Saddam's hanging: Did he take a "smoking gun" with him?

Iraqi involvement in Oklahoma City--Part 1: the evidence

By Wes Vernon

As the hangman's noose gripped Saddam Hussein's neck for the murder of his own people, less well-known is credible evidence that his regime ordered an attack that killed Americans right smack in the middle of America's heartland. It is doubtful that this arrogant, bloodthirsty tyrant — had he not met his deserved end — would have produced a confession or "smoking gun" nailing his own role in the cold-blooded murder of 168 Americans on U.S. soil. He was not tried or convicted for that, and besides, you can't execute a man twice.

But very strong circumstantial evidence points to his evil regime in the killing of innocent American men, women, and children in the 1995 bombing of the Federal Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.

Why don't we know what happened?

So if the Butcher of Baghdad may have been responsible, why did we not hear more about it? Why did our own government not investigate to nail it down? If a foreign government kills our people right here on our soil — is that not an act of war?

Yes, it is. But your government has moved heaven and earth to see that this case is not brought to honest closure. Why?

With a little help from their friends

Timothy McVeigh has been executed and Terry Nichols is rotting in prison. They deserve what they got and more (hopefully, as with Saddam, on "the other side"). But now comes a congressional report saying there is mounting evidence they did not act alone.

This rare glimmer of any kind of official federal recognition (outside the courts) that Saddam's regime may have been involved came in a report released just before Christmas by the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. That document in several respects vindicates the years-long shoe leather sleuthing by Jayna Davis, an Oklahoma City TV reporter who was on the case from Day 1.

Davis, however, is disappointed in the congressional report for several reasons, among them the belief that it falls far short of dealing with much of the evidence and the potential use of leads she has made available. Her problem goes to what the committee does not say, as well as what it does say in terms of an openness to rival theories that have been debunked.

Saddam's hand?

In her 2004 best-seller The Third Terrorist, Davis has documented the sworn testimonies of twenty-two eyewitnesses who implicated a Middle Eastern terrorist cell aiding and abetting McVeigh and Nichols in the plot to destroy the Alfred P. Murrah Building.

The former TV reporter wants the committee to demand that the FBI investigate the multiple sightings of former Iraqi Republican Guardsman Hussain Al-Hussaini in the presence of McVeigh and Nichols prior to the bombing.

The House report, signed by subcommittee Chairman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, credits Davis with having presented evidence that the mysterious John Doe Two "who was with McVeigh in the Ryder truck on the day of the bombing, was a recent Iraqi immigrant who lived and worked in Oklahoma City."

The congressional document, which is set to be expanded sometime in early 2007, goes on to state, "The Iraqi in question, Hussain Al-Hussaini, was one of a group of Iraqis hired to do odd jobs for a Palestinian landlord, Samir Khalil [an ex-con previously imprisoned for insurance fraud] who owned properties throughout the area."

How did soldiers from Saddam's army get into the United States in the first place? They sold themselves as "refugees."

Whatever happened to "John Doe Two"?

You may remember that right after the bombing, the FBI put out pictures on television and on front pages throughout the country of John Doe One (clearly McVeigh) and John Doe Two. As Congressman Rohrabacher says, "Hussaini resembles John Doe Two and was identified by witnesses on the scene. Adding to the suspicion, Hussain Al-Hussaini was less than forthcoming about his whereabouts the morning of the bombing. His alibi, brought out in court depositions, is contradictory and unconvincing. One more disturbing revelation is that Hussain Al-Hussaini was never interviewed by federal law enforcement."

1993 World Trade Center Connection?

The House report connects yet another dot: "More alarming is the discovery of a published list of un-indicted co-conspirators from the first World Trade Center bombing [February, 1993] that includes the name of Samir Khahil." Is this the Palestinian ex-con of the same name (referenced above) who hired Al-Hussaini? The committee can't say for sure because the Justice Department told Rohrabacher that pursuing the lead would be "too burdensome." We will have more to say next week about this and other failures to look into a possible link between the Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center attacks of '93 and '01. (Yes, both of them. See below.) There has been a vigorous and scandalous cover-up of the entire Iraqi trail to the Murrah Building.

Davis, in her book, cites Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind of the first World Trade Center attack. Yousef was accused by a jailed Filipino terrorist of collaborating with Terry Nichols in the Philippines. Writes Jayna Davis: "My investigation uncovered Nichols' collaboration with Iraqi intelligence operatives in the Philippines." And she adds that Yousef "based his operations out of Manila. This Middle Eastern terrorist commandeered the role of general, not Timothy McVeigh. Nichols was in over his head with no way out."

Saddam's orders

As revealed in The Third Terrorist, Saddam Hussein did in fact dispatch intelligence operatives to carry out the bombing of an American building to avenge his humiliating defeat in the first (1991) Gulf War.

