The Global War on Terror: 9/11, Iraq, and America's Crisis in the Middle East

By Todd A. Davis

The cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001 destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, and later the Pentagon, was attacked by al Qaeda terrorists. The US government responded by invading Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, and the global war on terror had begun. The US and the UK would then invade Iraq on March 20th, 2003, supposedly to stop Saddam Husseins WMD and the Iraqi regimes alleged ties to al Qaeda. The Global War On Terror provides a thorough analysis of 9/11, the Iraq War, the occupation of Iraq, the British role in Iraq, the expansion of the al Qaeda network, and the breakdown of Iraq into sectarian war.


The Global War on Terror exposes the underlying political substructure to reveal:

o How both the FBI and CIA failed to understand the al Qaeda terrorist plot on 9/11 and failed to stop al Qaeda.

o How the Bush administration actually planned the invasion of Iraq before 9/11.

o How the Pentagons Office of Special Plans exaggerated both Iraqs WMD threat and the alleged connection between al Qaeda and the Hussein regime.

o How American and British casualty levels greatly increased during the occupation of Iraq after combat operations ended with regard to the regime change in Iraq.

o How Iraq became a breeding ground for terrorism, and how the Taliban would regroup in Afghanistan.

o How the Blair government would attempt to sanitize the David Kelly scandal and how intelligence operations were manipulated concerning the British invasion of Iraq.

o How the Plame-gate affair would expose the Bush administrations intricate web of deceit in regard to the alleged Niger uranium and the role Vice President Dick Cheneys office played in the scandal.

o How the global war on terror would begin to unravel in Iraq amid the breakdown of Iraq into civil war and chaos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 24, 2008
• ISBN: 9781465315885

Todd A. Davis

TODD A. DAVIS is a political scientist and journalist who has analyzed the Middle East for nearly 30 years. Davis received his B.S. in Political Science from the University of Utah in 1982 and another B.S. in Philosophy in 1983. Davis earned his M.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California in 1989. The author currently works as an IT consultant for several corporations and writes as a free lance journalist.

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Copyright © 2008 by Todd A. Davis.

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Contents

Author’s Note

Prologue

Chapter 1

US Foreign Policy and Terrorism Before September 11th

Chapter 2

The Catastrophic Terrorist Attacks of 9/11

Chapter 3

The War On Terror In Afghanistan

Chapter 4

The Global War On Terror

Chapter 5

The American Invasion of Iraq

Chapter 6

The US Occupation of Iraq

Chapter 7

British Politics and Iraq

Chapter 8

The Expansion of Global Terrorism

Chapter 9

The Global War On Terror and America’s Crisis in the Middle East

Chapter 10

The Breakdown Of The Global War On Terror

Acknowledgements

Notes

For all the Coalition soldiers that died during the global war on terror,

and all the innocent people that became casualties of the war.

It is in the nature of a military weapon to turn against its wielder.

Wherever armies are stationed; thorny bushes grow.

After a great war, bad years invariably follow.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, John C. H. Wu translation.

Author’s Note

This book began shortly after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, in Northglenn Colorado. At that time I became concerned with reports that the WMD was not being found, and news that Iraq had descended into chaos.

After President Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech, it became obvious to me that the occupation of Iraq was not very well organized. Moreover, the almost monthly al Qaeda terrorist bombings, and the jihad conducted by other terrorist groups increased my fascination with the global war on terror.

The research I conducted on this project took long hours, and I suppose it was my great interest in the global war on terror that gave me the inspiration to complete this project. I wanted to provide my readers with solid political journalism, and a multiple source approach that would dig below the veneer, into the substructure of what really happened during America’s crisis in the Middle East.

The fact that the WMD was never found, and that a credible link between al Qaeda, and the Hussein regime was never established by US intelligence was also thought provoking to me. The shocking events at the Abu Ghraib prison, and the downfall of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld were also noteworthy developments.

I can only hope that my readers will use my research, and writing as a basis for forming their own opinions about the war on terror. I am responsible for most of the content in this book, but any errors that the multiple sources I have used may have made, are their own responsibility.

Prologue

The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, shocked both American citizens, and the international community. Osama bin Laden, and al Qaeda had seemingly been able to accomplish an attack on the United States–an attack that Soviet leaders like Stalin, and Brezhnev had only considered, but never attempted. As the World Trade Center, and part of the Pentagon collapsed beneath the explosions of terrorist jets–new patterns of international disintegration began to emerge. State sponsored terrorism had been upstaged by al Qaeda, and several other terrorist networks, began to plan new strategies for confronting US, and European military hegemony over the Middle East.

