May 6, 2011 (Rev May 8)
The Wisdom Fund

Report: 9/11 Mastermind, Bin Laden, Assassinated in Pakistan

Was Bin Laden the 'mastermind' of 9/11? No

by Enver Masud

FREE ebook "9/11 Unveiled" (Arabic, Chinese)
American Patriots — Muslims didn't do it

On May 1, President Obama reported that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S. Navy SEALS in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In the following we present what we know, and do not know, about the killing of the alleged mastermind of 9/11. In the interest of brevity, the presentation is in outline form.

9/11: The Evidence Against Bin Laden

FBI Director Robert Mueller, in a speech at the Commonwealth Club on April 19, 2002, said: "In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either here in the United States, or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot."

In fact there are no Arab names on the partial list of passengers on the 9/11 flights - released by the Associated Press on September 17, 2001.

To this day, the FBI page states: "Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world."

In June 2006, when asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on the FBI's web page, Rex Tomb, the FBI's Chief of Investigative Publicity, is reported to have said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11."

On September 22, 2001, the Bush administration said that "it would release evidence that Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks Sept. 11 on the United States, part of an effort to convince the world that a military response is justified."

"I am absolutely convinced that the al-Qaida network, which he heads, was responsible for this attack," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Ten years on, we're still waiting for this evidence.

On March 29, 2006, on Fox News Radio, the Tony Snow Show, Vice President Dick Cheney stated: "We've never made the case, or argued the case, that somehow Osama Bin Laden was directly involved in 9/11. That evidence has never been forthcoming."

Taliban Offered Bin Laden to U.S.

• The Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, made the offer at a news conference in Islamabad. Zaeef said the Taliban would detain bin Laden and try him under Islamic law if the United States makes a formal request and presents them with evidence. ("U.S. rejects Taliban offer to try bin Laden," cnn.com, October 7, 2001)

Despite U.S. claims that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi citizens, on October 7, 2001, the U.S. launched its war on Afghanistan.

• The offer yesterday from Haji Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, to surrender Mr bin Laden if America would halt its bombing and provide evidence against the Saudi-born dissident was not new. (Andrew Buncomb, "Bush rejects Taliban offer to surrender bin Laden," Independent, October 15, 2001)

Prior Reports of Bin Laden's Death

• Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. . . .

About 30 close associates of bin Laden in Al Qaeda, including his most trusted and personal bodyguards, his family members and some "Taliban friends," attended the funeral rites. ("Report: Bin Laden Already Dead," foxnews.com, December 26, 2001)

• . . . former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is telling reporters that the Bush administration may already have captured Osama bin Laden and will release the news just before next year's presidential election. ("Madeleine Albright: Bush Planning Bin Laden October Surprise," newsmax.com, December 17, 2003)

• Preeminent 9/11 author, Prof. David Ray Griffin, examined purported messages from bin Laden since 2001 and found little evidence that they in fact came from bin Laden himself. (David Ray Griffin, "Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?," Olive Branch Press, May 20, 2009)

• Angelo M. Codevilla, who teaches international relations at Boston University, is a former U.S. intelligence officer who studied Soviet disinformation techniques during the Cold War. He says a close examination of all the alleged bin Laden tapes, including the videos, have convinced him that Elvis Presley is more alive than Osama bin Laden. . . .

The last credible intercepts of bin Laden's voice were made by overhead satellites in early December 2001 as he was escaping through the Tora Bora mountain range . . .

Bin Laden was suffering from a kidney ailment, and some experts say he died Dec. 13, 2001, four days after his escape from Tora Bora. Videos since then, according to neutral experts, show bin Laden writing with his right hand, but he is well known as left-handed. They also detect differences in the shape of the nose, skin color and speech. (Arnaud de Borchgrave, "Man or myth argument is alive and well online," Washington Times, July 26, 2010)

• The leaked documents also claim that Osama bin Laden, who was reported dead three years ago by the late Pakistan candidate Benazir Bhutto on BBC, was still alive, conveniently keeping the myth alive for the Obama Administration War on Terror at a point when most Americans had forgotten the original reason the Bush Administration allegedly invaded Afghanistan to pursue the Saudi Bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks. (F. William Engdahl, "Something stinks about Wikileaks," vheadline.com, August 11, 2010)

Report: OBL Assassinated in Abbottabad

• U.S. officials said the helicopter raid in Pakistan was carried out by CIA paramilitaries together with the elite Navy SEAL Team Six. The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden's remains, which American officials said were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition. . . .

