The Darkened Hour

In this episode, i talk about the capture and eventual torture of the man alleged to have operated and planned the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mohammed was captured while hiding in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1st 2003. While in CIA custody, Mohammed underwent various torture methods, also known as, the enhanced interrogation techniques. Mohammed was subjected to punching to the face and stomach, sleep deprivation, rectal rehydration and waterboarding. He was transferred to various countries where secret CIA black sites were held including, Poland, Lithuania, Afghanistan and Romania. As of September 2006, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba where he currently awaits trial for conspiracy and other charges in facilitating the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. However, because Mohammed was tortured, along with the 4 others charged in the conspiracy, his admission's cannot be used as evidence. What does the federal government and CIA have as evidence then? The Rendition Project: https://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/prisoners/khaled-sheikh-mohammed.html Senate Select Committe on Intelligence Regarding CIA's Use of Torture: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf

Cole M. Bunzel is a fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. A historian and Arabist, he studies the history and contemporary affairs of the Islamic Middle East, with a particular focus on violent Islamism and the Arabian Peninsula. He is the editor of the blog Jihadica and has written widely on the ideology of Sunni jihadism. His current book project, "Wahhabism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement" which draws on an array of rare manuscripts and other primary sources in Arabic, provides a new account of the history and doctrine of Wahhabism, the puritanical Islamic revivalist movement that arose in central Arabia in the 18th century, will be the main focus of our conversation today. Bunzel received his MA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his BA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. He has been a research fellow in Islamic law and civilization at the Yale Law School, and is a nonresident fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism. Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement: https://www.amazon.com/Wahh%C4%81bism-History-Militant-Islamic-Movement/dp/0691241597 Jihadica: https://www.jihadica.com/

In this episode, i conduct a detailed report on the two 9/11 congressional investigations, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission and the The Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. I will be speaking in regards to the various failures of the state and federal levels of government and our domestic intelligence services between the Clinton and Bush administration. This will be a comprehensive breakdown of those failures and also i add some additional information in between making it clear that we still have not had an honest and open ended investigation into the 9/11 attacks.

After the terrorist events of September 11th 2001, the Bush White House, led by its legal counsel, drafted memorandums that would not only infringe on the rights of detained foreign prisoners, but also deny them any protections afforded to them by the Geneva Conventions. The State Department also authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to implement a strategy at obtaining information "through any means necessary". So in 2002, the CIA would hire Mitchell, Jessen and Associates, to conduct a method on detainees entitled the SERE program where acts of torture would be implemented by captured prisoners to elicit information. Most of which would turn out to be false data. The manipulation of minds:reckoning with the legacy of the american post 9/11 torture program (Maria Hartwig & Mark Fallon): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36519198/ The Guantánamo Docket: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/guantanamo-bay-detainees.html

In this special episode of the Darkened Hour, i bring a very laid back attitude and offer some personal and direct thoughts on multiple facets of the 9/11 attacks before and after that i never entertained before! The conversation centers on various areas that include the intelligence services, radical arab fundamentalism, Israel and Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 truth movement. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How, i offer many differing thoughts on these questions while also explaining how i become involved with 9/11 and what we need in the future to open a new criminal investigation.

Ray Holcomb has over 30 years’ experience as a law enforcement and intelligence officer. He served for 23 years as an FBI Special Agent; 8 as a Strategic Planner with the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC); and 4 as a state Homeland Security Advisor. Ray’s FBI career included 15 years investigating foreign espionage, major drug trafficking organizations, organized crime and National Security matters. He also served as a member of the FBI’s New York office SWAT team and was appointed Commander of the team from 1998 to 2001. Under Ray’s leadership, the NY SWAT team assumed an expanded role, being involved in high risk domestic arrests and providing overseas security and enhanced investigative capability for FBI teams deploying internationally in response to terrorism. In 2003 Ray was promoted to Section Chief of the FBI’s Operational Response Section which managed the Fly Away Team, the FBI’s Military Liaison/Detainee Unit and the National Joint Terrorism Task Force, overseeing operations and budget of nearly 60 state-based terrorism task forces. In addition to overseeing Special Agents detailed worldwide to the various Unified Combatant Commands, the Military Liaison/Detainee Unit had oversight of the FBI’s interrogation of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The Operational Response Section comprised a full-time complement of 58 Special Agents and 12 analysts. He is the author of Endless Enemies: Inside FBI Counterterrorism. Endless Enemies: Inside FBI Counterterrorism: https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Enemies-Inside-FBI-Counterterrorism/dp/1597973610