The Bush Administration would launch a global war on terror to confront the growing terrorist threat in the Middle East. First, Afghanistan would be conquered by the US military, and the Northern Alliance. Then, the US, and Britain would implement a regime change in Baghdad, and long time nemesis Saddam Hussein was removed from power. The World seemed a safer place until the UN bombing in Iraq that killed over 20 UN workers including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, on August 19, 2003. The failure of the US government to find the WMD, and the almost daily body count of US, and Iraqi casualties in Iraq began to raise serious questions by some groups against the conflict. Furthermore, the political, and economic problems in occupied Iraq began to create growing patterns of internal, and external discontent with the occupation within Iraq.

The emerging political, and economic problems within Iraq began to raise serious questions, and doubts about the effectiveness of Bush’s war on terror. Did the invasion of Iraq strengthen or, ultimately weaken the global war on terrorism? Did the US occupation in Iraq, increase or decrease the terrorist threat within Iraq, and on a global basis? Were American citizens actually safer after the Iraqi regime was toppled–given that al Qaeda cells were mushrooming within the Middle East, and terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden had never been found? Has the Bush Administration increased the effectiveness of either the CIA, or the FBI in regard to terrorist attacks in the US? These are some of the serious issues concerning the US, and UK strategy in the Middle East that this book will seek to answer.

That September 11th had an adverse effect on practically every American in some respects, is unquestionable. I woke up that morning to my usual newscast on CNN, to watch the live cable feeds of the World Trade Center burning after the North Tower was hit by jets flown by terrorists. Then as I was drinking some coffee, a second jet crashed into the South Tower. I was shocked, and surprised by these unexpected events, so I logged into the net. The internet was so overloaded by hits that I could not get into CNN, MSNBC, or the New York Times web sites. I watched in horror as the World Trade Center began to collapse. It was not until later that the networks began to report that apparently terrorists had attacked, and destroyed New York’s World Trade Center–killing thousands.

The vulnerability of US national security to terrorist attacks prior to 9/11 will be examined in Chapter 1. The Second Chapter will analyze the September 11th attacks, and Chapter 3 will explicate the war in Afghanistan. Chapter 4 will analyze the Bush Administration’s implementation of the war on terror, and Chapter 5 will explain the invasion of Iraq. Chapter 6 will cover the occupation of Iraq, and Chapter 7 will analyze British politics, and Iraq. Chapter 8 will examine the expansion of global terrorism in the Middle East, and on a global basis. Moreover, Chapter 9 will explicate developments in the war on terror, and the resignation of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. Chapter 10 will provide some insights into the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group, and the problems with US foreign policy in Iraq.

Chapter 1

US Foreign Policy and Terrorism Before September 11th

The cataclysmic terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, served to increase America’s sense of vulnerability as the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed, and thousands of innocent civilians were killed in the shattered wreckage of the towers. American Airlines Flight 11 was flown by suicide terrorists, along with 81 passengers into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, just prior to 9 am. Approximately, 15 minutes later al Qaeda backed terrorists would crash United Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, along with 56 passengers, into the South Tower. About a half hour following the second crash, another group of terrorists would fly American Flight 77, from Washington DC to Los Angeles, and 58 passengers into the Pentagon. The World Trade Center, the symbol of American globalism, and economic hegemony would collapse on September 11th. Moreover, the Pentagon, the center of US military power, and domination would lie wounded, and burning beneath the twilight of the Washington night.

The September 11th terrorist attack would prove to be one of the first major foreign policy crises for the Bush Administration, and one of the primary reasons for the global war on terror. The Clinton Administration had begun to tangle with bin Laden, but had previously experienced problems in stopping this terrorist madman. The CIA, and FBI would also have significant contact with members of al Qaeda, and the 9/11 conspiracy, but would once again fail to either stop, or even slow down the worst foreign policy crisis in the US since the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor. This chapter will analyze the events leading up to the 9/11 bombing, and explore what the Bush Administration could have done differently to prevent the horrific events of September 11th.

The George H. W. Bush Administration’s Foreign Policy

On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, and took over the oil rich nation. Saddam Hussein now had his forces in position to take over Saudi Arabia, and then he could control most of the world’s oil reserves. The Bush Administration’s immediate response to the crisis was to attempt to build a consensus for a US invasion of Kuwait in both the US Congress, and the United Nations. Senator Liebermann, and Senator Warner were two of the principal advocates for the invasion of Kuwait, and the resolution passed on January 12, 1991.¹ Senator Boxer, and Senator Kerrey had opposed several components of the war resolution. The Bush Administration was careful to only proceed with the war effort, after having the support of UN resolutions approving the deployment of troops.

