"OSAMAGATE" - second part
by Michel Chossudovsky
Posted at globalresearch.ca 9 October 2001

(SEGUE)

Madeleine Albright Covets the KLA

These KLA links to international terrorism and organised
crime documented by the US Congress were totally ignored
by the Clinton Administration. In fact, in the months
preceding the bombing of Yugoslavia, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright was busy building a "political
legitimacy" for the KLA. The paramilitary army had --from
one day to the next-- been elevated to the status of a
bona fide "democratic" force in Kosovo. In turn,
Madeleine Albright has forced the pace of international
diplomacy: the KLA had been spearheaded into playing a
central role in the failed "peace negotiations" at
Rambouiillet in early 1999.

The Senate and the House tacitly endorse State Terrorism

While the various Congressional reports confirmed that
the US government had been working hand in glove with
Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, this did not prevent the
Clinton and later the Bush Administration from arming and
equipping the KLA. The Congressional documents also
confirm that members of the Senate and the House knew the
relationship of the Administration to international
terrorism. To quote the statement of Rep. John Kasich of
the House Armed Services Committee: "We connected
ourselves [in 1998-99] with the KLA, which was the
staging point for bin Laden..." 13

In the wake of the tragic events of September 11,
Republicans and Democrats in unison have given their full
support to the President to "wage war on Osama".

In 1999, Senator Jo Lieberman had stated authoritatively
that "Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights
and American values." In the hours following the October
7 missile attacks on Afghanistan, the same Jo Lieberman
called for punitive air strikes against Iraq: "We're in a
war against terrorism... We can't stop with bin Laden and
the Taliban." Yet Senator Jo Lieberman, as member of the
Armed Services Committee of the Senate had access to all
the Congressional documents pertaining to "KLA-Osama"
links. In making this statement, he was fully aware that
that agencies of the US government as well as NATO were
supporting international terrorism.

The War in Macedonia

In the wake of the 1999 war in Yugoslavia, the terrorist
activities of the KLA were extended into Southern Serbia
and Macedonia. Meanwhile, the KLA --renamed the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC)-- was elevated to United Nations
status, implying the granting of "legitimate" sources of
funding through United Nations as well as through
bilateral channels, including direct US military aid.

And barely two months after the official inauguration of
the KPC under UN auspices (September 1999), KPC-KLA
commanders - using UN resources and equipment - were
already preparing the assaults into Macedonia, as a
logical follow-up to their terrorist activities in
Kosovo. According to the Skopje daily Dnevnik, the KPC
had established a "sixth operation zone" in Southern
Serbia and Macedonia:

Sources, who insist on anonymity, claim that the
headquarters of the Kosovo protection brigades [i.e.
linked to the UN sponsored KPC] have [March 2000] already
been formed in Tetovo, Gostivar and Skopje. They are
being prepared in Debar and Struga [on the border with
Albania] as well, and their members have defined codes.
16

According to the BBC, "Western special forces were still
training the guerrillas" meaning that they were assisting
the KLA in opening up "a sixth operation zone" in
Southern Serbia and Macedonia.17

"The Islamic Militant Network" and NATO join hands in
Macedonia

Among the foreign mercenaries now fighting in Macedonia
(October 2001) in the ranks of self-proclaimed National
Liberation Army (NLA), are Mujahideen from the Middle
East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet
Union. Also within the KLA's proxy force in Macedonia are
senior US military advisers from a private mercenary
outfit on contract to the Pentagon as well as "soldiers
of fortune" from Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of
these Western mercenaries had previously fought with the
KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army.18

Extensively documented by the Macedonian press and
statements of the Macedonian authorities, the US
government and the "Islamic Militant Network" are working
hand in glove in supporting and financing the
self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), involved
in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia. The NLA is a proxy
of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In turn the KLA and
the UN sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) are
identical institutions with the same commanders and
military personnel. KPC Commanders on UN salaries are
fighting in the NLA together with the Mujahideen.

