MISSILE DOWNED TWA FLIGHT 800?
***MISSILE ATTACK DOWNED TWA FLIGHT 800?***
J. Adams
August 26th, 1996
The *Spirit Of Truth* WWW Page
http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~jpa94001/
"Senior Iranian sources close to the fundamentalist regime in
Tehran claimed this weekend that TWA flight 800 was shot down last
month by one of three shoulder-fired Stingers of the type used by
Islamic guerrillas during the Afghanistan war."
-from the Times of London, August 25th, 1996
"The presence on the crash scene of officials with the National
Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency reinforced in some
minds that there might have been some intercepted intelligence
regarding a missile attack."
-from the Austin American-Statesman, August 25, 1996
"My sources within the intelligence community tell me government
authorities may call it a bomb when indeed they know it was a missile
that destroyed Flight 800."
-Martin Keating, the author of "The Final Jihad"
For anyone with even the slightest skepticism about the honesty of
government, the investigation into the crash of TWA Flight 800 should
raise an eyebrow. In the two months since the crash, effectively no
definitive conlusions have been made public about what likely caused
the crash which claimed more than 200 innocent lives. Beyond being an
extraordinarily slow investigation, uncovered evidence and
investigative findings often appear to be concealed from the public.
Furthermore, some of the information which was revealed to the
American people has been later contradicted or called into question
creating collective doubt about what might have happened.
The reason for the seeming secrecy and inconsistencies in the
official investigation might be because the cause of the crash is
recognized but is being covered-up.
There is strong evidence that Flight 800 was downed by an
antiaircraft surface-to-air missile. First off, a suspicious radar
blip was recorded moving toward Flight 800 just prior to the crash.
Also, there was around 100 similar eyewitness accounts of an orange
flame streaking into the sky toward where the plane exploded. Third,
as reported on the tabloid television news program tonight, "EXTRA",
at least one photograph was taken just prior to the crash of what
appears to be a missile flying across the sky. Lastly, senior Iranian
officials have now reportedly admitted that TWA Flight 800 was downed
by a Stinger surface-to-air missile attack.
The problem with the missile theory, however, is not a lack of
evidence but rather a lack of acceptability. If Flight 800 was downed
by a terrorist missile attack, then there is little the government can
do to prevent other such attacks in the future. Tighter airport
security can prevent terrorists from slipping bombs on to airliners,
but how can terrorists armed with shoulder-fired missiles be stopped?
There is little in way of an effective defense against such a form of
terrorism, so, to keep the American public feeling safe to fly, the
truth of a missile attack might be covered-up and, instead, we might
be told the crash was caused by either a mechanical failure or an on-
board bomb.
Another reason the government might choose to lie is a CIA cover-
up. The reason American-made Stinger missiles are in the hands of
Arab terrorists is because the CIA covertly armed the Afghan
Mujahadeen with Stingers to resist the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan during the 1980's. Many of these sophisticated surface-
to-air missiles have since found their way into the hands of Islamic
terrorists since Afghanistan is now a principal location used for
training by Islamic terrorists. (Note that Moscow may have ordered the
seemingly ill-fated Afghan invasion simply to gain a strategic
position for infiltrating Islamic terrorist networks. That strategic
positioning is now paying-off in that Moscow can direct world
terrorism from inside the apparently Islamic networks and thereby seem
completely blameless.) Given that the CIA is not very big on accepting
responsibility for its mistakes, there is reason to suspect that the
investigation into the crash of TWA Flight 800 is being manipulated to
render spurious conclusions or no conclusions at all.
If, indeed, TWA Flight 800 was downed by a missile, then it is
probable the terrorists are linked to the Islamic terrorist cell in
Brooklyn, New York that was responsible for the World Trade Center
bombing and a larger plot to reap havoc throughout New York City. As
is explained in Laurie Mylroie's article below, "Saddam's Fingerprints
on N.Y. Bombings", past terrorism in New York was likely the work of
Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In particularly, Ramzi Yussef, who is
currently on trial in New York, is an Iraqi national who appears to
have been taking orders from Baghdad when he masterminded the World
Trade Center bombing and other terrorist plots against America.
Again, however, for whatever reason, evidence of a link between
terrorism against the U.S. and Saddam Hussein's Iraq is apparently not
acceptable to Washington and is subject to a possible cover-up.
Some profound articles associated with a possible missile attack
on Flight 800 and Saddam Hussein's role in terrorism directed against
the U.S. is presented below:
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Times of London
Aug 25, 1996
"Terrorists reportedly smuggle missiles into U.S."