Brent Scowcroft was then National Security Advisor, and Dick Cheney was the US Secretary of Defense. General Schwarzkopf was the head of the US Army in Kuwait, and ground forces during Operation Desert Storm. The attack upon Hussein’s forces began with both massive Tomahawk Cruise Missile attacks upon Baghdad, and US Air Force Stealth bomber attacks upon Iraqi military targets.² General Schwarzkopf was able to destroy the Iraqi forces with a left flanking maneuver with M1A1 tanks, and other weapons. The Iraqi Scud missile attacks were mostly neutralized by the Patriot missile defense system. The decreasing power of the Soviet Union created a situation where Saddam Hussein, had considered the invasion of Kuwait thinkable. Then the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Boris Yeltsin took over as President of Russia from Mikhail Gorbachev. Former, Soviet client states like Syria, had also been reduced militarily, and the threat to Israel had somewhat decreased. Some Arab governments resented US military hegemony in the region, but other states like Saudi Arabia, benefited from the defeat of Iraq during the Gulf War.³ The governments of Syria, Libya, and Iran were in general, hostile to US policy interests in the Middle East. Terrorist groups like Hamas began to expand, and PLO issues were often ignored, during the Bush Administration. The interdependence between the US, Europe, and Japan, upon Middle Eastern oil supplies continued to create an international milieu where security forces were utilized to defend oil production.

The Emergence of Al Qaeda

There was a complex relationship that developed between the CIA, and Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. There are several sources that indicate that the CIA funded some of bin Laden’s freedom fighters activities, and the mujahideen resistance movement in Afghanistan.⁴ The CIA was not bin Laden’s primary source of funding, or weapons during the Afghan resistance movement. Bin Laden had his own money from his wealthy Saudi families construction business. Bin Laden also had another back channel source of funding which was Saudi head of security Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz who contributed, up to $2 billion through twenty Islamic charities and two Saudi-owned banks, setup by the royal family for the purpose.⁵ The primary resources for bin Laden’s Afghan resistance fighters, and al Qaeda, would prove to be based within Saudi Arabia.

The CIA training, and support for bin Laden, and his terrorist activities against the Soviet Union were minimal, but there were tangible links. The CIA spent about $500 million in Afghanistan for subconventional operations, but most of the funds went to an Egyptian based group called al Jihad that was headed up by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.⁶ The al Jihad group was responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. According to CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen: In 1989, bin Laden founded al-Qaeda, an organization that would eventually merge with al-Zawahiri’s Jihad group.⁷ In May of 1988, Gorbachev agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan, so the CIA had not funded bin Laden after the merger of the two terror groups, that would become part of the al Qaeda network. However, the CIA operations in Afghanistan would become one of the worst examples of what CIA operatives call blowback (the unanticipated adverse repercussions from a clandestine operation), such as the Afghan liberation effort.

The components of the al Qaeda (the base) network include: (1) Islamic Jihad, (2) the Islamic Army For the Liberation of Holy Places, (3) the Islamic Change Movement, (4) the Jordanian Army of Mohammed, (5) much of the Taliban, (6) Eritrean Jihad, (7) the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine, (8) the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews, (9) the International Islamic Front, and several other terrorist groups.⁸ The hydra like structure is decentralized, and unlike the Abu Nidal organization was funded mostly by private sources, but there have been links to several states. During the 1990s bin Laden received millions from several sheiks, and banks in Iran, and the Sudan, while at the same time Ayman al-Zawahiri collected about 100 million from several wealthy Arabs in the Middle East.⁹ The decentralized structure of al Qaeda would tend to indicate that even if bin Laden is killed or captured by the US Army, or the CIA, the al Qaeda network will continue to be a terrorist threat to the US, Europe, Russia, and Japan.

The Clinton Administration and Al Qaeda

On December 9, 1992 US forces would land in Somalia. Al Qaeda terrorist operative Mohamed Atef, and Abu Hafs were instrumental in the coordination of al Qaeda operations with General Aidid. Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri was the leader of al Qaeda terror operations in Somalia, and Mohammed Odeh, a Palestinian, would provide training to Somali forces.¹⁰ Bin Laden’s forces would play a secondary role of providing troops, training, and weapons for Aidid’s operations. Al Qaeda, and Somalian forces would prove to be problematic for the Clinton Administration.

