Thanks for reminding me of a CSM article I pointed to in a previous post of mine....
I just thought over the whole 911 crisis and, somehow, I made up my mind.
Al-Qaeda is merely a catchword coined by US intelligence to help focus minds/energies on some palatable notion. We can consider it as the official reference to an elusive, roguish, terrorist manpower that has --and will-- execute terrorist attacks against various targets. However, it's utterly irrelevant to analyze/probe the mastermind level or the brains that manipulate/command the terrorist manpower....
As I said on the World Affairs thread, the crux of 911 was Russia's imminent (second) incursion into Afghanistan. Such a momentous development is plausible and is supported by various diplomatic accounts (*). So, once we agree on the fact that, in September 2001, Russia was on the verge of a massive intervention in Afghanistan (probably a Chechnya-like bombing campaign for starters), the $60,000 question becomes, WHO actually triggered the 911 bloodshed? Was it the CIA and/or some US intelligence rogues who sought to preempt/outmaneuver the Russians? Or was it Russia's FSB together with Mossad and French intelligence?
As I said repeatedly, I firmly believe it was the latter. I think Putin was well aware that Russia didn't enjoy the same geopolitical leeway as the USSR did in the 1980s. Putin was already under international pressure for his dirty war in Chechnya. Yet, Chechnya would have looked like a picnic compared to the Afghan quagmire... But, these strategic second-thoughts notwithstanding, the Afghan situation was deteriorating so fast that Putin --and the Kremlin hawks-- could no longer just sit and watch the Taliban regime creeping all across Central Asia. The "Domino Effect" had to be stopped. And, somehow, Putin successfully managed to stop it... with the US military powerhouse. All he needed was something to compel the US to intervene in Afghanistan, something dramatic and outrageous enough that the Taliban won't be allowed to call Russia's bluff.
Such an FSB/Mossad/French scenario perfectly fits in with the mood that prevails prior to 911, that is, a widespread hostility towards the US --in Europe, Russia, and among Israeli topsiders who knew about GW Bush's scheme for a Palestinian state.
Besides, if 911 were actually the brainchild of some fanatic elements within US intelligence then how come the chief architect of the anti-terror coalition was Secr. of State Colin Powell??!? If 911 had been (co-)devised by the most hawkish quarter of the US military then I'd expect Wolfowitz and gang to sit behind the wheel --not "dovish" Powell! And then, look at the coalition Powell built up: Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey,... even Iran got almost co-opted! So, my point is that if 911 had been the atrocious brainchild of a Pentagon/far-right combine, Powell would have been pushed aside from the outset and the coalition turned into a crusaders party --with the UK, France, and other EU countries making up the brunt of it....
Then there's a story that's been overlooked all along: the Robert Hanssen case and the demise of FBI Director Louis Freeh.... Of course, most, if not all, of the Hanssen espionage story will remain classified for the foreseeable future. But I suspect that, as a USSR/Russia expert-insider, Hanssen was too great a risk for the FSB, that is, the guy had to be discarded one way or the other, lest he might get a clue of Russia's shenanigan and screw any plot the FSB might engage against the US....
Gus
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