U.S. officials are investigating reports that Islamic terrorists
have smuggled Stinger ground-to-air missiles into the United States
from Pakistan.
Senior Iranian sources close to the fundamentalist regime in Tehran
claimed this weekend that TWA flight 800 was shot down last month
by one of three shoulder-fired Stingers of the type used by Islamic
guerrillas during the Afghanistan war.
The sources said the missiles arrived in America seven months ago
after being shipped from Karachi via Rotterdam and on to the
Canadian port of Halifax. They claimed an Egyptian fundamentalist
group backed by Iran was responsible for smuggling the weapons
across the Canadian border into the United States.
The group, the Gama'a al-Islamiya, comprises followers of Sheikh
Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind Egyptian cleric jailed in the United
States over the 1993 New York World Trade Center bombing. It has
been waging a war to overthrow the government of President Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt and has been held responsible for a number of
attacks on tourists since 1992, including the murder of 17
Europeans last April.
A senior White House official responsible for counter-terrorism
told The Sunday Times this weekend that he had seen a report that a
Stinger missile had been smuggled into the United States from
Pakistan. The official, who is involved in collating intelligence
relating to the TWA inquiry for the White House, said investigators
were aware of reports that Stingers may have been smuggled into the
country.
"It is plausible," he said. "We have not come to any final
conclusions. If a Stinger was the cause of this, our first theory
would be that it came from Afghanistan."
According to the Iranian report, the Stingers smuggled into America
were bought by Iran from Afghan guerrillas. However, the American
official emphasised that the possibility that a missile had
destroyed the TWA jet was not the administration's leading theory.
The FBI confirmed last week that traces of explosive had been found
on debris linked to the inside of the jet, indicating that an
explosive device had detonated in the passenger cabin. But
investigators have insufficient evidence to determine whether the
device was a bomb or a missile warhead.
The official was commenting on reports from Tehran that claimed
several groups funded by the religious authorities in Iran are
active in the United States. The reports claim one previously
unknown underground group called Falakh may have as many as 50
highly trained terrorists in the country.
The missile theory, although not ruled out, has been treated
sceptically by many investigators who are convinced that a
terrorist bomb smuggled on to the jet caused the crash which
destroyed the Boeing 747, killing all 230 people on board.
A computer simulation by the U.S. army concluded it was a
"possibility," but not likely, that a Stinger fired from a boat
could have reached the plane.
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PR Newswire
August 7, 1996
"Enhanced Airport Security No Protection for U.S. Airliners;
Terrorists Need Not Show Up at Airports to Attack Targets,
Says "Final Jihad" Author Martin Keating"
Enhanced airport security will not deter terrorists intent on
targeting airliners originating from U.S. airports, according to
author Martin Keating.
"It's all window dressing. Any additional security will only delay
victims from boarding their doomed flight," states Keating. "No
terrorist is going to show up at the magnetometer with a Stinger
missile under his arm. The terrorist doesn't need to be at the airport
to carry out his mission.
"The White House is absolutely panicked that TWA Flight 800 might
have been downed by a missile, because there is no defense; even Air
Force One is vulnerable," observes Keating, the author of "The Final
Jihad", a novel about international terrorism that employs predictive
analysis. "My sources within the intelligence community tell me
government authorities may call it a bomb when indeed they know it was
a missile that destroyed Flight 800."
Keating cites media sources which reported that more than 100
eyewitnesses interviewed separately told virtually the same story -- a
bright plume of flame ascending rapidly from the surface which
impacted an airplane.
Keating's novel focuses on international terrorists who originate
from Lebanon's Bekka Valley and are intent on destroying numerous U.S.
targets. USA Today reported in the August 5 edition that House Speaker
Newt Gingrich said "intelligence briefings confirmed ... that there
are 11 terrorist camps inside Iran, where up to 5,000 trainees are
taught skills from bomb-making to assassination." In the same article
USA Today reported that "U.S. intelligence now tells (the newspaper)
that explosives used in bombings were likely smuggled from the Bekka
Valley in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Iranian-backed
Hezbollah terrorists ... U.S. satellite photos show up to 1,500
soldiers from Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the town of Baalbek,
officials said." Baalbek and the Bekka Valley figure prominently in
Keating's novel.