In an e-mail to this writer, Davis again said she possesses portions of intelligence reports and alerts issued by the U.S. Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Warfare which predicted weeks before the Oklahoma City bombing that Iran-sponsored Islamist terrorists had recruited "two lily-whites [McVeigh and Nichols]" to carry out the bombing of an American federal building somewhere in "the heart of the U.S."

Clinton no help

The Oklahoma City bombing, if orchestrated by an Iraqi hit squad under the state sponsorship of Iran and/or Syria, would certainly constitute an act of war against the United States. A justified U.S. response is the last thing President Clinton wanted to deal with — though both his and President Bush's administration bear some responsibility for the subsequent cover-up (again see next week).

From the get-go, Clinton was determined to look the other way whenever America was attacked — or threatened with attack — by a foreign power. After all, when it was learned Saddam intended to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush (clearly an act of war if carried out), Bill "It's all about me" Clinton bravely responded by killing an Iraqi custodian at about 3:30 in the morning. Firing a missile at an empty building in the middle of the night was the Clinton version of "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." His epitaph? Consider: "He defended America. He conquered a janitor."

2001 World Trade Center Connection?

Court records suggest that one of McVeigh's and Nichols's accused Middle Eastern handlers had foreknowledge of the 9/11 plot. Davis cites confidential psychiatric records confirming that in 1997, Hussain Al-Hussaini had taken a job at the Boston airport, the point of origin of two hijacked flights that would later slam into the World Trade Center on 9/11.

At that time — four years before 9/11 — Al-Hussaini made a prediction "about a future event to take place at Boston Logan International Airport." Why did Al-Hussaini check into a psychiatric hospital to seek treatment for recurring panic attacks? When asked about the source of his trepidation, he told his therapist "if something happens there, I will be a suspect." In one of her e-mails to me, Jayna Davis notes that at the time the former Iraqi soldier made these shocking statements to his psychiatrist, "he was residing with two former Iraqi Gulf War veterans who provided food catering services for the commercial airlines at Boston Logan."

Hussaini sues

The evidence contained in Jayna Davis's reports on KFOR-TV was so damning and airtight as to the activities of Al-Hussaini that he decided on a "best defense is a good offense" strategy. Rather than wait for the FBI to knock on his door and question him about the mounting allegations (complete with witnesses), Al-Hussaini — at a well-publicized news conference August 24, 1995 — announced that he had filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in state court against the television station, naming Davis personally as a defendant.

Remaining timeline

The timeline below follows Al-Hussaini's lawsuit.

April, 1997 — The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his libel complaint just 24 hours before an Oklahoma judge was to rule on the TV station's well-documented motion to dismiss the case.

September, 1997 — An Oklahoma County Grand Jury probing possible "unknown conspirators" called Davis to testify. One day later, Al-Hussaini re-filed his libel suit — this time in federal court.

November, 1999 — U.S. District Judge Timothy Leonard delivered a sweeping vindication of Davis's KFOR-TV investigation. He dismissed the case in a ruling which upheld as "undisputed" all fifty statements of fact and opinion that she had set forth implicating the plaintiff in the bombing.

After four years of dragging this case through the courts, Al-Hussaini failed to produce a single witness affidavit verifying his alibi as to his whereabouts the day of the Oklahoma City bombing. Undaunted and confidently arrogant, he appealed the decision to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

September 10, 2001 (eve of 9/11) — The Iraqi national's lawyers argued in Denver appellate court for his right to a jury trial.

March 26, 2003 (six days after the start of the Iraq war) — The three-judge panel handed down a stinging rebuke of Al-Hussaini's pattern of foot-dragging and delays. They unanimously affirmed that Davis's carefully and painstakingly gathered evidence of guilt had not "recklessly disregarded the truth."

As a journalist myself for decades, I have the utmost respect for Jayna Davis's work on this case. Her investigative work has won awards from the Oklahoma AP and the Oklahoma Broadcasters Association. And if Pulitzer prizes were consistently awarded on the basis of merit, she would receive that honor, as well. Had it not been for the moral support she has received from her husband Drew (a Gulf War veteran) and from the likes of David Schippers (counsel in the Clinton impeachment hearings), the late Reagan advisor and CIA Intelligence Officer Constantine Menges, and former CIA Director James Woolsey, her pursuit of the truth would have faced even greater obstacles, which she nonetheless would have overcome.

On the basis of her investigation, Frank Gaffney — one-time top Pentagon official in the Reagan administration — calls Davis "an outstanding journalist willing to risk everything — her career, her financial security, even her life — to discover and illuminate the facts about foreign complicity in the murderous 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City."

In the space accorded us, we have touched on only a few highlights of the evidence of the Iraqi connection to Oklahoma City. Still, we're not through here.

Next Week: Part 2 — The Cover-up.

© Wes Vernon