Two weeks before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a Syrian immigrant in Spain received a phone call from London. The caller reported that he had "entered the field of aviation" and that "classes were going well." He added, mysteriously, that "the throat of the bird has been slit."
The call was recorded by Spanish police as part of a long-term investigation into a suspected network of Islamic radicals, but it was weeks before the possible significance of the conversation was understood. Prosecutors here now say they believe "the bird" was a symbolic reference to the American bald eagle and that the caller was sending a message that the Sept. 11 hijackings were ready to proceed.
The suspected leader of al Qaeda in Spain, Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, and 23 others go on trial today in this specially outfitted Madrid courtroom.
The wiretap will be a key piece of evidence against the Syrian, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, and two other men suspected of being al Qaeda members who go on trial in Madrid on Friday after a 3 1/2-year investigation into the use of Spain as a staging ground for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Each is charged with nearly 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Yarkas, who has been in jail since November 2001, denies the charges against him, as do the two other men.
The defendants face charges that they knowingly helped in the hijackings by providing money and cover to two of the plot's ringleaders during a rendezvous in a Spanish coastal town two months before the attacks. The trial will include 21 other defendants charged with terrorism-related crimes, making it the largest criminal prosecution in Europe aimed at al Qaeda.
No one has been successfully prosecuted for playing a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. German courts have tried two accused members of the Hamburg cell that oversaw the hijackings, but one defendant's conviction was overturned and the other man was found not guilty.
In Alexandria, Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen, is scheduled to plead guilty Friday in federal court to participating in the plot. While such a plea would represent a breakthrough for U.S. prosecutors, there are doubts about Moussaoui's mental competency and uncertainty about what role he will admit to playing in the conspiracy.
More than 43 months after the hijackings, considerable gaps remain in investigators' understanding of how the plot was carried out.
In this essay, the author
Narrates how a syrian immigrant in spain was called from london two weeks before the attacks of sept. 11, 2001. the caller reported that he had entered the field of aviation and that classes were going well.
Explains that the call was recorded by spanish police as part of an investigation into a suspected network of islamic radicals, but it was weeks before the possible significance of the conversation was understood.
Explains that the suspected leader of al qaeda in spain, imad eddin barakat yarkas, and 23 others go on trial today in this specially outfitted madrid courtroom.
Explains that yarkas, who has been in jail since november 2001, denies the charges against him, as do the two other men.
Explains that the trial will include 21 other defendants charged with terrorism-related crimes, making it the largest criminal prosecution in europe aimed at al qaeda.
Explains that no one has been successfully prosecuted for playing a role in the sept. 11 attacks. german courts have tried two accused members of the hamburg cell that oversaw the hijackings, but one defendant's conviction was overturned.
Explains that zacarias moussaoui, a french citizen, is scheduled to plead guilty to participating in the plot in alexandria.
Analyzes the gaps in investigators' understanding of how the hijackings were carried out. one concern was a 12-day period in july 2001 after the lead hijacker, mohamed atta, flew from florida to spain for
Concludes that the meeting was called to set a date for the hijackings and was prompted by al qaeda's founder, osama bin laden, who was growing impatient with the pace of preparations.
Explains that spanish prosecutors have new evidence that atta and binalshibh met in tarragona on july 16, 2001, with mohamed belfatmi, an algerian, to discuss final arrangements for the hijackings.
Explains that the meeting was organized by belfatmi and three other al qaeda members in spain who also knew about the plot. investigators have no idea where the pair were or what they were doing.
Explains that binalshibh, belfatmi and two other members of the hamburg cell left europe for pakistan two weeks before the attacks.
Explains that in the german trials, the defendants successfully argued that they were doing favors for fellow muslims and knew nothing of the plot.
Explains rafael l. bardaji, spain's prime minister at the time of the attacks, is convinced they were in on the plot, but there is a huge gap between what they think they did and the ability to prove them guilty.
