Brennan is Wrong on Batarfi
The president's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism goes after Rep. Wolf, but doesn't have his facts straight.
3:14 PM, Feb 2, 2010 • By THOMAS JOSCELYN
Thus, on one hand, we have John Brennan’s claim that “there is no basis for the assertions” that Congressman Wolf made about Batarfi’s involvement in al Qaeda’s WMD efforts and, on the other hand, we have the three memos written by authorities at Guantanamo over the span of more than two years.
Each of those three memos references Batarfi’s involvement in al Qaeda’s anthrax program.
There is more.
The U.S. government’s unclassified files on Batarfi discuss his ties to a "Malaysian microbiologist" who was involved in trying to produce anthrax for al Qaeda. This individual is not named in the files, but is most likely al Qaeda’s anthrax scientist, Yazid Sufaat.
Sufaat’s background makes it clear why Gitmo officials were so troubled by Batarfi’s ties to him.
Sufaat hosted two 9/11 hijackers at an apartment in Malaysia during the week they attended a key terrorist meeting. Sufaat also played host to Zacarias Moussaoui, who was scheduled to take part in the 9/11 attacks or a similar follow-on plot prior to his arrest in August 2001.
Sufaat was recruited to run al Qaeda’s anthrax program by a top al Qaeda operative named Hambali, who is currently a high-value detainee being held at Guantanamo. Hambali introduced Sufaat to al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al Zawahiri. Zawahiri wanted to jumpstart al Qaeda's program for developing anthrax and asked Hambali for assistance in finding a suitable scientist.
Sufaat fit the bill. In 1987, he graduated from California State University at Sacramento with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences and a minor in chemistry. In 2001, Sufaat put his degree to work for al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission found that he spent “several months attempting to cultivate anthrax for al Qaeda in a laboratory he helped set up near the Kandahar airport,” which was then a key facility controlled by Osama bin Laden.
Batarfi met Sufaat during this time period.
During one of Batarfi’s ARB hearings, the following allegation was read aloud:
“In mid-August 2001, [Batarfi] met a Malaysian microbiologist in Kandahar at the Haji Habbash guesthouse. This microbiologist wanted to equip a lab and train the Afghans to test blood.”
Batarfi did not deny the allegation, instead he offered this answer:
“He was a student, he was not a microbiologist. He wanted to complete his studies and he asked me [for help]. He was only here for four months and had wanted to learn from the people in the hospital how to used (sic) blood-testing equipment. He asked me if he could purchase this medical equipment from Pakistan because in Afghanistan there were not any facilities to purchase it. I told him we could purchase it through [the] al Wafa Office and donate it to the hospital instead of you getting the money from yourself.”
One of the board members then asked, "What kind of medical equipment?" Batarfi responded:
“It was [a] centrifuge, anti placenta for blood groupings; it was [an] autoclave for blood spacement. It was very simple equipment. He said it was approximately $5000.”
Later, during that same ARB session, the following allegation was read:
“The Detainee told another al Wafa volunteer to purchase four to five thousand United States Dollars worth of medical equipment for the Malaysian microbiologist.”
Again, Batarfi responded:
“…I told the Malaysian microbiologist, if you want to purchase the $5000 worth of items for the lab it is better to purchase it through al Wafa and you give the money to Afghanistan to me and then send it to Pakistan because it is unsafe.”
Note that Batarfi did not deny meeting with the “Malaysian microbiologist,” who is most likely Sufaat, or that he authorized al Wafa’s purchase of lab equipment for him. Instead, he claimed that the microbiologist was only a “student” who “wanted to complete his studies.” Moreover, Batarfi said the equipment was for supposedly innocuous blood-testing.