In this episode, i cover the period of Afghanistan between, 1992-1996, and the Taliban's war against the Northern Alliance while giving refuge to Osama Bin Laden, and Al Qaeda which became a brewing cesspool that would later shape the Middle East for decades to come and the rest of the world forever. Were the CIA and Pakistan ISI partly responsible for facilitating the fundamnetlist problem while arming them against the Soviets ten years prior? Or was this a case of willful ignorance and malfeasance which led to the predicament of international terrorism that simply reacted to US foreign policy?

With the eve of the 22nd anniversary of the SEptember 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States coming up Monday, myself and 9/11 researcher and co-host of the "Beyond Ground Zero" podcast, Sean Russell talk about various topics relating to 9/11. They include, US-Israeli Foreign Policy, 1993 WTC Bombing, the aftermath of the Soviet-Afghan war, Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, CIA-NSA surveillance of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the mid 90's, the Al Qaeda communications hub in Yemen, and addressing the false conspiracies pushed by certain mainstream media and the fringe elements of the 9/11 Truth Movement. This episode is dedicated to the families and loved ones of the 2,996 victims. murdered in the September 11th attacks. Sean Russell (Beyond Ground Zero): https://odysee.com/@skrussellak:e/01-BGZ-1993-WTC-Full-Edit:1 The Darkened Hour: https://adamfitzgerald.podbean.com/ The Gerald Shea Memorandum: https://www.scribd.com/document/66321077/Gerald-Shea-Memo-to-the-9-11-Commission The Donald Canestraro Document: https://www.floridabulldog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Canestraro-Declaration-dated-20-July-2021.pdf

Tom Parker is the Project Coordinator for Counterterrorism Programming in Nigeria at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He is also the author of “Avoiding the Terrorist Trap: Why Respect for Human Rights is the Key to Defeating Terrorism.” Parker is an experienced counter-terrorism practitioner, having formerly been Chief of Party of a European Union project providing assistance to the Office of the National Security Adviser in Baghdad, Iraq and also previously serving as an adviser on human rights and counter-terrorism to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). Avoiding the Terrorist Trap: Why Respect for Human Rights is the Key to Defeating Terrorism (Insurgency and Terrorism): https://www.amazon.com/Avoiding-Terrorist-Trap-Defeating-Insurgency/dp/1783266546

Michael Scheuer is the former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit. He resigned from CIA in November 2004 after nearly two decades of experience in covert action and National Security issues related to Afghanistan, South Asia, and the Middle East. He is the author of the book, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. He also wrote Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism, and Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America. Scheuer holds a B.A., two M.A.’s, and a Ph. D. Scheuer is an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University, a consultant for CBS’s 60 Minutes, and a Senior Fellow and regular contributor to the Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Focus. Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror: https://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Hubris-West-Losing-Terror/dp/1597971596 Osama Bin Laden: https://www.amazon.com/Osama-Bin-Laden-Michael-Scheuer/dp/0199898391

Mansoor Adayfi born in Sanaa'Yemen was held without charge in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba from February 9, 2002, to July 11, 2016. On July 11, 2016, he and a Tajikistani captive were transferred to Serbia. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 441. Al-Dayfi came to prominence in 2022 when he alleged that Florida governor Ron DeSantis oversaw beatings and force-feedings of detainees at Guantanamo He now lives in Belgrade, Serbia where he writes, creates artwork, and advocates for prisoner and detainee rights. His memoir of his time at Guantánamo, "Don’t Forget Us Here", was published in 2021 by Hachette Books. Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Forget-Us-Here-Guantanamo/dp/0306923866 Mansoor Adayfi website: https://www.mansooradayfi.com/

