The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror

by David Hoffman

This enormous compendium of information about the Oklahoma City Bomb contextualizes that event with the data that official investigations and the press have abandoned now that the fix is in and Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols have been declared the lone bombers. It supplements Jim Keith's previous work, OKBomb!, in many ways, crissing-crossing what's in that book , adding to its body of knowledge and examining the OKC bomb as part of the "politics of terror" strategy that currently dominates international affairs. It includes an introduction by Oklahoma State Representative Charles Key adapted from an appeal letter that "does not necessarily imply Rep. Key's endorsement of the author's conclusions," noting also that author Hoffman and Key shared investigative leads and information. One conclusion that Key no doubt would affirm is the basic premise of the book: federal agencies know far more about the Oklahoma City bombing than they're willing to admit.

Other than that, readers might quibble about the assessment of guilt relative to right-wing militias or middle east terrorists, but few could argue that Hoffman's conclusions are not based on a wealth of evidence and informed reporting. In fact, Hoffman achieves a level of "triangulation of research" that is quite prescient in the context of the recent embassy bombings in Africa, particularly in light of finger-pointing toward Saudi engineer Osama bin Laden:

"In March of 1995, Israel's Shin Bet (General Security Services, Israel's equivalent to the FBI), arrested approximately 10 Hamas terrorists in Jerusalem, some of whom had recently returned from a trip to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida...interrogation of those suspects was thought to have revealed information concrning the plot to bomb the Murrah Building. The Shin Bet filed a warning with the Legal Attache (FBI) at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv as a matter of course. On April 20, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Arhonot wrote: Yesterday, it was made known that over the last few days, U. S. law enforcement agencies had received intelligence information originating in the Middle east, warning of a large terrorist attack on U.S. soil. No alert was sounded as a result of this information...the BND (German equivalent of the American CIA), also sent a warning to the U.S. State department. That was followed by a warning from the Saudis. A Saudi Major General...informed former CIA Counterterrorism Chief Vince Cannistraro, who in turn informed the FBI. There is a 302 (FBI report) in existence...the Saudi Arabian Intelligence Service reported that Iraq had hired seven Pakistani mercenaries--Afghani War veterans [like bin Laden, ed.]--to bomb targets in the U.S., one of which was the Alfred P. Murrah Building. They also advised the FBI that--as is often the case--the true identity of the sponsor may not have been revealed to the bombers."

As the "politics of terror" play out on the international stage, readers want to know more than what has been officially proffered, they will need to look at books like The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror.

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