pgbnh
March 17th 06, 08:54 PM
I would suggest that merely paying tens of thousands of dollars to a
lobbyist and/or politician will not buy much influence. To have references
to Pakistan exculpated from the 9/11 Report would have cost at least $5-6
million.
Therefore the report cannot possibly be true
"Real News" > wrote in message
...
> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060313/asp/nation/story_5962372.asp
>
>
> Pakistan weekly spills 9/11 beans
> OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
>
> New Delhi, March 12: The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of
> thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan
> references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday
> Times has claimed.
>
> The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by
> foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret
> meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.
>
> It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to
> prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.
>
> The magazine said the PAC grilled officials in the presence of foreign
> secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and special secretary Sher Afghan on the
> money paid to lobbyists.
>
> "The disclosure sheds doubt on the integrity and honesty of the members
> of the 9/11 inquiry commission and, above all, the authenticity of the
> information in their final report," it said.
>
> The report quoted an officer as saying that dramatic changes were made in
> the final draft of the inquiry commission after the lobbyists got to
> work. The panel was formed to probe the September 11 terror attack and
> make suggestions to fight terrorism.
>
> After the commission tipped the lobbyists about the damaging revelations
> on Pakistan's role in 9/11, they contacted the panel members and asked
> them to go soft on the country. The Friday Times claimed that a lot of
> money was used to silence these members.
>
> According to the report, the lobbyists also helped Pakistan win the
> sympathy of 75 US Congressmen as part of its strategy to guard
> Islamabad's interests in Washington. "US softened towards Pakistan only
> because of the efforts of the foreign office," an official was quoted as
> saying in the report.
>
> The Pakistan foreign office defended the decision to hire the lobbyists,
> saying it was an established practice in the US.
>
> An observer at the Islamabad meeting said money could play an important
> role in buying powerful people. The remark came in response to comments
> made by some US officials after 9/11 that "Pakistanis will sell their
> mothers for a dollar".
>
> Pakistan had emerged as front-runner in the fight against terrorism
> unleashed by the US after the terror strikes. Washington pumped in
> billions of dollars to win President Pervez Musharraf's support in
> launching a crackdown on al Qaida network thriving on the Pakistan-
> Afghanistan border.
lobbyist and/or politician will not buy much influence. To have references
to Pakistan exculpated from the 9/11 Report would have cost at least $5-6
million.
Therefore the report cannot possibly be true
"Real News" > wrote in message
...
> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060313/asp/nation/story_5962372.asp
>
>
> Pakistan weekly spills 9/11 beans
> OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
>
> New Delhi, March 12: The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of
> thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan
> references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday
> Times has claimed.
>
> The Pakistani weekly said its story is based on disclosures made by
> foreign service officials to the Public Accounts Committee at a secret
> meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday.
>
> It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to
> prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.
>
> The magazine said the PAC grilled officials in the presence of foreign
> secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and special secretary Sher Afghan on the
> money paid to lobbyists.
>
> "The disclosure sheds doubt on the integrity and honesty of the members
> of the 9/11 inquiry commission and, above all, the authenticity of the
> information in their final report," it said.
>
> The report quoted an officer as saying that dramatic changes were made in
> the final draft of the inquiry commission after the lobbyists got to
> work. The panel was formed to probe the September 11 terror attack and
> make suggestions to fight terrorism.
>
> After the commission tipped the lobbyists about the damaging revelations
> on Pakistan's role in 9/11, they contacted the panel members and asked
> them to go soft on the country. The Friday Times claimed that a lot of
> money was used to silence these members.
>
> According to the report, the lobbyists also helped Pakistan win the
> sympathy of 75 US Congressmen as part of its strategy to guard
> Islamabad's interests in Washington. "US softened towards Pakistan only
> because of the efforts of the foreign office," an official was quoted as
> saying in the report.
>
> The Pakistan foreign office defended the decision to hire the lobbyists,
> saying it was an established practice in the US.
>
> An observer at the Islamabad meeting said money could play an important
> role in buying powerful people. The remark came in response to comments
> made by some US officials after 9/11 that "Pakistanis will sell their
> mothers for a dollar".
>
> Pakistan had emerged as front-runner in the fight against terrorism
> unleashed by the US after the terror strikes. Washington pumped in
> billions of dollars to win President Pervez Musharraf's support in
> launching a crackdown on al Qaida network thriving on the Pakistan-
> Afghanistan border.