"DISCOVERY" OF BIN LADEN *** God, Blair and the Bomb below 
                                                     
by  Eric A. Smith 

9-11 Widow Files Rico Lawsuit

public signatures sought to support Investigation

PHILADELPHIA, Jan 6 -- Ellen Mariani, whose husband died in the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when UAL 175 was flown into the
World Trade Center, has filed suit in a US District Court alleging Bush,
Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and other co-defendents had sufficient warning
to stop the terrorist attacks but failed to either warn or protect the public.

According to a recent CBS News report, the Republican
9-11 Commission Chairman agrees:

9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable

(CBS News -- December 18, 2003) For the first time, the chairman
of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is
saying publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented,
reports CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston....

Appointed by the Bush administration, Kean, a former Republican
governor of New Jersey, is now pointing fingers inside the
administration and laying blame.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml

Mariani's suit also charges the Bush Administration with burying evidence
of its failure and refusing to release vital information.

Philadelphia Attorney Philip J. Berg, who filed the suit on Mariani's behalf,
says the Administration must be held accountable. Berg launched the suit on
November 26, and has since put up a website explaining the details of
Mariani vs Bush, et al. The Bush Administration is currently trying
to have the charges dismissed in court.

Public support is critical, says Berg, who has posted an online petition.
"We need at least a million signatures for them to take it seriously."
He added that mounting a class action is also being considered.
Concerned American citizens are urged to read and sign the petition here:

http://www.911forthetruth.com

###

Notice: You are asked and encouraged to freely distribute, publish
and/or otherwise disseminate this release as widely as possible.

Related stories:

1. NY Times: Bush Warned bin Laden Would Hijack Planes
"The White House said tonight that President Bush had been warned
by American intelligence agencies in early August that Osama bin Laden
was seeking to hijack aircraft..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/politics/16INQU.html

2.CNN: Bush briefed on hijacking threat before 9-11
"President Bush's daily intelligence briefings in the weeks leading up to the
September 11 terror attacks included a warning of the possibility that
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network would attempt to hijack a U.S.-based
airliner, senior administration officials said Wednesday" http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/15/bush.sept.11/index.html

3.UK Guardian: Bush knew terrorists would hijack planes
"George Bush received specific warnings in the weeks before 11 September
that an attack inside the United States was being planned by Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda network, US government sources said yesterday…. The memo
received by Bush on 6 August contained unconfirmed information passed on
by British intelligence in 1998 revealing that al-Qaeda operatives had discusse
 hijacking a plane to negotiate the release of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the
Muslim cleric imprisoned in America for his part in a plot to blow up
the World Trade Centre in 1993." http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,718312,00.html

4.Sunday Herald: Britain warned Bush to expect 9-11 al-Qaeda hijackings
"Britain gave President Bush a categorical warning to expect multiple
airline hijackings by the al-Qaeda network a month before the September 11
attacks which killed nearly 3000 people and triggered
the international war against terrorism."
http://www.sundayherald.com/24822

5.Village Voice: Officials Warned of Plans to Attack DC, NY with Planes
"The U.S. government had received repeated warnings of impending attacks—
and attacks using planes directed at New York and Washington—
for several years. The government never told us about
what it knew was coming."
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0332/mondo4.php

6.AP: 9/11 report, Rice conflict; Bush got specific data on threats
"...the briefing given to the president a month before the suicide hijackings
included recent intelligence that al-Qaida was planning to send operatives
to the United States to carry out an attack using high explosives." http://www.sunspot.net/business/nationworld/bal-te.rice29jul29,0,2620591.story?
coll=bal-business-headlines

7.MSNBC: White House Briefed on Imminent bin Laden Attack
"One such CIA briefing, in July 2001, was particularly chilling and prophetic.
It predicted that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike 'in
the coming weeks,' the congressional investigators found. The intelligence
briefing went on to say: 'The attack will be spectacular and designed to
inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations
have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning.'" http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3067907/

8.MSN: Condoleezza Rice's False Statement
A:
"The overwhelming bulk of the evidence was that this was
an attack that was likely to take place overseas."
- White House National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice, in a May 16 news briefing.

