credibility of those defectors' claims are both avowed advocates of crackpot conspiracy theories about Muslims and Shariah law who believe the United States is at war with Islam.

The ostensible purpose of the case brought by families of 9/11 terror attack victims was to win damages from those responsible for 9/11. Dozens of such cases involving different terrorist attacks have been brought to US courts over the years, in which "default judgments" have been made against Iran over various attacks in which Iran was allegedly involved, but there is no chance of getting any money for the families.

The only real effect of the case is to promote right-wing political myths about Iran. One of the peculiarities of such cases is that the witnesses are not subject to cross examination in court. The witnesses have every incentive, therefore to indulge in false testimony, knowing that there will be no one to challenge them. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/153602/are_crackpot_liars_being_used_to_tie_iran_to_9_11/

[dipsydoodle]

1. Yes

They missed out total nutjobs.

[DCKit]

2. They can go THERE, but the Saudi connections are invisible to them?

Through the looking glass.

[Shining Jack]

5. +1 n/t

[ixion]

3. It's this ongoing staging that feeds the rationale(s) for MIHOP/LIHOP

And as long as the PTB continue to offer up such nonsense as explanation, it will continue.

[stillwaiting]

4. There certainly is something rotten in Denmark...

... to put it very, very mildly.

[City Lights]

6. Whatever it takes.

For TPTB, the end always justifies the means.

[yodermon]

7. much more evidence for pakistan/ISI involvement than Iran

e.g., an AP article from 2003.
http://helenair.com/news/national/fbi-says-funding-traced-to-pakistan/article_114689b5-db14-5e4f-9702-6a7ae8063e8c.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Investigators have traced the funding for the Sept. 11 attacks to al-Qaida accounts in Pakistan, a top FBI counterterrorism official told a Senate panel Thursday. Officials did little to clarify the Saudi role in the funding.

John S. Pistole, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said that investigators have ''traced the origin of the funding of 911 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known al-Qaida operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the U.S."

Pistole did not specify in his testimony to the Senate Governmental Affairs committee how those accounts in Pakistan were funded.

The FBI has estimated the Sept. 11 attacks cost between $175,000 and $250,000. That money, which paid for flight training, travel and other expenses, flowed to the hijackers through associates in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

is paulthompson still around these parts?

[Raster]

8. Oh please! Neither Iran nor Iraq had anything to do with 9/11.

However, the same cannot be said of Saudi Arabia and Dick Cheney*.

[bemildred]

9. The old ways are best.

It got us into wars in the past, it can work again.

[RC]

10. They need look no farther than BFEE, Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, if

they are looking for a connection to 9/11

[Politicalboi]

11. Yes that and

The "misplaced" 2.3 Trillion dollars I'm sure can be found at the feet of Cheney/Rumsfailed too. And 2.3 Trillion is probably a low number.

[JohnyCanuck]

12. Justifying War with Iran

By Russ Baker, author of the book about the Bush "Family of Secrets" (http://www.familyofsecrets.com )

A growing body of evidence points to a concerted campaign to prepare Americans and the world for war against Iran. This is not idle speculation. It fits a pattern that repeatedly preceded previous hostilities.

Here are the recent examples on Iran:

snip

-The claim that Iran was complicit in the 9/11 attacks (current). A federal judge, reviewing evidence presented in a lawsuit on behalf of 9/11 victims, concluded this month that it proved Iran “provided direct support to Al Qaeda specifically for the attacks…on September 11, 2001.” This one may gain traction due to powerful lingering emotions on the topic. (For complaints about the general operating style of the judge who ruled in the case, click here.) Because this ruling and the underlying lawsuit are based largely on the claims of defectors (and past experience shows that defectors frequently trade politically valuable assertions for personal benefits), more research is needed on this. (Remember discredited CIA Iraq source “Curveball”?) The cited “NSA intercepts” also bring to mind the intercepts put forward as proof that Saddam had WMDs.

It is further worth noting that the defendant, Iran, was not present to challenge the assertions. In addition, examination of many of the plaintiff assertions shows that they may misrepresent circumstantial evidence. (Example: “Several of the 9/11 hijackers transited Iran on their way to or from Afghanistan, taking advantage of the Iranian practice of not stamping Saudi passports.” This ignores the fact that Iran, which is an enemy of Saudi Arabia, makes a practice of not stamping Saudi passports so that Saudi nationals, especially minority Shiites, do not get in trouble with Saudi authorities on their return—similar to Cuba’s practice of not stamping American passports.)

This story has yet to break big, but count on the ruling to be cited increasingly in the months ahead by those pushing for war.

http://whowhatwhy.com/2011/12/26/justifying-war-with-iran/

[midnight]

13. K&R.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

14. the right are trying to find a way to get Iran's oil

[yurbud]

16. it seems like bankers are pissed at them too since the proposed sanctions are aimed

at their central bank.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

15. Does a bear go pee pee in the woods?

[yurbud]

17. this is more likely to get traction than the fact that our Saudi allies provided money and

shepherding of 9/11 hijackers according to the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, and just recently a 9/11 Commission staffer said they were pressured to change their findings about Saudi in their final report.

We were attacked by our ally, did nothing to retaliate or punish them, and instead went after Afghanistan, whose involvement was about the same as a terrorist's landlord, and Iraq, whose involvement was non-existent.



MORE DETAILS ON SAUDI INVOLVEMENT IN 9/11:
http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2008/03/foia-doc-shows-911commission-lied-about.html

VANITY FAIR STORY ON HOW SAUDI INVOLVEMENT IN 9/11 WAS COVERED UP:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/08/9-11-2011-201108