Kevin Ryan -- who has interviewed 9/11 Commissioner Lee Hamilton, Abu Zubaydah's attorney and other knowledgeable people -- documents how central Abu Zubaydah is to the 9/11 Commission Report (footnotes omitted; see original for documentation):
The 9/11 Commission (falsely) called Zubaydah an "al Qaeda lieutenant." The Joint Congressional inquiry did the same, calling him "al-Qa'ida leader Abu Zubaydah," and the "Bin Ladin lieutenant captured in March 2002." As late as 2006, the Justice Department's Inspector General report on the 9/11 attacks called Zubaydah a "Bin Laden lieutenant."
When Zubaydah was captured, in March 2002, U.S. government officials touted him as the biggest catch of the War on Terror, at least until the capture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM). FBI Director Robert Mueller stated that Zubaydah's capture would help deter future attacks. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that Zubaydah could provide a treasure-trove of information about al-Qaeda. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Zubaydah was "a man who knows of additional attacks", who has "trained people to do this", and was a big fish who had a fountain of knowledge.
The extensive allegations against Zubaydah went on and on, and included that he was:
- along with KSM, one of "Al Qaeda's top operational managers" -- "Counterterrorism Czar"Richard Clarke, in his book Against All Enemies
- "sinister" and "there is evidence that he is a planner and a manager as well. I think he's a major player." -- Former State Department director of counter-terrorism, Michael Sheehan
- "extremely dangerous" and a planner of 9/11. -- State Department legal advisor John B. Bellinger III in a June 2007 briefing.
- a trainer, a recruiter, understood bomb-making, was a forger, a logistician, and someone who made things happen, and made "al-Qaeda function." -- Former CIA station chief, Bob Grenier
- "a close associate of UBL's [i.e. Bin Laden], and if not the number two, very close to the number two person in the organization. I think that's well established." -Donald Rumsfeld
- "a very senior al Qaeda official who has been intimately involved in a range of activities for the al Qaeda." -- Donald Rumsfeld
- a "very senior al Qaeda operative." -- Donald Rumsfeld
- a "key terrorist recruiter and operational planner and member of Osama bin Laden's inner circle." -- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
- someone whose capture was a "very serious blow" to al-Qaeda and therefore one of al-Qaeda's "many tentacles" was "cut off." -- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
- "one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States." --President George W. Bush
- "one of al-Qaeda's top leaders" who was "spending a lot of time as one of the top operating officials of al Qaeda, plotting and planning murder." --President George W. Bush
- "al Qaeda's chief of operations." -- President George W. Bush
- "one of the top three leaders" in al-Qaeda. -- President George W. Bush
- someone whose interrogation "led to reliable information", a "prolific producer" of information, with whom originated roughly 25 percent of the information on al Qaeda that came from human sources. -- [National Security Agency Director] Michael Hayden
- one of three individuals "best positioned to know about impending terrorist atrocities." -- Michael Hayden
As the myth of Zubaydah grew, it was reported that he was --
- "worth a ton of guys at Gitmo."
- a "senior bin Laden official" and the "former head of Egypt-based Islamic Jihad."
- "played a key role in the East Africa embassy attacks."
- listed as a "trusted aide" to bin Laden with "growing power."
- in control of al-Qaeda.
- an aide of bin Laden who ran training camps in Afghanistan and "coordinated terror cells in Europe and North America."
- a "key terrorist recruiter, operational planner, and member of Osama Bin Laden's inner circle."
- "bin Laden's CEO", and "a central figure in Al Qaeda"
- Bin Laden's "travel planner."
- "one of a handful of men entrusted with running the terrorism network in the event of Osama bin Laden's death or capture."
- a senior bin Laden lieutenant who was believed "to be organizing al Qaida resources to carry out attacks on American targets."
- the fourth ranking member of al Qaeda behind Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Muhamed Atef.
- someone who knew the identities of "thousands" of terrorists that passed through al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan
- a colleague of Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber.
- one of bin Laden's top planners of terrorist operations who knew of al Qaeda plots and cells.
- the "connection between bin Laden and many of al-Qaida's operational cells."
- the source of information that UAL Flight 93 was intended to hit the White House.
Because we now know that Zubaydah was never an al Qaeda operative, or even an al Qaeda associate, we are forced into the stunning realization that all of this was false. The questions that should arise from that realization include: How much of what we know about al Qaeda, and how much of the War on Terror, was built on the torture testimony of a man who clearly could not have known anything about al Qaeda at all? [We've already documented that Cheney, Rumsfeld and the boys are guilty of war crimes for falsely using 9/11 as a justification for the Iraq war, and noted that Cheney admits that he lied about 9/11.]
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But as we know now, the CIA reportedly told Abu Zubaydah during his interrogation that they discovered he was not an al-Qaeda fighter, partner, or even a member. Still, KSM and Bin Alshibh were caught and tortured too.
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