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The BIRCH BARK BBS / 414-242-5070
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THE NEW AMERICAN -- October 16, 1995
Copyright 1995 -- American Opinion Publishing, Incorporated
P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI  54913

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ARTICLE: Nation
TITLE: Startling OKC Developments
AUTHOR: William F. Jasper

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A mysterious severed leg in a military boot. Television headline
stories of a new witness who saw Timothy McVeigh driving into the
Murrah Building parking structure minutes before the blast. A
federal informant who claims he warned of impending bombings of
federal buildings weeks before the deadly Oklahoma City terrorist
act. The lead FBI official in charge of the Oklahoma investigation
falling in disgrace, perhaps facing criminal charges. A U.S.
Marshals Service memo issued one month before the April 19th
explosion warning of expected terrorist bombings of federal
buildings. Additional witnesses identifying John Doe No. 2. A new
eyewitness who was at "ground zero," who survived the blast, and
who has come forward to provide key testimony. These are but a few
of the sensational developments in the Oklahoma City bombing case
over the past weeks.

In Search of John Doe No. 2

The New American's September 4th report on the Oklahoma City
explosion ("Searching for John Doe No. 2") examined some of the
testimony from an expanding lineup of eyewitnesses who have,
independent of one another, provided a growing body of compelling
evidence that may lead to the identity of the elusive "John Doe No.
2." This remains one of the most important and fertile areas of
progress.

As reported in that article, since mid-June the Justice Department
and the major media have presented a very confusing picture of the
status of the John Doe No. 2 investigation, giving the impression
that the famous sketch of the world's most wanted fugitive was a
false lead, the result of misidentification and faulty memories.
Press reports that Todd Bunting, a soldier from Fort Riley, Kansas
who slightly resembled the FBI sketch, had been "cleared" of any
involvement in the bombing evolved into news stories that John Doe
No. 2 had probably been a phantom from the start.

When asked directly if the dragnet for John Doe No. 2 has been
dropped, Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI spokesmen stated that
the search for the mysterious suspect and other individuals
possibly connected with the crime continues, and that "no stone
will be left unturned."

However, to those closely following the federal investigation it
appears that a great many stones are being left unturned or, even
worse, are being buried, much like the Murrah Building evidence
that has been entombed in an Oklahoma City landfill. Credible
eyewitnesses who place Timothy McVeigh with John Doe No. 2 -- and
possibly a John Doe No. 3 and a John Doe No. 4 -- have not been
called to testify before the federal grand jury. Federal
prosecutors may yet seek indictments against other individuals
implicated in the bombing, but the apparent direction of the
investigation and prosecution seems to indicate that Timothy
McVeigh and Terry Nichols ultimately may be the only suspects to be
tried for the terrorist act that took the lives of 168 men, women,
and children on April 19th.

If that occurs, other co-conspirators in the mass murder will
remain at large, making a mockery of the Clinton Administration's
promise to bring to justice all those involved in this terrible
crime. However, even more alarming and outrageous than the gross
miscarriage of justice of such an outcome is the realization that
these murderers will be free to commit still more acts of terror.
If that happens it will not be for lack of effort on the part of
some very courageous journalists and investigators who have
doggedly pursued a number of very important leads in this case.

Tracking the Suspects

As mentioned in our September 4th article, investigative reporters
for KFOR-TV Channel 4, Oklahoma City's NBC affiliate, have been
conducting an extensive probe of the evidence concerning the
missing John Doe No. 2 and have uncovered some very startling and
convincing testimony. Their series of news reports, together with
further evidence brought to light by other investigators and by
additional witnesses interviewed by The New American, reliably
connect John Doe No. 2 and another suspect (not Terry Nichols) to
the Ryder rental truck believed to be the vehicle that carried the
huge ammonium nitrate bomb to the Murrah Building. Furthermore,
witnesses connect Timothy McVeigh, John Doe No. 2, and a John Doe
No. 3 on the morning of April 19th not only to the Ryder truck, but
to the yellow Mercury Marquis which McVeigh was driving when
arrested, and to the brown Chevrolet pickup truck seen speeding
away from the Murrah Building immediately after the explosion --
the brown pickup which was the subject of a police 
APB shortly after the detonation.

Based on the testimony of these witnesses, a timeline has been
pieced together tracking Timothy McVeigh and at least two
accomplices in the crucial minutes before and after the explosion
at the Murrah Building. Approximately 30 minutes before the blast,
a Ryder truck pulled into Johnny's Tire Service at 10th and Hudson,
several blocks from the Murrah building. Mike Moroz, an employee of
the tire shop, went out to meet the man who was stopping to ask
directions to 5th and Harvey (one corner of the Murrah Building).
Moroz identified the man as McVeigh. He also identified a second
person who was seated in the Ryder truck several feet away as a man
who resembled John Doe No. 2. Moroz is one of the few witnesses who
has been willing to be publicly identified.

