It is generally believed that Mohammed Atta was the leader of the 9/11 strikes against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Atta was an Egyptian, a student of architecture in Cairo and Hamburg, born on Sept. 1, 1968. His studies continued to the end of the 1990s. We are told that he was seriously religious, though he was seen drinking alcohol and playing video games at a sports bar the week before 9/11.
In May 2003, Capt. Vladimir Hucin, formerly with Czech intelligence (BIS), made a curious statement in front of Petr Cibulka, the head of the Right Bloc (Pravy Blok) in response to a question about Atta: "I had information that Mohammed Atta was trained in the Zastavka terrorist training camp in 1988, by Czechoslovak Communists and STB."
Cibulka was not surprised by Hucin's claim regarding Atta. According to Cibulka, al Qaeda is the child of the Communist Bloc and its rogue state allies. "[Al Qaeda] is supplied and trained by Iraq," said Cibulka in a 2003 interview. "But the real brains behind this global terrorist campaign against the free world ... is in fact the Russian GRU. Moscow fights against the United States with a hidden hand."
There is no question that the FBI and the CIA, in their infinite wisdom, would dismiss Cibulka's statement and the allegations of Capt. Hucin. The reasoning of the FBI and CIA goes something like this: People who have fought communism their whole lives are deeply committed to their views, even when communism has collapsed. Those who hate communism do not stop hating it, and their judgment is distorted by this hatred. Therefore, statements connecting today's terrorism with "International Communism" are not to be taken seriously.
Perhaps the prevailing wisdom of the FBI and CIA deserves the honored place it now enjoys. On the other hand, an admission that anti-Communism can become an obsession does not automatically discredit everything anti-Communists have to say. Soviet Communism invented modern terrorism. The Communists trained Arafat, Mandela, Carlos the Jackal and others. To what end was this training?
There is an old book by a GRU defector who wrote under the pen name Viktor Suvorov. The book's title is Spetsnaz: The Inside Story of the Soviet Special Forces. Chapter 15 in this book is about Spetsnaz's role at the outset of World War III. It makes very interesting reading.
Russian Spetsnaz commandos are trained as paratroopers, explosives experts, terrorists and assassins. According to Suvorov, World War III will not begin with conventional military operations, or even with massed nuclear missile strikes. On page 196 he describes "a series of large and small [terrorist] operations the purpose of which is, before actual military operations begin, to weaken the enemy's morale, create an atmosphere of suspicion, fear and uncertainty, and divert attention of the enemy's armies and police forces to a huge number of different targets...." According to Suvorov: "The principle method employed at this stage is 'grey terror.'" This is a kind of terror that is carried out "in the name of already existing extremist groups not connected in any way with the Soviet Union, or in the name of fictitious organizations."
Suvorov claimed that "grey terror" would have a psychological warfare component. The Russian special services, he wrote, would launch a scandal parade. Dirt would be invented, created or dug up on America's leaders, on America's defense establishment and on America's friends abroad. According to Suvorov, various nations would begin to distrust their leaders. The peace movement, he wrote, would make use of these scandals. "In many countries there are continual demands to make the country neutral and not to support American foreign policy, which has been discredited." When America's international support erodes away, explained Suvorov, the "grey terror" gathers in scope and "reaches its peak." The next stage is pink terror, "when active military operations have not yet begun and there is still peace, but when some of the best spetsnaz units have already gone into action." This leads directly to "red terror" - which is open warfare between major powers.
Perhaps it is crazy to make this suggestion: But is it possible the "grey terror" of Viktor Suvorov has begun? Are key leaders in al Qaeda paid agents of the old Communist Bloc, paving the way for "pink terror" and the "red terror" that logically follows?
One hesitates to accept, at face value, the statements of anti-Communists in Eastern Europe (since their statements are so grim). And yet, there is something strange about the terrorists and their war against America. What do these terrorists hope to achieve for themselves? Islam is not going to take over the United States. The Islamists have no army. They don't even have a country that dares to openly embrace their cause.
Last Sunday night I received a call from an American businessman recently returned from South America. He had a strange encounter. He'd met a Russian down below the equator. This Russian thought South America was safe place to be at the moment. The businessman talked about life in South America. "Life is better in the United States," he said. The Russian answered. "Yes, but the United States is not going to be there much longer."
The Russian refused to elaborate. Perhaps he doesn't need to.
