Supplementing prior discussion, this program further examines the 9/11/2001 attacks against the background of events, institutions and people involved with the power politics of oil. The title of this program and its namesake derive from the anti-Semitic tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a Czarist Russian forgery that was important to, and used by, Hitler and his successors.
1. The discussion begins with a subject that is tangential to the subject of petroleum. A German intelligence agent considered expert on the subject of Arab terrorism was murdered in Libya, apparently by the Bin Laden network. (“FBI Probe Into WTC Attack Provides Fresh Lead in Case of Murdered Verfassungsschutz Agent” by Josef Hufelschulte & Carl Thalmann; Focus; #41 [10/8/2001]; p. 36.)
2. A suspect in his death carried the same name as a suspect in the World Trade Center attack. (Idem.)
3. The agent, Silvan Becker, had been transferred to an assignment monitoring Tamil extremists. (Idem.)
4. The authors of the article speculate that Becker was in Libya researching Islamic extremist elements against the wishes of his superiors. (Idem.) Like Becker, FBI agent John O’Neill (in charge of the American investigation into Bin Laden and killed in the WTC attacks) appears to have been “doubled on” by elements in his own command and operational structure.
5. In a book recently published in France, O’Neill stated that the investigation into Bin Laden had been frustrated by American corporate connections to Saudi Arabia and “oil.” (“Oil Diplomacy Muddled U.S. Pursuit of Bin Laden, New Book Contends” by Ethan Bronner; New York Times; 11/12/2001; p. B6.)
6. O’Neill resigned his position at the FBI in July of 2001 in protest over the obstruction, and believed the Saudis to be deeply complicit in that obstruction. (Idem.)
7. Further developing discussion of the French book, the program highlights allegations that the Taliban were seen as a “stabilizing force” in Central Asia. (“U.S. Policy Towards the Taliban Influenced by Oil—Authors” by Julio Godoy; 11/15/2001; Inter Press Service.)
8. The book contends that the Bush administration was negotiating with the Taliban over a pipeline to carry oil from the Caspian Sea. (Idem.) It should be noted that the proposed pipeline was a project undertaken by Unocal—in which the elder George Bush has a stake—British Petroleum and the Saudis.
9. So profound were the alleged connections between the U.S. and the Taliban, that the Taliban had hired a female consultant as their public relations representative in the U.S. (Idem.)
10. This woman (Laila Helms) is, allegedly, the niece of former CIA director Richard Helms. (Idem.)
11. In addition, the article charges that the last meeting between the Taliban and representatives of the Bush administration took place five weeks before the 9/11 attacks. (Idem.)
12. Next, the broadcast returns to the subject of the Wahhabi sect of Islam and its relationship to the Saudi power elite and the petroleum industry. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, a revealing article was published in Germany, charging that Osama Bin Laden seeks to replace the house of Saud as the prime exemplar of Wahhabism. (“The Battle Over Ibn Abdul Wahhab” by Rainer Hermann; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; 9/24/2001; p. 6.)
13. Although officially ostracized from Saudi Arabia and Saudi affairs, Bin Laden has met “time and time again since 1994” with his mentor Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz (the Saudi chief of intelligence). (Idem.)
14. The article also charges that Bin Laden views Crown Prince Abdullah with favor. (Idem.) (Crown Prince Abdullah is positioned to succeed the ailing King Fahd.) It remains to be seen if the Crown Prince views Osama in a similar light.
15. In the context of the allegations in the FAZ article, it is interesting to note that Bin Laden’s alleged mentor and liaison was replaced as chief of Saudi intelligence the week before the attacks. ( “Strains in Saudi‑U.S. Relations” by Patrick Tyler [New York Times]; San Francisco Chronicle; 9/24/2001; p. A7/ “Status Quo in the Persian Gulf” by Jim Hoagland; Washington Post; 9/9/2001; p. B7.)
16. In an apparently suppressed edit of the Jim Hoagland story from the Washington Post, it is stated that the Saudis canceled scheduled military maneuvers with the United States hours before they were to begin in August. (“Mysteries in the Persian Gulf” by Jim Hoagland.) According to the researcher who found this edit, it is not listed in the Post’s online archives. The national edition of the paper carried the version of the story noted in FTR 334.)
17. In that context, it is important to note that, ten days before the attacks, Crown Prince Abdullah warned George W. Bush that his policy on the Israeli-Palestinian question was “unacceptable.” (“Saudis Warned Bush Over Policy on Israel” by Roula Khalaf; Financial Times; 10/10/2001; p. 1.)