In a bitter twist, while supported and financed by Osama
bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the KLA-NLA is also supported by
NATO and the United Nations mission to Kosovo (UNMIK). In
fact, the "Islamic Militant Network" --also using
Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) as the CIA's
go-between-- still constitutes an integral part of
Washington's covert military-intelligence operations in
Macedonia and Southern Serbia.

The KLA-NLA terrorists are funded from US military aid,
the United Nations peace-keeping budget as well as by
several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden's
Al Qaeda. Drug money is also being used to finance the
terrorists with the complicity of the US government. The
recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of the
NLA in Macedonia is implemented through various Islamic
groups.

US military advisers mingle with Mujahideen within the
same paramilitary force, Western mercenaries from NATO
countries fight alongside Mujahideen recruited in the
Middle East and Central Asia. And the US media calls this
a "blowback" where so-called "intelligence assets" have
gone against their sponsors!

But this did not happen during the Cold war! It is
happening right now in Macedonia. And it is confirmed by
numerous press reports, eyewitness accounts, photographic
evidence as well as official statements by the Macedonian
Prime Minister, who has accused the Western military
alliance of supporting the terrorists. Moreover, the
official Macedonian New Agency (MIA) has pointed to the
complicity between Washington's envoy Ambassador James
Pardew and the NLA terrorists.19 In other words, the
so-called "intelligence assets" are still serving the
interests of their US sponsors.

Pardew's background is revealing in this regard. He
started his Balkans career in 1993 as a senior
intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff
responsible for channeling US aid to the Bosnian Muslim
Army. Coronel Pardew had been put in charge of arranging
the "air-drops" of supplies to Bosnian forces. At the
time, these "air drops" were tagged as "civilian aid". It
later transpired --confirmed by the RPC Congressional
report-- that the US had violated the arms embargo. And
James Pardew played an important role as part of the team
of intelligence officials working closely with the
Chairman of the National Security Council Anthony Lake.

Pardew was later involved in the Dayton negotiations
(1995) on behalf of the US Defence Department. In 1999,
prior to the bombing of Yugoslavia, he was appointed
"Special Representative for Military Stabilisation and
Kosovo Implementation" by President Clinton. One of his
tasks was to channel support to the Kosovo Liberation
Army (KLA), which at the time was also being supported by
Osama bin Laden. Pardew was in this regard instrumental
in replicating the "Bosnian pattern" in Kosovo and
subsequently in Macedonia...

Justification for Waging War

The Bush Administration has stated that it has proof that
Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks on the WTC and the
Pentagon. In the words of British Prime Minister Tony
Blair: "I have seen absolutely powerful and
incontrovertible evidence of his [Osama] link to the
events of the 11th of September."20 What Tony Blair fails
to mention is that agencies of the US government
including the CIA continue to "harbor" Osama bin Laden's
Al Qaeda.

A major war supposedly "against international terrorism"
has been launched by a government which is harboring
international terrorism as part of its foreign policy
agenda. In other words, the main justification for waging
war has been totally fabricated. The American people have
been deliberately and consciously misled by their
government into supporting a major military adventure
which affects our collective future.

This decision to mislead the American people was taken
barely a few hours after the terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Centre. Without supporting evidence, Osama
had already been tagged as the "prime suspect." Two days
later on Thursday the 13th of September --while the FBI
investigations had barely commenced-- President Bush
pledged to "lead the world to victory". The
Administration confirmed its intention to embark on "a
sustained military campaign rather than a single dramatic
action" directed against Osama bin Laden. 21 In addition
to Afghanistan, a number of countries in the Middle East
were mentioned as possible targets including Iraq, Iran,
Libya and the Sudan. And several prominent US political
figures and media pundits have demanded that the air
strikes be extended to other countries "which harbour
international terrorism." According to intelligence
sources, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda has operations in
some 50 to 60 countries providing ample pretext to
intervene in several "rogue states" in the Middle East
and Central Asia.

