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Alleged connections to terrorism

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The facility was discussed shortly after the September 11 attacks as allegations of Iraq's connections to Al-qaeda began surfacing. The Salman Pak facility was mentioned as a terrorist training camp as early as October 12, 2001 in the Washington Post. [1] The article mentions two Iraq defectors tracked down by the Iraqi National Congress and interviewed by U.S. intelligence agencies in late 2001. One is Sabah Khalifa Khodada, and another was an Iraqi ex-intelligence officer (later identified as Jamal al-Qurairy, former brigadier-general in Iraq's Mukhabarat[2]) living in Turkey who both claimed to have knowlege that Salman Pak was being used to train foreign extremists in various terrorist methods, including a Boeing 707 used to train in hijacking. Al-Qurairy repeatedly complained of being treated dismissively by U.S. Intelligence , who reportedly showed no interest in pursuing a possible Iraq connection to Al-Qaida.

Details emerged when the New York Times and PBS Frontline did a collaberative interview Sabah Khodada on October 14, 2001. [1] Khodada's story was corroborated by al-Qurairy in Turkey, now using the alias Abu Zeinab. The story was reported by the New York Times and broadcast on PBS on November 8, 2001. [3]

Initially, many prominent officials gave credence to these claims:

Dr. Richard Sperzel, former chief of United Nations biological weapons inspection teams in Iraq, reported to the New York Times that Iraqis always told them of a anti-terrorist training camp at Salman Pak. "But many of us had our own private suspicions," he said. "We had nothing specific as evidence. Yet among ourselves we always referred to it as the terrorist training camp." [4]

Charles Duelfer, former vice chairman of Unscom, was even more blunt in his reaction. Having seen the base and the Boeing 707 in exactly the same was as the defectors describe it, he states the Iraqis always insisted they were using the facility for counter-terrorism training, "Of course we automatically took out the word "counter", I'm surprised that people seem to be shocked that there should be terror camps in Iraq. Like, derrrrrr! I mean, what, actually, do you expect? Iraq presents a long-term strategic threat. Unfortunately, the US is not very good at recognising long-term strategic threats."[5]

In an inteview with NPR, Duelfer explains further, "There were lots of places in Iraq where training of non-Iraqis, or things, which by our lexicon would be considered terrorism, was taking place. That's why Iraq is on the terrorist list. Having a large aircraft, a 707, in a peninsula, completely visible from the air or from satellite, with no airline runways nearby, that's not there by accident." [6]

Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, denied this to Frontline. "This is a very beautiful area with gardens, with trees," Aldouri said. "It is not possible to do such a program there, because there's no place for planes."

During the PBS interview, Sabah Khodada presents a crude drawing of an overlay of the Salman Pak facility, detailing the location of the Boeing 707 and other terrorist training locations. This map is hosted on PBS Frontline.[2]

Following the PBS interview, a company called Space Imaging searched it's database and discovered they possessed an aerial photograph of the Salman Pak area taken in April of 2000 which demonstrated conclusively that the plane did exist at Salman Pak. Further, comparison's of the two images show an almost indentical match, corroborating that Sabah Khodada has intimate knowledge with the Salmnan Pak facility. [7]. An image of the aerial photograph is hosted on TownHall[3].

U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr concluded from the evidence that Iraq indeed provided material support for Al-Qaida in a lawsuit on behalf of the September 11 victims. Heavily cited in the case was the existence of the Salman Pak photograph that resembles accurately the Iraqi defectors' allegations. Former CIA director James A. Woolsey testified as an expert witness that Salman Pak was used to train foreign terrorists. [8]

During the 2003 invasion, various media outlets reported on the U.S. Marines capture of Salman Pak and the discovery of a non-iraqi Arab training center, as well as the Boeing 707 used for training hijackers. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said, "Some of them come from Sudan, some from Egypt, some from other places. We've killed a number of them, and we've captured a number of them, and that's where some of this information comes from," "The nature of the work being done by some of those people we captured, their inferences about the type of training they received, all these things give us the impression that there is terrorist training that was conducted at Salman Pak." "It reinforces the likelihood of links between this regime and external terrorist organizations,". [9]

(~~Chudogg~~) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chudogg (talk • contribs) 00:47, 15 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ Jim Hoagland, "What About Iraq?" October 12, 2001 Friday, The Washington Post
  2. ^ DAVID ROSE, "Battle for Iraq: Focus: SADDAM'S FEDAYEEN: Death squads the CIA ignored". The Observer March 30, 2003
  3. ^ David Rose, "Focus Special: The Terrorism Crisis: THE IRAQI CONNECTION: Iraq is the target of American hawks who see its hand in terrorist attacks. But what is the evidence? After a month-long investigation, David Rose reports on the links between Saddam and the 11 September hijackers November" 11, 2001 The Observer
  4. ^ CHRIS HEDGES, A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SCHOOL; Defectors Cite Iraqi Training For Terrorism November 8, 2001 The New York Times
  5. ^ David Rose, "Focus Special: The Terrorism Crisis: THE IRAQI CONNECTION: Iraq is the target of American hawks who see its hand in terrorist attacks. But what is the evidence? After a month-long investigation, David Rose reports on the links between Saddam and the 11 September hijackers", The Observer November 11, 2001
  6. ^ BOB EDWARDS, MIKE SHUSTER, "Possible involvement of Iraq in anthrax attacks", November 1, 2001 Thursday, National Public Radio
  7. ^ MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM, "Satellite Photos Believed To Show Airliner for Training Hijackers". Aviation Week & Space Technology, SECTION: AIR TRANSPORT; Vol. 156, No. 1; Pg. 39 January 7, 2002; Laurie Mylroie, Going After Saddam Hussein, The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, 2002 Summer; Christopher S. Carson, "An Unapologetic Apology" The National Review, June 02, 2004, http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/carson200406020845.asp
  8. ^ L. Stuart Ditzen "Phila. lawyer sees chance of collecting on terror suit" The Philadelphia Inquirer MAY 9, 2003
  9. ^ NILES LATHEM, The New York Post "RAIDERS SMASH TERROR CENTER: MARINES KILL DOZENS AT SADDAM'S CAMP OF EVIL" April 7, 2003, Monday; RAVI NESSMAN "Marines capture camp suspected as Iraqi training base for terrorists" .The Associated Press. April 6, 2003

Gayle Rivers? Are You Serious?

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I don't know who thinks that anything written by "Gayle Rivers" aka Raymond Brooks is a reliable source, but that book was debunked almost as soon as it came out in 1985 https://web.archive.org/web/20201025030727/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-27-vw-20256-story.html John Simpson54 (talk) 04:42, 22 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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