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A Testimony after Three Years of the Attacks:
Salih al-Gallab

Next Saturday marks the third anniversary of the catastrophic attacks of 9/11. Before the occurrence of this heinous crime, the eyes of the Arabs were focused on New York, where the General Assembly of the United Nations was due to be held in anticipation of a an American declaration about the Palestinian conflict

the like of which had never been made in the past, and most probably it is never going to be made in the future.

The efforts of the Arabs, especially those of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, had born fruit, for they had been able to convince the Americans that the key to the Middle East was the resolution of the Palestinian conflict; that a just settlement of the conflict, capable of gaining the favor of all the future generations, including Israeli generations, was the only way for stability and peace in this strategically important region. Due to those efforts, exerted by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and some other countries, President Bush was expected to declare, during that historical meeting of the international organization, on the 20 th of September 2001, only nine days after the terrible attacks, the American commitment for the establishment of a viable Palestinian State: was what otherwise called the two-state solution.

The airplane of King Abdullah bin al-Hussein, during that moment that changed the course of history, by destroying the two towers and delivering the most devastating blow to the Pentagon since its building, was over the Atlantic Ocean heading towards Washington . The Jordanian officials aboard the plane, in the company of the king, were busy working out the details of what they were to say during that historical meeting. At the time I was the Jordanian minister of information in the cabinet of former prime minister Ali al-Raghib .

Back at home the Jordanian government, on seeing the horrible spectacle on TV screens, where huge passenger airplanes were crashing into the World Trade Centre, and the clouds of smoke were bellowing into the skies of New York, called for an emergency meeting for the remaining members of the cabinet. The unexpected attacks were exceptionally horrible, and the main concern of the Jordanian government was the safety of the King with his airplane heading towards Washington at that particular moment and during that circumstance, which it had never experienced before. The closure of the American air space had been declared by the different mass media and air defense was ready to bring down any aircraft entering the American air space.

The Jordanian government made strenuous efforts to contact his Majesty's airplane. When the contact was finally established the answer from the airplane was: « We know that something has happened in America , but we don't know how big or dangerous it is

.» An agreement was quickly reached that the airplane should not approach the American skies, but proceed to the nearest Canadian airport in case it didn't have enough fuel to reach a British or Irish airport. Fortunately, the fuel was enough to take the airplane to the nearest British airport, to refuel and return to Amman « because under such dire circumstances and these dangerous developments with all their impending repercussions», there was no choice but to go back.

The next day, King Abdullah held an emergency meeting at his palace, which was attended by senior officials, government ministers and leaders of law enforcement agencies. The King said that what had happened was of seminal importance and would be the beginning of a new alignment of forces on the world stage. The Arabs should hold a pioneering position in the war against terrorism. « The most dangerous outcome is for the Palestinians to be classified as belonging to the terrorist front, while the Israelis are classified as part of the anti-terrorist front», he added.

His Majesty K

Readers Comments on this article:

Brian Torri, Exactly. We Americans are no less obligated to make the Israeli government understand how and why we think they greatly abuse our friendship. Doing that would not diminish our solidarity with the security concerns of Israel, while letting the Palestinians know we are serious about being even-handed. That being said, it's taken 32 years to realize that terrorism undoes a cause? Violence enables any opponent to focus on just the violence. Non-violence, especially with a lot of friends (i.e.: other Arab & Muslim countries), can force even a bigoted country to a more just conclusion. I'd like to see two states in Palestine, but these bombings keep up, and it'll be two states all right; there will be an impassable wall between them, though. There won't even be the luxury of a Checkpoint Charlie.

Mrs Ahmed, My condolences to all the victims of 911. Violence is wrong and unacceptable. Terrorists will not gain sympathy by killing people.

Paul Sittler, It is difficult to be sympathetic to a political or religious position that supports killing of all people from any nation state or of any other religious persuasion as a matter of devotion. It is even more difficult to observe the wholesale murder of innocents as a matter of religious observence. Throughout my life, I have always respected the religious beliefs of others, and desired that they respect mine. I now see that apparently Islam, as interpreted by its "scholars", requires the wholesale murder and butchery of all Americans, military, or civilian, wherever they be found. As part of the named target of various fatwahs apparently requiring these actions, I am losing all respect for what I had formerly seen as one of the great religions of the world. I am saddened. I am becoming disgusted. I begin to wonder if my Muslim friends are merely awaiting the opportunity to savagely butcher me as an act of devoutness. I had previously thought them to be decent and good human beings. However, decent and good human beings do not murder hundreds and thousands of innocents.