On October 3, 1993 US Army Rangers attacked Aidid’s forces near the Mogadishu Olympic Hotel. A Blackhawk helicopter was shot down by ground forces in Mogadishu, and a rescue was attempted. According to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: The Americans came under heavy fire as they tried to extricate the fallen crew . . . . Troops and a medical team were trapped at the first crash site. A convoy of Humvees and trucks tried to reach the encircled troops but failed. Another Blackhawk was shot down.¹¹ Two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down by Aidid’s forces, 18 US Army soldiers died, and 75 were wounded. The entire campaign proved to be a failure for the US Army, and the incident in Somalia was later made into a movie.

The first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 had links to al Qaeda. Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life in prison in January of 1998 for leading a terrorist cell that killed 6 people during the bombing on February 26, 1993.¹² Emad Salem, an ex Egyptian Army major who was recruited by the FBI, and who was able to infiltrate a terrorist cell headed up by Omar Abdel Rahman, has charged that the FBI could have done more to prevent the 1993 bombing. Peter Lance has observed that, Napoli admitted that if Salem had remained with the investigation and been permitted to link to people like Abouhalima, the Trade Center blast would never have happened.¹³ The 1993, bombing did not complete al Qaeda’s deadly mission of destroying the World Trade Center, and the conspiracy to level the towers began to develop.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed the terrorist mastermind behind the September 11th attacks has revealed that the initial planning for the attack occurred in 1996. The initial plan that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed discussed with bin Laden would included hijacking 5 commercial planes on each coast, and 22 terrorists would be utilized.¹⁴ Al-Midhar and al-Hazmi, were major planners in the 9/11 conspiracy along with ringleader Mohammed Atta, and a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January 2000, was more important than the CIA had originally thought. The CIA had conducted a surveillance of the meeting in Kuala Lumpur, but failed to realize its’ significance to the conspiracy. The al Qaeda Jemaah Islamiyah cell had also participated in the meeting, and Riduan Isamuddin Hambali had attended the jihad planning session.

The Khobar Towers bombing would occur in June of 1996, and 19 US soldiers died during the explosion in Dhahran Saudi Arabia. The bombing appeared to be the work of al Qaeda, but it was later found that an Iranian terrorist group was responsible.¹⁵ On August 7, 1998 in Nairobi Kenya an explosion occurred near the US embassy that killed 201 Kenyans, and 12 Americans. Four terrorists with links to al Qaeda, Mohammed Sadeek Odeh, Rashed Daoud al-Owhali, Wadih el-Hage, and Khalfan Khan Mohammed were arrested in response to the Nairobi boming.¹⁶ El-Hage was arrested by the FBI on September 15th in Arlington Texas, and Khan Mohammed was found in South Africa.

The Clinton Administration was starting to consider taking steps to retaliate against bin Laden following the Nairobi bombing. President Clinton planned Operation Infinite Reach along with the NSC, US Navy, and the CIA. According to Secretary of State Albright: At 11 A.M. on August 20, seventy-nine cruise missiles were launched from U.S. ships in the Red and Arabian Seas, hitting their targets in Afghanistan, and Sudan a couple of hours later.¹⁷ The Tomahawk Cruise Missiles had missed bin Laden, and but many of al Qadea’s terrorist camps were destroyed. There were also allegations in the press that Clinton was trying to wag the dog, (which was a reference to the movie Wag the Dog, where a political leader goes to war to distract from a sex scandal), so he could decrease attention upon the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Operation Infinite Reach had struck a blow to some of al Qaeda’s terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, and it did to serve to warn bin Laden that force would be utilized, if a pattern of terrorist attacks continued. Following the attacks, two days later, in the State Department’s Bureau of South Asian Affairs, Taliban leader Mullah Omar called Michael Malinowski.¹⁸ Mullah Omar called for the resignation of President Clinton, and demanded that US troops be withdrawn from Saudi Arabia. Malinowski, demanded that Mullah Omar turn over bin Laden, and stop supporting the al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan. A few weeks later US Ambassador to Pakistan William Milam setup some negotiations with the Taliban in regard to al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan.

