On June 22-23, 2001 - some 3 months before 9/11, and 4 months before the Anthrax attacks - the U.S. military held a senior-level war game at Andrews Air Force Base called Dark Winter.
The scenario of this bio-terrorism drill was designed to simulate a smallpox attack in three states. Numerous congressmen, former CIA director James Woolsey, New York Times reporter Judith Miller (who pushed the Iraq WMD myth, as well as the false link between Iraq and the Anthrax attacks), and anti-terror official Jerome Hauer all participated [12] in the exercise.
As a part of this war game, scripted TV news clips were made to help make this drill as realistic as possible.
At the end of one of these clips, the reporter says:
Iraq might have provided the technology behind the attacks to terrorist groups based in Afghanistan.
Why is this interesting?
Because U.S. officials intentionally linked Iraq to Al Qaeda and 9/11 [13] to justify the Iraq war, even though they knew there was no [14] such connection. (The claim that Iraq is linked to 9/11 has since been debunked by the 9/11 Commission [15], top government officials, and even – long after they alleged such a link – Bush [16] and Cheney [17] themselves.)
Indeed, Dark Winter articipant Woolsey - the former CIA director - swore in court testimony [18] that Saddam Hussein was connected to 9/11.
Similarly, the government tried to falsely blame the anthrax attacks on Iraq [19] as a justification for war:
When Congress was originally asked to pass the Patriot Act in late 2001, the anthrax attacks which occurred only weeks earlier were falsely blamed on spooky Arabs as a way to scare Congress members into approving the bill. Specifically:
- The FBI was actually told to blame Anthrax scare on Al Qaeda by White House officials [20]
And see this [23].
Dark Winter participants Judith Miller - the New York Times reporter who had long hyped bioterror threats through books and articles - and CIA head Woolsey were two of the loudest voices blaming the Anthrax attacks on Iraq [24].
Woolsey was an outspoken proponent of war against Iraq even before 9/11 [25].
Moreover, the parallels between the Dark Winter exercise and the Anthrax attacks are numerous. For example [26], in the Dark Winter exercise [27]:
- Anonymous letters are sent to the media
- Anonymous letters threatened anthrax attacks on the United States
- Iraq and Bin Laden are key suspects
Remember, neoconservatives planned regime change in Iraq 20 years ago [28] (and the U.S. had already carried out regime change in Iraq in the early 1960s [29]).
It has been extensively documented that the White House decided to invade Iraq before 9/11 [30]:
- Former CIA director George Tenet said that the White House wanted to invade Iraq long before 9/11, and inserted “crap” in its justifications for invading Iraq. [31] Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill – who sat on the National Security Council – also says [32] that Bush planned the Iraq war before 9/11. Top British officials say [33] that the U.S. discussed Iraq regime change even before Bush took office. And in 2000, Cheney said [34] a Bush administration might “have to take military action to forcibly remove Saddam from power.” And see this [35].
- Cheney made Iraqi’s oil fields a national security priority before 9/11 [36]. And the Sunday Herald reported [37]: “Five months before September 11, the US advocated using force against Iraq … to secure control of its oil.” (remember that Alan Greenspan [38], John McCain [39], George W. Bush [40], Sarah Palin [41], a high-level National Security Council officer [36] and others all say that the Iraq war was really about oil.)
Here are all 6 of the scripted news clips from Dark Winter: