WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2007
Feds Release Controversial 9/11 Tape
Audio Tape Of Hearing Of Alleged Mastermind Made Public, But Not All Of It
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been assigned "enemy combatant" status, a classification the Bush administration says allows it to hold him indefinitely and prosecute him at a military tribunal. (AP Photo)
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After months of debate by several federal agencies, the Defense Department released the tape Thursday. Cut from it were 10 minutes of the more than 40-minute closed court session at Guantanamo Bay to determine whether Mohammed should be declared an "enemy combatant."
Since the March hearing, he has been assigned "enemy combatant" status, a classification the Bush administration says allows it to hold him indefinitely and prosecute him at a military tribunal.
Officials from the CIA, FBI, State Department and others listened to the tape and feared it could be copied and edited by other militants for use as propaganda, officials said.
"It was determined that the release of this portion of the spoken words of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would enable enemies of the United States to use it in a way to recruit or encourage future terrorists or terrorist activities," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "This could ultimately endanger the lives and physical safety of American citizens and those of our allies."
Calling Mohammed a "notorious figure," Whitman added, "I think we all recognize that there is an obvious difference between the potential impacts of the written versus the spoken word."
Some of the statements deleted from the tape have already been widely reported because the Pentagon released a 26-page written transcript of the hearing several days after it was held. Others statements were cut both from the audio and the transcript because of security and privacy concerns, officials said.
Mohammed was the first of 14 so-called "high-value" detainees who were held in secret CIA prisons before being transferred to the Pentagon facility at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At the hearing, he portrayed himself as al Qaeda's most active operational planner, confessing to the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and to playing a central role in 30 other attacks and plots in the U.S. and worldwide that killed thousands.
The gruesome attacks range from the suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001 -- which killed nearly 3,000 people -- to a 2002 shooting on an island off Kuwait that killed a U.S. Marine.
Among statements that appeared in the transcript, but were cut from the audio, was Mohammed saying he felt some sorrow over Sept. 11.
"I'm not happy that 3,000 been killed in America," the transcript quoted him as saying in broken English. "I feel sorry even. I don't like to kill children and the kids."
But he says there are exceptions in war.
"The language of the war is victims," Mohammed said in a part of the transcript that was cut from the audio. He compared al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to George Washington, saying Americans view Washington as a hero for his role in the Revolutionary War and many Muslims view bin Laden in the same light.
"He is doing same thing. He is just fighting. He needs his independence," Mohammed said.
During much of Mohammed's hearing, he spoke in English. The audio released by the Pentagon includes Mohammed responding to questions.
Audio tapes of other high-value detainees have been released by the Pentagon. Whitman said he did not know if any of those have been used as propaganda by extremist groups on the Internet.
The audio tape also includes a number of other redactions that reflect portions of the written transcript that were deleted, because of security and privacy concerns, when it was first released.
One of the sections initially held back by the Pentagon, but later released, was Mohammed's confession to the beheading of Pearl. "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Mohammed said in a written statement read by his U.S.-appointed representative for the hearing.
Officials at first held back the section to allow time for his family to be notified, Whitman said at the time.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 24 Commentshttp://www.whodidit.org/cocon.html
MSNBC - 89% Americans Want Bush Impeached
Really? Who targets the innocent? Not us. They may be casualties, but they are never the target. Contrast that with the terrorists.
"In this war alone there are plenty of videos and pictures of dead children stacked up in the back of pickup trucks until they can''''t hold anymore. We''''ve killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people over there, men, women and children and we wonder why they are attacking us?"
Hundreds of thousands of innocents you say? That''s a flat out lie and you know it.
"Reality check people, what would you do if the tables were turned and it was your child covered in a sheet, killed by the government of... whoever, you choose?"
Hey, idiot... remember 9/11? The tables were turned, and STILL we don''t EVER target innocents as a strategy. Yes, mistakes have been made and there are some bad people in the military. If we had gone over there and killed indiscriminately, this war would have been over a long time ago, but we are better than that. We try harder than any other nation on earth not to kill innocent people. We develop technology to be as precise as possible on out targets. You make me sick.
Posted by lochlan at 07:26 PM : Sep 13, 2007
Bin Laden is not named as the perpetrator of 9/11 by the FBI:
When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden''s Most Wanted web page [Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI] said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden''s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11."
fbi dot gov/ wanted/ terrorists/ terbinladen dot htm
whatreallyhappened dot com/ fiveisraelis dot html
SAME OLD UGLY PICTURE OF THAT DUDE AND SAME OLD BS
Audio Tape Of Hearing Of Alleged Mastermind Made Public, But Not All Of It
Audio Tape Of Hearing Of Alleged Mastermind Made Public, But Not All Of It
SO NOW THAT BIN LADEN HAS EXITED THE STAGE IT''s TIME FOR OLE Sheikh Mohammed TO PERFORM ORALLY FOR EACH AND EVERY RIGHT WING BOT
OH PLEASE, tell me it is not so! Ah - com''on freefeel, get the liplock off of ibestevie2u, and show me just how frustrated you are...
speakinup,
Re: "Gee, freefeel - let me give you a tip. If you didn''t care about what I posted last, you would not have responded."