The attack on the USS Cole would be one of the next major efforts by the al Qaeda network. The attack occurred on October 12, 2000, and 17 crew members were killed, and 40 were injured. The Department of Defense issued a report on the terrorist attack upon the USS Cole that recommended that the: Secretary of Defense reprioritize terrorism-related human intelligence and signals intelligence resources.¹⁹ The over reliance of both the DOD, and the CIA upon satellite data, computer generated reports, and the lack of Arabic speaking operatives in hostile areas in the Middle East has been a constant issue facing US intelligence operations. Secretary of Defense Cohen also coordinated efforts with General Henry Shelton, Chairman of the JCS, in regard to increasing operational effectiveness which related to antiterrorist naval, and combat operations.²⁰

The Clinton Administration had done a moderately good job in tracking al Qaeda, but it still was unable to prevent the 213 deaths at Nairobi Kenya. The Nairobi bombing was one of the larger terrorists attacks, since the 241 US soldiers were killed during the Beirut bombing in 1983, during the Reagan Administration. The New York FBI had failed during the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, and the CIA had a mixed record during the Clinton years. Operation Infinite Reach was partly successful in reducing al Qaeda’s capabilities, and it did serve to warn bin Laden that his terrorism would be counter attacked with military force. The Clinton foreign policy toward terrorism was fairly coherent, but there were several problematic areas.

The CIA and The FBI Prior To September 11th

The election of George W. Bush to the Presidency, in a disputed election, had brought a change of leadership to US foreign policy. Colin Powell took over as the Secretary of State, and Donald Rumsfeld was appointed the Secretary of Defense. Colin Powell had been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for much of the Clinton Administration, and George Tenet continued on as the Director of the CIA. Condoleezza Rice was appointed as National Security Advisor, and Robert Mueller took over as Director of the FBI. The CIA, and the FBI had several encounters with al Qaeda prior to September the 11th, but their efforts would prove to be ineffective.

Al Qaeda held a second meeting in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in January of 2000 to plan the 9/11 attacks. Khalid al-Midhar, and Nawaf Alhazmi attended the al Qaeda summit in Kuala Lumpur, which was a planning session for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Al-Midhar, and Alhazmi would return to San Diego, after the summit in Malaysia. The CIA was tracking Nawaf Alhazmi’s movements, and al-Midhar was suspected by the CIA of having been involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in October of 2000.²¹ The CIA failed to provide any information about the surveillance on Almihdhar to the State Department, who renewed his visa in June of 2001. The CIA also failed to provide any information to the FBI, about the surveillance on the two al Qaeda terrorists.

There were two memos that raised serious questions about the Bush Administration’s handling of the terrorist investigation prior to September 11th. The first was the Phoenix memo, which was written by Phoenix FBI Agent Kenneth Williams, and the second was the August 6th memo called the President’s Daily Briefing. The Phoenix memo described the activities of al Qaeda members attending a Phoenix flight school, and supposedly neither Attorney General Ashcroft, or FBI Director Mueller knew about the memo until after September 11th.²² It is clear that the FBI failed to adequately investigate the activities of al Qaeda at the Phoenix flight school, and that more could have been done by the FBI to prevent the September 11th attack.

The August 6th memo has also caused suspicion, and controversy, because it showed that President Bush had knowledge of some of al Qaeda’s activities prior to September 11th. According to Bob Woodward, and Dan Eggen: The top-secret briefing memo presented to President Bush on Aug. 6 carried the headline, ‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,’ and was primarily focused on recounting al Qaeda’s past efforts to attack and infiltrate the United States . . . .²³ The August 6, 2001 memo did indicate the possibility of several types of al Qaeda attacks, but it did not have specific information about the targets that would be hit on September 11th. In regard to the two memos National Security Advisor Rice said on May 16, 2002 that, I don’t think anybody could have predicted these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center . . . .²⁴ However, the failure of both the CIA, and the FBI to provide adequate intelligence in regard to 9/11, would ultimately lead to the deaths of thousands of people in New York, and Washington DC.

The allegations of a coverup in regard to the FBI investigation of 9/11 became obtrusive when FBI Agent Coleen Rowley alleged that the FBI had failed to adequately investigate 9/11, or the Moussaoui case. According to Coleen Rowley’s Memo to Robert Mueller:

And even greater casualties, possibly of our Nation’s highest government officials, may have been prevented if Al Qaeda intended for Moussaoui to pilot an entirely different aircraft. There is, therefore at least some chance that discovery of other terrorist pilots prior to September 11th may have limited the September 11th attacks and resulting loss of life. Although your conclusion otherwise has to be very reassuring for some in the FBI to hear being repeated so often (as if saying it’s so may make it so), I think your statements demonstrate a rush to judgment to protect the FBI at all costs. I think the only fair response to this type of question would be that no one