Macedonia: Al Qaeda and the US Military in the Months Preceding 9/11 On the 10th of September, eleven years ago, I published an article entitled globalresearch.ca/washington-behind-terrorist-assaults-in-macedonia/ Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults In Macedonia, which confirmed that the US military and Al Qaeda were collaborating in supporting a self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), involved in terrorist attacks in the FYR of Macedonia. This text was among the first articles posted by Global Research, which was launched on September 9, 2001. The NLA was an offshoot of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The NLA-KLA terrorists were trained and supported by a private mercenary company, Military Professional Resources International (MPRI), on contract to the Pentagon. “Among the foreign mercenaries now [ June-July 2001] fighting with the KLA-NLA are Mujahedin from the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union as well as “soldiers of fortune” from several NATO countries including Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of these Western mercenaries had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army.12 While Washington was arming the National Liberation Army (NLA) terrorists which included Al Qaeda mercenaries in its ranks, some 3000 heavily armed NATO troops were given the mandate to “disarm the rebels” and enforce the cease-fire. Code-named “Essential Harvest” this NATO endeavor was officially launched on August 22, 2001. The actual NATO operation under a “humanitarian mandate” consisting of troop deployments started on August 27, two weeks before the September 11, 2001 attacks. At the time, this bogus R2P “peacekeeping” operation under British command was intended to weaken the Macedonian Armed Forces and destabilize national institutions. In the words, of the Prime minister of FYR of Macedonia Ljubco Georgievski: “As much as their text [peace plan] is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,’ … All of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have been supported by the Western democracies… all threats and blackmails have been presented so far, except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us.” (Macedonian Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, quoted in Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults In Macedonia, emphasis added) globalresearch.ca/washington-behind-terrorist-assaults-in-macedonia/ In a bitter irony, Washington was behind the terrorist NLA assault in Macedonia integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries, which preceded the August 27 NATO intervention. The objective of Operation “Essential Harvest” was not disarm the NLA terrorists. The hidden agenda was twofold: coverup and regime change. While Secretary of State Colin Powell had, at the time reaffirmed America’s resolve to “combat terrorism”, US military advisers were fighting alongside the NLA terrorists. The NLA was not only integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries, the rebels were being supported by US special forces: Among the rebels that were withdrawing were 17 “instructors” – former [MPRI] US officers that provided military training for the rebels. Not only that: the Macedonian security forces claim that 70% of the equipment that the guerrilla fighters took with them are of US production and the latter includes highly sophisticated third generation night vision devices.” (Ibid, See also Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg, 27 June 2001, English translation by OK-Macedonia, Skopje, 28 June 2001, at ok.mk/news/story.asp?id=1631. ) What is significant in these events is that barely a few months before 9/11, former US military officers, which had integrated the ranks of the terror brigades, were caught red-handed (June 2001) together with Al Qaeda mercenaries. In other words, in the weeks preceding 9/11, there is evidence of active collaboration between Al Qaeda and US military officers on contract to the Pentagon in blatant contradiction with the 9/11 narrative. The official 9/11 story is predicated on the “blowback”, namely that Al Qaeda, the alleged perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks “turned against us” in the wake of the Cold War (1989). The events in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia confirm unequivocally that Al Qaeda was an intelligence asset throughout the 1990s up until June 2001, when NLA Al Qaeda operatives were arrested with their US military instructors. The KLA-NLA terrorists are funded from US military aid, the United Nations peace-keeping budget as well as by several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. Drug money is also being used to finance the terrorists with the complicity of the US government. The recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of the NLA in Macedonia is implemented through various Islamic groups. US military advisers mingle with Mujahideen within the same paramilitary force, Western mercenaries from NATO countries fight alongside Mujahideen recruited in the Middle East and Central Asia. And the US media calls this a “blowback” where so-called “intelligence assets” have gone against their sponsors! But this did not happen during the Cold war! It is happening right now in Macedonia. And it is confirmed by numerous press reports, eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence as well as official statements by the Macedonian Prime Minister, who has accused the Western military alliance of supporting the terrorists. Moreover, the official Macedonian New Agency (MIA) has pointed to the complicity between Washington’s envoy Ambassador James Pardew and the NLA terrorists. 17 In other words, the so-called “intelligence assets” are still serving the interests of their US sponsors. (Michel Chossudovsky, Osamagate globalresearch.ca/osamagate/ , Global Research, October 9, 2001) Throughout the post 9/11 era (2001-2012), there is ample evidence that Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliated entities (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria), have continued to play a central role in US sponsored covert operations. Macedonia versus Syria: Déjà Vu Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia: The strategic objective of the US-NATO military operations was to destabilize and destroy the Yugoslav Federation using Al Qaeda terrorist operatives as a means to triggering sectarian strife and ethnic divisions within a socially and culturally diverse national society. The Bosnia-Kosovo model was replicated in Libya and Syria. The National Liberation Army (NLA) of Macedonia integrated by Al Qaeda terrorists versus the Free Syrian Army (FSA) integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries recruited by NATO, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Macedonia’s Prime Minister Georgievski’s statement (above) `focusing on the threats of NATO airstrikes and the breaking up of state institutions,’ is remarkably similar to that of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. Al Qaeda Déjà Vu? The FSA terrorist attacks in Syria in 2012 bear a canny resemblance to those conducted in Macedonia in 2001. The Syrian FSA integrated by Al Qaeda operatives is supported by the same Western powers, which intervened in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:49:11 +0000
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