Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Attacco all'Holland Tunnel?

L'FBI sostiene di averlo sventato.
Ma la debolezza di Al Qaeda e altre esperienze recenti impongono qualche 
considerazione:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/07/the_alleged_nyc_tunnel_plot_pr.php


Sempre sul primo "esperto" che contribuisce al sito sopra, Steven
Emerson
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1443
Steven Emerson's Crusade
Why is a journalist pushing questionable stories from behind the
scenes?
By John F. Sugg
Did self-styled anti-terrorism expert Steven Emerson help push the
world toward nuclear war?
On Sunday, June 28, a sensational story appeared in the British
newspaper The Observer: "Pakistan was planning nuclear first strike on
India." The stunning revelation that South Asia was on the brink of
thermonuclear war was credited to an unnamed "senior Pakistani weapons
scientist who has defected." The next day, papers on the Indian
subcontinent were full of the news. Shock spread and distrust mounted.
"The scenario is frightening," stated the Times of India (6/29/98).
On Wednesday, July 1, a USA Today report by Barbara Slavin named the
defector, Iftikhar Chaudhry Khan. The press scrambled to contact New
York lawyer Michael Wildes, who represents Khan in his attempt to get
political asylum.
Emerson, in an odd role for a journalist, worked behind the scenes to
interest reporters in Wildes' client. A top network news producer says
his congressional sources and news contacts were tipped to the story by
Emerson. Slavin says she was mainly convinced of the story's legitimacy
because of one of the Observer's three writers was associated with the
prestigious military analysis group Jane's, but that Emerson's
involvement added credibility. Attorney Wildes himself says, "Emerson
was helpful in corroborating information and making scientific
clarifications."
As the story matured, skepticism mounted about Khan, especially after
sources in Pakistan described him as "a former low-level accountant at
a company that makes bathroom fixtures." (San Diego Union-Tribune,
7/3/98) By July 7, U.S. nuclear physicists had interviewed Khan and
pronounced him a fraud (USA Today, 7/7/98).
Emerson's priorities
Emerson has escaped notice in the affair--but his efforts had helped
craft a hard-to-erase public perception that Pakistan was the bad guy
among Asia's nuclear novices.
The role Emerson played may at first seem perplexing. He presents
himself as a journalist, yet he handed off what appeared to be a major
story to rivals. A closer look at Emerson's career suggests his
priority is not so much news as it is an unrelenting attack against
Arabs and Muslims. From this perspective, his gambit with Khan seems
easier to understand: Pakistan is a Muslim nation, while India's
nuclear program has long been linked to Israel. As the Indian Express
noted (6/29/98), Pakistani politicians were "convinced that they were
about to be attacked by India, possibly with Israeli assistance."
Emerson's willingness to push an extremely thin story--with potentially
explosive consequences--is also consistent with the lengthy list of
mistakes and distortions that mar his credentials as an expert on
terrorism.
Those blemishes had, for a time, seemed to drive Emerson from major
news outlets. He has had to resort to new tactics to maintain his
anti-Muslim crusade--an "anti-terrorism" journal that he uses as a
soapbox, associates whose reputations aren't as damaged as his, and, as
in the Khan episode, staying behind the curtains.
Emerson was back in the news last August--when terrorist bombs
shattered U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. While most Americans
watched the grisly nightly news in open-mouthed dismay, self-styled
anti-terrorism experts seemed to be jostling with one another to grab a
few minutes on Rivera Live, the Today show and CNN. For a brief few
days, they even displaced the Monicagate pundits.
In the vanguard of the chattering heads was Emerson, whose past errors
were quickly forgotten in the wake of African and Middle Eastern
carnage.
"Middle Eastern Trait"
Emerson gained prominence in the early '90s. He published books, wrote
articles, produced a documentary, won awards and was frequently quoted.
The media, Capitol Hill and scholars paid attention. "I respect his
research. He gets to people who were at the events," says Jeffrey T.