Robert Stevens, NYC, --->"The airplane of King Abdullah bin al-Hussein, during that moment that changed the course of history, by destroying the two towers and delivering the most devastating blow to the Pentagon since its building, was over the Atlantic Ocean heading towards Washington."<--- I didn't know this. This may sound like something out of a Tom Clancy novel but what the heck. What are the chances the al-Qaida braintrust timed their "raids" on DC and New York hoping for a shootdown of King Hussein's plane by the Americans? Undoubtedly, a shootdown of Hussein's jet by the Yanks would have been but a secondary aim of UBL and Ayman. However, had it come to pass, and regardless that UBL considers King Hussein a mortal enemy, I imagine the resultant Muslim rage over Hussein's death would have created a great many foot soldiers to UBLs global jihad. In this regard it would be interesting to know whether King Hussein's plane departed Jordan on time.

John Held, I am an american who was also in the air on 9-11. After visting Israel in the 1980's I considered myself sensitive to the cause of the palestineans. One state or two; I felt these people deserved their rights. I also visited Egypt, and again realized the great warmpth of the Arab culture and how it was misunderstood in the West. I even was motivated to study Arabic in college, with an eye to diplomacy. I also have enough Jewish background to have been exterminated by the Nazis in WII, had my ancestors not immmegrated years ago. So my main feeling was a deep hope for peace for the two peoples. Whomever started the lastest Intafada I don't care, but even me with such as interest and respect of Arab culture, and the fond memories of the beatiful people of palestine, after 9-11 I was shocked and sickened by the continuing focus of attacks on Israli civilians by the terror groups. Each attack that happend, in Israel, Palestine and elsewhere (Bali, Spain, the the truly most horrific attack in the history of modern man, Russia) Has further removed me from my orginal sense of fondness. Each has made me question more if this is a few evil people, or a whole culture that is corrputed as by cancer, or at incorrigably voilent and vicious at it's core. Perhaps even worse than the terrorist attacks (by which I mean intentional killing of civilians) are the responses from the arab press, such as Al-Jazeera. After each attack, an excuse is given: Putin is responsible for the deaths in Russia, American caused 9-11 because of support for Israel. I can agree that Chechnia, Palestine, Iraq and other areas where there is suffering, injustice or chaos can cause people to act violently. But the very specific targeting of 'innocents' is unique to Islam. It is hard to find anything in my culture that directly relates, other than the holocaust, which is rejected by present day society. I wish deeply for peace, and I know my country has at least temporarily taken one side in many of these conflicts which may need more even handedness. But each of these attacks raises the question of IF peace can be found with the Arab cultures. What will happen when Iran has a nuclear bomb, what will happen with Pakistan's bomb and technology. Yes, the US used the bomb in Japan. But never since. It is not in our current culture to intensionally kill civilians. Not in Iraq, not in Afgahistan or elsewhere. Would not terrorists wipe out my city without a second thought? If peace is not possible, and killing civilians, even the truly innocent (captives, children, office workers, airline passengers) is an aspect of Islamic culture then I hope and pray my country will do everything possible to combat the threat in any means necessary for the survival of my children and for the gift of freedom for future generations. I pray for peace, I wish for justice and carry in my heart the memories of a warm and rich people, but if we cannot have peace, I would for the continuance of my own society than another. I wish my government would be better at pursuing diplomacy; but barring that, we had better be prepared to win the ultimate war at any cost, if it comes to that.

