OK. That’s not exactly the wording of the New York Times‘ headline. It says “Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks,” so how did I come up with the alternative interpretation?
In a criminal case, if one of the defendants or a key witness is murdered before the trial, it’s fair to assume that if the murderer has a vested interest in the outcome of the trial then they were serving their own interest by making sure the victim could not offer damaging testimony in the trial.
The Times reports on a suit that was first brought in Washington in 2002 and then moved to Manhattan that claims Iran provided assistance to the 9/11 hijackers.
In their court papers, the lawyers assert that Imad Mugniyah, as the military chief of Hezbollah, was a terrorist agent for Iran, and that he traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2000 to help with preparations for the 9/11 attacks.
Imagine if Mugniyah was tried and convicted. The US-Israeli anti-Iran lobby would have a field day! War against Iran would be unavoidable.
Instead, Mugniyah was assassinated in Damascus in 2008 in what is widely believed to have been a Mossad operation. The Israelis apparently wanted to make sure he could never be questioned in court.
The Times says:
The 9/11 commission report said there was “strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of Al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.” The report also said there was circumstantial evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives were closely tracking the travel of some of the hijackers into Iran in November 2000.
But the commission said that it had “found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack,” and that the “topic requires further investigation by the U.S. government.”
The CIA and FBI were also tracking individuals involved in the attacks.
Holy moly! Does that mean that the US, Iran and Israel were jointly behind 9/11?!?!
On the other hand, perhaps it would be more enlightening to know who the hell is paying the lawyers who filed this case in Manhattan.
Do they have a think tank in Israel 0perating 24/7 devoted exclusively to thinking up ways to get the US to bomb Iran?
I suppose after getting Bin Laden they needed someone else to blame 9/11 on… otherwise you cannot exploit the tragedy for anymore gains.
But the headline seems low even for the New York Times low standards. Them running the headline “Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks” is like something that would appear on Fox News. Usually New York Times propaganda is less comical and more subtle than this. Its like they not even trying anymore.
In short if Iran had had any links to 9/11 you can bet the US and Israel would have mentioned it before now.
The New York Times’ journalistic standards have really plummeted since Judith Miller left!
RE: “Do they have a think tank in Israel 0perating 24/7 devoted exclusively to thinking up ways to get the US to bomb Iran?” – delia ruhe
MY SNARK: A? A think tank? As in one? I would assume there are at least a half dozen ‘stink tanks’ in Israel working feverishly on finding a “solution” to the “Persian Problem”. And, at least a baker’s dozen here in the U.S. doing likewise.
At a minimum!