by Ed Haas
			
			FBI says, “No hard evidence 
			connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”
			
			 
			
			June 6, 2006 – This past 
			weekend, a thought provoking e-mail circulated through Internet news 
			groups, and was sent to the Muckraker Report by Mr. Paul V. Sheridan 
			(Winner of the 2005 Civil Justice Foundation Award), bringing 
			attention to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist web page for Usama Bin 
			Laden.[1] (See bottom of this web page for Most Wanted page) In the 
			e-mail, the question is asked, “Why doesn’t Usama Bin Laden’s Most 
			Wanted poster make any direct connection with the events of 
			September 11, 2001?” The FBI says on its Bin Laden web page that 
			Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998 
			bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 
			and Nairobi, Kenya. According to the FBI, these attacks killed over 
			200 people. The FBI concludes its reason for “wanting” Bin Laden by 
			saying, “In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorists 
			attacks throughout the world.” 
			
			On June 5, 2006, the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI 
			Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted 
			poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection 
			with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of 
			Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no 
			mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The 
			reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted 
			page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 
			9/11.” 
			
			Surprised by the ease in which this FBI spokesman made such an 
			astonishing statement, I asked, “How this was possible?” Tomb 
			continued, “Bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection to 
			9/11.” I asked, “How does that work?” Tomb continued, “The FBI 
			gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to 
			the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice than decides 
			whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. 
			In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, Bin 
			Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has 
			not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 
			because the FBI has no hard evidence connected Bin Laden to 9/11.”
			
			It shouldn’t take long before the full meaning of these FBI 
			statements start to prick your brain and raise your blood pressure. 
			If you think the way I think, in quick order you will be wrestling 
			with a barrage of very powerful questions that must be answered. 
			First and foremost, if the U.S. government does not have enough hard 
			evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11, how is it possible that it 
			had enough evidence to invade Afghanistan to “smoke him out of his 
			cave?” The federal government claims to have invaded Afghanistan to 
			“root out” Bin Laden and the Taliban. Through the talking heads in 
			the mainstream media, the Bush Administration told the American 
			people that Usama Bin Laden was Public Enemy Number One and 
			responsible for the deaths of nearly 3000 people on September 11, 
			2001. Yet nearly five years later, the FBI says that it has no hard 
			evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11. 
			
			Next is the Bin Laden “confession” video that was released by the 
			U.S. government on December 13, 2001. Most Americans remember this 
			video. It was the video showing Bin Laden with a few of his comrades 
			recounting with delight the September 11 terrorist attacks against 
			the United States. The Department of Defense issued a press release 
			to accompany this video in which Secretary of Defense Donald H. 
			Rumsfeld said, “There was no doubt of bin Laden’s responsibility for 
			the September 11 attacks before the tape was discovered.”[2] What 
			Rumsfeld implied by his statement was that Bin Laden was the known 
			mastermind behind 9/11 even before the “confession video” and that 
			the video simply served to confirm what the U.S. government already 
			knew; that Bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. 
			
			In a BBC News article[3] reporting on the “9/11 confession video” 
			release, President Bush is said to have been hesitant to release the 
			tape because he knew it would be a vivid reminder to many people of 
			their loss. But, he also knew it would be “a devastating 
			declaration” of Bin Laden’s guilt. “Were going to get him,” said 
			President Bush. “Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter to me.” 
			
			In a CNN article[4] regarding the Bin Laden tape, then New York 
			Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that “the tape removes any doubt that the 
			U.S. military campaign targeting bin Laden and his associates is 
			more than justified.” Senator Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, the vice 
			chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said, “The tape’s 
			release is central to informing people in the outside world who 
			don’t believe bin Laden was involved in the September 11 attacks.” 
			Shelby went on to say “I don’t know how they can be in denial after 
			they see this tape.” Well Senator Shelby, apparently the Federal 
			Bureau of Investigation isn’t convinced by the taped confession, so 
			why are you? 
			
			The Muckraker Report attempted to secure a reference to the U.S. 
			government authenticating the Bin Laden “confession video”, to no 
			avail. However, it is conclusive that the Bush Administration and 
			U.S. Congress, along with the dead stream media, played the video as 
			if it was authentic. So why doesn’t the FBI view the “confession 
			video” as hard evidence? After all, if the FBI is investigating a 
			crime such as drug trafficking, and it discovers a video of members 
			of a drug cartel openly talking about a successful distribution 
			operation in the United States, that video would be presented to a 
			federal grand jury. The identified participants of the video would 
			be indicted, and if captured, the video alone would serve as 
			sufficient evidence to net a conviction in a federal court. So why 
			is the Bin Laden “confession video” not carrying the same weight 
			with the FBI? 
			
			Remember, on June 5, 2006, FBI spokesman, Chief of Investigative 
			Publicity Rex Tomb said, “The FBI has no hard evidence connecting 
			Usama Bin Laden to 9/11.” This should be headline news worldwide. 
			The challenge to the reader is to find out why it is not. Why has 
			the U.S. media blindly read the government-provided 9/11 scripts, 
			rather than investigate without passion, prejudice, or bias, the 
			events of September 11, 2001? Why has the U.S. media blacklisted any 
			guest that might speak of a government sponsored 9/11 cover-up, 
			rather than seeking out those people who have something to say about 
			9/11 that is contrary to the government’s account? And on those few 
			rare occasions when a 9/11 dissenter has made it upon the airways, 
			why has the mainstream media ridiculed the guest as a conspiracy 
			nut, rather than listen to the evidence that clearly raises valid 
			questions about the government’s 9/11 account? Why is the Big Media 
			Conglomeration blindly content with the government’s 9/11 story when 
			so much verifiable information to the contrary is available with a 
			few clicks of a computer mouse? 
			
			Who is it that is controlling the media message, and how is it that 
			the U.S. media has indicted Usama Bin Laden for the events of 
			September 11, 2001, but the U.S. government has not? How is it that 
			the FBI has no “hard evidence” connecting Usama Bin Laden to the 
			events of September 11, 2001, while the U.S. media has played the 
			Bin Laden - 9/11 connection story for five years now as if it has 
			conclusive evidence that Bin Laden is responsible for the collapse 
			of the twin towers, the Pentagon attack, and the demise of United 
			Flight 93? 
			
			…No hard evidence connecting Usama Bin Laden to 9/11… Think about 
			it. 
			_______________
			
			Notes:
			
			[1] Federal Bureau of Investigation, Most Wanted Terrorists, Usama 
			Bin Laden, http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm, 
			[Accessed May 31, 2006] 
			[2] United States Department of Defense, News Release, U.S. Releases 
			Videotape of Osama bin Laden, December 13, 2001, http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html, 
			[Accessed June 5, 2006] 
			[3] BBC News, Bin Laden video angers New Yorkers, December 14, 2001, 
			Peter Gould, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1711874.stm, 
			[Accessed June 5, 2006] 
			[4] CNN, Bin Laden on tape: Attacks ‘benefited Islam greatly”, 
			December 14, 2001, http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/ret.bin.laden.videotape, 
			[Accessed June 5, 2006]