18. In the summer of 2001, the elder Bush had been in contact with the Saudi royal family on his son’s behalf, discussing his son’s Middle East policy. (“Bush’s Father Contacts Saudis on Son’s Behalf” by Jane Perlez; San Francisco Chronicle; 7/15/2001; p. A5.)
19. The Carlyle group is an international equity firm that has served as a point of intersection for Crown Prince Abdullah and both Georges Bush (“Elder Bush in Big G.O.P. Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm” by Leslie Wayne; New York Times; 3/5/2001; pp. A1-A14.)
20. Interestingly (and perhaps significantly), it was under the auspices of the Carlyle Group that Bush met with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during the 2000 presidential campaign, in order to discuss “American-Saudi business affairs.” (Ibid.; p. A1.) (It has been suggested that the increase in the price of petroleum during the year 2000 might have been the result of deliberate manipulation. A similar increase appears to have been engineered in 1979–80, in part by the elder Bush and the Saudis. The Georges Bush benefited from these respective manipulations.)
21. The Carlyle Group also employs former Reagan secretary of defense Frank Carlucci and Bush secretary of state James Baker. (Ibid.; p. A14.)
22. Carlyle has also lent a hand to the younger George Bush. “Carlyle also gave the Bush family a hand in 1990, by putting George W. Bush, who was then struggling to find a career, on the board of a Carlyle subsidiary, Caterair, an airline-catering company.” (Idem.)
23. It should not be forgotten that the Bin Laden family was also invested in Carlyle. (“Bin Laden Family Is Tied to U.S. Group” by Daniel Golden, James Bandler and Marcus Walker; Wall Street Journal; 9/27/2001; pp. A3-A6.)
24. The broadcast then recapitulates the fact that key Palestinian diplomats were proteges of James Baker, another Carlyle operative. The CIA termed them “Baker’s dozen.” (The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People; John Loftus and Mark Aarons; Copyright 1994 [HC]; St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 0–312-11057‑X; p. 476.)
25. These “moderate” Palestinians comprised the negotiating team for the PLO in their peace talks with the Israelis. (Idem.)
26. In that context, it is interesting to note that the day that petroleum industry professional Dick Cheney (another Bush Sr. cabinet officer) was named as George W’s Vice-Presidential candidate, Yasser Arafat walked out of the Camp David peace talks that were being brokered by President Clinton. (“Clinton Ends Deadlocked Peace Talks” by Jane Perlez; New York Times; 7/26/2000; p. A1.; “Bush Names Cheney , Citing ‘Integrity’ and ‘Experience’” by Frank Bruni; New York Times; 7/26/2000; p. A1.) The possibility that the Republican/petroleum industry/Saudi connection may have played a backchannel role in interdicting the peace talks is not a possibility to be too readily discarded. The Bush/Saudi connection appears to have helped to destroy Jimmy Carter’s election prospects in 1980. Had President Clinton successfully brokered the Israeli/Palestinian peace process, it might have very well given the 2000 election to Al Gore.) One wonders whether there was interference on the part of the Republican/petroleum interests to frustrate the peace talks and, perhaps, deliberately increase the price of oil.
27. The program reviews the collaboration between the Saudis, elements of the CIA, the petroleum industry and the elder Bush to destroy Jimmy Carter. (The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People; pp. 334–335; pp. 338–339.)
28. The broadcast concludes with a look at some of the historical continuity joining Gerald Ford’s administration (under which the elder Bush allegedly helped concoct the phony “oil production” estimates) with the historical milieu. It should be remembered that Richard Nixon appointed Ford to be Vice President and Ford succeeded Nixon. Ford appointed Bush to be CIA director. After World War II, Bush family financial/legal associate Allen Dulles helped obscure the Nazi connections of Continental Oil chief Karl Blessing. (Ibid.; p. 221.)
29. Continental Oil, in turn, was connected to king Ibn Saud (friend of Osama Bin Laden’s father) and to the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco). (Idem.)
30. A Dulles political protégé and young naval officer named Richard Nixon, allegedly viewed the Blessing/Continental documents and was assisted by Allen Dulles in his political career in exchange for Nixon’s silence and acquiescence. (Idem.)
[...] Emory’s FTR #337 continues the ongoing analysis of the 9/11 blitzkrieg that began in FTR #325 and forward. Among the [...]
Ladies and Gents, meet the “American” Petroleum Institute: