Robert Baer and Daniel Pearl: On The Trail Of The 9/11 Mastermind?

by Chaim Kupferberg

“Former” CIA agent Robert Baer has recently weighed in with his own assessment of how we should view Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's recent testimony (see "Why KSM's Confession Rings False" ).

In Baer's view, we should take it with a grain of salt. He further hints that, in the light of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's current lack of gravitas and obvious reliability as a witness, we should perhaps look to the contributions of other agents and state actors in our evolving understanding of the dynamics of al Qaeda. And though he now seeks to minimize the role of KSM in the Pearl killing - Baer considers him, as he has now learned through the proverbial grapevine, as more of a standby eyewitness than as an actual hands-on participant - Baer neglects to inform his readers of his own personal role in Daniel Pearl's investigation, a role that could arguably be said to have set Pearl directly on the course toward his tragic fate.

Nevertheless, since Baer did insinuate himself personally into the Pearl legend, as of his September 30, 2002 revelation to UPI, one would expect that he would - at least someday - have to give a more detailed description of the nature of his "joint investigation" of the 9/11 mastermind with Daniel Pearl - that is, unless it can be shown that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is not "all that" in the end. As Baer seems to be suggesting in his recent Time magazine piece, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is damaged goods, a thoroughly brain-addled and water-boarded "clown" from whom little of any reliable intelligence value may be wrung.

When Baer had first offered up the account of his personal role in Daniel Pearl's investigation, many of the discrepancies surrounding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had yet to fully disseminate among some of the more discerning members of the public. Yet with the 9/11 mastermind officially in custody, Baer now strongly hints that perhaps we should direct our lingering questions elsewhere, to the roles of other actors, and different horizons.

And thus does Baer continue to postpone his own accounting with the historical record, which is provided below...

Continued...
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0703/S00363.htm