Several minutes later, at around 8:45 a.m., a second witness
observed a Ryder truck parked across the street from the post
office on 5th Street, less than a block from the Murrah Building.
Sitting in the cab of the truck, he said, was a man with a striking
resemblance to John Doe No. 2. A man who the witness identified as
McVeigh was standing on the sidewalk at the back of the truck
talking with a third man. One of the men handed something to the
other. Parked two spaces in front of the Ryder truck, said the
witness, was an old, dirty, yellow Mercury Marquis, matching the
description of the vehicle in which McVeigh was arrested. When the
witness emerged from the post office five minutes later, the
Marquis and the truck had moved. The Ryder truck had crossed the
intersection and was parked in front of the Murrah Building -- and
McVeigh was walking away from the truck across 5th Street.

A third witness at the Journal-Record building across from the
Murrah Building saw the Mercury Marquis parked in the parking lot
next to the Journal-Record and across 5th Street from the Murrah
Building at around 8:55. As he walked down the alley next to the
Journal-Record, suddenly the Marquis raced down the alley toward
him. Inside were two men. The driver could have been McVeigh, he
testifies. He did not have time to get a good look at the
passenger; he was too busy trying to get out of their path. As the
car raced recklessly down the alley, it struck a cement parking lot
marker.

At the same time, 8:55, seven minutes before the detonation, a
fourth witness on the ground floor of the Murrah Building claims to
have seen John Doe No. 2 get out of the Ryder truck and walk just
10 to 12 feet from her, headed hurriedly toward the northeast side
of the Murrah Building, where two more witnesses say a brown pickup
was parked -- a pickup which matches the description of the FBI-
police APB issued after the explosion. The witness inside the
Murrah Building was badly injured by the blast and has only
recently recovered sufficiently to give her testimony. Like many
other witnesses, she is fearful of reprisals by those involved in
the bombing who are still at large, and has asked that her identity
be protected.

Not more than a minute after the explosion another witness was
nearly run over by the brown pickup speeding away from the vicinity
of the Murrah Building. The witness says she was just six feet away
from the truck when she and the driver made eye contact: "The
driver -- I made eye contact with him; he looked like he was in his
late 20s, [he] had an angry look on his face. I'll never forget the
look on his face. It was full of hate and anger, and it just really
struck me because every one else coming out looked scared and
confused and he looked full of anger."

Media Misfire

On August 26th, the Los Angeles Times broke an important story with
still another credible witness. Unfortunately the Times got the
facts all wrong, as did the CBS Evening News, which used the story
of James R. Linehan as its lead feature. The Times headline
proclaimed that Linehan had seen McVeigh "just before the blast."
The Times piece by Richard Serrano reported that "James R. Linehan,
39, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, said that shortly
before the blast he saw McVeigh driving erratically in a car -- not
the Ryder truck -- around the federal building and then suddenly
disappearing into its underground parking area. Linehan's
description of the car matches the battered yellow 1977 Mercury
Marquis that McVeigh was driving when he was arrested the day of
the blast." CBS likewise reported that Linehan had positively
identified the driver of the vehicle as McVeigh. So did USA Today
and most other major media organs.

Linehan told a decidedly different story to The New American: "What
I told the FBI, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, and everybody else --
very emphatically -- was that I can't say that it was McVeigh
[driving the car]." The driver, who "was in a big hurry" and
driving erratically, pulled up in the right hand lane next to
Linehan's car. Linehan, an attorney who was on his way to the
federal court building across from the Murrah Building, said he
could not identify the individual in the Marquis because the driver
was "hunched over the wheel and looking up at the Murrah Building"
to the right and because either hair, a hood, or a cap obscured the
driver's face.

According to Linehan, all he could see was the end of a "sharp
nose" and "a kind of sharp chin," and a white hand. It's possible
that it was McVeigh, he told The New American, but his "gut"
impression at the time was that the driver was female, and he still
tends to lean in that direction. One thing Linehan is quite certain
about is the yellow Mercury. He says he reported it to the FBI on
April 20th, the day after the bombing, long before any broadcasts
or reports concerning McVeigh's arrest and his yellow Marquis came
out. Another thing he is certain about: The only news organization
that got his story straight was KFOR-TV, the same station that has
been taking brickbats from other members of the fourth estate for
carefully and persistently pursuing credible leads that the rest of
the media have ignored and spurned.

If McVeigh was the driver seen by Linehan, it does not necessarily
conflict with the timeline established by the testimony of other
witnesses. Linehan recalls clearly that while he was stopped at the
intersection of 4th and Robinson at the southeast corner of the
Murrah Building, he looked down and checked the time: It was 8:38.
If it was McVeigh, it would have been possible for him to drive the
car into the parking garage as Linehan observed and still keep to
the timeline. But to what purpose? Why would he drive virtually
right into the building which was to explode in a matter of
minutes? To pick up or drop off an accomplice? To place or check on
additional explosives?