B:"Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."
- Title of the CIA's Aug. 6 briefing memo to President Bush . .. . http://slate.msn.com/?id=2066154

9.Newsweek: Day before 9-11, Pentagon Generals Cancelled Flights
"On Sept. 10, NEWSWEEK has learned, a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/629606.asp (link dead)

10. SF Gate: Mayor got 8-hour warning Before 9-11 Attacks – 
September 12, 2001

For Mayor Willie Brown, the first signs that something was amiss came
late Monday when he got a call from what he described as his airport security
- - a full eight hours before yesterday's string of terrorist attacks --
advising him that Americans should be cautious about their air travel. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/12/
MN229389.DTL

11.Florida State: Jeb Bush Declares Martial Law 9-7-01
"Based on the potential massive damage to life and property that may result
from an act of terrorism at a Florida port, the necessity to protect life and
property from such acts of terrorism..." http://www.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/orders/2001/september/eo2001-261-09-07-
01.html

12.CBS News: Ashcroft Avoided Commercial Travel Prior to 9-11
"In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling
exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice
Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said
Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet
for the remainder of his term."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/printable303601.shtml

13.UK Independent: Taliban Mole Warning Ignored
"Weeks before the terrorist attacks on 11 September, the United States
and the United Nations ignored warnings from a secret Taliban emissary
that Osama bin Laden was planning a huge attack on American soil." http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=331115

14.NY Times: "President Mubarek Warned US of Al Qaeda Plot"
"Egyptian intelligence warned American officials about a week before Sept. 11
that Osama bin Laden's network was in the advance stages of executing a
significant operation against an American target, President Hosni Mubarak
said in an interview on Sunday."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D16F73B5E0C778CDDAF089
4DA404482

15.Village Voice: US Ignored France Warnings
"A key point in unraveling why the FBI failed to follow up leads on
Al Qaeda terrorism now centers on the Bureau's contemptuously brushing
aside warnings from French intelligence a few days before 9-11." http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0222/ridgeway2.php

16.Intl. Herald Tribune: White House Ignored Arab Warnings
"When the hubbub about what the White House did or didn't know before
Sept. 11 dies down, Congressional or other investigators should consider
the specific warnings that friendly Arab intelligence services sent to
Washington in the summer of 2001."
http://www.iht.com/articles/58269.html

17. UK News-Telegraph: Israel issued urgent warning of large-scale terror attacks
Israeli intelligence officials say that they warned their counterparts in the
United States last month that large-scale terrorist attacks on highly visible
targets on the American mainland were imminent."
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$52PMOXQAADW5PQF
IQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2001/09/16/wcia16.xml&sSheet=
/news/2001/09/16/ixhome

18.NY Post: FBI Warned D.C. It Was A Target
"A Minnesota FBI agent investigating Zacarias Moussaoui testified yesterday
that he notified the Secret Service weeks before Sept. 11 that a terror team
might hijack a plane and 'hit the nation's capital.'" http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/57848.htm

20.Yahoo News: FBI Warnings Ignored
"An FBI supervisor, sounding a prophetic pre-Sept. 11 alarm, warned
FBI headquarters that student pilot Zacarias Moussaoui was so dangerous
he might 'take control of a plane and fly it into the World Trade Center,'
a congressional investigator said in a report Tuesday."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=716&e=4&u=
/ap/20020924/ap_on_go_co/attacks_intelligence

21. Independent: America had 12 warnings of aircraft attack
"American intelligence received many more clues before the 11 September
attacks than previously disclosed, that terrorists might hijack planes and turn
them into weapons, a joint congressional committee was told yesterday." http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=334633

22.Washington Post: 9/11 Probe Says Agencies
Failed to Heed Attack Signs

"U.S. intelligence agencies received many more indications than previously
disclosed that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was planning imminent
"spectacular" attacks in the summer of 2001 aimed at inflicting mass casualties." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36754-2002Sep18.html

