Ed Haas – Muckraker Report via The Peoples Voice July 25, 2009
Osama bin
Laden’s role in the events of September 11, 2001 is not mentioned on the
FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” poster.
On June 5, 2006, author Ed Haas contacted the Federal Bureau of
Investigation headquarters to ask why, while claiming that bin Laden is
wanted in connection with the August 1998 bombings of US Embassies in
Tanzania and Kenya, the poster does not indicate that he is wanted in
connection with the events of 9/11.
Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI responded, “The
reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted page
is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”
Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection
to 9/11.”
Asked to explain the process, Tomb responded, “The FBI gathers
evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department
of Justice. The Department of Justice then decides whether it has enough
evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998
United States Embassies being bombed, bin Laden has been formally
indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted
and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence
connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”
Haas pauses to ask the question, “If the US government does not have
enough hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11, how is it possible
that it had enough evidence to invade Afghanistan to ‘smoke him out of
his cave?’” Through corporate media, the Bush administration told the
American people that bin Laden was “Public Enemy Number One,”
responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.
The federal government claims to have invaded Afghanistan to “root out”
bin Laden and the Taliban, yet nearly six years later, the FBI said that
it had no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.
Though the world was to have been convinced by the December 2001
release of a bin Laden “confession video,” the Department of Defense
issued a press release to accompany this video in which Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “There was no doubt of bin Laden’s
responsibility for the 9/11 attacks even before the tape was
discovered.”
In a CNN article regarding the bin Laden tape, then New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani said that “the tape removes any doubt that the US military
campaign targeting bin Laden and his associates is more than justified.”
Senator Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, the vice chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee said, “The tape’s release is central to informing
people in the outside world who don’t believe bin Laden was involved in
the September 11 attacks.” Shelby went on to say “I don’t know how they
can be in denial after they see this tape.”
Haas attempted to secure a reference to US government authentication of
the bin Laden “confession video,” to no avail. However, it is conclusive
that the Bush Administration and US Congress, along with corporate
media, presented the video as authentic. So why doesn’t the FBI view the
“confession video” as hard evidence? After all, notes Haas, if the FBI
is investigating a crime such as drug trafficking, and it discovers a
video of members of a drug cartel openly talking about a successful
distribution operation in the United States, that video would be
presented to a federal grand jury. The participants identified in the
video would be indicted. The video alone would serve as sufficient
evidence to net a conviction in a federal court. So why, asks Haas, is
the bin Laden “confession video” not carrying the same weight with the
FBI?
Haas strongly suggests that we begin asking questions, “The fact that
the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Osama bin Laden to 9/11 should
be headline news around the world. The challenge to the reader is to
find out why it is not. Why has the US media blindly read the
government-provided 9/11 scripts, rather than investigate without
passion, prejudice, or bias, the events of September 11, 2001? Why has
the US media blacklisted any guest that might speak of a
government-sponsored 9/11 cover-up, rather than seeking out those people
who have something to say about 9/11 that is contrary to the
government’s account?” Haas continues. “Who is controlling the media
message, and how is it that the FBI has no ‘hard evidence’ connecting
Osama bin Laden to the events of September 11, 2001, while the US media
has played the bin Laden-9/11 connection story for [six] years now as if
it has conclusive evidence that bin Laden is responsible for the
collapse of the twin towers, the Pentagon attack, and the demise of
United Flight 93?”
UPDATE BY ED HAAS
On June 6, 2006 the Muckraker Report ran a piece by Ed Haas titled “FBI
says, ‘No hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.’” Haas is the editor
and a writer for the Muckraker Report. At the center of this article remains
the authenticity and truthfulness of the videotape released by the federal
government on December 13, 2001 in which it is reported that Osama bin Laden
“confesses” to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The corporate
media—television, radio, and newspapers—across the United States and the
world repeated, virtually non-stop for a week after the videotape’s release,
the government account of OBL “confessing.”
However, not one document has been released that demonstrates the
authenticity of the videotape or that it even went through an authentication
process. The Muckraker Report has submitted Freedom of Information Act
requests to the FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, and CENTCOM requesting
documentation that would demonstrate the authenticity of the videotape and
the dates/circumstances in which the videotape was discovered. CENTCOM has
yet to reply to the FOIA request. After losing an appeal, the FBI responded
that no documents could be found responsive to the request. The Department
of Defense referred the Muckraker Report to CENTCOM while also indicating
that it had no documents responsive to the FOIA request either.
The CIA however claims that it can neither confirm nor deny the existence
or nonexistence of records responsive to the request. According to the CIA
the fact of the existence or nonexistence of requested records is properly
classified and is intelligence sources and methods information that is
protected from disclosure by section 6 of the CIA Act of 1949, as amended.
Therefore, the Agency has denied your request pursuant to FOIA exemptions
(b)(1) and (b)(3).
Many people believe that if the videotape is authentic, it should be
sufficient hard evidence for the FBI to connect bin Laden to 9/11. The
Muckraker Report agrees. However, for the Department of Justice to indict
bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks, something the government has yet to do, the
videotape would have to be entered into evidence and subjected to additional
scrutiny. This appears to be something the government wishes to avoid.
Some believe that the video is a fake. They refer to it as the “fat bin
Laden”video. The Muckraker Report believes that while the videotape is
indeed authentic, it was the result of an elaborate CIA sting operation. The
Muckraker Report also believes that the reason why there is no documentation
that demonstrates that the videotape went through an authenticity process is
because the CIA knew it was authentic, they arranged the taping.
It is highly probable that the videotape was taped on September 26,
2001—before the US invaded Afghanistan.
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-no-hard-evidence-connecting-bin-laden-to-9-11/