Daily Alert Archives

Iran Responsible for 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings

(Washington Post) Marc A. Thiessen - Last week a federal court found the government of Iran liable for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Wait, you say, wasn't al-Qaeda responsible for the embassy bombings? Al-Qaeda carried out the attack, but the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the bombings would not have been possible without "direct assistance" from Tehran as well as Sudan. "The government of Iran," Judge John D. Bates wrote, "aided, abetted and conspired with Hizbullah, Osama Bin Laden, and al-Qaeda to launch large-scale bombing attacks against the United States by utilizing the sophisticated delivery mechanism of powerful suicide truck bombs." Iran's assistance was not peripheral to the plot, Bates found. "Al-Qaeda desired to replicate Hizbullah's 1983 Beirut Marine barracks suicide bombing, and Bin Laden sought Iranian expertise to teach al-Qaeda operatives about how to blow up buildings." "Prior to their meetings with Iranian officials and agents Bin Laden and al-Qaeda did not possess the technical expertise required to carry out the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. The Iranian defendants, through Hizbullah, provided explosives training to Bin Laden and al-Qaeda and rendered direct assistance to al-Qaeda operatives." "In a short time, al-Qaeda acquired the capabilities to carry out the 1998 Embassy bombings, which killed hundreds and injured thousands by detonation of very large and sophisticated bombs." If Iran helped al-Qaeda attack the United States without a nuclear umbrella to protect it from retaliation, what might the regime do once it possesses nuclear weapons? Imagine how hard it will be to deter the regime from similar attacks once it has the bomb.
2011-12-13 00:00:00
Full Article