This fall, Zacarias Moussaoui is scheduled to go to trial for his participation in the airplane bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. Along with the media frenzy that accompanies a trial of this magnitude, a separate battle is being waged between Courtroom Television Network LLC (Court-TV) and the U.S. Government over the right of the former to televise trial proceedings.
In this essay, the author
Explains that zacarias moussaoui is scheduled to go to trial for his participation in the airplane bombing of the world trade center in new york city. a separate battle is being waged between courtroom television network llc and the u.s.
States that the government of the united states' opposition is stated in a legal brief dated january 4, 2002. the government contends that rule 83 does not allow individual judges to grant the right to televise criminal proceedings.
Analyzes how the prosecution attacks the claims by court-tv that the first amendment protects their televising of proceedings.
Explains that section iv finds the prosecution attesting that court-tv has given no valid argument as to why the proceedings should be televised.
Explains that the prosecution admits that televising of proceedings increases the audience, and therefore increases educational benefits, but argues that this alone "does not warrant a constitutional requirement that television cameras be allowed at criminal trials."
Explains that in estes v texas, many potential pitfalls of televised proceedings are listed, including the possibility that jurors will be influenced by television broadcasts of the proceedings.
Analyzes court-tv's brief requesting allowance for cameras in the courtroom. the defendant claims that this ban is unconstitutional.
Explains that the defense admits that there are many cases weighing against its position, but states that much has changed in the years since estes v. texas, and uses justice harlan’s concurrence from that case for support.
Opines that the media should be the eyes and ears of the citizens of america and a window on our system for justice.
Analyzes how the defense acknowledges that sensationalist reporting about court proceedings is an affront to the dignity of the judiciary.
Agrees that cameras should be allowed in the courtroom for the pre-trial and trial of zacarias moussaoui for a variety of reasons. the government's position that such coverage would taint potential jurors is inconsequential.
Analyzes how the events of september 11, 2001, and mr. moussaoui's public statements, make finding an unbiased jury impossible.
Agrees with court-tv that the victims of september 11 are not contained in the few cities granted closed circuit broadcast. the aftermath spreads far and wide, across boarders and seas.
Opines that the u.s. government is putting witness identities, jurors, and justices in harm's way by providing closed circuit access.
Opines that the public benefit far outweighs the concern anyone should have over the al-qaida by publicly broadcasting the trial.
In that alert, the FBI warned law enforcement agencies and the public to be on the lookout for 18 suspected al Qaeda operatives, most from Yemen, who are planning an attack against U.S. interests. Al-Hada's name was not on the terror alert.
In this essay, the author
Reports that a suspected al qaeda terrorist wanted in connection with the october 2000 bombing of the uss cole blew himself up as yemeni security forces closed in on him.
Describes a firefight in sana'a, where the suspect jumped into the taxi and tried to throw the grenade when it exploded.
Identifies sameer mohammed al-hada, a 25-year-old yemen native, as one of the most important people on the list of wanted al qaeda suspects that the united states had given to yemeni officials.
Explains that al-hada was wanted in connection with the bombing of the cole, which killed 17 sailors and wounded 39.
Explains that the fbi warned law enforcement agencies and the public to be on the lookout for 18 suspected al qaeda operatives, most from yemen, who are planning an attack against u.s. interests.
Explains that the relationship between the united states and yemen became strained in the months following the cole bombing, with cultural differences hindering cooperation.
Explains that yemen has 'quot;one of the most significant' al qaeda organizational links in the world.
Explains that yemen's government has deported about 5,000 non-yemen fighters since 1998. the interior minister warned against hiding suspected al qaeda members.
Narrates how saleh visited washington to discuss the uss cole attack, the september 11 attacks, and the 1998 bombings of u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania. yemeni special forces attacked two tribes suspected of supporting al qaeda.
On September 11, 2001 four planes were hijacked. Two of the planes were flown into the world trade center. A third plane hit the pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania.The planes were hijacked by an islamic extremist group called Al-Qaeda. More than 400 police officers and firefighters died during this massive tragedy. Some people believe this could have been
In this essay, the author
Opines that arming pilots could have saved thousands of lives in our nation's history, but there are pros and cons of this debate.
