Another unconnected "dot".For more than three years, THE Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time NEW AMERICAN has documented that federal officials had abundant, specific foreknowledge fore·knowl·edge n. Knowledge or awareness of something before its existence or occurrence; prescience. foreknowledge Noun knowledge of something before it actually happens Noun 1. of the 9-11 plot. To that body of evidence can be added the case of Niaz Khan, a British citizen of Pakistani background who tipped off the FBI to the al-Qaeda plot more than a year before 9-11. In April 2000, Khan was a "walk-in" to the FBI's Newark, New Jersey, office. As Lisa Meyers of NBC News summarized in a June 3 report, Khan told the FBI "that he had been trained by [Osama] bin Laden's followers to hijack airplanes and was now in America to carry out an attack." To Meyers, Khan described how he had been recruited into the ranks of Jihad outside a casino in Manchester, England. The al-Qaeda recruiters had learned of Khan's substantial gambling debts. Taken to a training camp in Lahore, Pakistan, Khan "and up to 30 other men were taught hijacking hijacking Crime of seizing possession or control of a vehicle from another by force or threat of force. Although by the late 20th century hijacking most frequently involved the seizure of an airplane and its forcible diversion to destinations chosen by the air pirates, when basics, including how to smuggle smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. guns and other weapons through airport security, techniques to overpower o·ver·pow·er tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers 1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue. 2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm. 3. passengers and crew and how to get into a cockpit"--information he shared with the Feds in April 2000. Once in the U.S., Khan--who had previously descended into suicidal despair--became disenchanted dis·en·chant tr.v. dis·en·chant·ed, dis·en·chant·ing, dis·en·chants To free from illusion or false belief; undeceive. [Obsolete French desenchanter, from Old French, with his mission and slipped away to Atlantic City, where he blew a wad of al-Qaeda cash at a casino. Fearful of retaliation, he turned himself in, gave a detailed description of the conspiracy, and passed two polygraph An instrument used to measure physiological responses in humans when they are questioned in order to determine if their answers are truthful. Also known as a "lie detector," the polygraph has a controversial history in U.S. law. tests. "A former FBI official says Newark agents believed Khan and tried to aggressively follow every lead in the case, but word came down from headquarters saying 'return him to London and forget about it,'" reported Myers. (A former FBI counter-terror official familiar with those circumstances related a similar account to THE NEW AMERICAN shortly after 9-11; see our March 11, 2002 cover story, "Did We Know What Was Coming?") Khan's account illustrates "another brand of negligence," commented Patty Casazza of Colts Neck. New Jersey, whose husband John was among the victims at the World Trade Center. "It's another piece of foreknowledge that was put aside.... How many warnings do you have to have until news of a hijacking is deemed credible?" |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion