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Welcome to our weekly feature, AUTHOR'S NOTE: |
Admittedly, Usama bin Laden and al Qai'da
were not household terms in 1998 when I began the task of describing in
narrative fashion the events which I witnessed concerning al Qai'da's
attempted New Era terrorist operation in the US in 1997, but times do
change, don't they? As an example, when I began writing this work in
1998 a search on the Internet for Usama bin Laden resulted in 2 'hits'.
Today I received 1,950,000 on Google.com search engine. As another
example, my web site Terrorist Watch, URL: http://terroristwatch.tripod.com,
which 'addresses terrorist activities in the US of Usama bin Laden
and al Qai'da, analysis of the methods used by al Qaeda terrorist
operatives in the US and the relationships between Middle Eastern
terrorist groups and their benefactors'. Before the tragic day of
September 11, 2001 the daily visits to Terrorist Watch were 6. Since
September 11 this site has logged over 600000 visits. Over 125000 people
have read the introduction to "The Little Scroll".
There are very few people
in the US who have personal knowledge of Usama bin Laden and the al
Qai'da terrorist organization. In "The Little Scroll" I have
identified; Usama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's top
Lieutenant, Abu Zubaydah, al Qai'da's coordinator of international
operations, and Djamel Beghal, until his recent arrest in Dubai, U.A.E.
al Qaeda's coordinator of European operations, all of whom had a direct
role in the New Era operation in 1997.
Virtually every aspect of
al Qaeda relating to their operations in the US that I describe in
this book are now discussed frequently on the nightly news as well as in
Time Magazine as well as other major periodicals. In The Little
Scroll I describe in detail al Qai'da's long-range planning, their use
of check-cashing stores and non-profit organizations to fund the
terrorist operations of al Qai'da, Hezbollah and other terrorist
organizations, and their use of disguises and stolen identities to move
freely between borders. Tragically, they even repeated their chosen
targets of New York City and Washington DC on September 11, a prediction
I made in 1998.
Admittedly I feel
frustrated, as I feel as if President George W. Bush and Defense
Secretary Ashcroft are taking their cues directly from my book. Prior
to September 11 the Web site tracking service I use, Nedstat, specified
not only whether visitors were from government agencies, but which
agencies were looking at this material. I cannot think of a US
or foreign governmental agency that did not visit Terrorist Watch.
While I was living in the
Florida Keys in 1997 through 1998 I was told by a government agent
that I was watched as closely as then President Bill Clinton's sex
life. That was shortly after I identified New Era as a submarine base
for terrorist operatives.
I have updated the
manuscript to reflect recent events, including a visit in July by Ayman
al-Zawahiri to the town I was until recently residing, in Bend, Oregon.
He actually walked right in front of my house, with his eyes glued to
the window adjacent to my computer station. I have also identified
al-Zawahiri as the man who has a residence in Marathon, Florida, and in
synch with his cocky nature justifies his long-term absences as a result
of his career as a physician on call in various locations around the
country. All true, I must admit. I believe it is safe to say the
authorities pay attention to my observations with a smaller grain of
salt since September 11.
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