23.Yahoo News: Spy Agencies Had Pre-9/11 Threats on U.S. Soil
"U.S. intelligence agencies picked up threats of attacks inside the United States
and of using airplanes as weapons during the spring and summer before last
year's Sept. 11 attacks, but were more focused on the possibility of an assault
overseas, a congressional source said on Tuesday."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=578&ncid=578&e=1&u=/nm/
20020917/ts_nm/attack_congress_intelligence_dc

24.Vanity Fair: Bin Laden Relatives Secretly Evacuated From NY
"Patrick Tyler of the New York Times is reporting from Washington: 'In the
first days after the attacks on Sept. 11, the Saudi Arabian ambasador to
Washington, Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, supervised the urgent evacuation of
24 members of Osama bin Laden's extended family from the United States
fearing they might be subjected to violence.'"
http://www.guerrillanews.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=gnn&
Number=204363&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&part=all

25.Sydney Morning Herald: Administration Told US agents
"Back off bin Ladens"

"US special agents were told to back off the bin Laden family and the
Saudi royals soon after George Bush became president, although that
has all changed since September 11, it was reported today." http://www.old.smh.com.au/news/0111/07/world/world100.html

26. Ha'aretz Daily: CEO Says Workers Warned Hours
Before World Trade Center Hit -- FBI Investigating

"Odigo, the instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received
messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11
predicting the attack would happen, and the company has been cooperating
with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to find
the original sender of the message predicting the attack." http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=77744

27. NY Times: White House Approved Secret Evacuation of Bin Ladens After 9-11
"Richard Clarke, who ran White House crisis team after Sept 11 terror attacks,
says top White House officials personally approved evacuation of dozens of
influential Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, from United States
in days after Sept 11, when most flights were grounded." http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/090503A.shtml

28. Tampa Tribune: Bodyguards tell of Secret Bin Laden Flight
"The hastily arranged flight out of Raytheon Airport Services, a private
hangar on the outskirts of Tampa International Airport, was anything but
ordinary. It lifted off the tarmac at a time when every private plane in
the nation was grounded due to safety concerns after the Sept. 11 attacks. "
http://www.dirtybush.com/connectthesedots.html

29. UK Minister: "Bush had Foreknowledge of 9-11 attacks"
"...it is not surprising that some have seen the US failure to avert the 9/11
attacks as creating an invaluable pretext for attacking Afghanistan in a war
that had clearly already been well planned in advance." http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,1036588,00.html

******************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OPINION: THOUGHTS ON THE COMING "DISCOVERY" OF BIN LADEN 
--The Best Propaganda Money can Buy

Unless preparations are made for its eventuality, the announcement of
Bin Laden's capture will be the death-knell for the 2004 Democratic campaign.
And, like the "heroic rescue" of Jessica Lynch or the toppling of Hussein's statue
by "jubilant throngs" of Iraqis, it needn't even be real:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la
-oe-scheer20may20,1,2187120.column

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1762/3907255.html

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2838.htm

So Democrats must have a pre-emptive strategy in place; the most obvious being,
early in the game, to accuse the White House of sitting on Bin Laden for political gain. 

A better one is to launch an independent investigation to find Bin Laden first and
announce the discovery before Rove's political operatives; this would be a huge coup.

In case you haven't been paying attention, this election year, Republicans are
playing a deadly game of attrition -- death by a thousand tiny cuts, so to speak:
extreme reprimanding in Texas, the recall of a governor in California, the
installation of inauditable, easily "preprogrammed" DRE e-vote machines in
as many counties as will allow them to be stuffed down their throats, relentless
and bloody character assassinations in a bought-and-paid-for Murdoch-
dominated media empire, absentee ballots counted by an untouchable firm
in Kuwait, stacked courts ready to deliver decisions for which 2000's
Gore vs. Bush set the precedent.

The odds look dire for Democrats (and, by extension, the majority
of Americans, though they are as yet blissfully unaware of the
slender thread from which all our liberties hang). 

But, in case you haven't connected the dots,
this time the GOP is playing for keeps. 