Michael R Tucci, It is extremism in any form that is a blight on the society of the world. It is the blanketing of entire peoples with a shroud of blackness that enables the perpetrations of evil. We cannot, and must not, succomb to labeling an entire people as being one thing. I, for one, am an individual. I proudly proclaim myself as American, but I also proudly proclaim myself as Italian-American. But don't anyone ever make the mistake of lumping me in with what people like to call the "average" American. I am an individual. I fully understand that there are terrible individuals out there--Timothy McVeigh, for example. But, Timothy McVeigh does not make all Americans killers!! And, he certainly doesn't make me a killer. The members of the KKK do not make every white person a bigot and perpetrator of hate crimes. And a fanatical Christian who kills a doctor at an abortion clinic, does not make all Christians terrorists. The vast majority of us in the world are civil. One of the problems is that the civil people don't make the news. The bad people make the news. And we must be extra careful to extricate any association of an entire people from the acts of a small number a bad people. I have read articles on the fatwahs preaching hatred, but I will not sit here and tell you that I have not heard hate sermons in Christian churches. How can we sit halfway across the world and make some sweeping judgement of an entire people because of media coverage of a select few preachers and radicals? To make that kind of sweeping judgement of an entire people is to become exactly what one is condemning. It is the small minority people who are terrorists who have issued sweeping statements of the West. And we are to condemn them by making equally sweeping statements of the Middle East? Don't judge me because of Al Capone or Timothy McVeigh. Don't judge Muslims because of Osama Bin Ladin. There are evil individuals and evil organizations, but there are no evil civilizations or cultures. We have to have a sharp eye out for killers. Killers are not a people, they are individuals--and they must be dealt with. I do not believe there is a clash of civilizations--there is a clash of hatred. There is hatred in the Balkans, but we don't ascribe it to all Europeans. I'm sorry that I have belabored the point, but it is such an important distinction. Mike

zaknoune kamel, une question simple combien d'etres humains sont morts,depuis la creation des u s a,dont ils sont directement ou indirectement responsable,sans aucun jugement?

S Amin, :- Writers & readers-Please refer to this aricle and wake up Subject: CIA Funding Terrorists Date: 5 Dec 2005 03:54:57 -0000 >How our governments use terrorism to control us >By Tim Howells >Online Journal Contributing Writer > >http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_277.shtml >Nov 28, 2005, 13:55 >The sponsorship of terrorism by western governments, targeting their own populations, has been a taboo subject. Although major scandals have received cursory coverage in the media, the subject has been allowed to immediately disappear without discussion or investigation. Therefore the appearance this year of two major studies of this subject is a welcome breakthrough, and provides essential reading for anyone struggling to understand the events of September 11, 2001 and the post September 11 world. > >The studies are complementary. NATO's Secret Armies, Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe by Daniele Ganser concerns terrorism sponsored by American and British intelligence in Western Europe and Turkey between the end of World War II and 1985. The War on Truth, 9/11, Disinformation, and the Anatomy of Terrorism by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed chronicles the cultivation and sponsorship of militant Islamic terrorism by the intelligence services of the United States, Britain and Russia from 1979 to the present. Both studies are models of scholarship -- meticulously documented and carefully reasoned -- but the world they reveal will boggle the mind of the most wild-eyed conspiracy theorist. > >Creating "Communist" Terrorism to Fuel the Cold War > >NATO's Secret Armies describes how following World War II the US and Britain, fearing a Soviet invasion of Europe, established "stay-behind" paramilitary units throughout Western Europe and in Turkey. Had the anticipated Soviet invasion occurred these units would have constituted ready made resistance groups, trained and armed, with secure communications with each other and with their allies in Britain and the US. In some counties, for example Norway and Sweden, these stay-behind units were true to their original charters, remaining inactive until they disbanded at the end of the Cold War. In other countries, however, the paramilitary units were activated by their handlers in the United States as part of a hellish "Strategy of Tension" designed to convince left-leaning populations in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Turkey and other countries that their very lives were at risk from communist terrorists. The arms and bombs originally intended for the Soviets were turned instead on their own compatriots with the aim of placing the blame for the waves of terrorist attacks on communists. > >In Italy the stay-behind operation was referred to as Gladio (Latin for "Sword"). The Piazza Fontana bombings that killed 16 and wounded 80 shortly before Christmas in 1969 initiated a wave of terrorist bombings in Italy by Gladio operatives that continued throughout the 1970s. The worst single bombing occurred in the Bologna train station in 1980, killing 85 and wounding 200. Another Gladio bombing in Brescia in 1974 killed eight and wounded 102, and the same year a train was bombed in Rome, killing 12 and wounding 48. The case that led to the discovery of the Gladio plots by the Italian courts was a 1972 bombing that killed three policemen. > >The Gladio operations in Italy are relatively well known and well understood because of several high level judicial investigations that received coverage in the European press and have been the subject of a few books. One contribution of Ganser's book is to bring this material together in a concise and well organised format. Further, Ganser extends his study beyond Italy to examine the effects of stay-behind operations throughout Western Europe and in Turkey. > >I was quite surprised to learn that by far the most extensive and destructive stay-behind operations were those carried out in Turkey under the code name Counter