Explains that the events of 9/11 and other situations like 9/11, have caused much debate whether or not pilots should be armed.
Explains that on september 11, 2001 four planes were hijacked by an islamic extremist group called al-qaeda. more than 400 police officers and firefighters died during this massive tragedy.
Opines that training pilots to use guns would be relatively easy because it's in a small space they know really well.
Explains the down side of pilots being armed is a pilot could mistakenly discharge the weapon and kill an innocent passenger.
Explains that pilots were in need of guns but lost their lives because they couldn't protect the passengers or take out the hijackers. in may of this year, the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit and crashed the plane.
Opines that armed pilots may not be the only way to prevent these horrible tragedies from happening in schools.
Explains that hijacking of airplanes has been an issue in our country for many years. flight 1320 traveling from newark to boston was hijacked by john j. divivo.
Explains how the ffa created an anti-hijacking task force to stop these diversions to cuba. the fbi began to use violence to bring the problem under control.
Opines that the extra security of knowing that a pilot is armed and able to protect not only himself but his crew and passengers would help deter hijackers and terrorists.
Opines that the events of september 11 have left devastating and long lasting effects that many people may realize.
Explains that international tourism to america fell for 3 years after 2001, and deportations rose 104 percent from 2001 to 2010. anti-islamic violence rose in america after september 11.
Opines that arming pilots would give us more hope of safe travels.
There were several conspiracies about the planes that attacked the Twin Towers. One of the planes left Boston's Logan Airport at 7:59 a.m. The hijackers zoomed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. The other plane left Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. The hijackers flew the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. America had stated that 10 planes were suppose to be hijacked on that day. “Providing new details on the planning of the plot, the commission staff said that al-Qaida planner Khalid Shaihk Mohammed initially proposed a Sept. 11 attack involving 10 planes that would be used to attack CIA and FBI headquarters, unidentified nuclear plants and tall buildings in California and Washington state,” (Brunker). Both planes that flew into the Twin Towers were Boeing 767. The plane was 159 feet long. Another thing that seemed odd was that 9,700 gallons when it should usually have nothing less than 14,000 gallons. The engine was found on Murray Street when it should have been right around the Tower. Things were said about the plane being like a missile since the engine was dropped so far from the Towers. According to German TV footage, the planes front nozzle was caught on fire before going through the building. Conspiracy theories state that there were three things attached to the plan that were likely to explode. After the plane went into the building the plan some how exploded making it look like a missile went into the building or some how it was some sort of bomb. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, drew out the plane and the way the plane was flown into the Towers and it did not seem right. The plane propellers of the Boeing 757 were smaller than the hole it actuall...
In this essay, the author
Explains that there were conspiracies about the planes that attacked the twin towers.
Explains that venezuela had a building that was on fire for 17 hours until it began to collapse; on the other side of the world, the world trade center building collapsed within 2 hours.
Explains that if heat could induce a collapse, the onset would be gradual. the seismograms recorded by lamont-doherty earth observatory indicate that there were explosions.
Explains that bbc world news reported that the 47 story salomon brothers building close to the world trade centre collapsed.
Explains that a booby-trapped truck caused the explosion on 11 september. the fbi seized the footage of the attack.
Mullah Muhammad Omar is one of American’s most wanted terrorist. The United States put up $10 million dollars as a reward if it led to Omar’s capture. The US then raised it to $25 million dollars for his capture. Omar’s terrorist cell is based in Afghanistan. Omar is considered a mysterious terrorist amongst his people and a mythological hero in the terrorist world. In 2004, Omar stated that the Taliban were “hunting Americans like pigs.”
In this essay, the author
Explains that mullah muhammad omar is one of american’s most wanted terrorists. the us put up $10 million dollars as a reward if it led to his capture.
Explains that omar has been wanted by the fbi since 2001 for sheltering osama bin laden and al-qaeda members years prior to the september 11 attack.