Richelson, author of A Century of Spies.
As Emerson's fame mounted, so did criticism. Emerson's book, The Fall
of Pan Am 103, was chastised by the Columbia Journalism Review, which
noted in July 1990 that passages "bear a striking resemblance, in both
substance and style" to reports in the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y.
Reporters from the Syracuse newspaper told this writer that they
cornered Emerson at an Investigative Reporters and Editors conference
and forced an apology.
A New York Times review (5/19/91) of his 1991 book Terrorist chided
that it was "marred by factual errors...and by a pervasive anti-Arab
and anti-Palestinian bias." His 1994 PBS video, Jihad in America
(11/94), was faulted for bigotry and misrepresentations--veteran
reporter Robert Friedman (The Nation, 5/15/95) accused Emerson of
"creating mass hysteria against American Arabs."
Emerson was wrong when he initially pointed to Yugoslavians as suspects
in the World Trade Center bombing (CNN, 3/2/93). He was wrong when he
said on CNBC (8/23/96) that "it was a bomb that brought down TWA Flight
800."
Emerson's most notorious gaffe was his claim that the 1995 Oklahoma
City bombing showed "a Middle Eastern trait" because it "was done with
the intent to inflict as many casualties as possible." (CBS News,
4/19/95) Afterward, news organizations appeared less interested in
Emerson's pronouncements. A CBS contract expired and wasn't renewed.
Emerson had been a regular source and occasional writer for the
Washington Post; his name doesn't turn up once in Post archives after
Jan. 1, 1996. USA Today mentioned Emerson a dozen times before
September 1996, none after.
"He's poison," says investigative author Seymour Hersh, when asked
about how Emerson is perceived by fellow journalists.
Dubious document
Yet Emerson seems irrepressible. In 1997, for example, an Associated
Press editor became convinced that Emerson was the "mother lode of
terrorism information," according to a reporter who worked on a series
that looked at American Muslim groups.
As a consultant on the series, Emerson presented AP reporters with what
were "supposed to be FBI documents" describing mainstream American
Muslim groups with alleged terrorist sympathies, according to the
project's lead writer, Richard Cole. One of the reporters uncovered an
earlier, almost identical document authored by Emerson. The purported
FBI dossier "was really his," Cole says. "He had edited out all
phrases, taken out anything that made it look like his."
Another AP reporter, Fred Bayles, recalls that Emerson "could never
back up what he said. We couldn't believe that document was from the
FBI files."
Emerson's contribution was largely stripped from the series, and he
retaliated with a "multi-page rant," according to Cole. AP Executive
Editor Bill Ahearn does not dispute that the incident happened, but
refuses to comment or to release documents because the episode was
deemed an "internal matter." A ranking AP editor in Washington says:
"We would be very, very, very, very leery of using Steve Emerson."
Also during Emerson's lean years, he scored a November 1996 hit in the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (11/3/96)--owned by right-wing Clinton-basher
Richard Mellon Scaife, who also partially funded Jihad in America.
Considering Scaife's patronage, it is not surprising that Emerson
declared that Muslim terrorist sympathizers were hanging out at the
White House. Emerson had a similar commentary piece printed three
months earlier in the Wall Street Journal (8/5/96), one of the writer's
few consistent major outlets.
Tampa's "terrorists"
His most fruitful media foray during this period was at a Tampa,
Florida, newspaper. Emerson's Jihad in America video had, in part,
targeted Islamic scholars at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Following Emerson's leads, a reporter for the Tampa Tribune launched a
series of articles in 1995 titled "Ties to Terrorists." The series and
subsequent articles relied on Emerson as a primary source.
The Tribune's managing editor, Bruce Witwer, wrote in a July 15, 1997,
letter to an attorney: "Emerson is an acknowledged expert in the field,
while he may be controversial. Emerson has the information. It is
legitimate information." But the information that Emerson is
"controversial"--much less Emerson's record of mistakes and the
allegations of bias that swirl around him--has never been disclosed by
the Tribune to its readers.