In August, 2010, intelligence officials found what they suspected to be bin Laden's residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan, an affluent area with lots of retired military. ("Osama Bin Laden is Dead," CBS/AP, May 1, 2011)

• The release of a photograph purporting to show bin Laden's corpse - which was later confirmed to be a fake - added to the confusion. ("Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death?," yahoo.com, May 2, 2011)

• Sources confirmed to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that his body was released into the sea from a U.S. Navy vessel on Monday, likely into the Indian Ocean.

Bin Laden was a Saudi national, but officials tell CBS News that the Kingdom was unwilling to have his remains repatriated. ("Osama bin Laden's body buried at sea," CBS/AP, May 2, 2011)

• Islam does NOT require burial within 24 hours. Why not bury him in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo . . . or let the locals bury him?

• US officials have now conceded that Bin Laden was not armed during the assault, did not fire back and that his wife was only injured in the assault. (Peter Foster, "Osama bin Laden 'Was Not Armed and Did Not Use Wife as Human Shield'," Telegraph, May 3, 2011)

• Four of the five people shot to death in the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, including the al-Qaida leader himself, were unarmed and never fired a shot, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday - an account that differs markedly from the Obama administration's original claims that the Navy SEALs came under heavy small-arms fire in a prolonged firefight. (Jim Miklaszewski, "Bin Laden 'firefight': Only one man was armed," msnbc.msn.com, May 4, 2011)

Conclusion

• In 1976, President Ford issued Executive Order 11905 to clarify U.S. foreign intelligence activities. The order was enacted in response to the post-Watergate revelations that the CIA had staged multiple attempts on the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

. . . Section 5(g), entitled "Prohibition on Assassination," states: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." ("U.S. policy on assassinations," cnn.com, November 4, 2002)

• "China holds that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country should be respected," said Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, according to Xinhua news agency. ("China blasts US government for operation that killed Osama," ibtimes.com, May 5, 2011)

About a year ago, I wrote: "We suspect that when bin Laden is 'killed,' we'll just have to trust the folks that lied us into war to confirm they got him."

Is Bin Laden dead? Yes. Was he killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan? Possibly. Was he the 'mastermind' of 9/11? No.

Bin Laden's death is a distraction from more important issues: Why did President Bush launch the war on Afghanistan? Why did President Obama make it his war?

9/11 Facts, History — Not Propaganda

Tweet
Follow @wisdomfund

Published May 11 in CBS Money Watch

Rumsfeld, "Bin Laden's Mountain Fortress," NBC Meet The Press, December 2, 2001

Enver Masud, "The war on Afghanistan was planned before September 11, 2001," The Wisdom Fund, April 27, 2002

"Khalid Shaikh Mohammed: 9/11 'Mastermind' or Wedding Planner," The Wisdom Fund, March 3, 2003

Robert Fisk, "Saddam Statue Scene Staged," Independent, April 11, 2003

John Kampfner, "Saving Private Lynch story 'flawed'," BBC News, May 15, 2003

VIDEO: "There's no Al-Qaeda organization" (at 12:20 min)--"The Power Of Nightmares 03: The Shadows In The Cave," bbc.com, 2004

Bruce Lawrence (editor), "Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden," Verso (November 28, 2005)

Enver Masud, "Bin Laden Not Wanted for 9/11," The Wisdom Fund, June 8, 2006

Massimo Calabresi, "Is Osama bin Laden Dying ... Again?," time.com, June 30, 2008

"Sibel Edmonds: Bin Laden worked for US till 9/11," dailykos.com, May 20, 2009

[Evidence now available from various sources, including recently declassified U.S. State Department documents, shows that the Taliban regime led by Mullah Mohammad Omar imposed strict isolation on Osama bin Laden after 1998 to prevent him from carrying out any plots against the United States.--Gareth Porter, "Taliban Regime Pressed bin Laden on anti-US Terror," Inter Press Service, February 12, 2010]

Enver Masud, "Staging bin Laden's 'Death'," The Wisdom Fund, May 25, 2010

Gordon Duff, "President Obama Announces: Bin Laden Still Dead," Veterans Today, May 1, 2011

Brynn Jacobs, "On the death (again) of Osama bin Laden," dangerousintersection.org, May 4, 2011

"Bin Laden's Daughter Confirms: Father Captured Alive Then Killed By US Special Forces," Al Arabiya, May 4, 2011

Paul Craig Roberts, "The Agendas Behind the bin Laden News Event," lewrockwell.com, May 5, 2011

Sibel Edmonds, "White House PSYOP Script Falls Apart," boilingfrogspost.com, May 5, 2011

Steve Lendman, "Staged Bin Laden Killing Hokum," sjlendman.blogspot.com, May 6, 2011

Alexander Cockburn, "A Volcano of Lies," counterpunch.org, May 6, 2011

Steve Lendman, "False Flags: An American Tradition," sjlendman.blogspot.com, May 7, 2011

David Randall and Andrew Buncombe, "The secret life of al-Qa'ida's leader," Independent, May 8, 2011

[in all likelihood Osama Bin Laden died in December 2001. . . .

