Paul E. Ester's Flogger

More than a year before 9/11, a Pakistani-British man told the FBI an incredible tale: that he had been trained by bin LadenÕs followers to hijack airplanes and was now in America to carry out an attack. ÊThe FBI questioned him for weeks, but then let him go home, and never followed up.Ê Now, the former al-Qaida insider is talking.

In March, 2000, Niaz Khan said he was down and out, waiting tables in a curry house north of London, overwhelmed by gambling debts and increasingly drawn to the message of a radical local imam.Ê The imam extolled Osama bin Laden and the rewards of dying for jihad.

Then, one night, outside a casino in Manchester, England, Khan said two mysterious men approached him. ÒFirst they say, ÔWe can help you,Õ” recalls Khan. “I say, ÔHow can you help me?ÕÊ Say, ÔOK, come sit in car.ÕÊ Said ÔDo you heard Osama nameÕ?Ó… Rest of Article

Addressing advice the White House got suggesting torture might be allowed for some terrorist interrogations, President Bush said Friday he ordered U.S. officials to act consistent with law and international treaties.

“What I authorized was staying within U.S. law,” Bush said at the conclusion of the G-8 summit meeting here. The president said he doesn’t recall seeing Justice Department advice about the conditions for such torture.

Asked repeatedly about it, Bush sidestepped a question about whether he thought torture was immoral, saying that his instructions were “to adhere to law. … We’re a nation of law” and “you might look at those laws.”
… Rest of Article