Brett Eagleson is the son of the late John Bruce Eagleson who worked for Westfield Management Corp. on the 17th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center whom perished on September 11th 2001. Brett Eagleson is currently the CEO of 9/11 Justice, a grassroots movement made up of the 9/11 community, which consists of 9/11 survivors, first responders, family members of those lost, and all volunteers and lower Manhattan residents, students and workers who are now suffering fatal illnesses due to their exposure to Ground Zero. Today Brett, and other 9/11 victim family members, have hired law firms Motley Rice and Kreindler & Kreindler to push a civil litigation case against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their alleged role in having Saudi operatives give logistical and financial support to two known Al Qaeda operatives while living inside the United States, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, and later a few others, which has now been acknowledged thru the 2023 Donald Canestraro files and the FBI Operation Encore files which were declassified in 2021. In today's interview we go over the background of both father and son, Brett and his summation of what he was doing before, during and after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, the release of the Operation Encore files by Department of Justice, the release of the Donald Canestraro documents, and the State Department's continued coverup of Saudi intelligence involvement with some of the 9/11 hijackers and involvement with LIV Golf. 9/11 Justice: https://www.911justice.org/

Carol Hellermann is a former American Airlines flight attendant for Flight 1 in which 3 arab men who argued about not having to fly on September 11th 2001 when the flight could not take off due to a ground stop. Meanwhile 4 days after 9/11, Hellermann found out that those men were planning to crash into the Sears Tower in Chicago.. Hellermann is speaking out about how there were likely a dozen more planes and targets than the FBI or anyone has ever admitted. Because of employment contract restrictions Hellermann could not speak out about what took place, and since retiring from her 21 years of service she is now speaking out about her experience that day. She also states that the FBI never interviewed her about her ordeal regarding those three arab men who argued about not having to fly on Flight 1 and that the FAA didn't disclose the additional attempted hijackings due to fear of losing clientele which would cause a nationwide economic crash and cause financial loss to the airline industry as a whole.

In this episode, i talk about the motivations behind the US embassy attacks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, which were authorized by two islandic fundamentalist groups, Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. The bombings are widely believed to have been revenge for U.S. involvement in the extradition, and alleged torture, of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad who had been arrested in Albania. According to Bin Laden, it was in response to the US military invasion of Iraq in 1990 and Somalia in 1994. The discussion involves the motivations and political aspirations of Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and the aftermath attributed to the attacks.

Anthony Shaffer is the President of the London Center for Policy Research, a New York Times bestselling author and CIA trained intelligence operations officer with 35 years of experience in global and national security. In his think-tank work he is an advisor to senior members of the White House, the Intelligence Community, Pentagon and key members of Congress. He also works with National Geographic as an Advising Producer and Co-Producer of the series “Chain of Command”. In 2017 he became the Homeland Security Advisor to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department in Virginia and works as its member of the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau’s expanded task force. His New York Times (NYT) and International bestselling memoir, Operation DARK HEART: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan – and the Path to Victory, provides an unprecedented look at intelligence operations during a period in the Afghanistan war, in 2003, where a small number of operators were able to effectively control this large country. In recognition of successful high risk/high gain operations. In our talk we discuss the 2021 declassification of the FBI's Operation Encore" files, and the latest release from Donald Canestraro from the Office of Military Commissions. London Center For Policy Research Center: https://londoncenter.org/ Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan -- and The Path to Victory: https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Dark-Heart-Frontlines-Afghanistan/dp/031260369X Donald Canestraro Document: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23787466/att-b-2021-07-20-donald-canestraro-declaration-dated-20-july-2021.pdf Operation Encore files: https://vault.fbi.gov/9-11-attacks-investigation-and-related-materials/9-11-material-released-in-response-to-executive-order-14040

Elizabeth L. Miller is the Project Director for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a nonprofit 9/11 family member organization that promotes peace. Miller earned an MA in Middle Eastern Studies (2020) at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. Her research has focused on the complexities of women’s involvement in terrorism, and examination of human rights abuses in a post-9/11 world. Elizabeth lost her father, firefighter Douglas Miller on September 11th 2001. She appeared in dozens of broadcast interviews and panels, in the U.S. and abroad, around the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Elected in 2021, she currently serves on the city council of Port Jervis, NY. In our discussion, Miller talks about her father, how she became emotionally driven to understand what Al Qaeda is, and how she ultimately became the Project Director for the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows: https://peacefultomorrows.org/