The Tribune's articles lacked balance and fairness, according to other
newspapers that have covered the events, including the St. Petersburg
Times and the Miami Herald. The Herald (3/22/98) ran a lengthy analysis
of the Tribune's reporting and concluded the Tampa newspaper had
ignored "perfectly innocent" interpretations of activity, giving vent
only to characterizations that suggested "extremely dark forces were on
the prowl."
Among the Tribune's and Emerson's charges are that Muslims, while at
the University of South Florida, were active Islamic Jihad commanders.
Emerson told Congress: "One of the world's most lethal terrorist
factions was based out of Tampa." If that's so, federal agents must
have missed something. Although the FBI and INS have been searching for
clues for more than three years, no charges have been filed.
Like Emerson, the Tribune uses tenuous chains of association to bolster
its claims that individuals are linked to terrorist groups. For
example, in one article, the Tribune claimed that because an Islamic
Jihad leader had given a Reuters reporter, Paul Eedle, several
articles, including one interview published in a Tampa magazine, and
because material seized by federal agents in Tampa included a 1993
Jihad calendar, this proved an organizational linkage. The Tribune
(7/28/98), ignoring the stated purpose of the South Florida scholars to
collect material about and from all Middle East points of view, stated:
"Eedle's experience appears to tighten the relationship between the
Jihad and the Tampa group."
Eedle, when interviewed for this article, said that while it was clear
people in Tampa were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, "being given
the magazine didn't prove that there was any organizational link
between Islamic Jihad and the publishers of the magazine in Tampa."
Although no criminal charges have been filed in the Tampa case, Emerson
flatly states there is insidious wrongdoing. In February 1996, Emerson
claimed that Tampa Muslim academics were directly involved in the 1993
World Trade Center bombing (St. Petersburg Times, 2/10/96). "I am
constrained at this point from revealing some of those details,"
Emerson said. "But they include money transfers, they include actual
reservations and planning for the conspirators in the bombing, and they
include visits back and forth between Tampa and New York and New
Jersey, between officials here of the groups [operating in Tampa] and
officials there."
Yet no federal record of such allegations could be found. A Freedom of
Information request to the Justice Department seeking any information
tying Tampa residents to the World Trade Center bombing produced this
reply from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General: "Please be
advised that no responsive records were located."
Actions have been taken against a couple of Emerson's targets. Emerson
seemed to gloat (Miami Herald, 3/22/98) that one Tampa academic, Mazen
Al-Najjar, has been jailed during a deportation appeal since May 1997
based on secret evidence that he is a national security threat. And he
appeared gleeful that another University of South Florida professor,
Sami Al-Arian, was removed from the classroom and is now unable to
"propagate his message to young students" (Miami Herald, 3/22/98).
Typical of Emerson's fact-checking, the university says no one has ever
alleged that Al-Arian, who is again teaching, brought politics into the
classroom.
"Arabaphobia"
This summer's U.S. embassy bombings produced others who believed in
Emerson's legitimacy. Geraldo welcomed Emerson, as did NPR, Good
Morning America and MSNBC's Internight. Emerson popped an opinion piece
into the Wall Street Journal (8/8/98), that attacked Clinton for
"legitimizing self-declared 'civil rights' and 'mainstream' Islamic
organizations that in fact operate as propaganda and political arms of
Islamic fundamentalist movements."
Although he piously prefaces diatribes by saying there are good Muslims
and bad Muslims, it's a hollow defense. He claimed, in a March 1995
article in Jewish Monthly, that Islam "sanctions genocide, planned
genocide, as part of its religious doctrine."
