* Senate Torture Report: KSM wrote bin al-Shibh a letter referencing “Jafar the Pilot” and indicating that “Jafar” “ought to prepare himself” to smuggle himself from Mexico ; the letter was seized in September 2002
Posted by DXer on December 10, 2014
CASE CLOSED ... what really happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks? 
DXer said
20 years after 9/11, mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed still awaits trial. What went wrong?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/20-years-after-9-11-mastermind-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-still-n1278592
“But the biggest factor in why it’s taking so long, defense lawyers and other experts say, is the secrecy. It took years for defense lawyers to get summaries of the classified evidence against their clients, and they say they still don’t have everything they need, even though they all possess top-secret security clearances.
Inside the courtroom, journalists and family members must watch behind a wall of thick glass. The sound is piped in on a 40-second delay to guard against the defendants blurting out something classified, officials said. And what classified information might al Qaeda operatives possess?”
Comment: KSM knows about Dr. Ayman Zawahiri’s secret plan to use weaponized anthrax. Called PROJECT ZABADI. Not even Merrick knows the details about Project Zabadi (Curdled Milk)
DXer said
R. Scott Decker, in his book published last year, wrote
“By mid-October, the prospect of an attack by al-Qaeda flown crop dusters began to fade, but the Daschle letter’s New Jersey postmark brought back memories of al-Qaeda’s associated terrorism from eight years before. The convicted terrorists of the 1993 World Trade Center underground bombing lived in Jersey City. The van they had used to carry their explosives into the basement park deck of the Trade Center had been rented in Jersey City. The group’s members were associates of current al-Qaeda operatives, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. Within the WMDOU and around FBIHQ the suspicion prevailed that al-Qaeda had a hand in the anthrax attacks, but still no proof had surfaced.”
Adnan El-Shukrijumah, known as “Jafar the Pilot,” stayed in New Jersey when he and Al-Hindi scouted New York targets in the summer of 2001. There is never any indication that R. Scott Decker was privy to this sort of intelligence. Adnan was the son of the Blind Sheik’s translator and had lived in Brookyn when Zawahiri and Islambouli visited on a trip to the US.
DXer said
Rather than relying on evidence, Decker abandoned an Al Qaeda theory in October 2001 based on a profile — which was stupid. If true crime analysis is an art, profiling is drawing with crayons. (Moreover, Adnan El-Shukrijumah and Al Qaeda anthrax lab director were educated in the United States). Although Decker does not describe it, the FBI’s behavioral unit literally reached into the cabinet and pulled out a report that had just been written by Jennifer about UNABOM. What he instead should have relied upon was intelligence analysis by the CIA on the progress Al Qaeda had been known to have made on Ayman Zawahiri’s anthrax program, to include British intelligence seizures made from Rauf Ahmad, Zawahiri’s recruit who had been attending Porton Down conferences in 1999 and 2000. Given that FBI Agents were not even yet allowed to use computers prior to 9/11, it is no surprise that there was a failure to connect the dots. Documents were on line showing that Rauf Ahmad had already presented to the Porton Down conference his isolation of anthrax.
DXer said
Decker was chasing around 50,000 hoax letters in October and so could not be expected to network to what MI5 knew about Rauf Ahmad.
Infiltrating Al Qaeda scientist Rauf Ahmad did a lot more than have a servant serve tea and cookies to his US interrogators at a comfortable ISI safehouse
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 26, 2015
The UK Lab That Let Al Qaeda Scientist Rauf Ahmad Leave With Virulent Anthrax in 1999 Made A Mistake; To Keep The Lab’s Identity A Secret Prevents Us From Learning From History
Posted on December 5, 2014
CIA and FBI Knew [or should have known] Rauf Ahmad harvested “anthrax spore concentrate” for Al Qaeda for experiment on guinea pigs on “7-4-001” – handwriting on anthrax spore concentrate is same as handwriting of Rauf Ahmad in correspondence planning anthrax lab with Ayman Zawahiri
Posted on November 26, 2014
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
I especially love the reliance in the profile on the misspelling of the word “penicillin” as evidence that the person was actually a good speller. (FWIW, there are many idiotic aspects of the FBI’s thinking. For example, one is that there is zero reason to think that the person who wrote the letter is the microbiologist who made the product. Then you get to the issue of what percentage of the American public knows how to spell the word. (Hint: It would be very small). The profile is just the result of some profilers knowing that the strain was Ames strain and that it was mailed from the US — and the fact that they knew jack shit about Al Qaeda’s anthrax program, which was a huge counter-intelligence analysis failure on their part. Go ahead: Ask the people associated with the profile what they knew at the time.