Regardless of whether or not the driver of the Marquis was McVeigh,
the disinformation in the stories by the Times, CBS, and other
paragons of the Establishment media served to further the line that
McVeigh was the "lone" bomber. This flies in the face of a vast
accumulation of compelling evidence. KFOR reporter Jayna Davis
aptly summed up the status of the case at the conclusion of her
August 17th broadcast reviewing the stories her station had covered
thus far: "Together, these eyewitnesses show prime suspect McVeigh
could not have acted alone the morning of April 19th. At least two
more men, possibly three, were also there."

Middle East Connection?

On August 24th, Oklahoma City resident Al-Hussaini Hussain filed a
lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court against KFOR-TV,
reporters Jayna Davis and Brad Edwards, and news director Melissa
Klinzing, charging that the news station had falsely accused him of
being John Doe No. 2. Since June, Channel 4 had been running a
series of interviews with witnesses (some of whom are mentioned
above) who claimed to have seen a man whom KFOR identified only as
a "possible John Doe No. 2" with Timothy McVeigh or in connection
with the brown "getaway" pickup.

In the KFOR broadcasts we have seen, Hussain's name was not
mentioned and his face was always digitally blurred to protect his
identity. Reporter Jayna Davis repeatedly emphasized that Channel
4 was not accusing the man (Hussain) of being John Doe No. 2 or
claiming that he had any role in the bombing. In fact, she said on
more than one occasion that the man may be simply the unfortunate
victim of an amazing string of coincidences.

However, the independent testimony of the eyewitnesses linking this
"possible John Doe No. 2" to McVeigh, to the Ryder truck, and to
the brown pickup truck is very persuasive. According to some of
these witnesses, however, Hussain more nearly resembles the profile
sketch of the John Doe No. 2 in the baseball cap than either of the
two more familiar frontal face sketches (one with a baseball cap,
one without) of the suspect. The testimony of these witnesses,
together with our own investigations, lend support to the theory
that the frontal face sketches may be of an entirely different
individual, a John Doe No. 3.

Hussain has identified himself as a "refugee" who came to the
United States last year after fleeing Iraq. According to
journalists whom The New American has interviewed and who have had
access to Hussain, the "refugee" has given at least three
conflicting accounts concerning his supposed "opposition" to Saddam
Hussein and the circumstances of his "escape" from Iraq. According
to some sources Hussain was a soldier in the Iraqi dictator's elite
Republican Guard and came to the U.S. as part of the controversial
Iraqi POW resettlement program initiated by President Bush and
carried out by President Clinton that brought thousands of Iraqis
to America over the past 24 months.

Troubling FBI Link

Still another troubling aspect of the Oklahoma City bombing is its
direct connection to two of the most controversial and tragic
recent fiascoes involving the federal government's use of deadly
force against civilians. That direct connection comes in the form
of senior FBI officials Larry Potts and Bob Ricks.

As the assistant director in charge of criminal investigations at
FBI headquarters, Potts was the Washington-based manager of the
deadly 1993 Waco operation and the 1992 Randy Weaver standoff near
Ruby Ridge in remote northern Idaho. The FBI's operation against
the Weavers resulted in the deaths of Mrs. Weaver, who was shot in
the head by an FBI sniper, and of the Weaver's son, Sammy. The
FBI's assault on the Branch Davidian complex near Waco, Texas left
more than 80 people dead, including 22 children. Potts was also the
FBI's man charged with overall supervisory responsibility for the
Oklahoma City investigation. Bob Ricks, special agent in charge of
the FBI's Oklahoma City office for the past six years, was the
bureau's chief spokesman at Waco and one of its three commanders
during the 51-day siege.

In December 1994 FBI Director Louis J. Freeh elevated Larry Potts
to be his chief deputy, the FBI's second highest position. This in
spite of the fact that a Justice Department inquest into the Ruby
Ridge incident found that the Bureau's special "rules of
engagement" for that affair, its fatal "shoot on sight" orders,
"not only departed from the FBI's standard deadly force policy, but
also contravened the Constitution of the United States."

Over the past several months, however, some things have begun to
unravel. On July 14th Freeh was forced to demote Potts and then
suspend him. Potts, now on administrative leave without pay, is
implicated not only in approving the illegal deadly force orders,
but in covering up his responsibility in the matter. Eugene Glenn,
the FBI field commander at Ruby Ridge, and Richard Rogers, the
FBI's hostage team chief, have testified that the orders were
approved by Potts.

Then there is the cover-up: evidence destroyed, evidence withheld
from defense lawyers, documents shredded, agents failing lie-
detector tests. It was a disturbing pattern of gross misconduct (in
some instances, criminal conduct) which would be repeated in the
aftermath of the Waco conflagration. And it appears that another
repetition is underway in Oklahoma City.

END

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THE NEW AMERICAN -- October 16, 1995
Copyright 1995 -- American Opinion Publishing, Incorporated
P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI  54913

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