Occasionally, Emerson outdoes himself with hyperbole. In an
inflammatory letter to the Voice of America (12/2/94), he fumed that
radical Muslims in the United States are plotting the "mass murder of
all Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims." Buddhists, Wiccans and
Scientologists are apparently exempt in the apocalypse Emerson
prophesies. Last year he warned that "the U.S. has become occupied
fundamentalist territory" (Jerusalem Post, 8/8/97).
While Emerson makes incredible claims about Muslim conspiracies that
purportedly intend to commit terrorism inside U.S. borders, he ignores
the fact that far more of these American atrocities, such as the
anti-abortion bombings and murders, are committed by apple-pie militant
Christian fundamentalists.
His denunciations are often backed up only by allusions to unnamed law
enforcement sources. "Emerson makes unsubstantiated allegations of
widespread conspiracies in Arab-American communities and brushes aside
his lack of documented evidence by implying it only proves how clever
and sinister the Arab/Muslim menace really is," investigative reporter
Chip Berlet has written (Covert Action Quarterly, Summer/95). "This is
a prejudiced and Arabaphobic twist on the old anti-Semitic canard of
the crafty and manipulative Jew."
Emerson buffs, such as Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Arizona) provide the journalist
with a podium from which to make claims that are then recycled as part
of the public record. A Kyl subcommittee welcomed Emerson as a witness
in February, allowing him to present a 46-page harangue against
mainstream American Muslim organizations.
Savaging critics
When criticized by journalists, Emerson retaliates with invective-laden
letters, often from lawyers. He has launched salvos at the Miami
Herald, The Nation, Voice of America, FAIR (which publishes Extra!),
and a Council on Foreign Relations newsletter, as well as at numerous
individual journalists.
Kojo Nnamdi, a talk show host on Howard University's WHUT, remembers
that when he invited some Muslims on a program, "Emerson started making
threats. He wanted to link academics to terrorists. He succeeded in
delaying the program, I'm sorry to say."
After Emerson in 1996 attacked the Council on Foreign Relations for
including Muslim points of views in its newsletter, the group's
president, Leslie Gelb, dubbed Emerson the "grand inquisitor."
(Forward, 5/10/96)
The Miami Herald's highly regarded senior writer, Martin Merzer--who
has experience as a bureau chief in Jerusalem--demolished many of
Emerson's and the Tampa Tribune's claims in a March 1998 article
(3/22/98). Prior to publication, Emerson sent a letter to the Herald's
top editor, Doug Clifton, with copies to Jewish leaders, in an attempt
to derail the story. The letter called Merzer, who is Jewish, "nothing
short of racist."
Subsequently, in a publication run by Emerson allies that has become
his bully pulpit, the Journal of Counterterrorism & Security
International (Spring/98), Emerson published what he claimed was a
transcript of his interview by Merzer. The "transcript" presents Merzer
as stammering and admitting to extraordinary ignorance. Merzer calls
the transcript a fabrication. "It's crap," he says. "A few tiny kernels
of truth surrounded by a mountain of lies."
Ironically, despite Emerson's many attempts to silence his critics, he
spends much of his time nowadays wailing that he's the victim.
Recently, an NPR producer was moved by protests over Emerson's
anti-Muslim prejudice to stop using him as an expert on the network.
That prompted Emerson fans, such as Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby
(8/31/98), to cry "blacklisting"--never bothering to note that Emerson
is a blacklister with few rivals.
Money trail
As recognition of Emerson's liabilities has grown, he has handed his
bullhorn to less controversial fellow travelers. Retired federal agents
Oliver "Buck" Revell and Steve Pomerantz, who run a security business,
showed up echoing Emersonisms in an October 31 Washington Post article
warning of conspiracies and front organizations.
In an interview prior to the article's publication, the co-author of
that piece, John Mintz, said he was aware that Emerson was highly
controversial. The Post's solution: Don't mention Emerson but use his
allies. (Mintz had been provided with material documenting links among
Emerson, Pomerantz and Revell.)
