'SLEEPERS' CREEP IN A DOZING AMERICA BY JUDITH HANEY (USNewsLink) September 18. 2001 Something deadly and dangerous to all Americans has gone unnoticed and unchecked since the mid-1980's. And, suddenly, and not without warning, Americans awakened last week to discover they are surrounded by a deadly, determined, enemy. The enemy has social security numbers, and valid driver's licenses. They are accepted without reservation and allowed to blend in with Americans. They enjoy all the blessings of liberty provided to them by their host, the United States of America. They have a name. They are called 'sleepers' by Osama bin Laden and the Al'Qaeda, a group of dangerous and deadly international terrorists who are waging war on the United States. 'Sleepers' which is another name for 'mole' in Webster's Dictionary, have infiltrated the United States in unprecedented numbers for many years. They have a purpose, i.e., to answer the inevitable call to carry out deadly terrorist attacks on Americans when instructed to do so by their benefactor and leader, Osama Bin Laden. In a report published 9/16/01, by The Telegraph, "The real fear for the future since the attacks in New York and Washington is that dozens, perhaps hundreds of operatives loyal to Al'Qaeda are in America and Canada ready to strike again, awaiting a call from Osama Bin Laden"."In every terrorist act by Al'Qaeda since the early 1990s bin Laden has ensured that the actual suicide bombers were "sleepers", long-time residents of the countries they attacked, with ordinary jobs, identity papers and a social and family life. Bin Laden has spent a decade building up such networks of individuals, some of whom have never traveled to Afghanistan to meet him", according to The Telegraph's report. "Al'Qaeda is an umbrella organization that now includes dozens of militant groups from around the Muslim world. Bin Laden provides funds, training facilities in Afghanistan and overall directions", writes Ahmed Rashid for The Telegraph. The network of hundreds of Al'Qaeda sponsored terrorists who currently reside in the United States, or who travel within U.S. borders on tourist visas, are a threat to the safety and well being of every American. The government of the United States of America has a constitutional duty to preserve, protect and defend it's borders from any threat or incursion. Therefore, why did our government fail in it's duty to identify and deport terrorist before they succeeded in killing thousands of Americans and destroying billions of dollars in property? The events that led up to the deaths of nearly 6000 people from last Tuesday's attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center will be analyzed for years to come. And, at this critical moment in America's history, Americans should stop dozing, and begin to rely upon their own instincts and watch the horizon to ensure their own safety. While the President of the United States is telling Americans to get back to "normal", Defense and Justice Department officials are telling Americans via press conferences the awful truth: that more deadly terrorist attacks on United States soil are likely. Government officials warn Americans that terrorists could strike mass transit areas in major cities. The next strike could occur via truck bombs, car bombs, nuclear reactor sabotage, bridge destruction, and/or putting a chemical in a city's water system. Our British cousins have learned to take reasonable, thoughtful, daily precautions against injury or death from terrorist strikes. Americans must learn how to protect themselves as well. Do not assume the U.S. government will prevent future strikes on Americans, for to do so may cost you your life. Al'Qaeda 'has network of sleepers across North America' The real fear for the future since the attacks in New York and Washington is that dozens, perhaps hundreds of operatives loyal to Al'Qaeda are in America and Canada ready to strike again, awaiting a call from Osama Bin Laden. Al'Qaeda, or The Base, also has supporters in almost every European country and active cells in 34 nations. In every terrorist act by Al'Qaeda since the early 1990s bin Laden has ensured that the actual suicide bombers were "sleepers", long-time residents of the countries they attacked, with ordinary jobs, identity papers and a social and family life. Bin Laden has spent a decade building up such networks of individuals, some of whom have never traveled to Afghanistan to meet him. A Pakistani official said: "Bombing Afghanistan and bin Laden will just be lopping off the top of the tree, it will not be taking out all the branches, which are everywhere." Building up such a network has required money, weapons and secure sanctuaries and staging areas, which bin Laden has acquired only because the West has ignored the civil war in Afghanistan for a decade. Bin Laden set up Al'Qaeda in Peshawar, Pakistan, in the late 1980s as a welfare organization to pay pensions to the widows and orphans of Arabs who had died while fighting Soviet troops alongside the Afghan Mujaheddin. It expanded as bin Laden set up businesses, training schools and money laundering rings in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and the Middle East. He also had the resources of his wealthy family, the largest construction magnates in Saudi Arabia. His personal wealth was estimated by the CIA at £160 million, although much of that was frozen by America after Al'Qaeda bombed two US embassies in Africa in 1998. Since then bin Laden has raised funds by drugs trafficking from Afghanistan and smuggling consumer goods from Dubai and other ports in the Arabian Gulf to Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia. Bin Laden has also ignored the world banking system in favor of "hundi". For decades, millions of migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent who work in the Arab states use Pakistani and Indian money lenders to send earnings home. Last year Pakistan's State Bank received about £540 million in remittances from the country's migrant workers. Hundi delivered an estimated £2 billion. It is an informal system, which uses chits of paper, telephone calls and word of mouth. Workers in the Gulf hand over their earnings to money lenders, who phone their agents scattered in towns and villages in the home country, who in turn deliver the same sum to the families of the workers. Hundi is now operating in America, Canada and Britain, and bin Laden has tapped into this risk-free system. The US attacks were likely to have been funded through hundi. Afghanistan and the Taliban have provided extraordinary facilities not available anywhere in the shadowy world of international terrorism. Thousands of Al'Qaeda recruits spend six months of the year fighting for the Taliban, gaining battle experience and training in the use of weapons and explosives. Since 1998, bin Laden has used fax, telephone and e-mail connections from Pakistan rather than Afghanistan, as satellite communications in Afghanistan are too closely monitored by the CIA. Al'Qaeda is an umbrella organization that now includes dozens of militant groups from around the Muslim world. Bin Laden provides funds, training facilities in Afghanistan and overall direction, but he does not necessarily provide daily control. Instead, these groups, such as the 20 Algerians arrested in Europe this summer, have their own agendas, which are not necessarily communicated to bin Laden, unless there are big operations such as the American attacks. By distancing himself from these sub-groups, bin Laden has confidently been able to deny responsibility for every act of terrorism he has carried out, even though he has always praised the perpetrators, just as he has denied involvement in the American attacks but praised the suicide bombers.
13 September 2001: Britain is 'safe haven' for world terrorism 12 September 2001: Wealthy businessman who controls thousands of Arab militants 24 June 2001: 'Bin Laden's bomber' arrested |
