Bush Calls off Bin Laden Hunt./was Bushies deal with Taliban then kill them

[Jim Baldauf]

Just in case the pipeline seems like old news, the real nugget in the link
story below is that Bush called off the ongoing hunt for Osama (pre 9-11) in
order to do the pipeline deal, causing a senior FBI official to resign in
protest. The official, John O'Neil, took a job as head of security for the
World Trade Center where he was killed on his first day at work.
jb



----- Original Message -----
From: telebob x <telebob98@hotmail.com>
To: <austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 12:52 PM
Subject: Bushies deal with Taliban then kill them



Actually I do not know if this is any bigger news than the fact that the USA
suffered yet another coup d'etat during the Bush "election", or that the
Bush family is completely up to their hips with the Saudi Royal family
including Ben Ladin's relatives, or whether it's OK or not for 5 companies
with rotating directorships to own 80% of the media outlets in America. or
whether....oh, you name it...

Disgusted in CR


Explosive New Book Published in France Alleges that U.S. Was in
Negotiations to Do a Deal with Taliban

Aired January 8, 2002 - 07:34 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND
MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND
MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check in with ambassador-in-
residence, Richard Butler, this morning. An explosive new book
published in France alleges that the United States was in
negotiations to do a deal with the Taliban for an oil pipeline in
Afghanistan.

Joining us right now is Richard Butler to shed some light on this new
book. He is the former chief U.N. weapons inspector. He is now on the
Council on Foreign Relations and our own ambassador-in- residence --
good morning.

RICHARD BUTLER, FMR. U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Boy, if any of these charges are true...

BUTLER: If...

ZAHN: ... this...

BUTLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... is really big news.

BUTLER: I agree.

ZAHN: Start off with what your understanding is of what is in this
book -- the most explosive charge.

BUTLER: The most explosive charge, Paula, is that the Bush
administration -- the present one, just shortly after assuming office
slowed down FBI investigations of al Qaeda and terrorism in
Afghanistan in order to do a deal with the Taliban on oil -- an oil
pipeline across Afghanistan.

ZAHN: And this book points out that the FBI's deputy director, John
O'Neill, actually resigned because he felt the U.S. administration
was obstructing...

BUTLER: A proper...

ZAHN: ... the prosecution of terrorism.

BUTLER: Yes, yes, a proper intelligence investigation of terrorism.
Now, you said if, and I affirmed that in responding to you. We have
to be careful here. These are allegations. They're worth airing and
talking about, because of their gravity. We don't know if they are
correct. But I believe they should be investigated, because Central
Asian oil, as we were discussing yesterday, is potentially so
important. And all prior attempts to have a pipeline had to be done
through Russia. It had to be negotiated with Russia.

Now, if there is to be a pipeline through Afghanistan, obviating the
need to deal with Russia, it would also cost less than half of what a
pipeline through Russia would cost. So financially and politically,
there's a big prize to be had. A pipeline through Afghanistan down to
the Pakistan coast would bring out that Central Asian oil easier and
more cheaply.

ZAHN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as you spoke about this yesterday, we almost
immediately got a call from "The New York Times."

BUTLER: Right.

ZAHN: They want you to write an op-ed piece on this over the weekend.

BUTLER: Right, and which I will do.

ZAHN: But let's come back to this whole issue of what John O'Neill,
this FBI agent...

BUTLER: Right.

ZAHN: ... apparently told the authors of this book. He is alleging
that -- what -- the U.S.
government was trying to protect U.S. oil interests? And at the same
time, shut off the investigation of terrorism to allow for that to
happen?

BUTLER: That's the allegation that instead of prosecuting properly an
investigation of terrorism, which has its home in Afghanistan as we
now know, or one of its main homes, that was shut down or slowed down
in order to pursue oil interests with the Taliban. The people who we
have now bombed out of existence, and this not many months ago. The
book says that the negotiators said to the Taliban, you have a
choice. You have a carpet of gold, meaning an oil deal, or a carpet
of bombs. That's what the book alleges.

ZAHN: Well, I know you're going to be doing your own independent
homework on this...

BUTLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... to see if you can confirm any of this. Let's move on to the
whole issue of Iraq. The deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, at
one time was considered one of those voices within the
administration...

BUTLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... that was pushing for moving beyond Afghanistan. He seemed
to back off a little from that yesterday.

BUTLER: Yes.

ZAHN: What do you read through the tea leaves here?

BUTLER: A very interesting report that the administration will focus
on the Philippines, Yemen, Somalia as places where there are al Qaeda
cells. But the word Iraq wasn't used by the man who was the chief
hawk -- used as a, you know, as a future target. So what I interpret
from that is this: That very likely our allies have been saying to
us, this is too hard. This is really serious. Be careful. Saddam is
essentially contained at the moment. Don't start, you know, a bigger
problem either in the Arab world or in the coalition by going after
him. And Wolfowitz, it seems, has probably accepted that.

ZAHN: A quick thought on the Israelis intercepting this latest armed
shipment? What that means? You've got to do it in about 15 seconds.

BUTLER: It's extraordinarily serious, because it seems to have been
tied to Yasser Arafat himself. It needs to be further investigated,
but you know, Paula, the potentiality that this could once again
prove an impediment to resume peace negotiations is really quite
serious.

ZAHN: Thank you as usual for covering so much territory. Richard
Butler, see you same time, same place tomorrow morning.

BUTLER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ZAHN: We appreciate your insights.

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