DXer said
Oh, the other thing the behavioral analysis relied upon was the mention of Allah in the letters. The FBI reasoned that Al Qaeda would not mention Allah in addressing US targets. Go ahead: test the supposition with a google.
DXer said
Ha! So the FBI profiled that the mailer was not a supporter of Al Qaeda because he did not spell the word “penicillin” correctly.
Well, was Adnan El-Shukrijumah a good speller? His father was a sheikh and yet he misspelled it “shiekh” in the instance below.
In promoting his Dad’s language course (using all capital letters like in the anthrax letters), he spelled the word “grammar” as “grammer”.
Hey, I’ve got a wild, crazy idea. Maybe the reason the writer spelled penicillin wrong is because he didn’t know how to spell it! (Most people don’t).
DXer said
Fun fact:
In the formal handwriting examination conducted in the Amerithrax investigation, it was concluded that “Bruce E. Ivins probably did not write the writings appearing on the ‘anthrax’ envelopes and letters.” The Assistant US Attorney did not disclose that fact in the Amerithrax Investigative Summary.
Posted by Lew Weinstein on August 13, 2013
DXer said
Charges unsealed against man linked to bin Laden, al-Qaida
Published: January 18, 2018
http://www.tbo.com/ap/national/charges-unsealed-against-man-linked-to-bin-laden-al-qaida-ap_national43405306e9a143db8e15dedbfa63524e
He added that Ganczarski participated in the planning of plots to kill Americans with high-level al Qaeda terrorists, including bin Laden and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-described architect of the 9/11 attacks.
The U.S. seeks Ganczarski’s extradition from France, where he has been imprisoned for the last 15 years after he was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in a 2002 attack on a synagogue in Tunisia that killed 21 people.
Last week, he was charged with stabbing three prison guards, leading to his transfer to another prison in northern France and sparking protests by French prison guards outside scores of jails across France.
William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York’s FBI office, said Ganczarski arranged meetings between senior officials in al-Qaida and other like-minded individuals who wanted to attack U.S. interests.
“While he’s spent the past fifteen years behind bars in France, we haven’t forgotten his allegiance to those who have threatened our interests both at home and abroad,” he said.
New York Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said Ganczarski lived in al-Qaida’s camps and guest houses while he worked with bin Laden and men who planned and executed plots to bomb U.S. embassies in Africa, killing 225 people.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Ganczarski helped al-Qaida maintain weapons systems that would be used to attack U.S. soldiers and their aircraft, O’Neill said.
Authorities said Ganczarski was in Germany at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks and indicated afterward that he had been aware that a significant event was about to occur.
DXer said
A horrifying look into the mind of 9/11’s mastermind, in his own words, By Marc A. Thiessen November 28 at 11:13 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-horrifying-look-into-the-mind-of-911s-mastermind-in-his-own-words/2016/11/28/bf5827a8-b575-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.5e056fff8b30
DXer said
The former CIA WMD head from 2001-2004 has explained that among the documents taken upon KSM’s capture on or about March 2003 at the bacteriologist’s home was a drawing of an arrow from Afghanistan to the United States in connection with a reference to El-Shukrimjumah.
How to Get Terrorists to Talk
A former CIA interrogator on the “do’s” and “don’ts” of interrogation.
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
February 18, 2015
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-get-terrorists-talk-12270
DXer said
Judicial Watch this week states that Shukrijumah “piloted an aircraft into the Cielo Dorado airfield in Anthony, New Mexico, law enforcement sources tell Judicial Watch.”
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/12/al-qaeda-terrorist-wanted-fbi-crossed-back-forth-u-s-mexico/
Al Qaeda Terrorist Wanted by FBI Crossed Back and Forth Into U.S. From Mexico
DECEMBER 08, 2014
An Al Qaeda terrorist on the FBI’s most wanted list for years crossed back and forth into the United States from Mexico to meet fellow militant Islamists in Texas and piloted an aircraft into the Cielo Dorado airfield in Anthony, New Mexico, law enforcement sources tell Judicial Watch.
DXer said
On this issue whether he was trained as a pilot or not, I think a fair summary is that in March 2003, the FBI stated that it had no information that Shukrijumah had taken flight training in the US. But that by 2010, prosecutors were explaining that they believed that Shukrijumah took flight training at around the same time as the hijackers.