In the old days, Ben Laden's companions were branded as "freedom fighters". . . .

Today, they have returned to being "freedom fighters", as they identify the targets for NATO's bombardments on Libyan soil or when they shoot at random into a crowd or at police forces in Syria.--Thierry Meyssan, "Reflections on the official announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden," voltairenet.org, May 8, 2011

AUDIO: "Kathleen Wells' Interview of Enver Masud," KCAA, May 8, 2011

"Interview with Osama bin Laden. Denies his Involvement in 9/11," globalresearch.ca, May 9, 2011

Sam Biddle, "This Is What We (Ridiculously) Thought Osama Was Hiding in Ten Years Ago," gizmodo.com, May 9, 2011

Declan Walsh, "Osama bin Laden's guns found 'only after' US Navy Seals killed him," Guardian, May 17, 2011

[In the wake of the US raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, China has "warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China", a media report claimed on Thursday.--"'China has asked US to respect Pak sovereignty'," Press Trust Of India, May 19, 2011]

"Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg Says that the Government Has ORDERED the Media Not to Cover 9/11," georgewashington2.blogspot.com, June 14, 2011

[Sources willing to testify in court, sources silenced because of phony concerns for "national security," sources who have held positions of trust and/or authority, tell me Osama bin Laden always worked for the CIA until his death. Most confirm his death in December, 2001.--Gordon Duff, "Osama bin Laden, the Innocent Man: Closing the Case," Veterans Today, June 15, 2011]

Paul Craig Roberts, "Pakistan TV Report Contradicts US Claim of Bin Laden's Death," globalresearch.ca, August 6, 2011

Karen J. Greenberg and Tom Engelhardt, "Taking the Justice Out of the Justice System," tomdispatch.com, August 22, 2011

"Zelikow Appointed to Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board," virginia.edu, September 7, 2011 -- Zelikow, described as a myth maker, was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission.

"Taliban Seek Probe Into 9/11 Attacks," Uruknet.info, September 10, 2011

[CIA officials report that, even after 9/11, they were actively seeking a kidney transplant for bin Laden to keep him alive. They confirmed that he was actively being paid, had security clearances and was working on assignments received on or after 9/11.

They also confirmed bin Laden had, because of health reasons, not been living in Bahrain as thought but San Diego. While there, he visited the White House and met with George H. W. Bush and other members of the Bush family including George W. Bush.

Bin Laden felt betrayed when the President, a man he knew as a personal friend, ordered his killing after 9/11, particularly since bin Laden was an active CIA agent.--Gordon Duff, "Bush Knew Bin Laden Murdered in 2001," veteranstoday.com, February 5, 2012]

"Body is Dover bound, should be here by now," wikileaks.org, March 4, 2012

[The Associated Press asked for files about the raid in more than 20 separate requests, mostly submitted the day after bin Laden's death. The Pentagon told the AP this month it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the Navy aircraft carrier where the al-Qaida leader's body was taken.--Richard Lardner, "Pentagon says it has no records of bin Laden's death; CIA hasn't answered open records request ," StarTribune, March 15, 2012]

Bill Mears, "Federal judge blocks release of bin Laden death photos," cnn.com, April 27, 2012

Elliott Freeman, "Pentagon admits it has no photo evidence of Bin Laden's death," digitaljournal.com, May 1, 2012

Ashley Fantz, "Bin Laden's letters reveal a terrorist losing control," cnn.com, May 4, 2012

Gareth Porter, "The Truth Behind the Official Story of Finding Bin Laden," truth-out.org, May 3, 2012

Joby Warrick, "Ex-SEAL's book says Osama bin Laden made no attempt to defend himself in raid," washingtonpost.com, August 29, 2012

"Killing bin Laden," CBS 60 Minutes, September 9, 2012

Michel Chossudovsky, "9/11 Mastermind Osama bin Laden: America's Anti-Soviet 'Peace Warrior' and CIA 'Intelligence Asset'," globalresearch.ca, September 8, 2012