We continue off of Part 1 of the episode, as NYPD and the NY-JTTF investigate the assassination of Jewish radical firebrand, Rabbi Meri Kahane at a downtown Manhattan hotel. His killer? El Sayyid Nosair, who also has ties to a radical cleric from Egypt from the fundamnetlist sect, Gamma Islamiyyah, known as the "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman. Investigators find incriminating items at Nosair's home which went ignored, which would have showed a brewing arab fundamentalist problem. Meanwhile the FBI begins a sting operation at Rahman's inner cell in two mosques located in Brooklyn and Jersey City, where they employ a former Egyptian military officer to act as informant, Emad Salem, Who uncovers a massive terrorist conspiracy involving bombing of NYC landmarks. operated by Nosair and Rahman. The FBI suddenly removes Salem as its highly valued "confidential source "with a dire warming from Salem. Ramzi Yousef, a Baluchi citizen, with ties to an Israeli Mossad asset, Ahmed Ajaj. Replaces Salem, and begins assembling a bomb which would be used in the World Trade Center.

In this episode, i will be giving a very lengthy and quite descriptive talk about what led up to, and what took place, on February 26th 1993, which was the bombing of the World Trade Center. Speaking from various sources, all of which i will give dates for, as well as from books and the historical record, it will give a clear and broad picture of US Foreign Policy, The essence of the Abu Nidal Organization, the issue of Israeli-Palestine in the 1980's, the meaning of Jihad and Takfir, the CIA's history involving arab mujahid in it's "Operation Cyclone" program and the individuals involved in the genesis of arab fundamentalism and it's organs. This will be the first of a two part program where i will concentrate on the multi-faceted stages and historical events leading up to the formation of the radical cells operating in Pakistan and over inside the United States with help from the intelligence services.

President and CEO Richard (Richie) Rotanz has over 45 years of experience and expertise in the fire service, emergency management, operations, research, training and academia. His eclectic career has had him functioned as program manager in New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; co-developed and performed as the Executive Director of the Applied Science Foundation for Homeland Security; co-developed Adelphi University’s graduate degree in Emergency Management; and performed as the first Commissioner for the Office of Emergency Management of Nassau County, New York. Prior to his tenure in Nassau County, he served in the New York City Fire Department, working through the ranks and special divisions such as the Safety Command and with Special Operations Command. After such an assignment, he was detailed by the Mayor’s office as Deputy Commissioner of New York City's Office of Emergency Management, located in World Trade Center 7. In this detail, he was responsible for research & planning, and to organize and manage the emergency operations center during major events. During the September 11th attacks upon New York City, and after digging his way out of World Trade Center 1 with his staff, he re-instituted and relocated the destroyed emergency operation center to Pier 92, and managed the multi-organization response of over 120 agencies, organizations, and businesses, to the 9-11 tragedy.

Ray Nowosielski is an Emmy-nominated non-fiction filmmaker, producer, and writer. Nowosielski worked on many successful projects, one in which he personally directed, 9/11 Press For Truth" where the film surrounds the lives and activism of widows of husbands who were killed in the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001.John Duffy is a writer and activist. He wrote and produced the critically-acclaimed documentary Press for Truth, His 2011 Who Is Rich Blee? was among the first podcasts to explore the true crime investigative genre, three years before Serial, exposing an alleged human rights abuser inside the CIA and resulting in a well-publicized threat of prosecution from that agency. collaborated with Barbara Kopple on 8 films. With John Duffy he created the iHeart BLM true crime podcast After the Uprising, nominated for a 2022 NAACP Image Award. The Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald later dubbed that work “fantastic” and “brave.” Both Nowosielski and Duffy would co-author an Amazon best selling book, The Watchdogs Didn't Bark: The CIA, NSA, and the Crimes of the War on Terror" which covers the US intelligence failures and publicly names certain CIA officers who embarked on a secret operation of hiding information from the FBI regarding two Al Qaeda operatives who would later hijack American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11th 2001. The Watchdogs Didn't Bark: The CIA, NSA, and the Crimes of the War on Terror: https://www.amazon.com/Watchdogs-Didnt-Bark-Crimes-Terror-ebook/dp/B06XSXQ3PD Ray Nowosielski website: https://www.raysfilmfest.com/ John F. Duffy website: https://www.johnfduffy.com/ Ray Nowosielski & John Duffy Website: https://www.doubleasteriskmedia.com/