The three "experts" spend a lot of time congratulating each other on
their courage and expertise. Pomerantz, for example, has written that
Emerson "is actually better informed in some areas than the responsible
agencies of government." (That came as news to Bob Blitzer, the FBI's
top counterterrorism official, who says Emerson "doesn't have access to
any high-level FBI intelligence.")
Revell's credits include quashing an investigation of the Iran-Contra
arms smuggling operation (Leslie Cockburn, Out of Control, p. 231).
Revell also acknowledges another member of the fraternity is Yigal
Carmon, a right-wing Israeli intelligence commander who endorsed the
use of torture (Washington Post, 5/4/95), and who has stayed at
Emerson's Washington apartment on trips to lobby Congress against
Middle East peace initiatives (The Nation, 5/15/95). An Associated
Press reporter who has dealt with Emerson and Carmon says: "I have no
doubt these guys are working together."
Says Vince Cannistraro, an ABC consultant and a retired CIA
counterterrorism official, of Emerson's allies, Pomerantz, Revell and
Carmon: "They're Israeli-funded. How do I know that? Because they tried
to recruit me." Revell denies Cannistraro's assertion, but refuses to
discuss his group's finances.
Emerson's own financing is hazy. He has received funding from Scaife.
Some Emerson critics suspect Israeli backing. The Jerusalem Post
(9/17/94) has noted that Emerson has "close ties to Israeli
intelligence."
"He's carrying the ball for Likud," says investigative journalist
Robert Parry, referring to Israel's right-wing ruling party. Victor
Ostrovsky, who defected from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and
has written books disclosing its secrets, calls Emerson "the
horn"--because he trumpets Mossad claims.
Presumed credible
Emerson is aided by those who appear to be ignorant of his record, or
who fear reprisal from his backers. He testified in February before a
Senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. Kyl. The testimony accused most
major American Muslim organization of terrorist connections. "We
presumed him to be credible [because] he is known to have contact with
street agents," said Jim Savage, at the time a Kyl staffer. "He
represented his findings as authentic. We haven't verified them."
After the NPR spat over the summer, Jacoby's column quickly bludgeoned
the network into capitulation. Jeffrey Dvorkin, NPR's news chief,
kowtowed and stated in a letter to the Boston Globe that Emerson "has
never been banned from NPR and never will be. Emerson is one of many
commentators available to NPR on events involving his area of expertise
(terrorism and counter-terrorism). No doubt there will be other
opportunities for him to appear again."
A warning to us all.
SIDEBAR:
Emerson on Islam
"The level of vitriol against Jews and Christianity within contemporary
Islam, unfortunately, is something that we are not totally cognizant
of, or that we don't want to accept. We don't want to accept it because
to do so would be to acknowledge that one of the world's great
religions -- which has more than 1.4 billion adherents -- somehow
sanctions genocide, planned genocide, as part of its religious
doctrine." --Steven Emerson, Jewish Monthly (3/95)
John F. Sugg is senior editor of the Weekly Planet, the alternative
newspaper in the Tampa Bay area. He regularly writes media criticism,
including articles on Steven Emerson and the Tampa Tribune's coverage
of Muslims. Sugg has received three threatening letters from Emerson's
lawyer seeking--unsuccessfully--to deter further reporting.
Read FAIR's response: Extra!'s Report on Steven Emerson: Setting the
Record Straight

 
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1443
Giusto per capire dietro il bla bla. Tu sostieni che l'attentato era una 
balla e che l'FBI ha mentito?
La BBC ha detto che l'attentato era 'vocational', non operative. A te 
interessano solo questi ultimi?
Facci sapere. Grazie.
Am.

 considerazione:
..che siano stati i palestinesi! meno male che israele sta a vegliare e
li bastona appena qualcuno si bagna i piedi a time square.
Quale contributo credi di dare a IPI citando l'FBI? Cerca di essere più
utile e comincia a lavorare seriamente con il sig. Emerson senno' pure
decessi comincierà a darti i patpat.
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