S.Amin, S Amin: Terorism-Osama-Al Qaeda,9-11 are intelligence & political tools used to mis represent Muslims & Islam.This is the Ziocon propaganda / plans/acts used to attack Muslims / Islam after destroying USSR.This is the next/ current cold war.Osama & his team only appear in the media / cassettes of Al-Jazeera TV of the Qatar province of United States of America to support Bush,Blair...& their team,to help them win elections,get congress,senate,parliament bills passed by OSAMA'S very ,very, very,timely cassette release THREATS.TERRORISM IS THE NEW TOOL USED TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW WORLD DISORDER. AL QAEDA IS SIMPLY A WING OF CIA / FBI / MOSAD / MI-5...'S HIRED BY MONEY & BLACKMAILING AGENTS.IF ANY BODY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT AL QAEDA IS DOING NEXT-JUDGE IT FROM BUSH'S OR BLAIR'S SPEACHES/STATEMENTS- THEY PREDICT THE NEXT ACTIVITY.OSAMA,AL ZWAHIRY'S ALL STATEMENTS /CASSETTES TIMELY APPEAR TO SUPPORT BUSH,BLAIR,ISRAEL'S ACTIONS,NEEDS.THESE CAT & MOUSE / TOM & JERRY CATOONS ARE CREATED TO FOOL THE WORLD, TO KEEP WAGING WARS,JUSTIFY CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, JUSTIFY & LEGALISE COLOUR / RELIGIOUS DISCIMINATION,RACIALISM,COLONIALISM,INJUSTICE,SUPPORT PUPPET REGIMES..... THIS IS THE REAL FACE OF CAPITALISM,SO ROTTEN,POVERTY INDUCING THROUGH RUMOR-PRICE HIKE SYSTEM THAT IT WILL BRING THE SOCIALISM BACK BY THE FED UP MASSES OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD DUE TO THE BLOOD SUCKING,OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC BY THE ELITE MAFIA'S BY WAY OF WARS,RUMOR & DELIBERATELY SPONSORED ATTACKS-CIVIL WARS TO SHUT DOWN OIL SUPPLIES TO HIKE OIL PRICES & HENCE MARKET /COMMODITY PRICES,WHICH NEVER RETURN BACK/COME DOWN ( ITS GENERAL PUBLIC'S HARD EARNED MONEY STOLEN BY PRICE HIKES, INTO ELITE & CORPORATE CRIMNALS' POCKETS, TAXES ULTIMATELY POURING INTO ELITE/CORPORATE POCKETS.THERE IS NO REAL BASIS FOR ANY NATIONS / RELIGIONS / PEOPLE TO GO TO WARS. ITS THIS ELITISM/CORPORATE CULTURE/CAPITALISM/NEW WORLD DISORDER THAT SUPPORTS ALL THE WARS,CONFLICTS,TERROR ACTIVITIES/GANGS...THIS HAGEMONY IS MAINTAINED BY THE USA,EXPERT ADVISE & AID BY UK,FLARED & SPEARHEADED BY ISRAEL & ITS GOVERNOR GENERALS IN THE USA,UNWILLING BY THE COALITION OF THE WILLING (ACTUALLY NON- WILLING COUNTRIES).EVERY THING EXTREEME HAS AN END, THIS CAT & MOUSE/TOM & JERRY STORY / DRAMA WILL ULTIMATELY COME TO ITS LOGICAL END,ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. ( S.AMIN: amin@iafrica.com )

David McDaniel, S Amin, Bin Laden ADMITTED to doing all of this! Why in the world would Al Qaida say they did all this when all of you smart people (sarcasm) in Islam knew it isn't true? Why join his side when it's not true? Why live this lie? Read my rebuttle in "doves/hawks". What is going on makes as much sense as the conspiracies that you love to fuel.

