Home > The Question that’s BIGGER than "Who told Rove?"
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O.K. People have been asking for a simple moniker for this very important developing story. I suggest the "Orange Alert Scandal". If we’re lucky — this naming, if it catches on, will hopefully, at the very least, prevent the neocons from using this security system for political purposes ever again. It is looking more and more like Tom Ridge’s leak for GOP political gain during the DNC in July 2004 may have helped the London Bombing occurr.
From Pakistani intelligence officials to AP:
The [Pakistani Intelligence] official would not say when Tanweer [who was just arrested in Egypt] is believed to have visited the school, but he disputed reports that he studied there. The short nature of the visit could indicate that Tanweer went there to meet someone or get instructions.
Tanweer’s uncle, Bashir Ahmed, said from England that his nephew traveled to Lahore earlier this year to study Islam.
But the officials said they believed he also made a trip in the latter half of 2004, in which he met with Osama Nazir, a Pakistani militant...
...[Osama] Nazir, a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Sunni militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, told authorities from jail Thursday that he met with Tanweer in Faisalabad [Pakistan], 75 miles southwest of Lahore, before his arrest.
It was not clear what the men discussed, or whether there was any connection between that meeting and the July 7 attacks against three trains and a double-decker bus.
It is also now being reported that Tanweer’s inspiration was, indeed, the IRAQ WAR!
from the Guardian:
Shahzad Tanweer, the 22-year-old son of a Pakistani-born affluent businessman, turned to Islam, the religion of his birth, a few years ago. The transformation was gradual, but then his relentless reading of the Quran and daily prayers became almost an obsession, his friends told The Associated Press. He became withdrawn and increasingly angry over the war in Iraq, according to those who knew him best.
The U.S.-led war was what likely drove him to blow himself up on a subway train last week, said his friends.
America Blog — who broke the possibility that this could be a huge scandal — pulls a juicy piece from the Homeland Security archives:
QUESTION: Richard Norton-Taylor of The Guardian. Could I follow up that question, and some concern has been expressed probably normally privately here about the amount of information America.... people say maybe the Americans say too much, phrases like crying wolf were mentioned and so on. I just wondered if you had any comment on that?
SECRETARY RIDGE: Well, I believe you’re referring, probably, to some background information that was shared, no-one really knows the source. But I know there was the regrettable disclosure of information that British officials would have much preferred to remain confidential, at least during the time of apprehension and the decision-making as to whether or not they should be held and then charged. And I assure you it wasn’t part of any public pronouncement relative to raising the threat level from the Department of Homeland Security. And there was clearly an insensitivity by the individual who disclosed that information to the process and to the demands on our friends who are co-operating with us in terms of their own legal process. So the expression of displeasure based on the leak or that source of that information being made public, and the potential to complicate the life of the authorities in Great Britain, frankly, was an appropriate expression of disappointment and displeasure. I have no argument with that.
There is a different process here. We need to be respectful of the legal and the constitutional means by which we conduct our business and I’d hate to see that kind of that situation recur with the frequency or the severity that would impair the extraordinary collaborative relationship we have. So I can say, from my perspective, the public expression of disappointment and displeasure was appropriate. As it turned out, all’s well that ends well, but understanding the restrictions and the conditions under which your law enforcement community operates in this country, we should do everything we can to avoid compromising or undermining it, period.
- from the archives of The London Embassy of The United States of America.
(16 September 2004 Secretary Tom Ridge On-the-record Press Briefing in London)
No, Mr. Ridge. According to the families of the London Bombing victimes — All is NOT well.
In Summary:
- Tanweer made visits to the area of Pakistan where Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan was arrested (and others were allowed to escape) due to a leak by the U.S. government in July of 2004 — done for political reasons. This blown cover may have indirectly caused the deaths of 50+ British citizens.
- Tanweer’s primary motivation was the Iraq War.
You make the call. Should this not be a huge story?
In light of these important new developments in this story from Pakistani Intelligence, we should be pressing the press to ask some specific questions about the "ORANGE ALERT SCANDAL" that took place in July 2004.
FLASHBACK — 2004:
A Pakistani security official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that despite failing to capture some al Qaeda suspects after Khan’s arrest, the country’s security agencies were chasing them and would eventually get them.
The official would not reveal the names or nationalities of the fugitives who evaded arrest.
That’s right! The U.S. and Britain KNOW THE NAMES of the fugitives that escaped due to the GOP leak.
THE QUESTION THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN JOURNALISTS SHOULD BE ASKING RIGHT NOW:
Did any of the fugitives that escaped the 2004 round-up of an Al Qaeda cell in Pakistan take part in the London Bombing?
If this turns out to be the case — the Rove scandal will look like a walk in the park, folks.
Forum posts
16 July 2005, 04:50
UPDATE....UPDATE....UPDATE....UPDATE....
– Scotsman.com
Not surprisingly, this story is growing legs in the British press.