Explains that he is the spiritual leader of the taliban movement that operates in parts of afghanistan and pakistan. he was afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001.
Explains that mullah omar's description is vague because no one can identify him. he has one eye due to shrapnel wound to the right eye, is tall and has black hair.
Explains that omar's regime was removed from power by operation enduring freedom, but he is still at large and represents a vital threat to america and our allies.
Opines that omar promised more afghans war and said suicide bomb attacks were carried out by bombers acting on religious orders from the taliban. the washington post could not confirm that he was hospitalized.
Explains that mullah omar and his comrades have evaded capture and are guiding the taliban resurgents.
Opines that the taliban are training monkey terrorists to operate the bren light machine gun and that they can identify and attack u.s. soldiers based on their uniforms.
Opines that the taliban can get the terrorist monkeys to shoot guns, but they shoot at everything, including trainers, cooks and dogs. the biggest problem in trying to train monkey terrorists is getting the guns out of their hands.
Opines that if the taliban had "monkey terrorist" to fight americans and our allies, we would have to retaliate by training monkeys.
Opines that mullah omar's reclusiveness brought friendship with bin laden and his country into isolation.
Explains that he is affiliated with the political party islamic and national revolution movement of afghanistan taliban, and has served in the soviet-afghanistan war, civil war in afghanistan, war
Explains that under mullah omar rules, strict interpretation of the sharia law was imposed on 90% of afghanistan.
Explains that mullah omar has called all taliban groups in pakistan to fight foreign troops in afghanistan. he repeatedly says that the taliban mission is to create a muslim state that would perfectly practice strict interpretation of the quran.
Explains that mullah omar's last statement to the supposedly first journalist to ever interview him was "he was ready to see the other half destroyed before he gives up bin laden."
Cites the washington times article, "exclusive: taliban chief hides in pakistan," and agence france – presse's "pakistan treated taliban leader," japan times.
Opines that the mysterious mullah behind the taliban hides in pakistan.
On a calm New York evening 230 lives were lost. Innocent lives were aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 800 heading to Paris, France from John F. Kennedy international airport in New York, United States of America. According to Cable News Network, the Trans World Airline “exploded” into the Atlantic Ocean a short period after take of on the East coast of the United States around eight PM. (CNN 1) There are many mysteries about why this may have happened with three different standpoints. The government believes the plane simply had a malfunction that night, but some think differently. A percentage of Americans believe that missiles shot down Trans World Airlines flight 800 on that night by the United States government for unknown reasons by missiles.
In this essay, the author
Opines that there is no rumor about sabotage or a missile. they live on long island for 24 years and only 8 miles from the crash site.
Quotes d.a. walsh's statement that an eyewitness believes someone is trying to cover up the trans world airlines flight 800 crash.
Explains that trans world airlines flight 800 exploded into the atlantic ocean on a calm new york evening.
Describes how tom stalcup, a private researcher, took an interest in the case when he realized evidence wasn't adding up.
It has been widely accepted from media depiction of terrorist attacks, that they normally occur in the streets of some Middle Eastern town, within a war-torn over ran village seized by a drug cartel, on a train or discotheque in Europe, or somewhere other than in the sky. As stated within The National Counterterrorism Center: Report on Terrorism (2011), traditional or well know tactics account for some 80% of all attacks, terrorist attacks directed toward airlines or air vehicles are less than 2%. For this reason many such threats are discounted or its relevance to put resources toward investigating. Prior to the attack on Pan Am Flight 103, intelligence data received was disseminated however, no high level officials were directly involved in the security measures required to thwart the event. December 21, 1988 was a day when the consequences of complacency would be felt by the nation.
In this essay, the author
Explains that terrorist attacks usually occur in middle eastern towns, war-torn villages, or on trains or discotheques in europe. the national counterterrorism center reports that traditional or well-known tactics account for 80% of attacks.
