COVER-UP OR COMPLICITY OF THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION ?
The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence Agency (ISI)
in the September 11 Attacks.
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at globalresearch.ca, 2 November
2001
SUMMARY
The complete text of this article is at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html.
Pakistan's chief spy Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad "was in the US when the attacks
occurred." He arrived in the US on the 4th of September, a full week before the
attacks. He had meetings at the State Department "after" the attacks on the
WTC. But he also had "a regular visit of consultations" with his US
counterparts at the CIA and the Pentagon during the week prior to September 11.
What was the nature of these routine "pre-September 11 consultations"? Were
they in any way related to the subsequent "post-September 11 consultations"
pertaining to Pakistan's decision to cooperate with Washington. Was the
planning of war being discussed between Pakistani and US officials?
On the 9th of September while General Ahmad was in the US, the leader of the
Northern Alliance Commander Ahmad Shah Masood was assassinated. The Northern
Alliance had informed the Bush Administration that the ISI was allegedly
implicated in the assassination:
The Bush Administration consciously took the decision in "the post September 11
consultations" with Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad to directly "cooperate" with
Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) despite it links to Osama bin Laden and
the Taliban and its alleged role in the assassination of Commander Masood,
which coincidentally occurred two days before the terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, senior Pentagon and State Department officials had been rushed to
Islamabad to put the finishing touches on America's war plans. And on the
Sunday prior to the onslaught of the bombing of major cities in Afghanistan
(October 7th), Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad was sacked from his position as head
of the ISI in what was described as a routine "reshuffling."
In the days following General Ahmad's dismissal, a report published in the
Times of India, revealed the links between Pakistan's Chief spy Lt. General
Mahmoud Ahmad and the presumed "ring leader" of the WTC attacks Mohamed Atta.
The Times of India article was based on an official intelligence report of the
Delhi government that had been transmitted through official channels to
Washington. Quoting an Indian government source Agence France Press (AFP)
confirms in this regard that: "The evidence we [the Government of India] have
supplied to the US is of a much wider range and depth than just one piece of
paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced act of terrorism."
The revelation of the Times of India article has several implications. The
Indian intelligence report not only points to the links between ISI Chief
General Ahmad and terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta, it also indicates that
other ISI officials might have had contacts with the terrorists. Moreover, it
suggests that the September 11 attacks were not an act of "individual
terrorism" organised by a separate Al Qaeda cell, but rather they were part of
coordinated military-intelligence operation, emanating from Pakistan's ISI.
The Times of India report also sheds light on the nature of General Ahmad's
"business activities" in the US during the week prior to September 11, raising
the distinct possibility of ISI contacts with Mohamed Atta in the US "prior" to
the attacks on the WTC, precisely at the time when General Mahmoud and his
delegation were on a so-called "regular visit of consultations" with US
officials.
In assessing the alleged links between the terrorists and the ISI, it should be
understood that Lt. General Ahmad as head of the ISI was a "US approved
appointee". As head of the ISI since 1999, he was in liaison with his US
counterparts in the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the
Pentagon. Also bear in mind that Pakistan's ISI remained throughout the entire
post Cold War era until the present, the launch-pad for CIA covert operations
in the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Balkans
The existence of an "ISI-Osama-Taliban axis" was a matter of public record. The
links between the ISI and agencies of the US government including the CIA are
also a matter of public record. The Bush Administration was fully cognizant of
Lt. General Ahmad's role. In other words, rather than waging a campaign against
international terrorism, the evidence would suggest that it is indirectly
abetting international terrorism, using the Pakistani ISI as a "go-between".
The Bush Administration's links with Pakistan's ISI --including its
"consultations" with General Ahmad in the week prior to September 11-- raise
the issue of "complicity". While Ahmad was talking to US officials at the CIA
and the Pentagon, ISI officials were allegedly also in contact with the
September 11 terrorists.
In other words, according to the Indian government intelligence report, the
perpetrators of the September 11 attacks had links to Pakistan's ISI, which in
turn has links to agencies of the US government. What this suggests is that key
individuals within the US military-intelligence establishment might have known
about the ISI contacts with the September 11 terrorist "ring-leader" Mohamed
Atta and failed to act.
Whether this amounts to the outright complicity of the Bush Administration
remains to be firmly established.
What is crystal clear, however, is that this war is not a "campaign against
international terrorism" as claimed by The Bush Administration. It is a war of
conquest with devastating consequences for the future of humanity.
And the American people have been consciously and deliberately misled by their
government.
Ultimately the truth must prevail. The falsehoods behind America's war against
the people of Afghanistan must be unveiled.
The above is a Summary. The complete text of this article is at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html.
Copyright, Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),
October 2001. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on
non-commercial community internet sites, provided the source and the URL are
indicated, the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To
publish this text in printed and/or other forms, including commercial Internet
sites and excerpts, contact the Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at
editor@globalresearch.ca, fax 1-514-4256224.
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