The Bin Laden Papers- Release the captured files on al Qaeda’s secret deals with Iran.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bin-laden-papers-1442272895
Unlike so many terrorists, Osama Bin Laden didn’t take all of his secrets to the grave. The Navy SEALs who hunted him down also brought back from his Abbottabad hideout many files on al Qaeda’s plans as well as its cooperation with Iran. The question is why the public hasn’t been allowed to see them.
In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute last week, Dick Cheney quoted former Defense Intelligence Agency Gen. Michael Flynn saying there are “letters about Iran’s role, influence and acknowledgment of enabling al Qaeda operatives to pass through Iran as long as al Qaeda did its dirty work against the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The former DIA director has also said Congress should seek all bin Laden documents related to Iran because they are “very telling.”
Here’s an example from one file that has been released. In a memo to bin Laden, an al Qaeda operative talks about another who is ready to travel:
“The destination, in principle, is Iran, and he has with him 6 to 8 brothers that he chose. I told him we are waiting for final complete confirmation from you to move, and agree on this destination (Iran). His plan is: stay around three months in Iran to train the brothers there then start moving them and distributing them in the world for their missions and specialties.”
More than a decade ago the 9/11 Commission reported that though there was no evidence Tehran knew about al Qaeda’s attack on the American homeland, “there is 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 State and Treasury Departments did highlight some of the Iran-al Qaeda link when they were trying to keep the sanctions pressure on Iran. Here’s a sample of public statements:
July 28, 2011. Treasury sanctions six al Qaeda operatives working in Iran. “By exposing Iran’s secret deal with al-Qa’ida allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen, “we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran’s unmatched support for terrorism.”
December 22, 2011: State announces a $10 million reward for Yasin al-Suri, who “under an agreement between al-Qa’ida the Iranian Government” moves “money and al Qa’ida recruits” through Iran.
February 6, 2012: Treasury designates the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security” for its support to terrorist groups, including al-Qa’ida.”
May 30, 2013: State releases its country reports on terrorism. “Iran,” it says, “remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody.” It also allowed AQ members to operate a “core facilitation pipeline through Iranian territory.”
February 6, 2014: Treasury confirms that Yasin al-Suri “has resumed leadership of al-Qa’ida’s Iran-based network after being temporarily detained there in late 2011.”
You get the picture.
Yet earlier this summer the State Department’s latest country report on terrorism said Iran had “previously” allowed al Qaeda “to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran,” implying this was a thing of the past. Less than a month later, President Obama announced the Iran nuclear deal.
With his deal now moving ahead, the least the President could do is release the other bin Laden files dealing with Iran. And if the President doesn’t release the documents, Congress ought to demand them.
Comments are closed.