Describes how a civilian airliner exploded over lockerbie on december 21, 1988. 270 people lost their lives, 259 passengers and crew members and 11 killed on the ground.
Explains that the organizers or those held responsible for the downing of flight 103 is mystery, although 2 lebanese men, abdelbaset al-megrahi, a libyan intelligence officer, and lamin khalifa
Analyzes how muammar gaddafi's letter was read to the united nations security council in 2003. his tone was an expression of how he felt for the 1980’s united states attacks in the gulf of sidra.
Explains that the samsonite suitcase carrying the semtex plastic explosive was purchased from malta and transported to frankfurt, germany, where it was loaded onto pan am flight 103.
Narrates how the united states embassy in helsinki received a call from an anonymous man, who claimed to have an arabic accent, providing detailed information about the imminent threat. due to its authenticity, special measures were taken; special screening of passengers, luggage, employee, airport facilities and the aircraft itself.
Opines that it was possible for any "one" person to survive the 31,000 thousand foot plunge. the reaction from the bombing was devastating to the families, communities, and schools.
Explains that the united states enacted stringent rules such as x-raying or physically examining all checked baggage and increase screening of passengers.
Explains that the united states was ill prepared to handle the families and friends of victims. the government recognized the effects of a sudden loss of loved ones and the long lasting torture.
Opines that the bombing of pan am flight 103 on 21 december 1988 was well financed, well planned and well executed. the motivation of the terrorist rarely equates in the minds of victims.
Cites greenspan, jesse, and rabbitte, eimear. sheridan to direct lockerbie attack film.
(6) Even airplane hijackings have lost their old boundaries. It is becoming clear that the people in the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania had extensive communications to the ground, and knew about the first attack on the World Trade Center.
In this essay, the author
Explains that when political leaders refer to the september 11th attacks in new york and washington as "war", what do they mean? nation-states fought wars to defend their borders.
Explains that if you want to destroy someone nowadays, you get into their infrastructure. if your enemy retains any capacity for retaliation, it's probably better to not be.
Opines that soldiers complain bitterly about politicians' interference, not understanding that technology has eliminated their professional autonomy.
Analyzes donald rumsfeld's abortive reform efforts to transpose the traditionally narrow view of military affairs into a science-fiction key have only clarified how archaic the traditional conception of warfare really is.
Opines that george w. bush harshly criticized the "nation-building" activities of military personnel in kosovo and elsewhere.
Explains that military equipment was almost entirely separate from civilian equipment, but economies of scale in the production of technology, especially information and communications technologies, have grown so great that the military must buy much of its equipment from the civilian market.
Explains that even airplane hijackings have lost their old boundaries. the people in the plane that crashed in rural pennsylvania had extensive communications to the ground and knew about the first attack on the world trade center.
Argues that defense intellectuals have not been short on definitions of "war" in this weirdly pervious world. they embrace a conception of military matters that includes absolutely everything.
Explains that the defense intellectuals' conception of boundaryless war is not the only one possible. it holds no place for "nation-building" activities or integration of political and military concerns that military officers complain about.
Argues that the bush administration started using the language of "war" well before they were willing to say who they thought was responsible for the attacks.
Opines that the problem posed by the nontraditional terrorist "enemy" has often been understood in purely military terms.
Opines that the only moral justification for war is to preserve the conditions of democracy by serving as a deterrent.
Explains that states of war justify censorship, curtailing of civil liberties, and the repression of dissidents. they are also understood to require the opposition to moderate its otherwise essential functions of criticism.
Argues that "war" in the new sense is incompatible with democracy.
Argues that democracy is an institutional framework for the conduct of disputes among organized interests, and groundrules must be interpreted and applied in the case of each dispute.
Argues that the ideal of formal democracy as dispute within an agreed framework of rules is taught in school, but in the real world of democracy, the combatants have fundamentally different visions of what that framework should be.
Explains that conservatism is a fluid alliance between traditional social authorities and business interests, and that business rent-seeking under conservative rule reasserted itself from the opening days of the bush government.
