Cheney knew FBI, CIA met with bin Laden lieutenant after 9-11
by Tom Flocco
Washington, DC—November 2, 2005—Tom Flocco.com—According to an internal memo sent to Vice President Richard Cheney from former U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Leo Wanta, an FBI special agent-in-charge and a CIA intelligence contractor met with an associate of Osama bin Laden (OBL) in Manila, Philippines 30 days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
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Under standard chain-of-custody procedures regarding the sensitive document with evidence directly related to the 9-11 attacks, Cheney would have passed it on to then National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice who would have delivered the memo to President Bush, according to intelligence sources familiar with the document.
An individual with knowledge of the meetings told TomFlocco.com that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been in possession of the explosive memo which provides evidence that Cheney knew FBI and CIA officials met with one of bin Laden’s associates in the days following September 11.
Given Fitzgerald’s awareness of the memo, serious questions are raised for the grand jury as to why FBI and CIA officials, ostensibly representing the U.S. government, were meeting with a bin Laden lieutenant important enough to be shown with the “terrorist” leader in a White House-produced video not long after the attacks—but also why Cheney and Bush have not publicized the memo which names the agents and why Congress continues to cover up the memo’s existence.
The document names FBI special agent-in-charge Robert Wachtel and CIA intelligence contractor Brad Lee as being present and “in close contact with” a person identified as Datu ben Abu. [Abu is also a Russian KGB agent according to knowledgeable intelligence sources.]
The Wanta-Cheney memo revealed that U.S. Asia intelligence operations advised that Datu ben Abu was “in a wheel chair” and “in observing the video [Bush administration cable news “terror” video] recently released of OBL, intel op is of the opinion that the man against the wall with the blanket over his legs, full face beard, large hands, wide nose and dark set eyes is the same person identified as Datu ben Abu.”
When we last talked with Ambassador Wanta, he was being held under house arrest by the Bush administration.
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Wanta has not testified before Congress while the White House is reportedly keeping him away from increasingly inquisitive Democratic senators who are currently feeling constituent pressure to do their job regarding justice and accountability, given the recent publicity and indictment of Cheney’s chief-of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
It is not known whether Wanta has already testified before Patrick Fitzgerald and the grand jury.
The memo revealed that “Datu ben Abu held further meetings (during the same time period—30 days after 9-11) with a Russian group staying at the Pan Pacific Hotel Metro Manila Philippines,” providing telltale evidence of some Russian involvement which Congress and the Bush administration have thus far held in confidence.
Congress is also covering up the fact that Osama bin Laden is a former U.S. intelligence contractor. [ Click here to view an internal memo indicating “previous U.S. government field reports on file and fully documented” regarding “Tim Osman and Ralph Olberg / U.S. Department of State—Afghanistan desk, et. al., Visitation with U.S. government public officials [Osman = Usama/Osama bin Laden/OBL” ]
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Besides raising serious questions as to why Congress is not explaining Osama bin Laden’s past U.S. intelligence operative background and how this former—or current—relationship is related to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the memo also alludes to the sale of U.S. stinger missiles to Iraq prior to Gulf War I.
That Congress has continually misled the American people by failing to require Bush and Cheney to explain why FBI and CIA officials met with bin Laden operatives after the 9-11 attacks and why they obstructed justice during the 9-11 investigation may be linked to the “sealed files protected by national security” that Patrick Fitzgerald entered into the court record along with his Scooter Libby indictments last Friday.
Reports are beginning to indicate that Fitzgerald’s sealed files may hold the key to the entire CIA—Valerie Plame leak probe.
The two documents posted within this story were obtained from www.stewwebb.com.