FBI Hunts ‘Al Qaeda Field Commander’ – ABC News
abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90755
The FBI issued a “be on the lookout” alert for Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, asking all law enforcement … He is believed to have trained at a flight school in Florida.
Link between wanted Saudi man and ‘dirty bomb’ suspect? – CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/21/fbi.terror.search/
Mar 22, 2003 … The FBI has no information that Shukrijumahis a pilot or ever took flight training in the United States.
FBI hunts Padilla `partner’ – Chicago Tribune
articles.chicagotribune.com/…/0303210244_1_adnan-g-el-shukrijumah-dirty -bomb-plot-jose-padilla
Mar 21, 2003 … … Officials said late Thursday that reports he had flight training are likely untrue.
Al Qaeda Leader Charged in Subway Bomb Plot – WNYC
http://www.wnyc.org/…/87931-al-qaeda-leader-charged-in-subway-bomb-plot/
Jul 7, 2010 … Undated FBI handout photo of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah (Photo by FBI via …Prosecutors say Shukrijumah received flight training at around the …
DXer said
Does his brother, Nabil, know whether Adnan could fly?
DXer said
Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s mom, who said he called her on or about 9/11 to tell her he was coming to the United States, said he was a “good boy” and just wanted to wake up the United States — to cause alarm.
Indeed, as I have often pointed out over the years, the Al Qaeda manual has a chapter on “Poisonous Letters” that instructs the mailer to take care not to kill the mailman.
CNN.com – Transcripts
edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/15/ltm.01.html
Nov 15, 2001 … Target: Terrorism: Look at Al Qaeda’s Dreadful Recipe Book … and was given three chapters of the manual, in order to prove it’s existence. … The poisonous letteris the title of one section no poison inks. … “Wipe the envelope from the inside with silicone sealant,” it goes on, “so it would not kill the mailman.
DXer said
In contrast to his mom’s view of him as a good boy, CIA analysts viewed him as a very baaaaad boy judging by the way KSM seemed to be protecting him.
It was the extremely virulent Ames strain of anthrax that the mailer used. The strain killed elderly Ottilie Lundgren.
“Additionally, the Ames strain is highly virulent in humans (36) and is most likely to be the basis of any weaponized strain (37, 38).”
“Pathology and pathophysiology of inhalational anthrax in a guinea pig model.”
Savransky V, Sanford DC, Syar E, Austin JL, Tordoff KP, Anderson MS, Stark GV, Barnewall RE, Briscoe CM, Lemiale-Biérinx L, Park S, Ionin B, Skiadopoulos MH.
Infect Immun. 2013 Apr;81(4):1152-63. doi: 10.1128/IAI.01289-12. Epub 2013 Jan 28
As indicated by the email I uploaded recently from Bruce Ivins, the Ames strain was used for the DARPA project precisely because a 1996 study had indicated that it was so virulent.
Then a formal study was done by Battelle in 2001 — which was uploaded in two parts — comparing Ames to two weaponized strains. (Confidence intervals had not previously been sufficient for the conclusions as to virulence.) The Battelle study is in the USAMRMC Reading Room in two parts.
DXer said
Bruce Ivins and Arthur Friedlander fielded claims by a New Yorker journalist about the particular virulence of the Ames strain.
The study that prompted Ivins to know of Ames special virulence was done by Steve Little and Greg Knudson.
Click to access %284%29%20email%20attachments%20Nov%207,%202001.pdf
“Regarding the discovery of the virulence of the Ames strain (isolate, as you will), you tell me that it was the work of Little and Knudson that recognized the particular virulence of the Ames strain. I’m guessing that their work was done at/in association with USAMRIID? And, what was the context of their study (looking for a virulent strain to use in vaccine challenges, etc)?
*********************************************************************
Yes, it was done at USAMRIID. They were doing studies with strains of B. anthracis at USAMRIID in an attempt to determine if any strains/isolates, in the guinea pig model, would overcome vaccination with the human vaccine.”
Note: The usual redactions have been turned off for your convenience.
DXer said
Militant with suspected ties to Sarasota Saudi family is killed
By Michael Pollick
By Michael Pollick
Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2014
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20141210/article/141219983?p=6&tc=pg
Abdulaziz al-Hijji knew El Shukrijumah and some of the terrorists who were in training at Venice Airport, according to a former friend who provided the information to an FBI agent and a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office detective in 2004.
The informant, a Sarasota cellphone store owner named Wissam Hammoud, made the claim while awaiting trial in the Hillsborough County jail on federal charges. He is now serving a 21-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty in August 2005 to charges he plotted to kill a federal agent and a confidential informant.
