MSM Ignores Judge’s Ruling

A December 23, 2011 newswire from New York U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled on December 15, 2011, that Iran and Hezbollah “materially and directly supported Al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case.” Judge Daniels issued an Order of Judgment backed by 53 pages of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al. Fiona Havlish’s husband Donald died in the World Trade Center North Tower. She said, “This is a historic day. For ten years, we have wanted the truth to be known about who was responsible for our losses. Now we have that answer.” The ruling begs the question, in light of the ample evidence presented, why did President Bush drag us into a costly ten-year war with Iraq if Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks? In addition, where are the oil reparations Bush promised that grateful, free from oppression Iraqis would pay? For that matter, where are the weapons of mass destruction? Saddam was an unsavory dictator who killed and tortured his own people. However, the world is full of Saddams, should we go after all of them?

Judge Daniels stated that “the Islamic Republic of Iran, its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Hosseini Khamenei, former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Iran’s agencies and instrumentalities, including, among others, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah, all materially aided and supported Al Qaeda before and after 9/11.” Thomas E. Mellon, Jr. of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, of the law firm Mellon Webster & Shelly, the lead attorney for the Havlish plaintiffs was relieved with the verdict that the Islamic Republic of Iran was a principal responsible party. The evidence included affidavits and sworn testimony from several individuals:

• Ten expert witnesses such as three former 9/11 Commission staff members, two former CIA officers, two investigative journalists, an Iran analyst who testified in 25 other cases of Iranian terrorism
• Three Iranian operatives and defectors
• Abolghasem Mesbahi, former operative in charge of Iran’s espionage in Western Europe

Mesbahi or witness X (his previous testimony had been filed under court seal) told the court that he “received messages during the summer of 2001 from inside the Iranian government that an Iranian contingency plan for unconventional warfare against the U.S. called ‘Shaitan dar Atash’ (Satan in Flames) had been activated.” According to testifying members of the 9/11 Commission, Iran concealed the hijackers travels to Afghanistan training camps via Iran by not stamping their passports at the border. Such stamped passports would have prevented the hijackers from getting U.S. visas. (9/11 Commission Report pp. 240-241) Government evidence showed that Al Qaeda members and leaders escaped into Iran and were offered safe haven after the Afghanistan invasion. “Shaitan dar Atash” contingency plan called for crashing passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Mesbahi received three coded messages from Iran indicating that “Satan in Flames” had been activated. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, knew of the coming attacks as revealed by a May 14, 2001 memorandum. He instructed operatives to restrict communications to their Al Qaeda contacts. German documents revealed that the 9/11 coordinator, Ramzi Binalshibb, journeyed to Afghanistan via Iran in January 2001 to brief Bin Laden on the progress of the “Satan in Flames.” Hezbollah terrorist chief and agent of Iran, Imad Mughniyah, coordinated activities in Saudi Arabia and flew (he or his associate) on the same flights the hijackers took to and from Lebanon and Iran. Court documents show that Imad was assassinated in Syria in February 2008. Intelligence experts, Dr. Patrick Clawson, Dr. Bruce Tefft, Clare Lopez, Kenneth Timmermann, Dr. Ronen Bergman, Edgar Adamson, and 9/11 Commission members Dietrich Snell, Dr. Daniel Byman, and Janice Kephart contributed information on how Iran, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda formed a terror alliance in the early 1990s. The writings of Robert Baer explained how the Sunni-Shia allied themselves to attack the U.S. (“Great Satan”) and Israel (“Lesser Satan”). Iran and Hezbollah aided terror strikes in Kenya, Tanzania (1998), USS Cole (2000), and Khobar Towers (1996) in Saudi Arabia. Dennis Pantazis, one of the Havlish attorneys, said, “It was a wonderful day. A great day where the truth was finally revealed in a court of law with strong, strong evidence. The judge allowed us to put on and present all the evidence that we had filed directly or under seal and he accepted it and made a ruling in our favor. Now we go on to prove damages for each one of the family members.”