Deal!!!
Gee, freefeel - let me give you a tip. If you didn''t care about what I posted last, you would not have responded.
You are really a piece of work, you know that ? Al Qaeda is a figment of our imagination, right ? It''s all a show, so we can go to war in a country to get more oil, but mind you, your ilk claim there is no Al Qaeda in Iraq - or - did it finally sink in that Al Qaeda is in Iraq ?
Anyway, have you ever tried to keep a secret with three of four people ? Doesn''t work too well does it ? In fact, at the risk of telling you something you may already know, " three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." Benjamin Franklin. So how do you propose that the government kept this a secret. I''ll just assume that you believe ''spooks'' did all the tasks that Al Qaeda was presumed to have done.
Go ahead - we''re all up for a good laugh.
toolmangler,
Re: "Very good point, wouldn''t you agree Feely :)"
I can''t agree with that, because I am increasingly convinced that "al Qaeda" is little more than a Made-in-USA/Israel/Britain hoax, similar to Emanuel Goldstein in Orwell''s "1984". I am almost certain that this is the case with "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq".
No, that does not mean that I don''t think that there are extremists from all religions/cults that wish violent harm to others. I just don''t think that most of them have the means, or that they are organized into any coordinated global network, or that they are club members of any group named "al Qaeda".
Take Great Britain for example. When Iran kidnapped British soldiers, Britain did everything the Iranians wanted: went through the diplomatic route, grovelled in the mud, pretended that Iran had a point, etc. And yet a few days later, there was the Glasgow Airport attack. So hate is hate, no matter what that country does. I am glad the US does not grovel in the mud to appease these savages. At least, if we are going to be targeted, we are going to keep our pride.
Very good point, wouldn''t you agree Feely :)
Everyone out there hate Americans because Americans like killing poor people for their cheap oil or God knows what.
Posted by dignity101 at 05:47 PM : Sep 13, 2007
Americans themselves hate war and killing. How ever Corporate Greed (CG) will use what ever country that is very strong to force the world to do things their way, Right now America is the strongest but you wait until CG really gets NAFTA, CAFTA, AFTA, and the EU all going strong and the USA,Britain and Canada have their economys crashed so that the third world countries are on the same level as the top three then the strongest countries will be China, Russia, India, and the Asian bloc. If you want to blame someone for this mess, blame The Big Families. (Firestone, DuPont and others (the Old Money). Investigate them and prepare for the shock of your lives (It should scare the pants off a thinking man).
speakinup,
I don''t imagine that anyone cares what you think, if, in fact, you did. I know that I don''t...care, that is.
Posted by speakinup at 06:13 PM : Sep 13, 2007
Ugly is right!! Looks like Ron Jeremy to me.
But even terrorists are allowed to toss their propaganda around. Die a myserable death freefeel for your sadistic cause.
Re: "I''m not happy that 3,000 been killed in America," the transcript quoted him as saying in broken English. "I feel sorry even. I don''t like to kill children and the kids."
This appears to be a clear difference between this man, and the mass-murderous, torture-loving, Bush-puppet.
dignity101,
Re: "I think years ago, the Vietamese wanted to know, at present the Afghans and Iraqis want to know the same thing- WHY does Americans want to kill us???"
"I think its a rhetorical question. Everyone out there hate Americans because Americans like killing poor people for their cheap oil or God knows what."
"I hope those who support these wars- can sleep a peaceful night."
Great point, and nice screen name.
Posted by Consciousnes at 05:09 PM : Sep 13, 2007
I think years ago, the Vietamese wanted to know, at present the Afghans and Iraqis want to know the same thing- WHY does Americans want to kill us???
I think its a rhetorical question. Everyone out there hate Americans because Americans like killing poor people for their cheap oil or God knows what.
I hope those who support these wars- can sleep a peaceful night.
Liberty and democracy has anything to do with war and land invasions. when bush speaks about freedom and democracy he''s a stupid child with no rational mind no more no less. is a fascist empire and if they want to invade other lands well bush has to keep distance from what he''s talking about and pay the price if he want to steal the goods of other people .... THE GOOD AND EVIL IS A SUBJECTIVE TOPIC WHO ONLY GOD CAN SAY WHO''S EVIL AND WHO''S GOOD .. AND BUSH HAS NOT RIGHT TO SAY HE''S THE GOOD GUYS THAT''S BULLSH!T AND VERY UNREAL....
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