Analyzes how the crisis of democracy, and the actual nature of conservatism, become clearest in conditions of war. wartime is ideally suited for absolute, polarized, us-and-them forms of thinking.
Argues that the new military doctrine of war as a total phenomenon is nothing but conservatism, expressed in different language, rediscovered starting from different concerns.
Argues that the danger of "total war" against osama bin laden is that it will reinforce the worst tendencies in our society and undermine the cultural and institutional foundations upon which democracy rests.
Argues that the precedent for this looming war is the boundaryless pseudo-war against communism.
Argues that the cold war's most misleading legacy is an ideology that totally misconstrues these dangers.
Opines that we need a new concept of war, which is flawed because it starts from the military and follows the logic of interconnection. instead of permanent, total war conducted under rules that subordinate democracy to an authority that draws its legitimacy from
Opines that security is a matter of design in an infrastructural world. the world trade center's catastrophe provides an opening for real design.
Opines that the notion of security that our democratic society needs must take seriously the all-encompassing nature of modern industrial society. the people who conduct terrorist actions against the united states are fundamentally driven by a need to make us feel their pain
Analyzes how america's imaginative distance from the rest of the world has made it easy to keep from american public consciousness the nature and magnitude of atrocities in which the american government and its close allies have unquestionably been culpable.
Opines that the call to war is a call for us to remake ourselves in the image of that evil.
Opines that a world that has graduated beyond the traditional conceptions of war may not be able to avoid military action, regrettable as it always is.
One of the founders of this group includes Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, who is also the leader of JuD, a charity organization founded after the earthquake in 2008. Some believe that JuD is a front to recruit more extremists. Also included are Zaki-ur-Rehiman Lakvi and Abdul Rehman Makki, who is second in charge but has a $2 million US bounty on his head due to his relationships with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
In this essay, the author
Explains that they chose the lashkar e tayyiba (let), also known as jamaat-ud-dawa (jud).
Explains that lashkar e tayyiba operates out of pakistan, though most of its attacks are based in india. the group has been linked to countries as far as australia.
Explains that lashkar e tayyiba's main goal is to unite kashmir with pakistan and restore pakistan to a "pure islamic rule."
Explains that hafiz muhammed saeed, zaki-ur-rehiman lakvi, abdul rehman makki, and markaz-ad-dawa-wal-irshad are among the founders of let.
Explains the let's tactics, including targeting security forces with bombings and shootings, and taking hostages. although its leader, saeed, has denied involvement, the testimony of a survived attacker has confirmed its participation.
perpetrated crimes. All of the terrorists involved in the September 11 attack on the United
In this essay, the author
Opines that victims of identity theft (people whose identities have been stolen) stand to.
Explains that such types of theft have a thin threshold that allows them to be categorized as theft.
Explains that misdemeanors take place over a span of several hours.
Analyzes the rise in identity theft, not as the final crime but as an insurance crime.
Describes several sets of useful individual identity such as date of births and pins.
Explains that fake credit cards may posses account and names of genuine account holders.
Explains that documents lower the chances of being arrested.
Describes the basic criminals that double up as violent offenders.
Explains that they use the acquired identity to create new credit cards and bank accounts.
Opines that they must be investigated in depth since it holds the key to understanding their drive.
Opines that the lack of proper internet connections has led to people using the internet to connect with others.
Opines that more studies need to be conducted on this crime.
Explains that perpetrating a crime is to commit it without being revealed. committing an offense under the identity of another person for that reason is an appealing proposal.
Analyzes how kathleen, the woman behind numerous city bombings and murders, took up the identity of sara olson.
Narrates how anania married, became a doctor, bore three children, volunteered for charity in africa.
Explains that all terrorists involved in the september 11 attack on the united states were protected by experts in identity theft.
Explains that it is relatively easy to perpetrate identity theft crimes since there is a wealth of ready personal information on the internet, or attached to other emails.
Opines that most victims of identity theft are approximately 40 years of age and residing in the united states.