Once the fix is in, there will be no turning back: by an invisible,
carefully planned coup, the neoconservatives will have transformed
America into an autocracy, and any remaining political opposition
will be window dressing.

And so, I challenge you: this is a battle we perhaps cannot win,
but, at all costs, MUST NOT LOSE.

The consequences of surrender will be incalculable: one by one,
like dominos, institutions we cherish will fall -- environmental laws,
social security, independent media, healthy advocacy groups, assistance
for the unemployed, impoverished and disenfranchised -- 
and, foremost, the right to choose our leaders.

We will be left with one remaining liberty: the right to choose
which products to buy to keep the militaristic money machine well-oiled,
and its minders well-heeled.

This year, unless YOU act -- BOLDLY, DECISIVELY, PERSISTENTLY
AND INCESSANTLY -- the dream our forefathers nurtured to life will die.

Don't let the dream die.

Stand up and fight for America.

Stand up and fight for the vote.

This will be your last chance.

sincerely,
Eric A. Smith
Tokyo

About the author:

Eric A. Smith is a freelance journalist, editor and IT instructor living in Tokyo,
Japan. An activist for over 25 years, he has worked with such diverse
publications as the RTP Beacon, Common Ground and Adbusters magazine. 

Smith is currently volunteering to assist Bev Harris of Blackboxvoting.org,
Attorney Phillip Berg in 9-11 widow Ellen Mariani's RICO suit against Bush,
et al, and is a charter member of the Open Voting Consortium.

Smith earned his BA at the University of North Carolina in 1992,
and holds MCP, field service technician, A+ and Network+ certifications
from Microsoft, COMPTIA and the Control Data Institute.


He can be reached for comment at 81-03-3959-5371 or snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

God, Blair and the Bomb 

A tentative search for moral clarity

LONDON, Mar 7 -- Well, now it's official.

Blair has joined Bush in declaring their mutual global campaign a 'war on evil',
thus officially designating our bombs holy and the enemy's evil, should we have
harbored any doubts. So while we poison civilians with depleted uranium for the
"greater good", our enemies are using (or were maybe perhaps planning to
someday use) exclusively evil Weapons of mass destruction. 

Whoops, wait a minute; since Rumsfeld, Cheney, Reagan and Bush senior
SUPPLIED Hussein with Anthrax, Botulism, Cholera, Bubonic Plague, Gas
Gangrene and nuclear detonators in the first place, were THOSE WMD "holy"
until they arrived in Iraq, at which time they became tools of Satan?
And would that then make Rumsfeld, et al, "Satan's suppliers"?

This raises other important moral issues, for example, at which point do these
weapons cross the line of sanctity? As soon as the sales receipts are obtained?
As they're loaded onto our transport planes? After America's neocons
have been paid?

The import of these answers far outweigh those of the "how many angels
can dance on the head of a pin" or the "if you listen to Stairway to Heaven
backwards does it really say 'Satan hump me gently'" arguments.

And, hypothetically, if the Pope were to bless our "bunker buster" nukes,
would they become permanently holy? Would they not then be endowed with
a sort of teflon-esque holiness? If these papally-blessed nukes were then delivered
to, oh I don't know, IRAQ, would they not then RETAIN their holy essence?
And would that holiness be violated if they were sold to a Saddam-like dictator
instead of merely detonated upon the heathen heads of the enemy's civilians?

God -- and now perhaps Blair and Bush -- only knows.

References:
Senator Robert C. Byrd -- Senate Remarks:
"Providing a Cookbook for Iraqi Biological Weapons" -- September 26, 2002
http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_issues/byrd_iraqi_bioweapons/byrd_
sept262002/byrd_sept262002.html

Wikipedia -- the free internet Encyclopedia -- entry "Halliburton"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton

Global Policy Forum: 
"Pentagon Iraq Contractor Has History Of Supporting Terrorist Regimes"
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/after/2003/0416pentagoncontract.htm

Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
Tokyo, Japan
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
# # 

More of Eric

An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future

 

Close