Moreover, the entire US Legislature --with only one
honest and courageous dissenting voice in the House of
Representatives-- has tacitly endorsed the
Administration's decision to go war. Members of the House
and the Senate have access through the various committees
to official confidential reports and intelligence
documents which prove beyond doubt that agencies of the
US government have ties to international terrorism. They
cannot say "we did not know". In fact, most of this
evidence is in the public domain.

Under the historical resolution of the US Congress
adopted by both the House and the Senate on the 14th of
September:

The president is authorized to use all necessary and
appropriate force against those nations, organizations,
or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed,
or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11,
2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order
to prevent any future acts of international terrorism
against the United States by such nations, organizations
or persons.

Whereas there is no evidence that agencies of the US
government "aided the terrorist attacks" on the World
Trade Centre and the Pentagon, there is ample and
detailed evidence that agencies of the US government as
well as NATO, have since the end of the Cold War
continued to "harbor such organizations".

Patriotism cannot be based on a falsehood, particularly
when it constitutes a pretext for waging war and killing
innocent civilians.

Ironically, the text of the Congressional resolution also
constitutes a "blowback" against the US sponsors of
international terrorism. The resolution does not exclude
the conduct of an "Osamagate" inquiry, as well as
appropriate actions against agencies and/or individuals
of the US government, who may have collaborated with
Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. And the evidence indelibly
points directly to the Bush Administration.

----

Notes

United Press International (UPI), 15 September 2001.
The Guardian, London, 15 September 2001.
UPI, op cit,
For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Who is
Osama bin Laden, Centre for Research on Globalisation, 12
September 2001,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html.
International Media Corporation Defense and Strategy
Policy, US Commits Forces, Weapons to Bosnia, London, 31
October 1994.
Congressional Press Release, Republican Party Committee
(RPC), US Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers
Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, 16 January
1997, available on the website of the Centre of Research
on Globalisation (CRG) at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html. The
original document is on the website of the US Senate
Republican Party Committee (Senator Larry Craig), at
http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm)
The Scotsman, Glasgow, 29 August 1999.
Ibid.
Truth in Media, Kosovo in Crisis, Phoenix, Arizona, 2
April 1999
Sunday Times, London, 29 November 1998.
US Congress, Testimony of Frank J. Cilluffo , Deputy
Director, Global Organized Crime, Program director to the
House Judiciary Committee, 13 December 2000.
US Congress, Testimony of Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's
Criminal Intelligence Division, to the House Judicial
Committee, 13 December 2000.
US Congress, Transcripts of the House Armed Services
Committee, 5 October 1999,
Quoted in the Boston Herald, 19 March 2001.
Quoted in Knight Ridder News, 8 October 2001.
Macedonian Information Centre Newsletter, Skopje, 21
March 2000, published by BBC Summary of World Broadcast,
24 March 2000.
BBC, 29 January 2001, at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/
newsid_1142000/1142478.stm)
Scotland on Sunday, Glasgow, 15 June 2001 at
http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/text_only.cfm?id=SS01025960,
see also UPI, 9 July 2001. For further details see Michel
Chossudovsky, Washington behind Terrorist Assaults in
Macedonia, Centre for Research on Globalisation,
August 2001, at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO108B.html.)
Macedonian Information Agency (MIA), 26 September 2001,
available at the Centre for Research on Globalisation at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MNA110A.html
Quoted in The Daily Telegraph, London, 1 October 2001.
Statement by official following the speech by President
George Bush on 14 September 2001 quoted in the
International Herald Tribune, Paris, 14 September 2001.

----

The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html

Copyright, Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on
Globalisation (CRG), October 2001. All rights reserved.
Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial
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To publish this text in printed and/or other forms,
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the Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at
editor@..., fax 1-514-4256224.

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