It was purely by chance that I met JD. He stopped by unexpectedly to look at a house lot I have for sale. While walking the boundary lines we talked about a subject of common interest, one that we both had given great consideration. His story changes history.
JD spent 30 years in air traffic control as an ATC Specialist at the Portland, Maine, International Jetport (PWM). On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he was off from work when the terrorist attack occurred. He got to the jetport as quickly as possible, arriving at the PWM control tower by 1 p.m.
By this time all air space nationwide had been shut down. He manned his ATC screen to find the tower was tracking two F-15 fighter jets from the Otis Air National Guard. They were positioned to control the airspace surrounding Walker’s Point in Kennebunkport. Walker’s Point was home to summer resident and 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush.
The two fighter jets remained on location by using refueling tankers until they were relieved by two F-16’s from the Burlington Air National Guard. Fighter jets from the two bases maintained air control over Walker’s Point for nearly two days.
On the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, a white Boeing 757 landed at PWM. The call signs identified the craft as belonging to Evergreen International Airlines, a known CIA contractor, headquartered in McMinnville, Oregon. Their closest major aircraft hub was at JFK International Airport.
The plane taxied to the General Aviation ramp at Northeast Airmotive. Its proximity to the control tower allowed JD to visually observe it with binoculars. It was met by a fleet of black Chevy Suburbans with darkened windows, escorted by Maine State Police cruisers. The vehicle formation was identical to security measures used in presidential movements that JD had worked in the past.
Shortly after the vehicles arrived, approximately eight formally garbed Saudi nationals, replete with traditional white robed garments and red and white checkerboard head dresses, departed the plane. They entered the suburbans and left the airport around 9 p.m. Walker’s Point is a 30-minute drive from PWM, with police escort.
They returned two hours later and re-boarded the 757. It was too dark to determine whether the number of passengers had increased, decreased or remained the same. Shortly after 11 p.m. the plane departed for Andrews Air Force Base.
Towards the end of the following summer, a second white Boeing 757, using the tactical call sign TERRA 1 2, arrived at PWM. The call sign, linked to military controlled aircraft, had departed from Andrews Air Force Base.
After landing at PWM, the plane parked in the runway 11 run-up area. This location provided a clear view of the Comfort Inn where, on Sept. 10, 2001, hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz Alomari spent the night before taking an early morning flight on Colgan Air to Logan Airport.
After parking for an hour in the run-up area, with no one boarding or departing the plane, TERRA 1 2 took off and returned to Andrews Air Force Base.
With the emergence of the post-WW II Central Intelligence Agency, CIA leadership was filled with Ivy League blue bloods, especially those Yale alumni linked with the school’s Skull and Bones fraternal order. After appointment to the United Nations in 1970 and to the Republican National committee in 1973, George H.W. Bush was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975 to head the CIA.
It was from this pulpit Bush first espoused the doctrine of one world order, a global Pax Americana based on unquestioned US military superiority. He considered this to be the only way to bring world peace and prosperity to the global community. It was with this mindset that Bush would be selected as Ronald Reagan’s 1980 vice-presidential running mate.
During the Reagan-Bush administration the CIA took a much more commanding role in foreign affairs, the pinnacle of which were the dirty wars in Central America. Operating outside congressional mandates and legally binding oversight, the administration turned a blind eye to the CIA’s arming of the Nicaraguan Contras in what would be known as the Iran-Contra affair.
Numerous players were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their roles in the matter, only to be pardoned by then-President George H.W. Bush when he succeeded Reagan. He would serve only one term before being defeated by Bill Clinton in 1992, predominantly because of his involvement in three scandals: The October Surprise, Iran-Contra, and Iraqgate. These scandals were first reported by the late Robert Parry, founder of ConsortiumNews.com, after years of investigation.
Returning to civilian life, the senior Bush turned to consulting for the Carlyle Group in matters of finance, energy, construction, and relations with extremist groups. He was joined by his top aide James A. Baker III and former defense secretary under Ronald Reagan, Frank Carlucci. All three had stakes in the company with Carlucci serving as chairman.
The Carlyle Group had negotiated with the Afghan Taliban for years over pipeline rights to connect the Turkmenistan oil and natural gas fields to Pakistan. From there it could be carried to India by pipeline or enter the world market via tanker. By the late 1990s it became obvious that the Taliban would never support such a venture.
In 1993, Enron, headed by Kenneth Lay, had invested $3 billion in India’s Dabhol natural gas fired power plant. It relied on natural gas supplied by the envisioned Afghan pipeline. Over the years Enron, a Texas based company, and its employees had provided massive campaign contributions to both George H. W. and George W. Bush in their election runs.
In the summer of 2001, the Bush National Security Council created the Dabhol working group to focus on the power plant’s completion. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001.
Following 9/11 and the US invasion of Afghanistan, the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, on Feb. 4, 2002, noted: “If one looks at the map of the big American bases created (in Afghanistan), one is struck by the fact that they are complely identical to the route of the proposed oil pipeline to the Indian Ocean … Osama bin Laden did not comprehend that his actions serve American interests … if I were a believer in conspiracy theories, I would think that bin Laden is an American agent. Not being one I can only wonder at the coincidence.”
The Carlyle Group also connected the senior Bush with bin Laden family members who invested in the company. Carlyle’s 2001 investor conference took place on Sept. 11, 2001. Attendees reported that bin Laden family member Shafiq bin Laden had been touted as “the guest of honor” at the conference. The bin Laden family liquidated their holdings in Carlyle’s investment funds in October 2001.
Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch President Larry Klayman said at the time, “The idea of the President’s father, an ex-president himself, doing business with a company under investigation by the FBI in the terror attacks of Sept. 11 is horrible. President Bush should not ask, but demand, that his father pull out of the Carlyle Group.”
Klayman must have forgotten that George W. Bush served on the Carlyle Board of Directors before becoming president.
What’s most telling were the demands by the Bush administration that certain parts of the 2003 Joint Report of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on the origins of the 9/11 attack, and how it might be prevented, be stricken from the record. Before the report was released large portions were removed, especially in the 28 page section dealing with the role played by the Saudis.
On July 25, 2003, the New York Times published an article with the headline, ”Panel says 9/11 Attack Might Have Been Prevented.” New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is quoted as saying,”I just don’t understand the administration here. There seems to be a systematic strategy of coddling and cover-up when it comes to the Saudis.”
Lew Kingsbury retired from a career working in the Defense Sector as a shipbuilding technical liaison with NAVSEA. For seven years he was a reporter for The Cryer newspaper in Brunswick, Maine. He is the author of “COVER-UP: How the FBI Hid the True Origins of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.” His book is on Amazon Kindle.
From The Progressive Populist, September 1, 2023
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