1 How and Why America was Attacked, September 11th, 2001 Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Tree of Life Publications Joshua Tree, California A Media Messenger Book A Public Interest Initiative of the Institute for Policy Research & Development The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11th, 2001 www.Thewaronfreedom.com, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WarOnFreedom Copyright © 2002 Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Executive Director, Institute for Policy Research & Development Suite 414, 91 Western Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 2NW, United Kingdom, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.globalresearch.org. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, written, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. “Backword” Copyright © 2002 John Leonard Edited & Published by Tree of Life Publications, PO Box 126, Joshua Tree, CA 92252 E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.treeoflifebooks.com In cooperation with Media Monitors Network, www.mediamonitors.net Cover Design Michael Mursell, a fish in sea PO Box 22398, London, W13 9XL, England [email protected] International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 0-930852-40-0 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2002107291 A Media Messenger Book Printed in the United States of America by BooksJustBooks.com First printing, June 2002 Unabridged edition. 3 Critical acclaim for THE WAR ON FREEDOM “This riveting and thoroughly documented study is a ‘must’ resource for everyone seeking to understand the attack on the World Trade Center of New York on September 11, 2001 and ‘America’s New War’ since. It connects together over 10 years of relevant covert actions and decisions by top-level U.S. security-state operations, and organises the whole into a coherent and devastating exposé of the real meaning and construction of the historic turn of ‘the war against terrorism’ now rewriting laws and constitutions across borders. For those who have seen or filed facts on these matters from web- disclosures and scattered revelations of newspapers, this volume provides the detailed documentation in a definitive and masterful record.” Professor John McMurtry, Department of Philosophy, University of Ontario; Fellow at the Royal Society of Canada; Chair of Jurists, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Tribunal at the Alternative World Summit in Toronto, 1989 (Canada) “The most complete book I know of, summarizing the relevant background and foreground intersecting upon the events of September 11, 2001... A tour de force in every respect: organization, methodology, timeliness, clarity of purpose and of scope, activist commitment to more inquiry, evenness, relative comprehensiveness… I can’t say how much I admire this work. It must be seen by as many people as possible all over the world as soon as possible.” Barry Zwicker, Producer and Host, MediaFile, Vision TV Insight; award-winning journalist on CBC-TV and CTV (Canada) “The material you have collected is immensely important and useful. You look at the right subjects and report a number of things I had missed entirely… We need more people doing the important research that you have done.” Professor Peter Dale Scott, Co-Founder of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University of California, Berkeley (United States) “Powerful, disturbing, and interesting indeed. Your excellent research on the background of Sep 11 should become known to a larger audience.” Professor Arno Tausch, Institute for Political Science, University of Innsbruck (Austria) “A meticulous investigation of circumstances, events and circumstantial evidence of what really happened before and on September 11. There aren’t many people who still take the task of following the trails of their own doubts… Your excellent report goes deep into what really happened and what the American defense machinery had let happen.” Peter G. Spengler, Editor, Contemporary Studies (Germany) Dedication This study is dedicated to the innocent civilians murdered in the terrorist attacks against the United States on 11th September 2001, their families, their friends, and to all the other victims of terrorism around the world, including those killed, injured and starving in Afghanistan. 5 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, a British political scientist and human rights activist, is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development in Brighton, UK, www.globalresearch.org, a ‘think tank’ dedicated to the promotion of human rights, justice and peace. Ahmed is the author of many internationally acclaimed research papers and reports on human rights practices and Western foreign policy. He has been invited to lecture on U.S. foreign policy in various universities and educational establishments around the world. He has been an Oxfam Campaigner since 1996. Ahmed’s work on the history and development of the conflict in Afghanistan as a consequence of international policies, has been recommended as a resource by Harvard University’s Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, the Department of Communications Studies at California State University, and the English Department at Warren College on Staten Island. His archive of political analyses, published on the Web by Media Monitors Network in Los Angeles, has been nominated a Cool Site on the Netscape Open Directory Project. He was also recently named a Global Expert on War, Peace and International Affairs by The Freedom Network of The Henry Hazlitt Foundation in Chicago. A rising star, Ahmed is still only 23 years old, is married and lives in Brighton. 6 The War on Freedom Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Andre Gunder Frank, currently at the Department of History in the University of Nebraska, for reading various successive drafts of my manuscript and providing detailed advice on content and structure. Relevant data that he also provided was very useful in following up specific leads and uncovering pertinent facts. I am indebted to social philosopher Professor John McMurtry of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Ontario, for his thorough review of the manuscript shortly prior to publication. I must also express my gratitude to the former Canadian diplomat and leading political scientist Professor Peter Dale Scott of the University of California, Berkeley, for pointing out some potential holes and flaws in my argument. My friend, Johnathan G. Baston (Abdul Nasser), a British local government health officer and active human rights campaigner, must be credited for his initial analysis and speculations that led me to embark on this project in the first place. Baston must also be thanked for assessing an early draft of the manuscript and making invaluable suggestions for further research. Kamran Naqui, another good friend, deserves due praise for scouring an early, messy draft of the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb. I cannot forget to mention Aamir Jiwa, who looked through the earliest pilot version of this study and gave me welcome encouragement. I must express my heartfelt appreciation to John Leonard, without whose indefatigable efforts this study would not be published. A special thanks is due to Mrs. Erika Anderson, without whose unexpected and invaluable contributions, this book could never have got to the printers. Media Monitors Network Chief Editor Ali Khan was also a constant source of invaluable support and advice. I must also thank Michael Mursell (www. afishinsea.co.uk) for his inspired cover designs. Others who deserve thanks include Mark Jones, who dropped an early draft of this study into his A-List, thus leading to highly useful comments and criticisms, and Louis Proyect, whose rigid opposition to my thesis provided me with crucial insight into how to formulate it properly. I also thank Greg Bates of Common Courage Press, who kindly took the time to assess the manuscript and offer very useful criticisms and suggestions. I should also mention my father-in-law, whose support, advice and pointers throughout this project and beyond, have been priceless. My mother and father also deserve due recognition for putting up with me while I was struggling to discover my true vocation; if they hadn’t put up with me then, this study would not exist. In connection with the task of enduring my vocation, I must most of all thank my wife, who has been a constant source of support, advice, inspiration and peace. Without her ideas, pointers, and provision of important data, this study would not be what it is. Last but not least, I would like to thank our baby, who has been a source of strength and resolve for the future. Needless to say, as the author, I bear sole responsibility for the contents of this work. Table of Contents 7 Table of Contents Preface 10 Foreword: a Synopsis 12 Executive Summary 14 1. The Role of the International Community in the Afghan Crisis 19 Cold War Imperialism....................................................................... 20 Afghanistan After the Cold War ........................................................ 23 Northern Alliance Rule 1992-1996..................................................... 24 The Rise of the Taliban..................................................................... 27 Humanitarian Catastrophe Under Factional War ................................. 29 Misogynism Under Taliban Rule ....................................................... 32 The Distortion of Islam ....................................................................