Through the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Hammoud arranged to be interviewed by Sarasota sheriff’s detective Michael Otis and FBI agent Leo Martinez, who worked then in the agency’s Fort Myers field office, according to a 2004 file by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Hammoud also told investigators that he often exercised with Abdulaziz al-Hijji at the Shapes Fitness center near Prestancia, and that the two played soccer together on property surrounding a Sarasota mosque.
Al-Hijji brought a friend to the games who Hammoud claimed to investigators was El Shukrijumah.
…
Hammoud told investigators that he also helped Abdulaziz and Anoud al-Hijji by clearing the Prestancia residence after they left Sarasota, putting their belongings in storage. He said he was asked to sell one of al-Hijji’s vehicles, a Volkswagen Beetle, and send the couple the proceeds.
Comment:
Dr. Vahid Majidi’s claim in his e-book that the FBI had identified, interviewed and excluded all of Atta’s known acquaintances is not true. He should correct it. The FBi was never able to locate Shukrijumah so as to be able to interview him. To leave such mistakes uncorrected under all the circumstances is not right. Indeed, Shukrijumah, judging by the documents produced to date, is known to have returned to the United States in September 2001.
During 2001 and 2002, the CIA reports that it did not have information on Shukrijumah. See CIA’s response to Senate Torture Report.
One possible source of information as to what the FBI learned, and when it learned it, might be FBI Special Agent Leo Martinez. Also the undercover in the prosecution cited by the Senate Torture Report.
The reason the contemporaneous documents are sought — and should be produced now that El-Shukrijumah was killed in the shoot-out — is precisely to rely on the most reliable evidence — and not the spin of senior officials.
DXer said
Here is a meaty article with new information offered about Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s whereabouts in recent years.
From Florida to al Qaida: Militant spent last years at Iran-Pakistan-Afghan border
BY TOM HUSSAIN
McClatchy Foreign StaffDecember 10, 2014
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/12/10/249650/from-florida-to-al-qaida-militant.html#storylink=cpy
DXer said
There’s a document in the Sarasota FOIA suit which I believe says it is known El-Shukrijumah travelled to the US in September 2001. I have uploaded it.
Al Qaida figure’s death complicates Sarasota-linked 911 probe,” Miami-Dade County, 12/09/2014
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4395183.html
The “probe” relates to a lawsuit under FOIA. Shukrijumah’s death eliminates the (b)(6) exemption for privacy. On whatever document his name appears, his name, IMO, should now appear unredacted.
I would argue that it also eliminates the justification for any national security or law enforcement exemption under FOIA.
DXer said
In Sarasota investigation, who was the person associated with the hijackers’ flight school who was discovered to have re-entered the country after 9/11?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on September 21, 2014
DXer said
In her foreword to the Senate Torture Report, Senator Feinstein has said they will continue working on declassification of more of 6, 000 + pages — but did not want to hold up release of the 600 page Executive Summary. One document that should be released is the letter from KSM to Ramzi bin Al-Shibh instructing Ramzi to have Jafar the Pilot prepare for travel.
DXer said
Padilla is the one who first identified Adnan El-Shukrijumah.
Padilla worshipped with Adnan El-Shukrijumah at the mosque across from “Franklin Park.”
Franklin Park [though in NJ] was listed as the return address on the letters to Senator Leahy and Senator Daschle. On the return address, Greendale School purported to be in Franklin Park.
The mosque was at 2542 Franklin Park Dr. in Fort Lauderdale. The address of the county park, Franklin Park, is across the street. 2501 Franklin Dr., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
“Franklin Park” refers both to the locality and a county park across from the mosque.
http://www.broward.org/Parks/FranklinPark/Pages/Default.aspx
El-Shukrijumah stayed at KSM’s house. El-Shukrijumah was a close affiliate of Hawsawi who had the anthrax processing documents on his laptop, and he was an associate of a man who helped set up Yazid Sufaat’s anthrax lab in Kandahar in May 2001. While in Pakistan, Padilla had reported to KSM, the al Qaeda’s No. 3 leader who had anthrax production documents on his laptop when he was arrested.
A federal undercover agent repeats that he saw Atta and El-Shukrijumah together at mosque.
Remember: Given that using the same address helped the second recipient receiving the letter to identify it and avoid opening it, the mailer would have no reason to use the same address unless he was communicating something to insiders and wanted to draw attention to it.
El-Shukrijumah may have been announcing by the address who the sender was — speaking in a code as he taught his colleagues (like Binyam) plotting with Padilla to do.