S Amin, S Amin, To Lorin Friesen, Former ?? US Dove, Drew, David McDaniel, Tom American, J, J. Bird and J Myers: I ‘m collectively responding as follows:- You are free to express your views on this ARABNEWS FORUM. The CNN, FOX, BBC are no match for ARABNEWS. CNN, FOX, BBC are a mere COLONIAL, New World Disorder, PROPAGANDA FORUMS, specialized in LYING & MISREPRESENTATION TECHNOLOGY, collaborating in justifying and waging wars and ultimately poverty, inflicting suffering, turning a blind eye to bigger and massive violations of morality, justice and human rights of the offending governments ( rather regimes)( I do not blame, or hold responsible, the people or the public at large of these nations / governments who are fed lies / propaganda / promises of favorable loots from these wars. ALL YOUR HATRED IS DIRECTED AT MUSLIMS, DUE TO THE ACTS OF AL QAEDA, OSAMA, AL ZWAHIRY, AND ZARQAWI? … ALL OF WHOM GOT STATE OF THE ART, WORLD KNOWN, AMERICAN AND BRITISH TERRORIST TRAINING BY THE CIA AND THE BRITISH MI 5 OR 6? MAY BE PROGRSSED TO 7 OR 8 BY NOW, BY AMERICAN AND BRITISH COACHES IN TERRORISM. THIS TERRORISM, YOU TALK ABOUT, IS NOT TAUGHT BY ISLAM, BUT BY THE CIA, BRITISH COACHES / INSTRUCTORS TO THESE TERRORISTS. HERE LIES THE PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ANALYSED AND ADDRESSED. THIS IS THE BIRTH POINT OF THE SO CALLED MODERN DAY TERRORISM. THIS IS TO GENERATE A NEW COLD WAR AGAINST ISLAM, THE SECOND COLONIAL TARGET AFTER THE USSR. THIS TERRORISM TECHNOLOGY IS GENERATING / ACHEIVING LOT OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, MILITARY, FINANCIAL PROFITS, AIMS, GOALS. USSR, HITLER, MILOSOVIC and the like, used rather over used this FLATULENCE / PRESSURE, all of whom blew up and are gone with this flatulence, when it gave way, beyond a point of abuse. THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD / MANKIND /HUMANITY ARE A SHAME, AT EVEN,THIS MUCH AND THIS FAR EVOLVED MANKIND.AT THIS POINT YOU ARE TRYING TO CONVINCE THIS FORUM OR MYSELF THAT THE INITIATORS AND BENEFICIARIES OF WARS, COLONIALISM, BRUTALITY, MIGHT IS RIGHT....., ARE RIGHT ( CORRECT)/ INNOCENT AND THAT THE VICTIMS OF WARS, COLONIALISM, BRUTALITY...., ARE WRONG.THIS MUCH DEVIATION OF YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS / OPINION FORMATION IS SHOCKINGLY ABNORMAL.I wouldn’t have commented this much, this far, had you not picked up upon me or individual writers on this forum. Every one is free to comment, on issues or other writers to the extent of complementing (adding / supporting) or disagreeing. You chose to personal profiling (individual targeting) of writers on this forum. This is a school age, intolerance (of others' views), disorder, some grow out of it and some unfortunately can't. I have worked and am working with people from different religions, nationalities, races and openly (not apologetically) express my views, hear, absorb, evaluate, discuss opposing views, and still we continue our relations as friends, brothers / sisters, families. I have American, British, Canadian, Australian, Arab, Indian, African, European colleague’s friends, neighbors and I am proud of my friendship, brotherly relations with all of them. When ever and where ever they need my help I have done and will do my best, to help them all, protect them all, within and even beyond my means. This is what my parents, my religious and gen. teachers, my company of friends; my religion-ISLAM grew me up to. I condemn any acts of terrorism, violence, intolerance, wars from any source against anybody. No religion teaches it. If you want to give me any examples without an in depth understanding than I also have plenty of them to the contrary, but I believe it will get us no where. The Traders in wars with Corporate and Colonial appetite are always expert at achieving and maintaining such a status quo, such disasters. The general public suffers on both sides, at the end of each Vietnam, each Iraq war. If you, though I hope not, enjoy the killing of Vietnamese, Afghans, Iraqis then do you not forget the American, British, Canadian, Australian, Italian, Japanese...