In media interviews Keating has stated that, according to his
sources, a Stinger attack against a departing airliner was "no big
deal," since enhanced versions of the U.S. built missile could easily
reach altitudes of 20,000 feet, more than a mile above the TWA flight.
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Excerpt from the Austin American-Statesman,
August 25, 1996:
Kallstrom, the central processor of all theories, had a particular
fascination with the idea that a missile had struck the aircraft.
''I gave up being surprised at anything a long time ago,''
Kallstrom said early on.
To some experts in terrorism and airline security, the notion that
a missile had blown the aircraft out of the sky was far-fetched,and
several expressed amazement at the ''shelf life of the missile
theory.'' The plane was out of range, they said.
But others, Kallstrom included, had a resilient fealty to the
rocket theory. He and others could not ignore the dozens of witness
accounts testifying to a streaking light intersecting with the
aircraft. The details matched in many ways.
In addition, the notion that Stinger missiles from Afghanistan
might have made their way into the United States was a long-standing
assumption within law enforcement circles.
The presence on the crash scene of officials with the National
Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency reinforced in some
minds that there might have been some intercepted intelligence
regarding a missile attack.
Yet, Kallstrom, early on, refused to acknowledge publicly how
seriously investigators had taken the possibility of a missile attack.
"I don't want to scare people," he said in front of his agents.
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The Wall Street Journal
June 28, 1993
"Saddam's Fingerprints on N.Y. Bombings"
By Laurie Mylroie
Military retaliation from Baghdad was the main administration
concern following Saturday's strike on Iraq. Yet U.S. officials
should start thinking seriously about the question of retaliation
through terror. It is quite possible, for example, that there was a
connection between Saddam and recent attempts to blow up Manhattan.
It is quite possible that New York's terror is Saddam's revenge.
Speculation about the responsibility for last week's bombing plot
and the earlier World Trade Center bombing has focused on Iran, Sudan,
and the fundamentalist Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. Much energy has been
spent linking the terror to Islamic fundamentalism. Yet Saddam, a
secular tyrant, is also suspect.
Information already in the public domain allows us to make this
case. Start with the fact that the most important person in the Trade
Center bombing is an Iraqi, Ramzi Ahmad Yusuf. Known in New York as
Rashid, Mr. Yusuf has 11 aliases. The U.S. press has reported that he
left Iraq in early 1992, transiting Jordan to Pakistan. He entered
New York in early September on Pakistan Airways. Mr. Yusuf, traveling
on his Iraqi passport, passed through immigration by requesting
asylum. The FBI claims the plot began in August, while Mr. Yusuf was
abroad.
-Ordering Chemicals-
Mr. Yusuf soon became the roomate of Mohammed Salameh, the naive
Palestinian who repeatedly returned to the van rental agency for his
deposit. Passionate, but not bright, Mr. Salameh would appear a ready
dupe to an intelligence operative. In trial documents, an Iraqi-
American, Musaab Yassin, has stated that he had known Mr. Salameh two
years. Mr. Yassin moved into Mr. Salameh's apartment in September
1992, and Mr. Salameh moved out. Mr. Yassin's younger brother,
Abboud, lived with him. An Arab who knows Musaab Yassin, like Mr.
Yusuf, came to the U.S. in the fall of 1992, seeking medical
treatment.
In late November, Mr. Yusuf allegedly ordered chemicals for the
bomb and Mr. Salameh rented a locker to store them. The plot was
underway. In early February, Mr. Salameh notified his landlord that he
and Mr. Yusuf would leave at month's end. On Feb. 26 the World Trade
Center was bombed. Messrs. Salameh and Yusuf vacated their apartment
two days later.
Mr. Salameh was arrested March 4. Musaab Yassin returned home
that day to find the FBI searching his apartment, while Abboud had
been taken for questioning. Abboud Yassin told the FBI that he taught
Mr. Salameh to drive the van that carried the bomb, that he
accompanied Mr. Salameh to an apartment later identified as the
bomb's testing ground; and Abboud Yassin's information helped lead the
FBI to the locker where the chemicals had been stored. The U.S. press
reports that Abboud Yassin then returned to Iraq, as did Mr. Yusuf.
The New York Times reported that Arabs who knew Mr. Salameh and the
second Palestinian arrested, Nidal Ayyad, said that the two had "close
ties with two Iraqis, one of whom they say was named Rashid, but both
of whom have since disappeared."