"Revealed: Military emails show that NO U.S. sailors witnessed Osama bin Laden's secret burial at sea'," dailymail.co.uk, November 21, 2012

[Shortly after the alleged assassination 30 members of the SEAL unit died in a mysterious helicopter crash in Afghanistan, and now we learn that not a single one of the thousands of sailors on the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, witnessed bin Laden's alleged burial at sea from that ship.--Paul Craig Roberts, "The Osama bin Laden Myth," paulcraigroberts.org, November 26, 2012]

[Osama bin Laden had perhaps been dead for ten years of Marfan syndrome that elongated his body, made him sickly and ruined his kidneys. He was reportedly on dialysis in 2000.

The photo did not take place in the actual "situation room." The people in the room were not watching the death of bin Laden, as the live feed - or whatever it was - did not extend inside of bin Laden's compound.--"Esquire Portrait of bin Laden's Death Fails to Convince," thedailybell.com, February 12, 2013]

[According to the former CIA agent, he personally knew Bin Laden's three Chechen bodyguards, who had protected him until his death and witnessed his death on June 26, 2006.--"Osama Bin Laden Died of Natural Causes According to Former CIA Agent," intellihub.com, May 6, 2013]

[The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public. . . .

The Defense Department told the AP in March 2012 it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier from which he was buried at sea. The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests for bin Laden, . . .

The Pentagon also refused to confirm or deny the existence of helicopter maintenance logs and reports about the performance of military gear used in the raid. One of the stealth helicopters that carried the SEALs in Pakistan crashed during the mission and its wreckage was left behind.--Richard Lardner, "Secret move keeps bin Laden records in the shadows," apnews.myway.com, July 8, 2013]

[. . . the death of Osama bin Laden. "Nothing's been done about that story, it's one big lie, not one word of it is true," he says of the dramatic US Navy Seals raid in 2011.--Lisa O'Carroll, "Seymour Hersh on Obama, NSA and the 'pathetic' American media'," theguardian.com, September 27, 2013]

Natalie DiBlasio, "Admiral: 'Destroy' photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse," usatoday.com, February 12, 2014

Shane Harris, "Bin Laden 'Shooter' Story Is FUBAR, Special Ops Sources Say," thedailybeast.com, November 7, 2014

[Osama bin Laden died in December 2001 of renal failure and other health problems, . . . Bin Laden's obituary appeared in numerous foreign and Arabic press, and also on Fox News.--Paul Craig Roberts, "Another Fake Bin Laden Story," paulcraigroberts.org, November 7, 2014]

[Hersh's story does prove that the US government is a liar, but it does not prove that a SEAL team murdered Osama bin Laden.--Paul Craig Roberts, "Seymour Hersh Succumbs To Disinformation," paulcraigroberts.org, May 11, 2015]

VIDEO: "Obama, Osama and Lies," rt.com, May 11, 2015

VIDEO: "Seymour Hersh Details Explosive Story on Bin Laden Killing & Responds to White House, Media Backlash," democracynow.org, May 12, 2015

[bin Laden had been a prisoner of the ISI at the Abbottabad compound since 2006; that Kayani and Pasha knew of the raid in advance and had made sure that the two helicopters delivering the Seals to Abbottabad could cross Pakistani airspace without triggering any alarms; that the CIA did not learn of bin Laden's whereabouts by tracking his couriers, as the White House has claimed since May 2011, but from a former senior Pakistani intelligence officer who betrayed the secret in return for much of the $25 million reward offered by the US, and that, while Obama did order the raid and the Seal team did carry it out, many other aspects of the administration's account were false.--Seymour M. Hersh, "The Killing of Osama bin Laden," London Review of Books, May 21, 2015]

VIDEO: "After Words with Seymour Hersh," c-span.org, May 10, 2016

[Pakistan's civilian administration under then-President Asif Ali Zardari had persuaded the military authorities to order the Pakistan Air Force and air defense systems to stand down during the operation. Ambassador Haqqani's role in this saga ruffled the feathers of Pakistan's military's top brass--Nauman Sadiq, "Raymond Davis, CIA, and the Hunt for Osama Bin Laden," antiwar.com, February 16, 2019]

The Bin Laden Papers: Examining the documents seized from the al Qaeda leader's compound, April 26, 2022

MORE: "What Really Happened on September 11, 2001," The Wisdom Fund