I kept a news-clips file starting on 9/11/2001 keeping track of the various theories promoted by the Israelis and NeoCons linking Iran and Iraq to the Sept 11 WTC attacks. Note how they either directly implicated Iran, or suggested that Iran should be held accountable anyway regardless of whether it was proven to have a role in the attacks or not, and urged using the 911 attacks as a justification for regime change in Iran.
We do not yet know who did this. We do know the
identity of those who have countenanced and even
encouraged the debased notion that terrorism is an
appropriate response to alleged oppression. One way or
another, they are complicit in yesterday's tragedy.
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya have proudly
defended the political uses of terrorism. Any country
that has excused, justified or given shelter to
terrorists must share the blame for what happened
yesterday
American Jewish Congress Statement on Yesterday's
Terrorist Attacks
09/12/2001
PR Newswire
=====================================================
For many years, members of these groups have waged
total war, in different forms and on diverse levels,
against the world's democracies and leading powers.
They have gathered weapons, raised funds and recruited
suicide bombers, ready to die and kill many others in
the name of various ideologies. Many receive direct
assistance and protection from governments around the
world notably, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and the
Palestinian Authority. The Osama Bin-Laden group,
which is considered the most likely perpetrator of the
atrocities in New York and Washington, is aided and
abetted by a number of different partners.
GIL HOFFMAN
Opinion
Barbarians at the gate
GERALD M. STEINBERG
09/12/2001
The Jerusalem Post
============================================================
The fact that no organization took responsibility for
the attacks is irrelevant, Netanyahu said, because the
root cause of the attacks are "terrorist states like
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian entity"
that want to "devour the West."
"For them, our free civilization is satanic - an
abomination that should be wiped off the face of the
earth," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu: World must join to crush terror
09/12/2001 The Jerusalem Post
===========================================================
Bin Laden is known to have connections with Iranian
intelligence operatives. But a more likely state
sponsor is Iraq. Laurie Mylroie, publisher of Iraq
News, makes a persuasive case that Saddam Hussein was
behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and
subsequent failed plots to blow up the United Nations
and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
Whether or not any Muslim states participated actively
in the plot, several clearly participated passively by
providing the plotters with safe havens. The Taliban
in Afghanistan shelters bin Laden. Syria, Libya, Iraq,
Iran and the Palestinian Authority offer shelter to
terrorists.
EDITORIAL
ENOUGH BRAVE WORDS TERRORISTS HAVE BEEN WAGING WAR.
IT'S TIME TO RESPOND IN KIND
09/12/2001
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
===================================================
Some experts speculated that the enormity of the plot
could even point to the involvement of a hostile
government, such as Iraq or Iran.
Terrorists Destroy World Trade Center, Hit Pentagon in
Raid With Hijacked Jets
By DavidS. Cloud and Neil King 9/12/2001 The Wall Street Journal
==============================================================
The diplomatic cover, intelligence data and financial
resources needed to conduct this war against the
United States can only be offered by a regime whose
track record against U.S. interests is proven, and
Iraq comes immediately to mind. Iran's anti-American
and anti-Israeli policies, although less likely, could
also be responsible.
Commentary Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold
R. JAMES WOOLSEY; MANSOOR IJAZ
R. James Woolsey, an attorney in Washington, was
director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1993
to 1995. Mansoor Ijaz, an American Muslim of Pakistani
origin, negotiated Sudan's counterterrorism offer to
the United States in 1997
09/12/2001
Los Angeles Times
==================================================================
These are the shock troops of the enemy. And the enemy
has many branches. Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and
Islamic Jihad in Israel, the Osama bin Laden
organization headquartered in Afghanistan, and various
Arab "liberation fronts" based in Damascus. And then
there are the governments: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya
among them. Which one was responsible? We will find
out soon enough.
Editorial
To War, Not to Court
Charles Krauthammer
09/12/2001
The Washington Post
=======================================================
In his evening television address from the Oval
Office, the president said, "We will make no
distinction between the terrorists who committed these
acts and those who harbor them." Does "those who
harbor" include such nations as Syria, Libya, Iran and
Afghanistan? Will that strike the American people --
or the world -- as just? Or will it show us getting
mad because we can't get even?
Will Bush rise to the challenges?
Chris Matthews
09/12/2001
The San Francisco Chronicle
===============================================================
Mike Ackerman, a former CIA operations officer now
with the Ackerman Group, an international security
consultant, in Miami, Fla., suggested governments
hostile to the United States, such as Iran and Iraq,
may have been responsible.
"You have to assume that some of the hijackers had air
force experience, were pilots with commercial or
military aviation experience," said Ackerman.
"If that's the case then the suggestion is that there
was a state hand in this. The only two countries that
come to mind would be Iran and Iraq. If there's a
state hand in it they would have taken pains to
disguise it."
Experts: Too early to say who carried out attacks, but
state sponsorship is possible
By DONNA ABU-NASR
Associated Press Writer
09/11/2001
Associated Press Newswires
=================================================================
[Presenter] I would like to ask Mr Sharansky a
question. Do the Israeli special services have any
information - maybe Mr Sharansky can confirm if the
Israeli special services have reliable information
confirming that Islamic radicals were involved in
this?
[Omitted: correspondent repeats question to Sharansky]
[Sharansky] At this moment, of course there are no
such reports. But we know that major structures,
backed by [Usamah] Bin Laden and countries like Iran
and Syria, and of course the leading Palestinian
organizations, plan their actions on a global scale,
and today's events have shown this to be the case.
Israel's Sharansky points to Bin Laden, Iran, Syria,
on USA terror strikes
09/11/2001 BBC Monitoring
Source: NTV International, Moscow
=============================================
"Bin Laden is one of the possibilities, also Iran or
(the guerrilla group) Hizbollah," Shabtai Shavit who
headed Israel's Mossad intelligence agency from 1989
to 1996 told Reuters. ...Schweitzer said the massive
scale of the attacks would have required the backing
of a state and the only question that remained was
which one. He suggested Iran and Iraq as the likeliest
possibilities.
Israeli experts point at bin Laden on U.S. attack.
By Megan Goldin
09/11/2001 Reuters English News Service
======================================================
If the bin Ladens of the world are defined as the
enemy, terrorism has won; if the governments that
sponsor terrorism are the enemy, then terrorism can be
defeated. As Israel learned in Lebanon, it was
impossible to defeat Hizbullah while holding that
organization's Syrian, Iranian, and Lebanese sponsors
were effectively immune from attack. ... The concept
of a war against terrorism is meaningless without the
goal of removing terrorist regimes. The exact
combination of diplomatic, economic, and military
tools to be deployed toward this goal is a legitimate
matter of debate. But a war against terrorism that
avoids the issue of regime change in countries such as
Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan cannot be won, because it
has not even really been joined.
Opinion
Defining the enemy
o9/13/2001
The Jerusalem Post
=========================================
The terrorists who do the deeds cannot prosper without
the infrastructure, administration and financial
support of certain states. The names of these rogues
are known to the US and have been documented. They are
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, the Sudan and Syria.
They might be less formidable in pure military
strength than Japan under Hideki Tojo and Germany
under Adolf Hitler, but in a stroke, their agents,
accomplices, proteges or proxies have killed more
American civilians on American soil than died in all
of World War II.
Give war a chance - the only way to root out
terrorists
David Perlmutter 09/13/2001
South China Morning Post
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