This information, although sketchy, indicates Iraqi activity. If
Mr. Yusuf, the key figure, had worked for Iran, Tehran would not have
let him return to Iraq. Given the totalitarian nature of the Iraqi
regime, even Abboud Yassin's return to Iraq is significant. An
innocent man would, arguably, have chosen to stay in the U.S.- he
would have a better chance of a fair hearing in a U.S. court than
before an Iraqi intelligence officer. If Abboud Yassin was involved
in the bombing- but was not acting under Baghdad's instruction- then
it was even more imprudent for him to return to Iraq. Mr. Yusuf and
Abboud Yassin could have gone to Afghanistan, where they would not
have exposed themselves to the potentially fatal suspicions of
Baghdad's intelligence agencies.
That two men involved came from Iraq and returned there is reason
enough to consider an Iraqi role in the World Trade Center bombing.
What other possible evidence is there? It has been reported that the
bombing suspects received money from abroad: up to $100,000 from
Germany, Iran, and "another Middle Eastern Country." That country is
probably Jordan, shielded by U.S. authorities who continue protecting
Amman for the sake of the "peace process." Without knowing how much
money came from each country, though, it is hard to exclude Iraq. Last
but not least, it is worth noting that the February bombing occurred
on the second anniversary of Kuwait's liberation.
What about last week's arrests? The FBI arrested five Sudanese and
three others as it broke up a second bombing plot. The conspirators'
first target was the United Nations' headquarters. Other targets were
added, including FBI headquarters in New York. Additionally, four
assassinations were planned, including that of Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak and U.N. secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Like the Trade Center bombing, much of this operation was
amateurish. The conspiracy instigator, Siddiq Ibrahim Ali, had a plan
to get a car into the FBI building, but it was amateurish (he proposed
shooting the guards). Professional terrorists divide their
organizations into small cells, each devoted to specific tasks. These
planners used a large group in which every participant was known to
the others, so that the entire plot could quickly unravel once one
member was caught. Yet, like the World Trade Center bombing, this was
audacious. Had it suceeded, thousands could have died.
It's important to note that both the Trade Center bombing and the
later plot represent something new- at least in the West. Saddam
however commits that kind of carnage on a daily basis.
Two of the nations thought to be behind the second plot are not
ideal suspects. Khartoum is suspected, because Sudanese played a big
role in the plot. With Iran, Sudanese has been involved in a violent
campaign to overthrow secular governments in North Africa, including
Mr. Boutros-Ghali's own government in Cairo. But Khartoum has not
sponsored terrorism against U.S. targets. That it should suddenly
support potentially the most devastating anti-American attack ever
makes little sense. A separate question though is whether Sudanese
diplomats could be bought. This is possible, since Khartoum is broke,
and months behind in paying its diplomats.
Iranian sponsorship of the plot is also unlikely. Iran has no big
quarrel with the U.N.- it benefits from the U.N.'s disarmament of
Iraq. The U.N. is not the obvious target for Muslim extremists. Their
quarrel is with the U.S. They could have easily chosen an American
target. Explaining why fundamentalists would bomb the U.N. is
possible, but the explanation is strained- that they see the U.N. as a
U.S. surrogate; that their violence is caused by anger at many issues
involving the U.N., including Bosnia, Somalia and the Palestinians.
The Trade Center suspects issued a set of demands that the U.S. stop
aiding Israel and stop interfering in the internal affairs of Middle
Eastern countries.
Saddam by contrast has every reason to attack the U.N. Saddam also
hates Egypt's Mubarak and wants him dead, no less than he wanted
George Bush dead. Baghdad Radio threatened Mr. Bush personally during
the Gulf War and Mubarak as well, "Does he (Mubarak) think that the
crime he committed against the people of Iraq will go
unpunished?...Prepare yourself for it and shiver at the thought."
-More To Come-
Attention has focused on the Iranian-Sudanese relationship. But
Baghdad could as easily recruit Sudanese as Tehran.
For Saddam, Iraqi sponsorship would be vengeance with a twist.
Baghdad wants Washington to blame Iran for the terror striking
America's shores. If it doesn't and fundamentalists are caught, that
too is fine, because it promotes a hysteria about Islamic
fundamentalism and Iran which, Saddam calculates, would eventually
benefit Iraq. If Saddam is behind the attacks, more will surely
follow.
The focus of the New York investigations should shift to the
question of state sponsorship. If considerable evidence points to
Saddam, then President Clinton must fulfill his Saturday pledge: "We
will combat terrorism. We will deter aggrssion. We will protect our
people."
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